The debated stole, I expect, in many people's minds at this year's assembly, was a stole of office for the moderator of our church. We don't have such an office in The Presbyterian Church in Canada, at least we didn't the last time I was awake, and neither do we need a stole to demarcate it. The person who moderates a particular assembly is just that, the moderator of that particular assembly, and nothing more. That the person works as an ambassador for the church for a year and sits on some influential committees does not change this fact. And yet, each year, and throughout the year, the Record continues to coronate a person The Moderator of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. As you well know, or at least should, the proper language is, “The Moderator of the 133rd General Assembly.” If the Record would begin to assert the truth by the language it uses around this issue and the way it presents this person on its pages, I expect it would go a long way toward contravening idiotic debates about stoles of office and other related nonsense about moderators, including the correcting of what I perceive is our denomination's drift towards an Episcopalian model of church government or perhaps something even worse. To be quite frank, I do not have the stomach for this drift.

I would like to know what simple mathematics Matheson's lawyer Peter Ghiz is using. In the 1998 Acts and Proceedings, the stipend for the four charges for Murray Harbour North (if she could handle four) total $26,677. Multiply by 10 and subtract her earnings since her dismissal and it comes to far less than $600,000.

Congratulations to Rev. Gael Matheson for her doggedness in fighting the Presbytery of P.E.I., and winning at least a minimal financial award and reinstatement with the help of the human rights commission. I hope that the presbytery will, at last, recognize that this is a paltry price to pay for her long years of seeking a remedy for the brutal bullying and public humiliation that she suffered in one of its congregations. The presbytery should be encouraged to act generously and ensure that Matheson immediately receives appropriate employment, her legal fees are covered, she is offered a formal opportunity to be reconciled to those who led the fight against her, and she receives other appropriate means of support. The Record article is somewhat disingenuous by indicating the numbers of women in leadership roles in P.E.I., as if this would indicate an isolated incident. The issue was bullying and harassment, which happens to both women and men clergy. Many would agree that such behaviour is a common experience for clergy in the PCC. Ministers have the appearance of authority but are dependent on popularity with their congregations and fellow presbyters for their livelihoods. They have little procedural recourse and minimal financial resources with which to defend their careers if they lose their popularity and do not have another congregation and/or presbytery to quickly jump to. The Matheson story makes me wonder if there is a coming day, as with the residential schools, when the churches will be forced by the state to settle with hundreds of clergy who have suffered wrongful dismissal, harassment, bullying and public humiliation. One should note from the story that individuals would personally be called to account for their actions. This should make at least a few elders and presbyters think a little more before they mindlessly throw their hand in with the lynching mob.

In his letter to the editor in May, Coos De Vries quotes The Economist to argue that “it is both bad farming practice and bad economics.” What he fails to point out is that fair trade does not make any promise to consumers. Fair trade promises to pay producers a premium price for the products. What retailers do after fair trade products arrive at the local shelves is neither good nor bad. Local retailers will charge what local markets will bear.

Regarding the May letter suggesting that fair trade is “not in the interest of (small) growers.” I am not surprised that The Economist magazine is critical of fair trade. The global economic community continues to blindly extol the virtues of “free market” capitalism, yet this system is failing farmers around the world, particularly those in developing countries.

As a hospital chaplain in Kingston where there are no fewer than seven federal prisons, I read with interest that the Presbyterian Church recently signed a revised agreement with Correctional Services to ensure the provision of spiritual care to this needy population in our midst (May Record). It's too bad this gesture does not extend to supporting our clergy in applying to vacant positions for chaplains within these institutions. Currently, Kingston penitentiary has an urgent need for a protestant chaplain. The PCC does not encourage individual presbyteries to enter into contractual agreements with Correctional Services on behalf of a chaplain, thus preventing clergy from applying. We have a mission field on our own doorstep and no one to fill the need, because the church doesn't want to become involved in third-party contracts.

As soon as the May issue arrived I had to write. The new art director is doing a fantastic job giving a fresh look to the magazine and I was very happy with the layout of the story I wrote. The overall colours, new fonts and news selection made this issue stand out for me. With all this talk about the Globe and Mail's new design I thought I should send my congrats your way.

I read the review and wondered why these books were chosen? I have never even heard of the three mentioned or their authors! Why don't you review books that we are actually reading? I read fiction by Dee Henderson, Karen Kingsbury, Susan Meissner, Davis Bunn, Tracie Peterson, Michael Philips, Bode Thoene and many others. I would appreciate reviews on some of their books rather than something completely foreign to me. Thanks!

As a voracious reader, I was interested in the June review of Christian chick-lit, The Worst Stories Ever Told. I agree that many novels are totally insipid.

The article in May by Gloria Wasacase, A Good Thing, was a breath of fresh air. At long last I have read in the Presbyterian Record positive and grateful words about the ministry of our residential schools. I had come to think that our church had forgotten the devotion and the commitment of the pioneer missionaries who founded and laboured at these schools from 1884 (Round Lake) and onward. In 1934, former students from that school erected and dedicated a fieldstone cairn in memory of their beloved Dr. Hugh McKay who served among them for 40 years.

Thanks Peter Bush for his series By The Numbers, particularly the March article. As he notes: “Humility helps leaders, both ordained and lay, discover the church is not about them, but rather is about God.”

As someone who attended Riverside Church, New York, a number of times in the 1950s and early '60s when Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick was the minister, I read with great interest March's Grant Us Wisdom and am glad to know there is concern about our often-shallow response to Christ, especially in the mainline churches. Andrew Faiz's recollections of and garnerings from the Fosdick Convocation at Riverside are food for thought and a call to prayer and action.

With reference to

Ever so many years ago, I recall a parishioner saying to me: “I come home from work on fridays and often I don't go out of the house until it's time for work on Monday morning. Sometimes I think I'll go stark raving mad — other times I'm afraid my thoughts are self-destructive.”

First, let me say that the March Record was the best I've read.

Re Letters, March

Dear Jan,

Re Vicki Homes on Divorce, March

What is the Church? by Andrew Faiz, March, prompted me to review my definition recorded in my notes almost 50 years ago:

Re Speaking in Other Tongues, April