I was shocked and dismayed to read about Rev. Mark Lewis being “appointed” to St. Andrew's, Kitchener, Ont. The Presbyterian Church in Canada does not appoint ministers unless it is an exceptional circumstance. The congregation of St. Andrew's called Rev. Mark Lewis in an extremely well supported call. To use the word appointed would suggest there was no call and the presbytery took unusual action.

Re Walking Together and New Agreement Limits Liability, May. The one article was about walking together with aboriginal people and the recommendations that go with it. There was $500,000 set aside for this along with a lot of work and time.

Surely Dorothy Nekrasoff's Noting the Need in April is her most amazing letter. Especially the penultimate sentence, “But then I am free to write people we are praying for.”

Re Planning for a Marriage, Not Just a Wedding.

Amy MacLachlan recently wrote an article on St. George's Presbyterian Church and our involvement with the AIDS Committee of London. She was prompt in returning emails, listened carefully when conducting interviews and was most professional in her research.

It was good to see David Harris' March editorial addressing the environmental implications of rapid Alberta oil sands exploitation for export to energy-hungry countries around the world. He noted the economic benefits for Canada but commented that there is just one problem — global warming.

I certainly enjoyed participating in your fair trade coffee contest and am very pleased with my third-place win. Many in our congregation were supportive of my office coffee initiative, and we will be using the awarded coffee at an upcoming Sunday fellowship hour, so even more people can enjoy some fair trade coffee.

The January article by David Webber, Unexpected, Out of Place, Persistent, describes how I think and about as close as to how I pray, as possible — like a perfect match! That Record is a keeper, but then I've kept every issue for many years.

Re People and Places editor letter, December 2005. Cute? No. Serious? Yes. Our submission regarding 50 years of dedicated service, working with nine ministers, countless interim ministers and supply ministers through a ministry of music, was subjected to your lottery arbitrarily.

Re Pop Christianity, January. I would suggest that your example is a poor one. Visit Iqaluit, Nunavut, and see the toothless gaping mouths. The Iqaluit Coca-Cola plant produces 4,000 two-litre bottles and 20,000 smaller bottles daily. In addition, more is flown in or brought in by barge.

I am very pleased with the Record, and find it amazing that my congregation dropped the Every Home Plan except that money appears more important than do education and connection to the larger church.

Thank you for the collage of essays and articles highlighting environmental awareness issues in the March issue. It was an insightful and thoughtful piece.

I wasn't going to look inside the March issue once I had seen the exclusive sentence on the front cover. Why would a Christian magazine in the 21st century choose to print boldly the pronoun “His” instead of the word “God's”?

This is a great article. Why can't intelligent people see and tell it like it is? I had not thought of the fact that such violent behaviour is much less common among other visible minorities who for the most part have and practise a strong sense of family!

By asking the questions and giving the answer “others are frightened of even considering,” Mr. Coren implies that his article is an act of courage. Mr. Coren condemns members of a community with his charge that they are lazy, greedy, incapable and nothing more than breeders. Courageous, Mr. Coren? Perhaps ignorant. What I find most offensive about Coren's piece is that he presents it as a call. He presumes to tell me that I, as a Christian, must do the same as he. Mr. Coren, it is Christ whom I will follow. Christ calls us to the communities in Toronto to face the pain, hostility and

Michael Coren concludes that “[gun violence is] partly but not completely about race and it's partly but not completely about poverty. It's about those who are willing to join society and those who are not.” I doubt that anyone, even the liberals that he is always ranting against, would disagree with him. There are no simple answers, but the fact remains that dealing with the part of gun crime that is about race and poverty is important. Coren often talks about balance but then he is content to give bipolar ultimatums by dividing people between “those who are willing to join society and those who are not.” We must ask the question, what kind of society are we inviting people to join? Maybe the ultimatum should be centered around creating a society that we can all participate in equally.

I found the March articles by Andrew Faiz and Michael Coren provocative.

On behalf of the elders and congregation of St. Paul's, Ingersoll, Ont., thank you for including the delightful picture of Marion Wilson and David Moyer in February. The motorcycle excursion was a visible incarnation of the adventurous spirits of the leaders of our faith family.

The Letters section, where writers present various points of view, often passionately, is usually the first page I turn to. I enjoy the letters. I find them interesting, sometimes moving, even inspiring. In fact, I have written my share of letters and will, no doubt, write more. Yet, I share a sentiment similar to that expressed by J. Gordon Neal in his Letter About Letters (February). I find it difficult reconciling the passionate expression of single points of view to the concept of an all-encompassing love and understanding.

Let me share our stretcher-bearing story (Stretcher Bearer Ministeries by Michael Slater). The author took time in his congregation to give out postcards so that during the service everyone would write a note to someone they knew, whether in the congregation or not. Then on Monday the cards were posted in the church. Great benefits occurred.