What does it mean to be a Presbyterian? I've had that question in my head for a while now. A little over a year ago I researched a thesis for sociology class at school: Christian teens are less likely to engage in at-risk behaviour. It was an interesting project, and the presentation went well, but things always get a little harder when the teacher asks, “Does anyone have any questions for Erin?”
Reading an issue of the Presbyterian Record such as this one leaves me with such mixed emotions: joyous amazement at the vitality and accomplishments of youth in their church and community, and frustrated bewilderment that despite their proven abilities, some of them find their voices are limited or shut out altogether in the church's decision-making bodies. As one writer (p. 20) puts it:
Photography by Alex Luyckx As I stood in the bow of my boat and looked wideeyed towards the land of Real Life, it left me […]
Although the Christian church year officially begins in Advent葉he four Sundays leading up to Christmas用ractically, it begins for us at the beginning of September, after the summer holidays, when the church begins the next year's activities. Preparation for that task belongs to the elders in each local congregation. They hold the congregation to its vision and purpose. They oversee everything that takes place in the local church.
I grew up Presbyterian. My mom made sure my sister and I went to church every week, and participated in Sunday school and the junior choir. As I got older, I continued to attend St. Andrew's, Cobourg, Ont., and am an active churchgoer.
You could say that I've worked in youth ministry for over a decade. That's not entirely accurate, though. A decade ago, I was a youth. Yes, I was involved in youth ministry, but it was more about being involved with the church and hanging out with people my own age. Today, I work for the church, still spending a lot of my time with young people. I'm not sure that makes me a professional. But development is a good thing, so when I had the opportunity to attend the Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry at the beginning of May, I jumped at it.
Photography by Alex Luyckx There are a few key things about a Presbyterian Young People's Society weekend that make it, well, a PYPS weekend. First, […]
Photography by Alex Luyckx
The pun opportunities are endless for describing the General Assembly debate over the moderator's stole: Should each new moderator wear the same symbolic stole? Who would pay for it? Who would clean it? Should there be more than one? But that's the only smile in the story. In the end, it was a headshaking event to see approximately 300 commissioners inventing yet another camel: will that be one lump or two?
We live in a world of disconnections and, often, these disconnections threaten to undo our sense of community as human beings and as Christians. There are increasing disconnections between the people among whom we live or work or worship or play. These are often different people, different circles of acquaintance.
Loving God, ultimate protector,
I recently took a personality indicator test widely used to help people understand themselves and others a bit better. It's the fourth time I've taken one of these, of which there are several different types, in the past 20 or so years. The test is a non-judgemental exercise that places each individual on a grid relative to others giving an indication of preferences for things like, say, whether you get energized from being with others or by yourself or whether you prefer a more orderly life to spontaneity.
When my sons were little
This will be the last time you will hear from me under the heading of Message From The Moderator. The year has gone quickly and I want to take this opportunity to thank congregations, presbyteries, presbyterials, synods and synodicals, as well as individuals for the kindness they have shown me. I have such wonderful memories of my time visiting across the Church. I have been warmly welcomed. I have been truly blessed.
God of Calvary's grief and glory,
Becoming Heroes by Marion Schaffer Psalm 23, for chemotherapy by Art Van Seters God of Calvary’s Grief and Glory Words by Stuart Coles Sung to […]
March lived up to its billing on its first day. Around noon a snowstorm roared into Toronto falling hard and fast. The city ground to a stop. My usual 22-minute commute home took about a hundred minutes. I got off easy — many many others were stuck for hours.
When you receive this issue of The Presbyterian Record, I will be representing The Presbyterian Church in Canada at the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. How exciting it will be for me to visit the church that I served for six years in the early 1970's. I served in Taiwan during a very difficult time; a time when the church was facing political and social persecution. Suffering continues because of Taiwan's position in the world today. I will share news of this visit in my final message in the June issue.
Now retired, the famous civil rights pastor Bishop John H. Adams in a recent Web article notes that progressive Christianity is not limited to a single theology. Dr. Douglas Ottati of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., speaks of progressive theology as a conglomeration of theologies, among which are process, liberal, Christian realist, liberationist, feminist, black, womanist and Minjung, a Korean philosophy that is a radical re-interpretation of Christianity. However, while it is named progressive Christianity, it is in no way committed to the traditional creeds and expressions of Christian faith revealed in Scripture. In fact, it is considered a sign of your “maturity” if you leave all that behind and make up your own mind.
The cover image this month is by Christian Worthington, a Winnipeg-based Christian artist. If you have any knowledge of painting technique and history, then you have already discerned Worthington has a deep interest in the classics. Still it is not a purely classical painting: the use of light and the texture of the blood comment on the traditional image. That's the wonder of Worthington: he's a classicist and a post-modernist and, most surprisingly, he looks like he's barely halfway through his twenties.