ENI – Turkey's small Roman Catholic community hopes to mark the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Paul of Tarsus by reopening a church at his birthplace. They also hope to improve the status of the country's Christian minorities.

An aboriginal and church leaders' tour is scheduled for March 1-10, and will give participants a chance to visit community programs, and meet with media, local government, church and first nations representatives along the way.

The Women's Missionary Society has decided to cut back its grant to regional staff beginning in 2009. The yearly grant will be $200,000, representing a 50 per cent cut in funds. The change is mainly due to decreased givings resulting from dwindling membership.

Adam Parsons was the 2007 recipient of the peace and human security internship program with Project Ploughshares, an ecumenical peace centre of the Canadian Council of Churches and sponsored by the Presbyterian Church. A member of Gale, Elmira, Ont., Parsons was completing his Masters degree in international relations when he heard of the opportunity, and contacted Ploughshares immediately to find out more.

Deadlines are approaching for this year's mission trip opportunities, which cover a wide range of locations and mission work. Confirmed trips are:

Guildwood Community Presbyterian Church, Toronto, has had protestors walking its front lawn thanks to a 20-year lease agreement with Bell Mobility that will see a 10-storey relay signal tower erected on the church's property. Residents are worried about electromagnetic signals emitted from the tower, which will be in the middle of a residential neighbourhood.

Worship materials from 190 congregations from every province in Canada will now be sealed in the Presbyterian Church's national archives for 50 years, preserving a “moment in time” for the future church.

ENI – Church leaders in Nigeria say urgent government action is needed to tackle poverty in the West African nation that was ranked 158th out of 177 countries in the human development index of the United Nations Development Programme.

A new department has been launched at national offices, designed to quickly and easily provide resources and leadership, answer questions, and otherwise aid congregations and individuals in their work. Dubbed The Vine Helpline: Connecting People, Places and Programs, the department was officially launched in mid-January, and uses volunteers, national staff, and resource people stationed across Canada.

It started, like so many things, with a personal connection: A member at Knox, Agincourt, Toronto, has a brother-in-law serving in Afghanistan. The congregation decided to adopt him – they took this photo, the kids made the “Hi Bob” sign. With cards at Christmas and his birthday and, little notes of encouragement, Soldier Bob will always know somebody is thinking of him. Knox, Agincourt, would love to see other churches Adopt-A-Soldier. Click here for an enlargement of this photo.

ENI – International organizations representing young people from all main Christian traditions say they are anguished at not being able to share in the Lord's Supper together.

Two names will appear on the ballot for Moderator of the 2008 General Assembly, both immigrants from two very Presbyterian countries: Rev. Thomas Kay of […]

Moderator Rev. Hans Kouwenberg spoke with Prime Minister Stephen Harper about poverty and First Nations' issues in Ottawa last December. Kouwenberg delivered a church leaders' letter on poverty that was signed by all members of the Canadian Council of Churches.

ENI — A national campaign using Internet and television advertisements sponsored by several denominations aims to renew public interest in Christianity, says the Australian Bible Society.

ENI — “We are appealing to our churches to donate food, clothes and other essential supplies and gather them in their respective parishes,” Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said in early January after violence erupted following a disputed election in Kenya.

ENI — Pope Benedict XVl has authorized a special plenary indulgence to encourage “renewed holiness” for Catholics who make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the famous religious site in southern France, within a year of December 8, 2007.

ENI — The Christian Federation of Malaysia expressed “deep disappointment and regret” at the government announcement that only Muslims were allowed to use the word 'Allah.' The Government said the word 'Allah' referred only to the Muslim God and that non-Muslims were banned from using the expression.

In a move that “shows the churches coming together,” the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council have agreed to unite. The October decision means the new global body will represent more than 80 million Reformed Christians in more than 100 million countries.

Three leading Presbyterians participated in a one-day fast led by Canadian Foodgrains Bank, along with leaders from other denominations and agencies to help draw attention to ending world hunger.

One of the privileges of being a military chaplain is the ability to be present with soldiers in the most dangerous places. We visit them regularly and sometimes we stay with them. We listen to them trying to make sense of the senseless by asking real and deep questions. One soldier recently asked me: “Padre, I just killed two Taliban last night. What do you think God thinks about me?” I paused for a moment and thought about the soldier standing before me as a Canadian who is trained to kill but not born to kill. I had the privilege of looking into his eyes. From where we were standing, we could see in the distance children running behind their own house playing. I pointed at them and told the soldier that those children could not be playing if he was not there protecting them.