Students of theology and young theologians are invited by the World Council of Churches to bring their perspective to the discussion about the future of the ecumenical movement by participating in an essay competition to mark the Council's 60th anniversary.
The Moderator of the United Church of Canada issued a letter to congregations calling for a commitment to outreach and serving others, and to abandon a preoccupation with declining membership.
ENI — The rising popularity of religious pilgrimages stems from a modern lifestyle linked to a constant search for new experiences, according to the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, the site of the famous Roman Catholic pilgrimage site in France.
ENI — “Although the Bible doesn't say that Jesus laughed, I think that the evangelists didn't need to write about it because he would always have been laughing,” said Rev. Nobuhisa Yamakita, chairperson of the Japan Confederation of Christian Churches, which links Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant denominations.
ENI — The Protestant Church in the Netherlands has apologized to Pentecostals for negative attitudes held towards them in the past.
ENI — Churches in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city, have begun to supply residents with water for domestic use in an attempt to lessen the effects of shortages made worse by a struggle over control of the water supply. City authorities have imposed water-rationing measures that permit residents access to water for only a few hours every three days.
Joseph C. McLelland, professor, teacher, pastor and mentor for 50 years at Presbyterian College, Montreal, was honoured by having the college library named for him […]
Yonge Street Mission's annual Christmas market will open from Dec. 12 to Dec. 22, enabling hundreds of families to shop affordably. A 20-year-plus tradition, the Toronto mission's gymnasium will be packed with items donated for this purpose. Clients register in November to be eligible. This year, through various distribution programs, YSM will serve more than 4,000 children and adults.
A new online teacher training program is available, free to Presbyterian congregations. The Opening Doors to Discipleship program is suitable for both seasoned and new teachers, can be completed in any order and at any pace. It is hoped that teachers in a congregation will take the course with their minister or a mentor from their church.
A fire reportedly set by a local young offender who was out on bail has destroyed Knox, Cannington, Ont. The 128-year-old building in the Presbytery of Lindsay-Peterborough was set ablaze on the morning of Oct. 7. The remains of the building were demolished before the unstable walls could fall down on their own. No one was injured.
The remaining congregation at Trinity, Oro, is enthusiastic, joyful and ready to re-build their church. At a congregational meeting at Trinity on Oct. 25, about […]
THE BARNA GROUP — American researcher George Barna has been surveying attitudes and responses to Christianity for several decades. He highlighted four major themes to emerge in recent years: “First of all,” noted Barna, “Americans are very comfortable with religious faith. Faith and spirituality remain hot issues in people's lives. (A large majority claims to be “deeply spiritual” and say that their religious faith is “very important,” but only 15 per cent of those who regularly attend a Christian church ranked their relationship with God as the top priority in their life.)
The 2008 recipient of the E.H. Johnson Award is Mercy Amba Oduyoye of Ghana. The award is named for the late Rev. Dr. E.H. Johnson and is given to someone on “the cutting edge of mission.”
The first woman elder of Han-Ca East Presbytery was ordained at St. Timothy's, Etobicoke, on Oct. 28, which also marked the congregation's 11th anniversary. Rev. Dr. Dorcas Gordon, principal of Knox College preached, speaking about God's original intention that men and women work together as partners. From the left: Young Girl Kim (new elder), David Son (associate minister), Si Young Kim (new session member), Seung Ho Cho (Clerk of Session), In Kee Kim (senior minister), Wan Sup Myung (session member), Song Chan Chung (re-elected session member), Soo Jin Chung (associate minister), Hae Duck Yun (new elder), Dorcas Gordon, and Chang Ro Karl (session member).
A consultation on gender, power and leadership, sponsored in part by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, was held in Kenya over the summer. I was privileged to participate, along with 48 others from 17 countries, including seven students from St. Paul's United Theological College (the other co-sponsor) in Kenya.
The Presbytery of Barrie has delayed deciding whether to dissolve the congregation of Trinity, Oro, until February. In August, most of the congregation of the church, about 100 kilometers north of Toronto, decided to leave the denomination and form a new non-denominational church.
ENI — Leaders of Britain's Hindu community are expressing disbelief and outrage at claims by two English church ministers that yoga should be banned from churches. Amarjeet-singh Bhamra, a Hindu spokesperson in Britain said, “It is very disappointing that such medieval-like irrational prejudice is still allowed to flourish in the Christian church in 21st century multicultural Britain.”
ENI — Claire Randall, a lay Presbyterian leader and the first woman to serve as general secretary of the US National Council of Churches, is being remembered for her leadership of the council during a turbulent era.
When fewer than 25 per cent of youth in one of Toronto’s most poverty-stricken neighbourhoods apply to college or university, it’s easy to understand why […]
After 24 years of helping to fight hunger around the world, Canadian Foodgrains Bank has distributed its one-millionth tonne of food. That's enough to fill more than 15,000 box cars with bags of grain—a train that would stretch approximately 290 kilometres.