World Association for Christian Communication, a media savvy advocacy agency with representatives in over 100 countries, opened its new offices in Toronto in October. The London, England-based organization moved over 450 boxes, along with a comprehensive library and nearly its full staff, into a renovated United church on Danforth Ave. Rev. Randy Naylor, general secretary of WACC, said the $700,000 church renovation and international move was done smoothly and in “record time.” He also praised the congregation of Hope United church, and their minister Rev. Douglas du Charme, for “moving mountains” to convert the seven-decade-old Sunday school wing of the church into a modern, fully networked office.

The oldest and largest fair trade organization in North America marked its 60th anniversary this year. Ten Thousand Villages, based in Ontario, is an initiative of the Mennonite Central Committee, the relief and development agency of the church, and has been working around the world since 1946. Today there are 43 stores, along with hundreds of festival sales, selling products from over 120 artisan groups in 35 developing countries.

The hour of battle had finally come. After months of training and a rough crossing with high seas Canadian soldiers were about to attempt an unprecedented attack. It was August 19, 1942 and the target was the French port town of Dieppe. Since April 1940 Nazi Germany had reigned unchallenged as the undisputed dictators of Europe, but now, almost two and a half years later, that was about to change — and the job was given to the Canadians. The attacking force of 4,963 Canadians included a Presbyterian minister, Honorary Captain John W. Foote, the Protestant military chaplain attached to the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.

Summertime means choir tours, of course, and the Ontario Presbyterian Chorus spent theirs in Newfoundland. Seventy-four members sang their way through June, helping churches raise funds for local projects. St. Andrew's, St. John's, raised $1,000 through ticket sales and applied it to their renovations fund, on top of the offerings collected. The Salvation Army Citadel, Deer Lake, got $300 for the Ecumenical Relief Fund.

ENI – Two Scottish Protestant churches have signed an agreement to help promote good relations between the denominations.

ENI – Christians must stop squabbling and face the common enemies of disease and poverty, Anglican Bishop Dinis Sengulane of Lebombo in Mozambique said. He was celebrating the centenary of an Anglican association to help what are now former Portuguese colonies in southern Africa that are listed by international organizations as countries with some of the most difficult living conditions on earth today.

Angela Cluny, centre, of Leaside Presbyterian, Toronto, measures drywall along with Lynda Marshall of Good Shepherd Community Church and Victor Aguius of Chinese Martyrs Catholic, while Rev. Dan West, right, of Runnymede Presbyterian, Toronto, screws drywall to the ceiling at the Fourth Annual Faith Leaders Build for Habitat for Humanity.

Twentieth Century Fox, the studio known for such television shows as The Simpsons, Prison Break and Celebrity Duets, and for the Star Wars movies, has announced a new division directed to a Christian audience. FoxFaith will release up to a dozen religious-themed films each year, with budgets ranging from $3-million to $20-million. Most of these will be released directly to DVD, though some might be available in local theatres.

ENI – A group of indigenous people from all over the world has urged the Lutheran World Federation to establish a program to help uplift the lives of a group of people often not accepted in mainstream societies.

Resolving complaints from former students of Indian residential schools is getting trickier as time goes on. The federal government has been sending out $8,000 compensation cheques to former students over the age of 65, but has rejected numerous claimants, saying there isn't any proof they attended a residential school. To make matters worse, the first of nine provincial court hearings, held in Toronto at the end of August and required to okay the federally-approved Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, criticized the process.

Safe water is critical for survival. That's why Water Partners: Safe Water for All invites children and youth to “board a water craft” and zoom around the world visiting Tanzania, India, Indonesia, Nicaragua and the Cariboo Region of British Columbia. At each stop, the youth will discover how five of the Presbyterian Church's partner countries are ensuring safe water, and how the church is helping them. Through Bible lessons, personal stories, crafts, recipes, music and games, young people and their leaders will raise money for water projects and learn how they can participate in keeping water safe in their own community. A water challenge, given in calendar format, helps children learn how their daily actions impact water supply and what they can do to make a difference. Written by Anne Miller, the resource was mailed free of charge in the August PCPak but extra copies of the booklet (along with a DVD or VHS) can be purchased from the Book Room by calling 1-800-619-7301. – Dorothy Henderson and AM

ENI – “Why is it that religious institutions and religious leadership seem to be an obstacle for peace-building rather than a solution?” asked Rabbi David Rosen, international director of inter-religious relations with the American Jewish Committee and the International Jewish Committee at the Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace in Kyoto.

ENI – The World Council of Churches, a grouping of 348 mainly Protestant and Orthodox denominations, representing more than 560 million Christians, concluded its central committee meeting in early September with statements on several world issues:

ENI – The Rev. Soritua Nababan, a Christian leader in the world's most populous Muslim nation, says the stereotyped idea of Islam tied to “oil and terror” should be rejected and he believes strengthening Muslim moderates in their own communities through dialogue can help reduce conflict.

ENI – The World Summit of Religious Leaders, the largest interfaith gathering to meet in Russia since the time of the Cold War, closed its July meeting by passing a resolution condemning terrorism, economic inequality, environmental abuses and the denigration of moral values in the modern world.

“I saw a lot of girls reflected in me,” Betty Makoni of Zimbabwe told the Record during a visit to Canada last year. “Exactly what they worried about was what once worried me. It was hard to explain why I wanted to do this, but in my heart, I felt that if I accomplished this mission, then I will have lived life to the full.”

On the verge of recommending a synod of Korean-only presbyteries, the church polity committee of the Presbyterian Church (USA) had second thoughts. “Creating a separate synod based on ethnicity would open the door to Pandora's box,” said Tres Adams III, a theological student advisory delegate from Pittsburgh Seminary.

A declaration calling for “action by all African governments and other stakeholders to take immediate steps to end all forms of violence against children” was signed by the delegates of an international children's rights conference in Ethiopia in May.

Decentralization and debates surrounding the same-sex issue have left Presbyterians in the United States largely unaware of the denomination's national mission and development work, says the church's new head of national and international ministries.

A Toronto congregation is doing three good turns with one simple project. Don's Schoolhouse Project, created by Morningside High Park Presbyterian Church, is raising money to build a school in Kenya, helping farmers in developing countries earn a fair wage by promoting fair trade coffee, and honoring the memory of church regular Don Jennison, a former school principal and supporter of social justice who died in 2005. His famous question for people who had learned of an injustice was, “Well? What'cha gonna do about it?”