A new statue outside of St. Andrew's, Ottawa, evokes thoughts of Jesus with an outstretched hand, encouraging passers-by to remember His words of compassion: “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do unto me.” The bronze statue, entitled Whatsoever You Do, depicts a seated human figure cloaked in anonymity. Sculptor Timothy Schmalz was at the May 28th dedication. “I imagine people going to Parliament to see the great leaders of the nation, and as they walk there, they pass by this humble leader, Jesus Christ,” he said. “It's not meant to be a decoration. It is meant to be a confrontation; to challenge people.” St. Andrew's is located at the heart of the nation's capital, and has been since 1828.

ENI – The Council of Churches in Zambia is campaigning to fight discrimination against women in the church. The council's coordinator for gender and child development, Suzanne Matale, said, “We are working with women theologians in Zambia to come up with a gender policy for the churches to understand fully gender issues and to strengthen women's leadership in the churches. The time has come to eliminate rampant discrimination against women in the Church in Zambia.”

The board and editor of the Presbyterian Record appreciate the opportunity afforded by Overture 5 to address the role of the Record within the life of the church community, especially when dealing with the publication of criminal allegations against members of the community.

ENI – The U.S. National Council of Churches has called for the closure of the American detention centre at Guantanamo Bay. The controversial jail has been described by The New York Times “as the inevitable result of creating a netherworld of despair beyond the laws of civilized nations, where men were to be held without any hope of decent treatment, impartial justice or, in so many cases, even eventual release.”

ENI – A law in the Indian province of Tamil Nadu which banned religious conversion has been repealed by the federal government. The law prompted massive protests by Christians who feared it was directed against religious minorities and could put at risk relief work undertaken by churches. Similar laws are in force in several other Indian states.

ENI – Entrepreneurs with small enterprises in the northern Philippines say a church-backed financing program has helped improve the overall quality of their lives and also helped to strengthen their Christian faith. “I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for giving us the [Swiss-based] Ecumenical Church Loan Fund because without it, my family would not be where we are now,” said 50-something Estrella Baliang, who buys and sells socks, jackets and other clothes. “With the ECLOF backing, our business continues to grow.”

Presbyterian World Service & Development is working with Action by Churches Together to help the more than 200,000 left homeless and injured by the earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Java on May 27th. The 6.3-magnitude quake left more than 5,000 people dead.

The City of Toronto recently adopted a “no sweatshop” policy and Canadian activists are pushing for other cities to do the same. The No Sweat purchasing policy requires apparel manufacturers who supply Toronto to comply with internationally recognized labour and human rights standards. Vancouver adopted an Ethical Procurement Policy for city apparel, food and coffee last year.

The Presbyterian Church's two Ghanaian congregations dedicated their new buildings in May, marking the years of hard work and determination it took to realize their dreams. “This came at the right time,” said Rev. Samuel Kofi Danquah of the Ghanaian Church in Montreal. “We thank God especially for the helping hand the head office has given us, and for giving us this opportunity.”

John Tory, leader of the Ontario Conservative party, has revived a five-year-old debate on faith school funding. Tory was quoted in February after a policy conference saying, he is "completely and totally committed" to addressing "the fairness issue for independent schools. The issue of fairness more starkly presents itself when you are dealing with faith-based schools as opposed to others."

The Order of Diaconal Ministries of The Presbyterian Church in Canada will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2008. During those 10 decades, members of the Order have made an important contribution to the work of the denomination, including Christian education, pastoral care and social ministries. Diaconal ministers serve across Canada and around the world.

ENI – A new inclusive German Bible intended to do justice to women, Jews and marginalised groups has been criticized. "A Bible in the German language has to be sensitive about racism and ethnic discrimination because of the Shoah," said Luise Metzler, who has raised funds for the project in which 52 translators are translating the original Hebrew and Greek.

ENI – The Presbyterian Church (USA) has cut more than 100 positions in the most radical church restructuring in more than a decade.

ENI – Anglican Bishop Nelson Onono-Onweng has called for immediate action to bring an end to 20 years of violent conflict in his northern Uganda diocese which civil society groups say is one of the worst war zones on the planet, worse even than Iraq.

The Record's Amy MacLachlan was the big winner at the annual Canadian Church Press awards in Winnipeg in May, taking three awards for three 2005 articles. She won first and third prize in the magazine news story category, for a story on bullying she wrote for Glad Tidings and for a piece on Sharia laws in Ontario. She received another first place in the narrative category for her Israel travelogue in October. The judge noted, "It addresses many of the fears of would-be travellers and shows how open and caring she found the people to be."

General Assembly: June 4th–9th, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ont.

Reuben St. Louis, the youth in mission coordinator for the church is launching his first CD on June 10th at Knox, Waterloo, Ont. A freewill offering that night will be sent to Presbyerian World Service and Development's Towards a World Without AIDS campaign. For more information: www.reubenstlouis.ca.

The majority of Canadians and Americans believe in the resurrection, and that salvation comes through Christ, according to a recent Ispos Reid survey. However, a significant percentage thinks Jesus' crucifixion was faked.

The Canadian government announced a final agreement concerning Indian residential schools, dropping the Presbyterian Church's liability cap from $2.1 million to $1.32 million. Rev. Stephen Kendall, the church's principal clerk, praised the announcement made in Parliament on April 25.

For the first time ever, the provisional Book of Reports for this month's General Assembly were posted online (www.presbyterian.ca) during the first week of May, at the same time reports were sent to commissioners, marking a more public approach to the business of the assembly. The reports detail the work of the church's various committees and departments over the last year and include recommendations to be voted on.