Ashfield To Ploughshares
Laura Ashfield has been appointed intern with Project Ploughshares. The eight-month position should begin this September.
Magazine
As We Gather Once Again
There is a small craft sitting on my desk. It is a sailboat; not your fancy dream yacht but a typical souvenir sailboat. It is carved out of wood and the sail is made of dried palm leaves hanging on a tiny mast. It is so rough and coarse that you might wonder if it will actually float and sail. It is from Vanuatu, a South Pacific island. I received it from our guests of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu to the 134th General Assembly. It is a precious reminder of the sacrifice many of our ancestors paid.
How To Read The Holy Bible
How shall we read the Bible? In the many ways to read the Bible today, it seems there are as many interpretations as there are interpreters. Christians all over the world read the Bible in different ways. My hope is to consider the different contexts and different readings that have shaped how the Bible has been interpreted in recent years. The variety is indeed part of my point—variety makes a world of difference!
I will explore the biblical text from several angles—what lies “behind” the text, what lies “in” the text, and what lies “in front of” the text. So first we will look at the text in its ancient social location, that is, what lies behind the text. Then we will take a look at what’s in the text. In particular, my focus is Deuteronomy and the “family” of books related to it theologically (Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings) that tell the covenant history of Israel and Judah. Then I will consider those who read these ancient texts today, that is, what lies in front of the text. This approach might differ from your usual Bible study, but by looking at ancient writers and contemporary readers, we can think about how we might read and interpret responsibly amidst multiple voices in the contemporary world.
Wood Tick: Wisdom for the General Assembly
Ahhhhh! Wood tick!
The scream sent the three of us for separate parts of the travel trailer, stripping off jeans and shirts as we scampered to do body searches and shake out our clothes. The trailer was rockin’ and rollin’ as the three of us were soon jumping on one leg trying to extricate ourselves from tight sweaty jeans. By the time I had managed to strip off my jeans and t-shirt, the shower was already running. One of the girls had beaten me. I got relegated to shake out clothes and to stand last in the shower line. Chelsea and Linda got the task of fine combing Bud the Lab. In the end, we found over a dozen of the eight-legged little beasts on us, three embedded in flesh, and still more slinking around the trailer days after our initial episode. And all this from just a half-hour walk on the trail around Kiche Manitou Lake in southern Manitoba’s Spruce Woods Provincial Park.
No to Gay Clergy
PC(USA)—A General Assembly amendment that would allow presbyteries to ordain openly gay or lesbian clergy in the Presbyterian Church (USA) was defeated in late April.
Anti-Semitism Rises
ENI—The global economic crisis has led to a rise in reported incidents of anti-Semitism in Canada, says a prominent Jewish human rights and humanitarian organization.
Feeding the future
Karen Mills says her life has done a complete turn-around since discovering Family Futures, a program that helps single mothers and is run out of St. Paul’s, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
In the fall of 2007, Mills was pregnant and also had four children. The church’s community kitchen has a partnership with Family Futures, a non-government organization that works with mothers who are pregnant or have recently had a child and are at risk due to different socio-economic factors.
Once a month the church hosts a cooking class and provides all the ingredients for a meal. Family Futures provides the transportation and childcare. Families work together to make meals for each family to take home, and also discuss different recipes and budgeting.
Through attending the Family Futures meal nights at St. Paul’s, Mills met several ladies at the church who she describes as friendly, outgoing, understanding and supportive.
Topping to Teach
Rev. Dr. Richard Topping has been appointed the first professor of Studies in the Reformed Tradition at St. Andrew’s Hall. He will begin July 1.
Calvin’s Capitalism
ENI—German Bishop Margot Kässmann has criticized the Protestant work ethic ascribed to the 16th century theologian John Calvin, saying it has excesses in the current social and economic climate.
Nurse Williams now a Doctor
Ten graduates (see photos elsewhere in this issue), one candidate in lay leadership and three honorary degrees were handed out early May at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal, for the 142nd convocation of Presbyterian College.
Rev. Glynis Williams, executive director of Action Refugiés Montréal, was awarded an honourary Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa), presented by Professor Robert C. Culley. A former nurse, Williams was ordained in 1989. The organization she leads was founded in 1994 by the Anglican and Presbyterian churches to help refugees realize their right to asylum and rebuild their lives in a new community. It is one of the few organizations in Quebec that facilitate private sponsorship of refugees living in danger overseas. Action Refugiés also “twins” volunteers with newly arrived refugees and provides support and counsel to those detained by Immigration Canada, emphasizing the particular barriers faced by women and children.
German Guns
ENI—Germany’s top Protestant cleric, Bishop Wolfgang Huber, has castigated the fact that his country has become the top armaments exporting nation of Europe.
Looking Forward to Witness
Finishing a field placement with past moderator of General Assembly Rev. Dr. Hans Kouwenberg, I found myself on Easter morning with a front row seat for the baptism of seven people from two different families, and all different ages. My job was to help get folks in order and aid in handing out Bibles and certificates of baptism.
The Stuttering Servant
A recent cover of Time asked, “What Scares You Most?” How would you respond? Hundreds of phobias were listed including Arachibutyrophobia, which is fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth! My dog has this fear, but I do not. However, I do experience the number one fear among humans—speaking in public.
After the release of my first book, the phone rang. I answered. “Phil, we would like you to speak to our high school graduating class,” said a sweet voice from a nearby school. “You went to high school once, so we thought you’d have something to tell the graduates.”
“Um …” I stammered, “I would rather crawl across molten metal in a loincloth.” No, I didn’t say that. But I did say, “Well … uh … let me think about it for a minute. There, I thought about it. I can’t. I just get too nervous. My lips quiver. My knees knock. My liver hurts. I drool. But … um … thanks anyway. Please call me again. In about four hundred years.”
The Forgotten God
The Holy Spirit has sometimes been referred to as the Cinderella of Christian theology; when the other two “sisters” of the Trinity were taken to the party, the Spirit was left at home.
We begin, therefore, by asking whether the Holy Spirit is an invited (dare I say welcome!) guest in our churches. The Canadian Presbyterian theologian Walter Bryden once offered this friendly provocation: “The average church member would not be a little upset were a fellow worshipper to insist on speaking to him in regard to the ‘joy’ to be had in the Holy Spirit.”
It is true that speaking about the Holy Spirit, even amongst ministers, elders, and theological students, is sometimes met with an awkward silence or a blank stare. But perhaps we come by this honestly. Our creeds and confessions are frequently silent on the subject, with the result that we ignore what the Bible says. (Have you ever noticed, for example, that the Westminster Confession of Faith has no chapter on the Holy Spirit?)
Who Is This?
Third Sunday after Pentecost
Mark 4:35-41
Mark tells us Jesus spent a whole day in a boat. The crowd around him was so big, and so persistent. He ended up in the water. His friends pushed the boat a few yards out from shore. Jesus sat there and began to teach (4:1,2). Even on a sloping beach, do you suppose they all could see him? Let alone hear him.
This isn’t a photographic report of an event. This is a painting-with-words of a person. To say “he sat down” paints a rabbi. A teacher of wisdom. One with authority. Who knew his Bible. And his history. And his people. When Mark paints a boat he means something bigger than a Galilee boat, which isn’t much longer than a Lunenburg dory. Mark paints an Ark of a boat.
Korean Living Faith
After thorough revisions by members of the Han-Ca presbyteries, a church doctrine subcommittee and a publisher in Korea, a Korean version of Living Faith is expected to come before General Assembly later this month.
Bring on the learning
Most people in the world do not enjoy the freedoms we do in Canada. Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms sets out the “fundamental freedoms” we enjoy: freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of association.
Lively and Engaging Record
The Presbyterian Record received four first place awards at the annual Associated Church Press conference.
Presbyterian Whodunit
Jayne Self, author and wife of moderator-elect Rev. Harvey Self, is among six finalists contending for this year’s Word Guild prize for best new Christian author.
Over and Over and Over Again
It’s a phrase I’ve heard many times over the years. It’s always mentioned when there is some conflict in a church. When the congregation splits or is in the midst of debating a heated issue. It’s almost always directed towards the session, quite often towards presbytery. It’s almost always worded something like this: “I didn’t realize they (presbytery or session) made that decision. It was done in secret.”
In secret.