A Rejuvenation
Planting and growing a church geared toward university students proved to be quite different from serving a more traditional Presbyterian congregation.
Magazine
Tilling and Seeding
While the congregation faced dwindling resources and discouragement, Rev. Alex Douglas saw pure potential. The unimposing, single-story church sits across the street from a profusion of new suburban houses—a mission field just beyond the doorstep.
Coming Home
What a difference a decade has made! In 2004, Montreal West was facing closure. Today, Montreal West counts some 140 members and adherents, many of them English-speaking Cameroonians from nearby suburbs, who have made the congregation one of the fastest growing in the presbytery. What made the difference?
How God Measures a Church
As I think back over my life at Knox, Drayton, Ont., it was the little things not written down on paper that I remember.
Green Fields
Congregations want change without changing; they want young members without making room for them. More than one clerical career has crashed against lazy and desperate congregational expectations. So, the best way to revitalize a church is to start from the beginning.
Out of the Past
The organ at St. Paul’s is one of very few Breckels and Matthews organs still in its original condition.
Listening First
The new associate secretary for Canadian Ministries says the first item on her to-do list is to listen. “I think any new leader has to […]
Government of Canada Extends Syria Relief Deadline
The Government of Canada has extended its deadline for matching Syria relief donations to Feb. 29. For each dollar donated by Canadians to registered charities […]
Toronto BIA Protests Street Mission’s Plans to Move into the Neighbourhood
Signs saying “No YSM” were posted in shop windows and along the street in Toronto’s Chinatown, and were carried in the hands of about 50 […]
Poetry, Hymns, War
Last summer I took a meandering tour to explore some of the history hidden in plain sight amongst the Presbyterian churches of Waterloo-Wellington presbytery.
Man found dead In the parking lot of Hanley Church
Around 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 19, police in Maple Ridge, B.C., found the body of 33-year-old Peter Bender shot dead in a car in the […]
Horrific History
I hold a picture of my parents in my hand. The picture is faded slightly, but the memories I have of them are very dear.
The Ministry of Camp
Last summer, I had the joy and privilege of being the chaplain at Glen Mohr camp for one week. My first confession about this experience is that I had never been to camp before.
The Wide Boulevard
Letter One: “I did not know that the Presbyterian Record and staff are supporters of the Liberal Party of Canada by having political articles in there [sic] magazine.”
Injecting Enthusiasm
Deceptively, all those Boomer children and their parents filled churches in the late 1950s and ‘60s to overflowing. The result was that mainline denominations in Canada thought they were on top of the world.
Love and Other Stories
Maybe it’s that half-light creates liminal spaces where imagination opens more easily. Think romantic candle-lit dinners for two. Or the way your children’s faces change in the light of birthday candles.
Surprised by Joy
Are you familiar with the concept of choosing a word of the year? The idea is to pick a word to focus on, meditate on and reflect on in daily life throughout the year. In January 2015, I chose the word joy.
Listening and Learning
It is like speaking the truth with your right hand on the Bible when you hold the feather. In a round circle at Kenora Fellowship Centre, Marvin shared his challenges.
Reaching Out Through Music
When I was approached by session two years ago about restarting a junior choir, my first thought was, “With whom?” Did they expect me to have a choir of four? Then I remembered El Sistema
Healing Nations
Paris had a trying 2015—there was the shooting at the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in January, and then the attacks in November. A few weeks […]