A new department has been launched at national offices, designed to quickly and easily provide resources and leadership, answer questions, and otherwise aid congregations and individuals in their work. Dubbed The Vine Helpline: Connecting People, Places and Programs, the department was officially launched in mid-January, and uses volunteers, national staff, and resource people stationed across Canada.
The term “church growth” makes me queasy, or at least, uneasy, in the same way that the term tilt-a-whirl makes me queasy at the fall fair or the announcement of turbulence makes me uneasy at 33,000 feet. I think the queasiness generates from the same place – I wonder who or what is driving this thing.
It started, like so many things, with a personal connection: A member at Knox, Agincourt, Toronto, has a brother-in-law serving in Afghanistan. The congregation decided to adopt him – they took this photo, the kids made the “Hi Bob” sign. With cards at Christmas and his birthday and, little notes of encouragement, Soldier Bob will always know somebody is thinking of him. Knox, Agincourt, would love to see other churches Adopt-A-Soldier. Click here for an enlargement of this photo.
ENI – International organizations representing young people from all main Christian traditions say they are anguished at not being able to share in the Lord's Supper together.
Two names will appear on the ballot for Moderator of the 2008 General Assembly, both immigrants from two very Presbyterian countries: Rev. Thomas Kay of […]
Moderator Rev. Hans Kouwenberg spoke with Prime Minister Stephen Harper about poverty and First Nations' issues in Ottawa last December. Kouwenberg delivered a church leaders' letter on poverty that was signed by all members of the Canadian Council of Churches.
Augusta Gómez remembers when her mother began to work with Soynica — a partner of Presbyterian World Service & Development committed to helping communities in Nicaragua improve nutrition — more than seven years ago. She watched over the next five years as her mother transformed her one-and-a-half acres of land into a kaleidoscope of fruit and vegetables destined for the local market and family dinner table. Not bad, Augusta thought, but she was sure she could do even better with the plot of land right next to her mother's. And so began a bit of friendly competition that benefited both families.
ENI — A national campaign using Internet and television advertisements sponsored by several denominations aims to renew public interest in Christianity, says the Australian Bible Society.
ENI — “We are appealing to our churches to donate food, clothes and other essential supplies and gather them in their respective parishes,” Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said in early January after violence erupted following a disputed election in Kenya.
ENI — Pope Benedict XVl has authorized a special plenary indulgence to encourage “renewed holiness” for Catholics who make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the famous religious site in southern France, within a year of December 8, 2007.
Grandma was raised an Anglican; Grandpa not so much. He was raised a Methodist but I don't think Grandma ever held it against him. All […]
ENI — The Christian Federation of Malaysia expressed “deep disappointment and regret” at the government announcement that only Muslims were allowed to use the word 'Allah.' The Government said the word 'Allah' referred only to the Muslim God and that non-Muslims were banned from using the expression.
In a move that “shows the churches coming together,” the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council have agreed to unite. The October decision means the new global body will represent more than 80 million Reformed Christians in more than 100 million countries.
St. Paul said he saw in a mirror dimly (1 Cor. 13:12), which we take to mean that the looking glasses of his time weren't up to much. Not so now.
I'll never forget the first time I encountered homeless people begging on the streets. I was a student visiting Rome during an Easter vacation and walking down the Via Del Corso in the heart of the city's shopping district.
February 17, 2008(Second Sunday in Lent)John 3:1-17
Photos by Abel Pandy An abused wife. A drug-addicted teen. A homeless man. A just-arrived immigrant. A troubled child. All of these and many, many […]
Three leading Presbyterians participated in a one-day fast led by Canadian Foodgrains Bank, along with leaders from other denominations and agencies to help draw attention to ending world hunger.
One of the privileges of being a military chaplain is the ability to be present with soldiers in the most dangerous places. We visit them regularly and sometimes we stay with them. We listen to them trying to make sense of the senseless by asking real and deep questions. One soldier recently asked me: “Padre, I just killed two Taliban last night. What do you think God thinks about me?” I paused for a moment and thought about the soldier standing before me as a Canadian who is trained to kill but not born to kill. I had the privilege of looking into his eyes. From where we were standing, we could see in the distance children running behind their own house playing. I pointed at them and told the soldier that those children could not be playing if he was not there protecting them.
Although I live in Abbotsford with almost 100 churches, seven of which have an attendance of 1,500 to 5,000 on a weekend, I also live in British Columbia where 30 per cent of the population does not believe in God and 60 per cent does not attend church or any other faith institution at any time during the year.