Magazine

UN Adopts Rights of Indigenous Peoples

amymaclachlan

A United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples passed in September is “fundamentally flawed and lacks clear, practical guidance for implementation,” according to Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and Maxime Bernier, Minister of Foreign Affairs in a press release. “It also does not recognize Canada's need to balance indigenous rights to lands and resources with the rights of others.” Canada along with the United States, Australia and New Zealand declined to sign.

Belief grows in Community

davidharris

At one point, as we were working on the cover of this issue, we had a photograph of some worshippers with the title The New Evangelicals, referring to a new thrust of evangelicalism in the United States on social issues, particularly poverty.

PWS&D Launches New Way to Give

communications

Presbyterian World Service & Development launched the Loaves & Fishes Fund, a planned giving fund that enables donors to give equity that is invested and used over a seven year period. Unveiled in October, the fund plays on Jesus' miracle of the multiplying loaves and fishes, creating enough to feed the multitude, with plenty left over.

Looking Forward

Rev. Dr. J. H. Hans Kouwenberg

Janus, the Roman god of gates, doors and new beginnings – after which the month of January gets its name – is often portrayed as having two faces, one looking backward and the other looking forward. Christians believe God is the God of the past, the present, and the future (Exod. 3:14a), as well as the God of new beginnings (Rev. 21:5b). Jesus, our Saviour and Lord, portrayed by John as being “the door” by which we enter into new life (Jn. 10:1-10), is also spoken of as being “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). It's helpful to meditate on the faithfulness of God's mercies through the seasons of life (Lam. 3:21, 22), and the ability of God to bring us into new beginnings through Christ (2 Cor. 5:17-18a) as we observe another transition from the Old to the New Year.

Healthy Turnout for Trinity

amymaclachlan

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Oro, appears to be on its way to rebuilding its congregation. More than 190 adults, along with eight volunteers and 50 children, attended the first service following the departure of more than 1,000 worshippers to former minister Rev. Carey Nieuwhof's Connexus Community Church. Sunday worship is at 10 a.m. led by weekly guest ministers. A children's program is provided, a youth program is being developed, and small groups should soon be functioning.

Jesus Good

afaiz

With friends like Bruxy Cavey who needs enemies? Cavey is a pastor with The Meeting House, a non-denominational church in the Toronto area. He's also the author of The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus. In the preface he writes, “Religion uses rules to force our steps, guilt to keep us in line, and rituals to remind us of our failure to live up to those rules. In doing this, religion adds more weight to those who are already burdened with life's hardships. But Jesus offers us the rest we're searching for.”

Presby-assyrians

Jennifer Higgs

The story of a small town and congregation in rural Saskatchewan begins halfway around the world and more than 100 years ago, when settlers from Persia came to North Battleford to build their future on Canadian soil. They fled from religious persecution and formed a Presbyterian community that continues to influence worshippers today.

Of Bumper Cars and Harpoons

Phil Callaway

My grandfather Callaway was a combination of the graceful and the geezer. He loved a good laugh, but he also loved to talk about his ailments once the entire family had gathered around the dinner table and the food had been doled out. “So I remember when the doctors had to root through me and take out my spleen. Stayed awake for the whole thing. Watched 'em dig it outa there all wrinkled and green. I asked 'em to pickle it for me. Put it in a jar. I kept it for years on the counter. Looked like a big hairy cucumber. Hey, where's everybody going? Mind if I eat your carrots?”

The Protestant Liturgy

Stephen Hayes

Kathleen Norris, the American poet and author well known for her meditations on the Christian faith (The Cloister Walk, Amazing Grace), refers to hymns as “the Protestant liturgy” in one of her books.

Minorities Forum

communications

Justice Ministries will host a Forum for Ethnic and Racial Minorities in the Presbyterian Church in Canada on April 4-6 at Crieff Hills Retreat Centre, Puslinch, Ont. The theme for the event is Change and Diversity in the Church, and will feature Rev. Paulette Brown, a doctoral candidate at Knox College and former minister at University Presbyterian, Toronto.

Lakeside, Summerland, BC

communications

The women of Lakeside, Summerland, B.C., had a gee-whiz idea. They started with a table and a tarp and soon graduated to a mini-cafe where they a) got to know each other, b) developed a Presbyterian presence in the community, c) were able to develop their own sense of ministry in an environment comfortable to them, d) got to know the community better and visit with many tourists, and e) raised $3,000 for PWS&D. That's some idea.

Canadian on WCC body

communications

ENI — Anglican theologian Rev. John Saint Helier Gibaut, who teaches at a Roman Catholic university, is to head a post at the World Council of Churches that deals with matters of church unity. He will take his position as head of the WCC's Commission on Faith and Order in January.

WCC Essay Contest

communications

Students of theology and young theologians are invited by the World Council of Churches to bring their perspective to the discussion about the future of the ecumenical movement by participating in an essay competition to mark the Council's 60th anniversary.