Lindsey Hepburn is the Presbyterian Church's new Mission Interpretation Coordinator. The Glenview, Toronto, member is a Dalhousie graduate with an honours degree in International Development and Spanish. Hepburn has participated in a few short term mission programs and brings great enthusiasm to developing this portfolio. The mission interpretation coordinator helps congregations experience mission by facilitating short term mission trips, study tours and volunteer experiences in Canada and overseas for congregations and individuals; connecting mission speakers with congregations, including international staff, short term volunteers, participants in study tours, and national church staff; and preparing resource material to help congregations and individuals learn how they can do mission at home, nationally and internationally. Hepburn started in September, replacing Barbara Nawratil who has moved into the finance office.

The man who fought ceaselessly to have a suicide barrier erected over one of Toronto's most notorious bridges was honoured by the city with a memorial plaque in July. Al Birney, who died of a heart attack in June, 2006, was described by his friend Rev. Greg Dickson, as “absolutely sold out for Christ. He didn't care what people thought. He just wanted everyone to know that Jesus was foremost in his life.” The two participated in a weekly men's prayer group at St. Andrew's, Scarborough.

ENI—LIBYA — “People are respecting us. They accept us. We are free,” said Roman Catholic Bishop Giovanni Martinelli of growing religious freedom in Libya. For three decades, following the 1969 revolution led by Moammar Gadhafi, the tiny Christian community in this overwhelmingly Muslim country faced restrictions and hostility. But a new wave of religious freedom is sweeping the country.

Thirty international scholars met at Presbyterian College, Montreal, in August to discuss the life and work of Italian Reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli. The conference was scheduled to recognize the 50th anniversary of Prof. Joseph McLelland's pioneer study, The Visible Words of God: The Sacramental Theology of Peter Martyr Vermigli , and the 30th anniversary of the conference which established the Peter Martyr Library in 1977. This series of English translations has published nine of 12 volumes, with a second series of 12 planned.

A Guatemalan woman sprays her vegetable plot with an organic, homemade pesticide. Extensive use of chemical pesticides has led to pest resilience, health issues and growing expenses. PWS&D is working with a local partner on a best-practices project which recycles household waste into pesticide and diversifies crop production for a more nutritional diet.

In a reversal of a Lower Church court ruling, Rev. Jane Adams Spahr has been found guilty of violating The Presbyterian Church (USA)'s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by performing weddings for two lesbian couples.

Margaret Avison, a much-celebrated Canadian poet described as “one of the great religious poets” of the 20th century—and who spent a while sojourning among Presbyterians at Knox, Spadina, Toronto, from the 1960s to the 1990s—passed away at age 89 on July 27 from complications following hip surgery after a fall. She won the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize four years ago and was twice a winner of the Governor General's Award for poetry in a literary career that spanned 40 years. Her first award-winning book of poetry, Winter Sun, was published in 1960. She became what she called a “committed Christian” in 1963 by “listening” more deeply to the message of the Bible and, after that time, as is so evident in her next book, The Dumbfounding (1966), she often wrote about her deeply held, yet private, personal Christian faith. Many critics compare her work to the great metaphysical poets of the 17th century.

ENI — The Islamic Council of Norway and the (Lutheran) Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations jointly declared in August that everyone is free to adopt the religious faith of their choice.

WCC — Three major Christian bodies are supporting a code of conduct to guide activities seeking converts to Christianity. The World Evangelical Alliance recently joined the World Council of Churches and the Vatican in supporting the code at an August consultation in France. The code is expected to be finalized by 2010.

ENI — Malawi's largest Protestant church's outgoing general secretary has declared himself “very satisfied” with his attempts to stem membership losses.