China can solve problems
ENI – China is developing as a global leader with potential to help solve the world's problems, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said in Nanjing during his first visit to the People's Republic.
Magazine
A lot of joy
In a growing region that has several universities and colleges, it's no surprise that children and youth ministries are the focus for numerous churches in the Waterloo-Wellington presbytery. Sunday schools are being renewed and some congregations are offering innovative mid-week family programs.
Street Mission
Big city, big problems. Living amongst the wealthy and powerful of Toronto are the poor and helpless. According to the City of Toronto's homelessness report card in 2003 nearly half a million households had incomes below the poverty level. Over 30,000 individuals, including almost 5,000 children, stayed in a housing shelter at least once. Over 70,000 households were on the waiting list for subsidized housing.
Working for their guests
Some stopgap. Some band-aid.
Templeton prize winner
ENI – Many church leaders do not understand what journalism is all about, while secular media are often suspicious of religion, says Portuguese journalist Antonio Marujo, this year's winner of the John Templeton Prize for the European Religion Writer.
Fire and ice
It is Advent! Everyone in the Webber household who lives on the shores of Lac La Hache is hoping for fire and ice. Fire and ice is a tradition that goes all the way back to my own childhood, and in some form or other, back to most rural Canadian childhoods, I expect. When I was a kid, about the beginning of Advent, if the local slough could get a good freeze on it before any snow came, it became a sea of glass. Every kid in the lumber camp would work his or her tail off scrounging wood and dragging it onto the ice. Anything that would burn and wasn't nailed down was fair game, which once caused an outhouse to mysteriously disappear. All of the wood was stacked to form a huge bonfire. At night, whole families would gather for the ritual of fire and ice. The bonfire was lit, skates were strapped on, and soon blades were flashing and sizzling on the virgin ice. You could skate around on the edge of the dark for miles. It was the most liberating experience I have ever had in my life. All the time, the pillar of fire was both a beacon and warmth. All the time, the pillar of fire guided us with its blaze, warmed our very beings and was the centre for hot chocolate fellowship. The pillar of fire provided for our freedom on ice. It was absolutely wonderful.
Peace Nobel for 'banker'
ENI – The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank for pioneering small loans to poor people to set up in business, which has been hailed as a major boost for what is now called microfinance.
Kim warmly welcomed
Kenneth Kim was officially installed as the new director of Presbyterian World Service and Development on Nov. 3 at a recognition service at church offices. His new position follows 11 years of service in Central America with International Ministries.
A 130-year-old Record
In 1866, as the Fathers of Confederation were working on drafting the British North America Act that would lead to the creation of Canada the following year, a Montreal businessman and journalist, James Croil, was appointed an agent of the Presbyterian synod in connection with the Church of Scotland “to devise
Returning for the students
Asked why he teaches English in Taiwan as a volunteer, retired missionary Murray Garvin has a definite answer. “I enjoy the students more than anything else,” he told the Record during a visit to church offices in June. “They're mostly third-generation Christians. They're very dedicated, and there's a fervour that you don't see very often in the Canadian church. Most are pretty motivated.”
Black Bearded Barbarian on screen
The story of Presbyterian missionary George Leslie Mackay came to the big screen in November, with a special launch screening at the University of Toronto. The documentary takes its title, The Black Bearded Barbarian: Mackay of Taiwan, from the name given to Mackay by the people he served. The documentary also aired on Omni, in available television markets.
Much joy in villages
Last month I wrote to you while on the first leg of a visit to Chennai in southern India. Our time there was followed by much joy and several special events in the villages on the Bhil field in central India, beginning with celebrations at the airport in Indore where a large group gathered to welcome us.
Trauma, tragedy, tradition
The steel girder cross can be found kitty-corner from the World Trade Center site in New York City. Though it did once sit on the site, it is no longer there. It has been moved away from the tourist centre which now surrounds what was once the heart of commerce, trade and, most importantly, human interaction.
Presbyterian minister honoured for saving Jews
The Jewish community recently honoured a Canadian Presbyterian minister who helped Jews and Christians escape Nazi persecution during the Second World War. Rev. Dr. Fred Metzger, now retired, was declared “righteous among the nations” at a Yad Vashem ceremony in Vancouver in May. Alan Baker, Israel's ambassador to Canada, flew in from Ottawa for the presentation.
New minister inducted at A&P
Montreal's largest congregation received its new assistant minister, Rev. Steve Filyk, on a celebratory afternoon in October. The congregation of St. Andrew and St. Paul, along with presbytery members and ministers from around the city gathered at the historic church for the service of ordination.
It’s Jesus’ birthday
As a boy, I began looking forward to Christmas vacation in early September, about the time Mr. Kowalski started handing out those math assignments. By the time December arrived, my parents were whispering more than usual and I was wondering what magical things they had in store. There was little in the way of extra money, so one of those magical traditions was the making of colourful candles we would sell door to door, hoping to earn enough to buy gifts. Not all of the traditions were welcome. Sometimes my parents enjoyed travelling to visit relatives and friends. They had a highly sophisticated method of choosing whom we would visit, which involved the laying of a map of Canada on the floor and the tossing of relatives' pictures in the air. Whoever had their picture land closest to their hometown would receive a complementary weekend visit from the Callaways. Sometimes we'd end up in Carstairs, Alberta, and sometimes in Loon Lake, Saskatchewan. As I recall, my father never used a map, he went on faith. I always felt like the Wise Men must have felt, heading off on those trips.
Prostitution and AIDS
ENI – The Malawi Council of Churches and a multi-faith grouping, the Public Affairs Committee, are urging the government to introduce a law barring prostitution, which they say is fuelling the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Tomato workers not loving McDonald's
After declaring victory last year on Taco Bell for the treatment of Florida tomato pickers who supply the food chain, the Alliance for Fair Food, in association with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, are now going after McDonald's, the biggest fast food chain in North America.
Financial vision keeps growing
When George van Beek gave his first $5,000 grant to start the Experimental Fund back in 1981, he wasn't really sure what would become of it.
Priest played and won
ENI – A Roman Catholic priest who won approximately US$70,000 in a Polish television game show has said he plans to use the money for a new church in his parish that has been under construction for the past three years.