Eaglemaniacs
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like bald eagles as a species, I just don't care for their personalities. They tend to be eaglemaniacs. Let me give you a case in point.
Magazine
Creating a culture of prevention
“I saw a lot of girls reflected in me,” Betty Makoni of Zimbabwe told the Record during a visit to Canada last year. “Exactly what they worried about was what once worried me. It was hard to explain why I wanted to do this, but in my heart, I felt that if I accomplished this mission, then I will have lived life to the full.”
Americans reconsider Korean synods
On the verge of recommending a synod of Korean-only presbyteries, the church polity committee of the Presbyterian Church (USA) had second thoughts. “Creating a separate synod based on ethnicity would open the door to Pandora's box,” said Tres Adams III, a theological student advisory delegate from Pittsburgh Seminary.
Wrestling with a crisis
The Neo-orthodox Theology of W.W. Bryden
Men, cease your childish ways
At the recent international AIDS conference held in Toronto, speaker after speaker pointed out that AIDS need not be nearly so widespread and destructive as it is. • Why then is AIDS so widespread and spreading? • The answer you get depends on who you ask, as Andrew Faiz's in-depth report in this issue reveals. Some people blame poverty, some politics. Some point fingers at homosexuals, others at prostitutes and intravenous drug users.
Ending violence against children
A declaration calling for “action by all African governments and other stakeholders to take immediate steps to end all forms of violence against children” was signed by the delegates of an international children's rights conference in Ethiopia in May.
Same-sex issues stir Presbyterian churches
Decentralization and debates surrounding the same-sex issue have left Presbyterians in the United States largely unaware of the denomination's national mission and development work, says the church's new head of national and international ministries.
The mission of today
I have just returned from attending the Ecumenical and Interfaith pre-conference meeting held prior to the International Aids Conference in Toronto. It was an incredible experience to have the opportunity to talk to individuals from all around the world who are committed to “Keeping the Promise” to do everything possible to help stamp out HIV/AIDS; to work together Towards A World Without Aids including encouraging governments to take up this challenge. We as a denomination have responded exceptionally well to the financial campaign in raising over $750,000 – our goal was $500,000. Congregations are to be commended for the creative initiatives they have taken in having special events to raise funds and awareness of this serious HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is the mission of today by people of all faiths, to stamp out this dreaded virus. Many of the participants at the conference are living with the HIV virus and shared their stories. Many have lost their loved ones to AIDS. Grandmothers, some with as many as 30 grandchildren, are bearing the responsibility of raising young children. It is so hard to comprehend the vastness of this problem. In the developed world most have the privilege of getting the drugs needed to sustain a quality of life. In the developing world the drugs are not available to everyone, so an affected person's only expectation is death, a suffering death. We need to help make it possible for everyone to have the opportunity to receive the needed drugs.
Honouring a memory by helping Kenyan kids
A Toronto congregation is doing three good turns with one simple project. Don's Schoolhouse Project, created by Morningside High Park Presbyterian Church, is raising money to build a school in Kenya, helping farmers in developing countries earn a fair wage by promoting fair trade coffee, and honoring the memory of church regular Don Jennison, a former school principal and supporter of social justice who died in 2005. His famous question for people who had learned of an injustice was, “Well? What'cha gonna do about it?”
Six billion stories
I have a bag at my feet that weighs over 12 kilograms. It is filled with literature I picked up at the AIDS conferences in Toronto — the faith based and the international — in August. The bag is crammed with books, brochures, pamphlets, posters, CD ROMs (some of which may have dozens of documents on them), advertising campaigns, postcards and even a few toys from HIV/AIDS-related organizations around the planet. I have more information than I need on the socio-economic, psychological, political, medical, scientific and spiritual aspects of the virus. In this bag are pharmaceutical corporations explaining their medicines and advocacy groups damning pharmaceuticals. Mostly, though, the bag is filled with very similar sounding material from many, many, many different advocacy agencies.
Lutheran synod approves same-sex blessings
Delegates of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada's Eastern Synod voted July 6 to allow individual congregations to decide whether same-sex unions may be blessed in their parishes.
The connected church
For perhaps the first time in our denomination's history, we are able to use technology effectively to bridge gaps of isolationism. We use e-mail to connect instantly with people across the country. We access the Internet to discover the latest news about our church's disaster response. We search the denomination's website for the location of a church in an area that we intend to visit.
145 Years of Blessings
Argyle Presbyterian Church, in the former hamlet of Crinan, now under West Lorne, Ontario has celebrated its 145th Anniversary.
Day of rejoicing (not!)
My son Stephen has enrolled in Prairie Bible College, a decision that has his mother and me rejoicing and sniffling and clutching our wallets all at once. The price for Bible college has not decreased since I attended in the latter half of the last century, but I assured him it would not be a problem. We would sell his little brother into slavery to pay for the first semester.*
Czechs sell churches
ENI – The Czech Republic's Roman Catholic church is selling properties at cut prices in an effort to cope with plummeting congregations and donations.
It’s called ‘theism’
The Bible can be read in the spirit of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, says a pastor who teaches the ritual renowned for its tranquility and attention to detail that has been influenced by Zen Buddhism.
Beatings, hugs, shunning
The media has made much of the Conservative government's promise to crack down on violent crime and impose mandatory sentencing on perpetrators. The arguments in the press usually focus on whether the proposal is just a bunch of smoke and mirrors or whether it will be effective in stopping violent crime.
Healing and reconciliation animator named
The Life and Mission Agency has announced that Lori Ransom, an elder at St. Andrew's, King Street, Toronto, and member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation (Pembroke, Ont.) will be the church's first Healing and Reconciliation Program Animator.
CIDA supports
A cheque in the amount of $2,200,000 from the Canadian International Development Agency and made payable to Presbyterian World Service and Development was received in early July. PWS&D is administering the tsunami relief program in India which has brought together a joint effort of the Presbyterian, United, Mennonite and Anglican Churches. The happy PWS&D members are Alex Macdonald, Rev. Rick Fee, Karen Plater, John Popiel, Guy Smagghe and Colleen McCue.
Serious 'God problems'
ENI – A US survey confirmed that the Democratic Party has “a serious God problem,” with only 26 per cent of those surveyed feeling the party is friendly to religion.