Magazine

We are the stone-rollers

Jean Morris

I remember one year in Sunday school we made a papier-maché tomb with a stone that covered the entrance. It stood in the corner of the room for a few weeks in Lent as a reminder of what was to come. On Easter Sunday we were stopped in our tracks as we observed the stone pushed away from the entrance and the empty tomb exposed for our viewing. I don't remember the lesson that day – but I'm pretty sure what it was. What I do remember is the stone rolled away. Like the angels at Jesus' tomb, our teacher had come early in the morning to roll away the stone.

Only grace can empower

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Economic and technological globalization has made it easier for strangers to talk as neighbours but is creating profound new challenges for the Christian church, said the moderator of the World Council of Churches at its ninth assembly in February in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

iLife, iThis, meThat

afaiz

My cell phone sucks. It doesn't take photographs, it doesn't make movies, it doesn't store or play music, it doesn't receive or send email and it doesn't store my address book. It doesn't even have games; no solitaire, no shoot-em-ups, no smash-em-ups, no Tetris, no chess. It does have Internet capacity but I don't know how to access it. And it does not play television shows. It does receive and send phone calls and the range is pretty good. But, really, it's just a phone and who needs that from a phone?

Bringing hope in the hurricane’s wake

Kelly Sibthorpe

Many natural disasters occur far away, but that was not the case with the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina off the Gulf Coast. Under the guidance of Rev. Terry Hastings, two teams of grunt workers, from Knox and St. Andrew's, both in Stratford, Ont., and other local churches, left in the wee hours one November night last year on a two-day drive to Orange Grove Camp in Gulfport, Mississippi. The eye of Katrina directly hit Gulfport on the night of Aug. 28, 2005. Orange Grove volunteer village was hastily set up after Katrina by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA). PWS&D, which sanctioned our group, works closely with PDA to co-ordinate volunteer groups from Canada.

Church of England to disinvest over occupation

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ENI – The general synod of the Church of England has voted for pulling funds from companies profiting from the "illegal occupation" of Palestinian territories. The synod said it was heeding "the call from our sister church, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, for morally responsible investment in the Palestinian occupied territories and, in particular, to disinvest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation."

The best is yet to come

Phil Callaway

Let me ask you a question. It's been on my mind since a friend asked it during our bi-weekly gathering of the Circle of Six. If you haven't heard of us yet, allow me to explain that we are six handsome middle-aged men who get together every other Wednesday to sample chocolate cheesecakes and consider deep questions such as, "I wonder if we should go on a diet?"

Clergy spiritually exhausted, stressed out

Amy Cameron

Forget the demise of the church. Look closer. Our ministers, according to a new study, are spiritually exhausted, stressed out, have few friends and little support. In short, Christian ministry in Canada is, in the words of the author of a recent report, “in crisis.”

Forgive us our trespasses

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ENI – The Church of England has apologized for the damage done by its role in the British transatlantic slave trade in the 19th century and earlier and it has pledged to continue campaigning against modern slavery.

Sharing for mission

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Congregations gave generously to Presbyterians Sharing in 2005, with a total of $8,672,720 received. Presbyterians Sharing is the fund that supports the ministries and mission of the church. As is tradition, a large percentage of the givings for the year is received during the first two weeks of January. This year was no exception, with 21 per cent or about $1.8 million collected by this time.

Pope endorses love's many splendours

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(ENI) – "Love is a single reality with different dimensions", Pope Benedict XVI stated in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love), issued in January. "Yet when the two dimensions are totally cut off from one another, the result is a caricature or at least an impoverished form of love."

From Abner’s store to praise bands

amymaclachlan

Flanking the ever-growing Yonge St. corridor, northeast of Toronto, Oak Ridges presbytery is an anomaly in the Presbyterian church. "I think we're in a growth mode," said Rev. Sam Priestley, minister at St. Andrew's, Markham. "Many communities have a large number of young families and couples moving in, and we endeavour to minister to them."

Seeking the frightening answers

Michael Coren

Toronto is still writhing after a series of fatal shootings in its black community and still in shock that a white teenaged girl became a Christmas victim of the slaughter. But if truth be told it doesn't really make very much difference if the shootings are in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton or anywhere else in Canada and it shouldn't matter if the communities in question are black or not.

Messing up the picture

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Last summer while camping at Horn Lake in the Chilcotin, I dragged myself out of bed at dawn to go and photograph Whitesaddle and Blackhorn mountains. This pair of spectacular peaks tower to 3,000 metres above sea level. The early morning sun spotlighted the peaks perfectly and the lake was absolutely calm leaving a stunning mirror image on its surface.

Eco-friendly churches

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A Catholic church in Toronto is slated to become the first Canadian church certified for its eco-friendly design by the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design rating system. LEED was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, a volunteer organization that promotes high-performance sustainable buildings.

Passionate Johnson recipient

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This year's recipient of the Dr. E.H. Johnson Award will be Karuna Roy, coordinator of the HIV/AIDS Program of the Church of North India. The award honours those "on the cutting edge of mission," and will be presented to Roy at a special luncheon during the 2006 General Assembly in St. Catharines, Ont.