Barring a new candidate being presented at General Assembly in June (in St. Catharines, Ont.), the 2006 moderator will not be a minister, marking a first for the church (a diaconal minister held the office in 1996). Rev. Stephen Kendall, principal clerk, said the situation has created a buzz. "It's exciting to have a lay person as moderator," he said. "There is a lot of interest in the church for lay persons' issues." Kendall couldn't say if other names had been put forward that didn't make it onto the ballot, although this information will be released once the new moderator is chosen. If a name did not appear on the ballot, it is for one of two reasons: the nomination came from only one presbytery instead of the required two, or the individual declined to let his or her name stand. The nominees for 2006 …

With only three days notice, 52 volunteers from St. Giles, Ottawa, provided dinner for 250 Kashechewan Cree, who had been evacuated from their James Bay homes. "We heard some of their impressions of Ottawa," writes Jean Currie. "'Everything is tall, the buildings and the trees are so high. Escalators and elevators are fun. Everything is so cheap, in Ottawa you can buy a newspaper for a dollar!' One lad wanted to go home because he missed his dad who had remained on the reserve."

(ENI) — A Roman Catholic church and school that were bombed in Nagasaki in 1945 have staged a new Japanese classical Noh drama called The Holy Mother of Nagasaki.

The new general secretary of the life and mission agency says communication is at the heart of the agency's work. "We have to put out a message that is uplifting, fulfilling and gospel-based, but do so with images that appeal. We have to be careful not to turn off very faithful members, but present the Presbyterian Church to the next generation," said Rev. Rick Fee.

The church doctrine committee celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Faith Concerning Church and Nation recently while meeting at the national office. Adopted in 1955, the declaration says the church must denounce and resist all forms of tyranny. It also says that church and state are intimately related.

(ENI) – Sweden's supreme court has acquitted pastor Ake Green of engaging in a hate speech against homosexuals, made in a sermon in 2003. Green described homosexuality as "abnormal, a horrible tumour in the body of society" and he said homosexual are "perverts, whose sexual drive the Devil has used as his strongest weapon against God". The supreme court noted in its verdict that Green's statements were made during a sermon, in a religious community and were based on a theme in the Bible. It said the sermon was protected by freedom of speech and religion.

(ENI) – Queen Elizabeth II extolled the unique role of the Christian Church in the search for meaning in the modern world when she opened the (Anglican) Church of England's general synod in London.

(ENI) – World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Samuel Kobia has told a gathering in front of the Swiss parliament that the deaths of close relatives due to HIV/AIDS has impelled him to speak out on the pandemic.

(ENI) – A top Italian Protestant has accused Pope Benedict XVI of setting back Christian unity by granting indulgences to Roman Catholics who carry out acts of devotion to the Virgin Mary to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council.

The nominees for Moderator of the 2006 General Assembly are Wilma Welsh, an elder at Knox, Guelph, and Les Young, an elder at Westmount, Edmonton. The Committee to Advise the Moderator will count ballots on April 3 and the chosen nominee will be inducted at assembly, held this year in St. Catharine's, Ont. Watch for nominee profiles in the Record's February issue.

It's a concept that's hard for Canadians to fathom, but in Malawi, where up to half the country's 12 million people don't have enough to eat, having the right to food enshrined in the constitution would be a major step forward.

The Presbyterian Church welcomed a federal announcement in late November to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which will be guided by principles established by a 1998-99 working group that explored the issue, and a financial package that will give $10,000 to every former student of Indian residential schools and an additional $3,000 for each year of attendance after the first. The deal was part of a series of initiatives to address the need for compensation and resolution in a comprehensive, fair and just manner.