Linda, will ya look at what that fool fossil from the Jurassic period is trying to do now. That bird thinks he is a delicate flying dove instead of a lumbering Pterodactyl." I was standing at our living room window pointing with disbelief.
Professor Ying Fuk Tsang, a divinity professor in Hong Kong, believes "the upsurge of Christianity is really a potential destabilising factor in the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party," which is concerned that the concept of democracy might be spread by the Protestant church, impacting on the social situation of the state.
Knox College, Toronto, and The Presbyterian College, Montreal, have agreed to formally discuss the desirability of a merger between the two schools. A joint committee has been appointed to explore future directions for both institutions. An agreement would require the approval of the Committee on Theological Education and the General Assembly.
Such is the power of myth, of story, that nearly 40 years on I can still recall that feeling of entering the wardrobe for the first time – the one that leads to the enchanting land of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Opening the book itself was like stepping into that other world of magic and talking animals. I knew nothing of C.S. Lewis then, but I still have the Puffin paperback set – the $5.95 sticker is still on the box—that was first printed the year I was born, a mere three years after Lewis completed the series.
Evangel Hall, a Toronto inner-city mission of the Presbyterian Church, is getting ready to open its brand new $13-million facility by the end of this year. Its 84 low-income housing units should be ready for tenants in January. Construction began in June 2004. "It's been a long dream, with lots of hurdles to overcome," said Joseph Taylor, executive director.
Marcel Ginchereau hasn't always been in such good spirits. At 43, he has lived a life of homelessness, drug addiction and alcohol dependency. A battle with schizophrenia that is now controlled with medication was a source of many ills. Now clean and sober for four years, he credits Evangel Hall and a strong devotion to God for turning his life around. "I was a real mess when I came here. You wouldn't recognize me," said Ginchereau, during an interview at Evangel Hall. "If God was not around, I'd be dead. He kept me alive for some purpose. I don't know what it is yet, but one day I will."
Contrasting images of the Holy Family have shaken my reality as I write this column in mid-October and think forward to the Advent season when it will be published.
The heads of seven church groupings from around the world are seeking to meet United Nations' Secretary General Kofi Annan to discuss continued UN action to cut the rate of global poverty.
I don't like the Christmas season. December is the most stressful month of the year, the good cheer is forced down our throats, suicide rates are at their highest, the music is tiresome and the money-bleed is shocking. The bathetic romance of family and friendship is in high gear, as if we must love and show our love more this month. It's a cheap collection of cheap emotions; and invariably some pompous columnist or sincere preacher or self-important relative will make the point that Christmas has become too materialistic.
Dorothy Henderson, associate secretary for Christian education shares some of her favourite books for youth leaders, teachers and parents.
The Supreme Court of Canada recently overturned a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling saying that the United Church is partially responsible for abuse incurred by students at its Port Alberni Indian Residential School. The unanimous decision found that the church is 25 per cent liable for damages, along with the federal government which assumes 75 per cent responsibility.
The older I get the more I'm convinced that memory and smell are linked. I love the smell of Christmas: Sugar cookies baking. The turkey sizzling. I love the taste of Christmas too: Mixed nuts. Mandarin oranges. Fresh dirt from one of my brother Tim's incoming snowballs. Ah, Christmastime.
Did you know once there were two Presbyterian churches in Goderich? Or that Knox Presbyterian Church in Goderich sponsored the first Wolf Cub Pack in Canada? Or that when Knox Church was rebuilt in Goderich after a devastating fire in 1950, it received the Governor General's Silver Award for most outstanding ecclesiastical building in Canada?
Why is it sometimes necessary to search outside of the formal writing of theologians to understand our faith? I am best able to understand the majesty of Christ not when I read Karl Barth, but when I look at the lion, Aslan. I am best able to imagine how evil works not when I read John Calvin, but when I consider the one ring and how it destroyed the life of Gollum. I am best able to grasp the courage of our convictions, not when I read Jurgen Moltmann, but when I see Harry Potter's refusal to be seduced by the power that Voldemort offers him.
A 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit parts of the south Asian subcontinent on Oct. 8. The quake was centered in the mountains of Pakistani Kashmir, near the Indian border, about 95 kilometres northeast of Islamabad. As many as 79,000 people have died, with at least 65,000 injured. An estimated three million people are homeless, in what are now winter conditions. Presbyterian World Service & Development is supporting the work of Action by Churches Together, which is providing immediate relief to survivors.
John Hoag and I were fellow members of Rosedale, Toronto, for 40 years. It was customary for John and Sarah and their two children, Hannah and Matthew, to sit in the pew immediately behind the one in which my family sat. This positioned me to hear his periodic insightful commentaries on what was taking place during the service-uttered sotto voce-sounding very similar to the hushed tones one hears from some television commentators during golf tournaments.
For the message of the cross is foolish to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Nine straight days of rains from Hurricane Stan saturated the porous volcanic soils within Guetamala in early October. The result was heavy flooding in the coastal areas where much of the commercial agriculture is concentrated. Rivers overflowed their banks, flooding the flat plains. In some places it created new pathways washing away homes, crops and livestock. The heavy rains were equally unmerciful in the highland areas where many native Mayan people live. The rains brought torrential amounts of mud and debris down mountainsides. Small streams and rivers overflowed and threatened entire communities in their path. Though many communities were evacuated, some did not receive any warning, particularly in Solola and San Marcos. These areas have now been declared mass graves.
The Rock and the Sword: A History of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Kingston, Ontario Brian S. Osborne Heinrich Heine Press at Grass Creek This volume […]
Committed… passionate… strong-minded… compassionate listener… sense of humour… pastor… friend… family man… faithful servant of Jesus Christ. These are just a few of the words […]