Many congregation members often wonder, and worry about what goes on in theological colleges. Where do ministers come from? What do they learn? Why do they have to go to Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal for at least three years? I hope I will provide some answers by providing a brief history of theological education, to which I have added some proposals.
It seemed like a bad idea at the time. But a friend was listening and sipping coffee, so I thought I'd give it a try. "Hey," I said, past a mouthful of muffin, "how about we get some guys together a few times a month for a reading group. We'll discuss something serious like Plato…or Archie comic books. We can meet at my house."
Helping others often entails sacrifice. For Alexander Kalimbira, a professor at the University of Malawi but currently studying nutrition in Canada, putting his own needs second is something he's learned to deal with. "We challenged tradition," said Kalimbira, about the risk he and five male colleagues took when they decided to study home economics and nutrition at university. "You don't see a lot of men in Malawi taking those classes. Men don't usually cook, but in class, we had to cook. The other students jeered at us."
It's hard to believe that I first heard an exposition of this passage of scripture almost 40 years ago by Rev. Dr. John Stott, then […]
Churches across the country have held dinners, concerts, sales and education sessions to raise funds for AIDS victims. These are just a few of the myriad of our mission workers.
Churches in Ontario are trying to persuade the government to change a proposed law that could, if passed, let the province designate a property as a heritage site and saddle the owners with the upkeep — even if a congregation is no longer viable. Only a last-minute intervention in Dec. by an ecumenical delegation prevented a third and final reading of proposed changes to the Heritage Act from becoming law. Churches were not consulted during the legislative planning process, said Archdeacon Harry Huskins, an Anglican Church representative. "The government assumed that churches were backed by large national denominations with millions of dollars to maintain these buildings," said Huskins. "They didn't realize that the money comes in on the plate one Sunday and goes out the next."
Eighty-two per cent of American teens are affiliated with a religious congregation, according to the National Study of Youth and Religion, produced by the University of North Carolina and funded by the Lilly Endowment. The study concluded that "religion really does matter" to teenagers, even though their religious knowledge is "meager, nebulous and often fallacious."
Knox College will be bestowing an honourary Doctor of Divinity degree upon Rev. Rick Fee at its 161 convocation on May 11. A graduate of Knox in 1976, Fee is the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and director of Presbyterian World Service & Development. The ceremony will take place at the University of Toronto's convocation hall, where Rev. Gordon Fish will also be honoured for his 41 years of service to the Presbyterian church. Graduating Knox in 1960, Fish's focus has been on ministry in the media. He sat on the Religious Advisory Committee for CFTO television, and filmed and appeared on several religious TV series.
Churches in Africa are being urged to speak out more forcefully about sexual violence against women, an issue highlighted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Speaking at a United Nations conference in New York, Annan said there has been progress in the past decade with regards to women's rights, but further action is needed to stop violence against women. "That means leadership in showing, by example, that when it comes to violence against women and girls, there are no grounds for tolerance and no tolerable excuses."
Close enough to Toronto to commute to work, yet far enough away to enjoy a slower pace and nature's bounties, the Presbytery of Lindsay-Peterborough faces some unique challenges and interesting possibilities. Older individuals flock to the tranquil towns and rolling hills, looking for relaxation in retirement. Small, rural towns add country charm, while the presbytery's northern bounds dip into cottage country — bringing a wealth of city escapees to its shores in the summer months.
Earlier this year the sordid culture of death found another hero. Marcel Tremblay killed himself in Ottawa, after announcing that he wished to "die with dignity". One of the many tragedies of this event was that dignity was the very last thing with which the 78-year-old man died.
A story in the March issue on executive salary increases at the church's national offices should have noted that pay raises for associate secretaries slated to begin next January are contingent upon acceptance of a proposal from Assembly Council to General Assembly that would cement responsibility for setting national staff compensation with the council.
You might say I am rather fond of the Aspen tree (Populus tremuliodes). I like its slippery smooth silvery bark. I like its small heart shaped leaf, delicate, suspended on a flat petiole that lets every individual leaf tremble at the insinuation of a spring breeze. I like its soft creamy wood that yields to a sharp pocketknife like Edam cheese. I like its blazing yellow color that transforms the failing light of Autumn, its fragile black lace silhouette on the white hills of winter, its downy catkin fluff coating the spring roads like dance wax snow and its mist of Aspen syrup that sugar coats my truck on warm summer nights. I like everything about the Aspen tree. But most of all I like the way the Aspen grows.
In the midst of rising violence in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, an American nun was shot dead by what are believed to be contract killers. Dorothy Stang, a 74-year-old missionary living in Brazil for 30 years, worked to defend the forest and peasant farmers from illegal ranchers, loggers and landowners.
Rev. Andrew Johnston (far right) of St. Andrew's, Ottawa, delivered the homily at an ecumenical worship service in Notre Dame Cathedral in Ottawa Jan. 23 marking the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity." Johnston is president of the Christian Council of the Capital Area.
It rests there, survivor of several massive earthquakes, Latin Crusaders and the capture in the 15th century by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror who made it his imperial mosque. Arguably the greatest church in Christendom, Hagia Sophia, representative of Orthodox Christianity and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, dominating the skyline of Istanbul, surrounded by four minarets, is a museum. Ataturk, father of modern Turkey, ordered the designation in 1934.
As a minister I receive unsolicited mailings of theological tripe from various factions of the Christian Right all the time. The issue is not about the faith integrity of individuals, but the distorted dogma driving American policy. This fundamentalist movement has exerted unprecedented influence over the Bush administration during its first term and there is every reason to be alarmed over their continued influence in the U.S., Canada and indeed the world.
As was first reported in the July 2004 Record Dorothy Henderson was awarded the 2005 Educator of the Year by the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators. She received her award at the association's annual convention held in Vancouver in February. Henderson is Associate Secretary for Christian Education for the national church. Among other things, she was honoured for her work on leadership development and intergenerational worship resources.
The Life and Mission Agency Committee has nominated Rev. Richard Fee for the position of General Secretary of the Life and Mission Agency. His name will be presented to General Assembly in June for approval. Fee is currently the Director of Presbyterian World Service and Development and Moderator of the 130th General Assembly. He would succeed Rev. J.P. Ian Morrison who is retiring later this year.
Across Canada flags were at half mast. Newspaper headings asked, "Why"? When four young Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers were slain on a farm near Mayerthorpe, Alta., Canadians wanted the answer to that question. All citizens of Canada surely felt some degree of the pain and suffering that this event brought to the immediate families of these officers and to their colleagues in the peace and armed forces that serve our nation.