‘Our faith demands more of us’ ‘HIV/AIDS is simply a mirror to look closely at the world we live in. HIV/AIDS is not the sin: […]

Forty years ago a major decision was made at General Assembly. After days of debate, the question of the ordination of women as elders and as ministers of word and sacrament was put to a vote. Despite a number of recorded dissents, the recommendation passed and women were able to be ordained.

All women members of the church should accept the responsibility and be given the opportunity of serving Jesus Christ and their fellow human beings in all areas and occupations of life as the members of his body. This in turn should be the example to the world of how women should be accepted in all spheres of activity.

I was in Nigeria, working with the the Board of Missions (now the WMS) when the General Assembly made the decision to ordain women as teaching and ruling elders, and my memories of that first debate are all secondhand. I have a much clearer memory of the second debate in the early 1980s (often referred to as the “liberty of conscience” debate).

The facts of the decision to ordain women to ministry, both to the eldership and to word and sacrament are before me as I write. The timeline for decision-making is so easily set out. In 1953, the Synod of Manitoba sent an overture to the General Assembly on the place of women in the church, and in the following year clarified that “yes” the overture included the ordination of women. In 1955, the dialogue began and continued with a committee and then a new committee — more overtures, a “no” decision. More committees at work, another vote and in 1966 the decision is made. It all seems very Presbyterian!

There were more standing ovations at the 132nd General Assembly, held at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont. in June, than assembly regulars remember from previous years. A discussion on sanctuary gained a little heat; there were admonitions to remember the Sabbath, concerns about declining givings to Presbyterians Sharing and questions about why seven commissioners from the Eastern Han-Ca Presbytery did not show. Still, and despite the usual battles over money and history, this was a genial gathering.

Karuna Roy, this year's recipient of the E.H. Johnson award, has devoted her life to working with untouchables — people who are outcast from society, driven away, rejected. After 20 years working with the Leprosy Mission in India, Roy turned her attention to a new sort of untouchable. “People with HIV are driven from their homes, and suffer and die in the wilderness,” said Roy during an address to the assembly. “God is the power that is enabling me to serve in this role. The situation is grim and bleak, but God has planted us in the right place to serve such people under atrocious conditions.”

Monday 6 February An interfaith committee meets at the Olympic village for the last formal meeting before the games begin. The Mohammed caricatures controversy is […]

After hours of debate and several defeated amendments, General Assembly agreed congregations can offer sanctuary to an asylum seeker whose claim for refugee status has been rejected and who faces a risk of persecution if returned to his/her country of origin. While making a decision, a congregation should consider the following steps: 1. have an independent review of the evidence provided by the asylum seeker that confirms the risk; 2. have exhausted all of the legal and political resources as outlined in the statement from Justice Ministries; 3. have followed the decision-making procedures of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. The assembly also decided that Justice Ministries will prepare guidelines for a congregation to consider as it discerns the implications of offering sanctuary.

I didn't know General Assembly could be so much fun,” said Moderator Wilma Welsh as the 132nd General Assembly adjourned until next year. That was not the first time that the word fun was voiced though occasionally it was with a murmured: “Are we here for fun?” Still there was wide spread agreement that this was indeed a fun assembly.

Honestly, going in I was pretty sure I was going to need to amuse myself during the sessions. Accordingly, I went armed with gum, highlighters, a water bottle, a pad of paper and lots of pencils for doodling. It's not a surprise that I filled nearly 25 pages of my notebook, but no one is more surprised than I that it is full of notes, not drawings. There are a total of two doodles, each about one centimetre in diameter, in the entire thing. This is a big deal. In order for me not to be doodling I have to be very interested in what's going on. Somehow, the highest court of The Presbyterian Church in Canada held my attention as its commissioners debated and voted throughout the week. Because of the support of the commissioners, I even found the courage to go to the microphone and speak to an issue that was being discussed.

General Assembly showed its support of the church's healing and reconciliation initiatives by deciding that any funds saved through the overall residential schools settlement between the church and Aboriginal peoples be used for healing and reconciliation purposes only.

Congregations will have to pay health and dental premiums only during the first six months of a vacancy as of July 1st. A 1988 decision held premiums for 12 months. The Pension and Benefits board will review this on an annual basis. The estimated loss of revenue of about $105,000, or about 2.2 per cent of the total benefit plan premiums, may eventually result in increased premium amounts.

The International Affairs Committee presented global public health as its second theme for the church. It follows last year's focus on water as a sacred […]

Knox College, The Presbyterian College, Vancouver School of Theology

In a civilization that has lost the meaning of life the most important thing a Christian can do is to live … this life alone can break the illusions of the modern world … – Jacques Ellul, The Presence of the Kingdom

The trunk has been passed down from generation to generation and its beauty is ageless, untouched by time or change. Many people think that it is outdated and has no significance in the world today, but they do not have the key. There is only one way to open the trunk and discover the beauty inside and the key is attainable to whoever accepts it, but many don't. The trunk and its contents are majestic! The treasures inside are beautiful beyond description. The thing that is most incredible about the trunk is that it is personal. The name of each one who opens it is engraved on the velvet-lined lid. It's as though the trunk were handcrafted just for each individual. As though it is the centre of one's being, and the reason for living. This trunk is my life.

There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.- Charles Robert Darwin, The Origin of Species

We were walking along a dusty village road, across a muddy creek with its slimy green pools of water that were waiting for the rains to come and wash them clean; pools that were being used for local laundry.

God, in your grace, transform the world.