For the first time ever, the provisional Book of Reports for this month's General Assembly were posted online (www.presbyterian.ca) during the first week of May, at the same time reports were sent to commissioners, marking a more public approach to the business of the assembly. The reports detail the work of the church's various committees and departments over the last year and include recommendations to be voted on.
There is a propensity for forward-thinking and innovative ministers who aren't afraid to push the limits in the Presbytery of Barrie. While remaining Presbyterian, they have embraced the 21st century with contemporary worship, a renewed focus on outreach and evangelism to win people to Christ, and pared-down services that appeal to younger and/or unchurched folk.
The Presbytery of Essex-Kent is at a crossroads. In the midst of the heartbreak that comes with closing congregations, it must forge ahead, nurturing remaining parishioners and pushing through the comfort levels of healthy congregations that can cause stagnation. Rev. Scott McAndless, presbytery clerk and minister at Knox, Leamington, understands this challenge. At 80 per cent of its capacity, the presbytery must expand to make room for newcomers. "We are as full as we can be given the present structure," said McAndless. "We like how we are though, so any discussion about changing to allow for real growth will be difficult."
Greta loves to garden, take pictures of her grandchildren and dance in her living room. A church-going woman all her life, she is a widow, and loves any opportunity to help others. She is 70 years old and a retired school teacher who travelled the world during summer vacations. Her growing congregation is always in need of volunteers, but Greta has only been asked to bake her famous lemon pound cake for Sunday coffee time and knit blankets for the church's mission project in Malawi. She wants to do something where her talents and knowledge would truly be put to use, but is hesitant to ask, believing the younger folk don't need an old biddy like her.
Some congregations support food banks. Others raise funds for HIV/AIDS programs. St. George's, London, Ont., does both. The congregation has partnered with the AIDS Committee of London for the past eight years, helping the agency operate its Country Cupboard food bank for people living with HIV.
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."
It was in Japan where she grew up that Janette McIntosh first understood the connection between the environment and humanity. In the concrete jungle of Osaka, where the smell of burning rubber wafted from working class homes, McIntosh saw her neighbours struggling to make ends meet while their health deteriorated, the result of small manufacturing shops in their basements. She also remembers the fresh smell of sushi and the glorious month each summer when her family – three siblings and missionary parents Rev. Jack and Beth McIntosh – would escape to Lake Nojiri for vacation. "I realized there's a beautiful world out there of God's creation and wonder to be thankful for."
Gardening as a cure to gun crime? For Solomon Boyé, a former elder at Victoria Royce Church, Toronto, the two ideas are a match. "Nature is resilient but you have to abide by the rules," said Boyé. "If you don't weed, the plants will be choked out. If you don't water, the plants will wither and die. We use the garden to teach patience and caring."
The strong rural connection enjoyed by many of the congregations in the Presbytery of Lambton-West Middlesex is evident at the two-point charge of St. Andrew's, Watford, and Knox, Thedford, where they set aside a Sunday each year to pray for their farm families and to focus on the gift and responsibility of being keepers of God's earth. "I am a strong advocate for everyone being involved," said Rev. Christine O'Reilly. "Church is not a spectator sport!"
The average Canadian wedding costs about $20,000 and the American wedding industry pulls in about $72 billion each year. When stressed-out brides are frantically planning for the dress, the flowers, the cake and photographer, who is planning for the marriage?
When Annette Vickers first travelled to Nicaragua in 1996 as part of a small mission team looking for a project to support, she had no idea where the fact-finding journey would lead her. Nearly 10 years later, Vickers is active as the director of PAN—Presbyterians Aiding Nicaraguans—facilitating eight to 12 group mission trips to the Central American country each year. "I love it!" she said. "There's nothing more satisfying than seeing the fruits of your labour with your own eyes. That's why the teams like it, they get to leave something tangible behind and they bond with the people they meet."
The Presbytery of Brampton, encompassing areas west and north of Toronto, is an eclectic mix of geography, history, demographics, characteristics and congregation size. Its 30 charges (and 34 congregations) make it one of the largest presbyteries in the national church, and with only four vacancies, its ability to attract ministers seems solid. And although its congregations see a huge range of Sunday attendance from 330 at Knox, Oakville, to 24 at Limehouse, the overall picture is one of general stability. In fact, between 2003 and 2004, membership jumped from 4,949 to 5,323, while both adherents and attendance increased at similar rates.
As a by-product of corporate disasters such as Enron, consumers care more about where their money is going and what it is supporting – be it donations given to an emergency aid agency or extra income invested in mutual funds. In the church, where ethics take centre stage, wise stewardship of both individual and church-wide resources is a particularly hot issue. Concerns inside and outside the church about corporate performance have spawned the phenomenon of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethical or socially responsible investing (SRI) – issues that have their beginnings in the church and continue to grow.
Nothing is Sound
Torture. Persecution. Imprisonment. Fleeing for your life. Most people won't experience any of these things during their lifetime. Martha Kuwee Kumsa experienced them all. She now accepts her struggles and recognizes how the perilous road of her past has shaped her identity. "The principles and values I learned during childhood, and from my family, my faith, from Marxism and animism have harmonized in a very nice way to make me who I am," she said. "I'm a life in process."
An Ontario judge has dismissed two charges of sex crimes against Rev. Robert Fourney, senior minister at Glenview Presbyterian Church, Toronto. Fourney was charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a male teenager last January – an allegation dating back to 1990 when he was minister at St. Andrew's, Windsor.
The Presbytery of Huron-Perth is situated in an almost magical slice of Southern Ontario heaven. Tourists, summer cottagers, retirees and long-established small-town folks enjoy the perks of living in this paradise, and file through the doors of the presbytery's 24 churches (in 19 charges). Only three of those lie vacant. While some congregations attract 15 to 50 people on a Sunday, there are others, like St. Mary's that holds two services for its 230 weekly parishioners (in a town of 6,200) and Knox, Listowel, which welcomes 148 worshippers in a town of 5,400.
Teddy bears always manage to bring a smile to a child's face. Imagine how much bigger that smile must be when the bear is given to a child in need. Teddies for Tragedies sends knitted and crocheted teddy bears overseas to children in hospitals, orphanages and poor communities. The women at Westminster, Pierrefonds, Que., have been supporting the project for about two years, and just sent 300 bears away for distribution. "I look at these bears and I think, 'what a small thing and yet, what a big thing in a child's life,'" said Mary Lou De Silva, secretary at Westminster and part of the women's group that knits the bears. "Is this not what Christianity is all about?"
Multiculturalism isn't something one historically equates with the Presbyterian church. But the Presbytery of West Toronto is changing that. It boasts four congregations that cater to distinct groups — Ghanaian, Hungarian, Spanish and Portuguese. Several other congregations have significant multicultural contingents. They even have a church in Bermuda. "The Presbyterian church is currently holding services in 17 languages on a typical Sunday," said Gordon Haynes, associate secretary for Canada Ministries. "That's phenomenal. And West Toronto has picked up on that."
The Ghanaian Presbyterian Church of Toronto is growing so quickly they have had to move from one building to the next, trying to ease their bursting seams. Since a few people first gathered in a living room 11 years ago, their growth hasn't stopped. "These people were homesick for the way they worshipped back home. They missed the dancing and the African touch," said Rev. Enoch Pobee, the Ghanaian church's minister. Word travelled fast and before they knew it, they had moved three times as more parishioners flocked to the church. "They finally thought, 'We can't keep moving. What's stopping us from getting a place of our own?'" said Pobee, who is in his third year of service.