St. Mark’s, Charlottetown, PEI
Revs. Paula and Tom Hamilton have served, along with their daughters Susie and Rachel, St. Mark’s, Charlottetown, for 10 years. Or as the suggested caption […]
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Grace, Calgary, AB
Colin Redekop has been appointed the new Director of Music at Grace, Calgary, following the retirement of his predecessor, Glenn Potter who held the position for 26 years. Redekop was welcomed in the sanctuary along with Chelan Hoffman, Organ Scholar, at a commissioning service last September at the morning service. Redekop and Chellan Hoffman are shown with the Rev. Victor Kim Senior Minister at Grace at a reception held following morning service.
St. Paul’s, Glammis, ON
St. Paul’s, Glammis Ont., celebrated its 150th anniversary last September. Session is shown with Rev. Shelly Butterfield Kocis. From left to right Steve Eby, Stan Eby, Ron Thompson, Rev. Shelly, Eileen Simpson, Eileen Alexander and Ken B. MacLean.
Knox, Burlington, ON
Jackie Robinson, front and centre, is seen with the Knox, Burlington, Ont., choir, of which she has been a member for 50 years. She is the current choir president but her service to the church extends well beyond the choir to many other areas. She also recently received a medal of distinction from the Royal School of Church Music in the UK. Gathered with her for this photograph are the choir, along with Dr. Peter Hanson, organist and choir director, in the back row, and Carolyn McNiven, clerk of session, on the far right, front row.
London, ON
Strange But True: Percy, a most Presbyterian Bear, visited several Presbyterian families in London, Ont., spreading Christmas cheer as only a good Presbyterian can. There are rumours sonnets are being written, even an epic or two. Have yours ready, in case Percy comes knocking on your door later this year.
Knox, North Easthope, ON
The Harts made their farm available again for the annual summer extravaganza in honour of Knox, North Easthope, Ont. There was a barbeque, a petting zoo, music and lawn mower relay races. The latter was won by these fine Presbyterians: Ian Frede, Cameron Hart, David Hart and Josh Wellstood. And the fun had a real purpose: It was a fundraiser for Canadian Food Grains Bank. The $5,200 raised will be increased four-fold by the Canadian International Development Agency.
St. John’s, Pugwash, NS
[caption id="attachment_2834" align="alignnone" width="445" caption="Betty Langille, Jean Nelson and Elizabeth Allen, St. John\'s, Pugwash, N.S., packing Shoe Boxes for needy children in the Ivory Coast."]
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Betty Langille, Jean Nelson and Elizabeth Allen, St. John’s, Pugwash, N.S., packing Shoe Boxes for needy children in the Ivory Coast.
Cluj, Romania
It was a pleasure to host twelve ladies from the WMS in Romania for three days as part of their tour to Eastern Europe focusing on the Hungarian Reformed Church. The tour started and ended in Hungary but also included Ukraine and Croatia.
First, New Glasgow, NS
Revs. Sandy Sutherland and Mary Anne Grant at the 135th Synod of the Atlantic Provinces, First, New Glasgow, N.S. in October.
Fallingbrook, Scarborough, ON
[caption id="attachment_2814" align="alignnone" width="220" caption="Fallingbrook, Scarborough, Ont., celebrated its 60th anniversary last year by raising their voices in song. You can share in that joy by purchasing that CD, Let The Church Rejoice. Seen celebrating these landmarks - anniversary and the CD - are organist and choir director Gerry Dimnik and choir president Cathy Farintosh."]
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Fallingbrook, Scarborough, Ont., celebrated its 60th anniversary last year by raising their voices in song. You can share in that joy by purchasing that CD, Let The Church Rejoice. Seen celebrating these landmarks – anniversary and the CD – are organist and choir director Gerry Dimnik and choir president Cathy Farintosh.
Kingston, ON
It was an historic day for the Presbytery of Kingston as Rev. Kate Jordan, centre, was installed as the first female moderator of the presbytery at their September meeting held in St. Andrew’s, West Huntington by outgoing moderator, Mr. Mike Mundell and interim moderator, Rev. Wendy Lampman.
Living Faith Community, Baxter, ON
Living Faith Community, Baxter, Ont, recently celebrated its first anniversary in its new building! The congregation moved into its new church home on Thanksgiving Sunday 2007 after worshiping for four years in the local public school. The congregation was formed following the amalgamation of the former Baxter and Cookstown Presbyterian Church in 2004. Pictured are Rev. Doug Johns (guest preacher, former Interim Moderator), Minister Rev. Heather Malnick, and Pastoral Care Coordinator Larry Brolley.
Bethel, Dederton, ON
Two memorial gifs were recently dedicated at Bethel, Dederton, Ont. One, a memorial garden in memory of Helen McNaughton. Her husband Jim is seen pictured in the garden. And, in memory of Peter McNaughton, twelve apostolic shields, carved by Bethel members Wayne Kennedy and Rick Smith. Pictured below the shields are the McNaughtons: Suzanne, Debbie, David, Irene, Donald and Kathy Fulton.
Breaking the Silence : Startling Numbers
The Centre for Clergy Care and Congregational Health conducted the study Clergy Well-Being: Seeking Wholeness with Integrity in June 2003 under the guidance of Rev. Dr. Andrew Irvine. In addition to focus groups, the study examined responses from 338 clergy from the six major protestant denominations in Ontario: United, Anglican, Presbyterian, Evangelical Lutheran, the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, and the Pentecostal Assemblies.
German Church Union
ENI – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia and the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony, which are situated among many of the historic sites associated with the 16th-century reformer Martin Luther have merged to form the Evangelical Church in Central Germany.
Slow Genocide
ENI – Bishop Paul Verryn of South Africa, who came to prominence fighting apartheid, has called Zimbabwe's crisis a slow genocide. He spoke at a media briefing on an undercover mission in December to Zimbabwe by members of Civicus, an international alliance of non-governmental organizations.
Do You Really Want Peace?
As soon as we finished our Christmas celebration, we were, once again, bombarded with the news of wars – towns ruined, innocent civilians killed and children injured. Although peace has been on our most wanted list since the beginning of humanity, it seems almost impossible to have it come true in our own generation. War once again steps into our reality with such force that it mocks us and totally defies our efforts for peace. It is so frustrating to witness tragedy sweeping the region with such horrifying brutality and insensitivity that it angers us.
Help My Unbelief
But as our faith is slight and feeble unless propped up on all sides and sustained in every means, it trembles, wavers, totters, and at last gives way. Here [in the Sacraments] our Lord … condescends to lead us to Himself even by these earthly elements, and to set before us in the flesh a mirror of spiritual blessings.
– Institutes
It is tempting to give what little space we have in this overview of Calvin on the sacraments to abstract discussions about the mode of Christ's presence in the elements. Such discussions have their importance, and very often profound theological matters are at stake in them. However, we mustn't lose sight of Calvin's abiding interest in the sacraments as God's accommodation to human weakness for the sake of establishing and building up the church in faith. Water and wine and bread paint a graphic picture (clearer than the spoken word) of the mercy and grace of God. “The supper is given to us as a mirror in which we may contemplate Jesus Christ crucified to deliver us from damnation and risen again to procure righteousness and eternal life for us.” (Short Treatise on the Lord's Supper, 1541).
An Enormous Problem
This summer, I attended the International Aids Conference and Ecumenical Preconference in Mexico City as a youth delegate from the Presbyterian Church in Canada. As a student of International Studies at York University's Glendon College, I have a particular interest in international human rights law and policy. And as a person who has lived with Type 1 diabetes for 19 years, I am acutely aware of the difference in medical care between the developed and the developing world. For people who cannot access insulin, my condition often proves fatal within 12 months. But for those who receive adequate care, a long and relatively normal life is possible; the same is true for people infected with HIV.
Prayers To End Violence
ENI – “I implore an end to the violence which must be denounced in all its forms and a restoration of the truce on the Gaza Strip,” Pope Benedict XVI said in his weekly prayer in late December. “I call on the international community to do all it can to help the Israelis and Palestinians [to not] give in to the perverse logic of confrontation and violence but to favour the path of dialogue and negotiations.”