I was shocked to read in the July-August issue that at the 133th General Assembly our denomination was encouraged to engage in interfaith dialogue with the Muslim Society in Canada. Are we serious? Where do we meet? Muslims believe that only they will make it to heaven, providing they have earned their way and Allah's approval of their good deeds. To the Muslims, women have no voice; they are merely subjects and must be available for their husband at any time. Worst of all, Muslims believe they can work their way to heaven, totally rejecting that salvation is a gift through God's grace in Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. You have no idea how sad I feel when I read this as part of the report. To see the picture of the Muslim leader, who according to the report “charmed the Commisioners,” is almost unbelievable. How do we take a stand for Christ? No, I am not the person who will turn his back on people of a different religion. But interfaith dialogue with the Muslim society? What are we trying to prove? Does it surprise us that our denomination is steadily declining? Are we not closing more churches than starting new ones? Are many small congregations not waiting long vacancies going without a minister? I know some readers will not agree with me, claiming we should be more flexible since this is 2007. Really? Cal Brown hits the nail right on the head in his article We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This. No doubt this issue will be a deal-breaker, as stated. Do I want to support our church when it encourages that kind of dialogue? Absolutely not! However, this may well be a way to speed up the decline of our denomination, and that's sad news, don't you think? We need to pray that God's Holy Spirit will call us to faithfulness in His service. “As believers we have communion with God the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.” [Question 85, A Catechism For Today.]

Re Salman's Sir insensitive, July/August

It was really refreshing to read Gloria Wasacase's article in the May issue on her time working at a residential school. Over the last few decades all that seems to get printed about the Residential Indian Schools has been stories of abuse: sexual, physical and cultural.

The debated stole, I expect, in many people's minds at this year's assembly, was a stole of office for the moderator of our church. We don't have such an office in The Presbyterian Church in Canada, at least we didn't the last time I was awake, and neither do we need a stole to demarcate it. The person who moderates a particular assembly is just that, the moderator of that particular assembly, and nothing more. That the person works as an ambassador for the church for a year and sits on some influential committees does not change this fact. And yet, each year, and throughout the year, the Record continues to coronate a person The Moderator of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. As you well know, or at least should, the proper language is, “The Moderator of the 133rd General Assembly.” If the Record would begin to assert the truth by the language it uses around this issue and the way it presents this person on its pages, I expect it would go a long way toward contravening idiotic debates about stoles of office and other related nonsense about moderators, including the correcting of what I perceive is our denomination's drift towards an Episcopalian model of church government or perhaps something even worse. To be quite frank, I do not have the stomach for this drift.

I would like to know what simple mathematics Matheson's lawyer Peter Ghiz is using. In the 1998 Acts and Proceedings, the stipend for the four charges for Murray Harbour North (if she could handle four) total $26,677. Multiply by 10 and subtract her earnings since her dismissal and it comes to far less than $600,000.

Congratulations to Rev. Gael Matheson for her doggedness in fighting the Presbytery of P.E.I., and winning at least a minimal financial award and reinstatement with the help of the human rights commission. I hope that the presbytery will, at last, recognize that this is a paltry price to pay for her long years of seeking a remedy for the brutal bullying and public humiliation that she suffered in one of its congregations. The presbytery should be encouraged to act generously and ensure that Matheson immediately receives appropriate employment, her legal fees are covered, she is offered a formal opportunity to be reconciled to those who led the fight against her, and she receives other appropriate means of support. The Record article is somewhat disingenuous by indicating the numbers of women in leadership roles in P.E.I., as if this would indicate an isolated incident. The issue was bullying and harassment, which happens to both women and men clergy. Many would agree that such behaviour is a common experience for clergy in the PCC. Ministers have the appearance of authority but are dependent on popularity with their congregations and fellow presbyters for their livelihoods. They have little procedural recourse and minimal financial resources with which to defend their careers if they lose their popularity and do not have another congregation and/or presbytery to quickly jump to. The Matheson story makes me wonder if there is a coming day, as with the residential schools, when the churches will be forced by the state to settle with hundreds of clergy who have suffered wrongful dismissal, harassment, bullying and public humiliation. One should note from the story that individuals would personally be called to account for their actions. This should make at least a few elders and presbyters think a little more before they mindlessly throw their hand in with the lynching mob.