While discussing what it means to be an interfaith committee, the question of “appreciating” the specific faith traditions of Wiccans, pagans and other faith groups was ultimately voted down by the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee at its February meeting.
Presbyterian College, Montreal
Out of the mouths of babes! What a joy to have the opportunity to talk with the little ones during Sunday worship. There are always delightful surprises. Recently I worshipped in St. Andrew's, Victoria, and one of the children seemed rather surprised to see a woman in the pulpit and told her grandmother, “There is a girl up there.” She is the great-great-granddaughter of a former moderator, Rev. Dr. Lewis MacLean. How wonderful it is to visit with families who continue to worship together, many with three generations.
The library at The Presbyterian College, Montreal, is being renamed in honour of Rev. Dr. Joseph C. McLelland, moderator of the General Assembly in 1985, in recognition and celebration of his 50-year association with the college.
ENI – The World Social Forum, which brought together 70,000 activists, including many faith-based organizations, from around the planet, in Nairobi, Kenya in February, was declared a “non-event for world media” by some commentators. The BBC criticized the forum for “a growing lack of focus that drains it of political impact.” Bishop Mvume Dandala, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, a grouping of 134 churches and 35 national councils of churches representing 300 million Christians, responded by saying, “I am a bit disappointed with the attention that the international media seem to pay to [the World Economic Forum in] Davos, Switzerland, at the expense of recording what the poor gathered here tried to say. The message here has been clear: The dominant economic system ignores the plight of the poor of our countries. As long as the issue of poverty is not tackled adequately by the developed world, any talk of overcoming terrorism is just a waste of time; as long as the gap between the rich and the poor keeps growing, you can forget about democracy and stability in our countries. Can the message be any clearer?”
ENI – A proposal by Germany's family minister to triple the number of day care spots for young children by 2013 has led to disagreement between Protestant and Roman Catholic bishops. German day cares, known as crèches, are mostly run by churches or local authorities. There are few child-care facilities for children under three.
How can I help make a change for the better as an ordained minister of the church? How can my past experience help others find peace with God, with themselves and within their church family? How can I help others on their journey?
Golf is an irritating little sport that beckons us with promises of hope then dashes them in the sand or the creek. It's something my son and I have been thinking about the last few days and something we celebrate at Easter. Standing on the first hole with grand visions of the round ahead, Jeffrey pulled out his new driver, carefully placed a brand new ball on a brand new tee, took a few perfect practice swings, then smacked his first shot. Hard.
Presbyterian Record publisher David Harris reported an astonishing response to the 2006 fundraising effort, with an increase of 17 per cent over the 2005 effort. About 2,000 of the magazine's 37,000 subscribers contributed more than $103,000.
Presbyterian World Service and Development recently received an additional $200,000 from the Canadian International Development Agency for new projects. Along with more than $66,000 from PWS&D, the funds will help the church's overseas partners expand their current development work and have an even greater impact on vulnerable communities. The new money, secured in January, will augment the $458,000 PWS&D received from CIDA for 2006-2007 under a five-year agreement.
Re Renewal, January
Ple-e-e-ase give credit where credit is due. It would appear that the Good Shepherd and the Lamb is a bronze statue. I would like to know more about it and where it could be seen. It is so beautiful and some of us receive more messages from art.
Re By The Numbers, January
It is normally thought, certainly was by Mel Gibson, that Christ spoke Aramaic, the Semitic tongue believed to have displaced Hebrew as the Jewish vernacular. Latin is usually ruled out. It was used in the East mainly for administrative purposes; the Romans never forced it on their subjects — hence the bad grammar joke in Monty Python's Life of Brian.
Rev. August Basson of Lesotho is working in a rural area, among the people with the Africa Inland Mission. The ability of the people there to sustain themselves is in jeopardy due in part to the serious problem of erosion. We in the West have made the switch to conservation agriculture (where the soil is disturbed as little as possible). Our experience in this field has 20 years of trial and error so we have learned a lot. The main thing is that it works.
This writer continues to suffer grievous pain, resultant from my beloved wife's death and fond memories of a marriage of 50 years' duration. Philip of Macedon gave a standing order to his slave to come into the King's presence every morning regardless of what the King was doing and say, “Philip, remember that you must die.” We all die without exception. Modern humanism considers death only as an intrusion into our plans and an illusion.
I do respect and value Dr. McMillan's reply (January) to my letter (November 2006). It is with appreciation of his long Christian quest that I test his persuasion regarding global south Christians. There are many cultural areas in our world where 19th-century (and earlier) evangelism has not been refi ned. Where well-meaning, but unsophisticated missionary zeal has been proffered and innocently accepted. I don't think women's liberation is pertinent to this issue as the Muslim women's rights movement in the West should be considered as a Christian challenge to the myriad of misogynistic fundamental Christian churches that abound in North America. Having been a rep elder to East Toronto presbytery in the early 60s when the subject of ordination of women was being debated, it now seems incomprehensible that the issue existed such a short time ago.
Re The Opinionated Masses, January
Thanks for an excellent issue on The Path to Healing: Sharing the Pain of Residential Schools (February). I appreciated the comprehensive historical overview and the detailed descriptions of our current ministries to and among aboriginal peoples. Readers are left with the feeling that though this was and is a sorrowful chapter in our church's history, nevertheless we are facing up to that experience with a truly gospel response through the confession of our complicity, compensation and practical ways of expressing our desire to walk together towards healing and reconciliation. The foundations for a new and partnered ministry are being laid in a relationship of trust building and for all of this we give thanks to God. It all makes the journey through Lent this year a much more promising Christ-walk.
Out of his five decades in ministry Rev. Fred H. Rennie served St. John’s, Cornwall, Ont., for 27 years, from 1975 – 2001. In January […]