ENI – “Ecumenism in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands is not dead, but it is seriously ill. It is so ill that, if I were to stay on, I too would get ill,” Rev. Wies Houweling said two days after announcing her resignation from the WCC central committee. She resigned from the main governing body of the World Council of Churches, saying the spirit of Christian unity in her own denomination is in crisis. Her decision followed the withdrawal of the denomination's development aid program, Kerkinactie, from United Civilians for Peace, a group working to promote an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Kerkinactie had gained a reputation of being “one-sidedly pro-Palestinian.”

The national office has seen several staff come and go in the last few months. Sandy Philpot, administrative assistant in the General Assembly office for 23 years, left her post in January to help out at her husband's burgeoning computer business. Elizabeth Bartlett, who worked as a program assistant with the office's deputy clerk Don Muir for six years, assumed the position. Taking Bartlett's position is Sheila Lang, who served half time with Ministry and Church Vocations since 2003. She will continue in this post in addition to her new responsibilities.

The numbers are in and the news is good. Donations to Presbyterians Sharing in 2006 totaled $8,757,577 — an increase of almost $85,000 from the previous year. “Thanks to all the congregations across Canada,” said Annemarie Klassen, associate secretary for Stewardship and Education for Mission. Twenty-one per cent of the total amount came in during the first two weeks of January, which is consistent with previous patterns. “It is always amazing to see this support from congregations across the country — from congregations both small and large,” said Klassen. “God has blessed us richly in the abundance of these gifts, and in the ministry of the church. Let us not take this for granted.” – AM

The Government oF Manitoba is the first Canadian province to adopt the No Sweat purchasing policy for its apparel suppliers. The November decision means suppliers will have to meet minimum labour standards in the production of bulk purchased apparel products.

The sign outside the church lists what most signs say: the times of both the Sunday service and the usual seasonal greeting. Underneath, however, on the last line it says simply, “Sanctuary Week 23.”

I work for the City of London Fire Department and my captain on Engine 11 is Glen Pearson, Director of the London Food Bank and former missionary. Having served for many years in Africa, Glen and his wife Jane Roy are currently assisting the people of South Sudan. This is an area suffering the results of 25 years of civil war.

ENI – “We are at a point of no return,” said Bishop Wolfgang Huber, who heads the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), the country's main Protestant grouping. He was speaking to more than 300 delegates from throughout Germany gathered in Wittenberg, the town where Martin Luther launched the Reformation five centuries ago, to consider how to strengthen the profile of Protestantism in Germany.

Mark L. MacDonald, former bishop of Alaska, has been named the Anglican Church's first national indigenous bishop with pastoral oversight over all native Anglicans across Canada, a move that was described by Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, as “an historic moment” for the life of the Anglican Church of Canada and the country.

For the first time in its history the Caribbean and North America Council for Mission met in Canada, at Crieff Hills Community last fall. The delegates seen here — including the PCC's Ron Wallace and Margaret Zondo, of International Ministries and Reuben St. Louis, of Youth in Mission — represent 12 denominations from nine countries.

ENI – Rev. Ishmael Noko, a world Lutheran leader, says that if the international community wants the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement for south Sudan to hold, it must meet financial pledges agreed to when the pact was signed. “When the Sudan conference took place, there were pledges made. Lots of money was promised and not much has been done,” Noko, who is general secretary of the Geneva-based Lutheran World Federation, told journalists in Nairobi. “If the international community really wants the peace to hold in southern Sudan and the tensions not to return again, then it needs to do something.”