I urge all to send a letter to their MPs in response to the Prime Minister's introduction of same-sex marriage legislation. This is not a human rights issue or a Charter of Rights issue: this is a God centered issue. If we believe God's Word then we accept His benchmark. These beautiful verses in Genesis are there to be accepted or rejected. As Canada grapples with this legislation, let's remember that we are called to be His witnesses. We are called to speak in love.

We write to clarify some points in the March Record concerning executive and professorial stipends.

I want to thank Amy Cameron for her article on parish nursing in the March issue.

In the February issue of the Record I was quoted as saying: "What parents want their child in Boy Scouts when the leader hasn't been screened?" Neither the reporter nor I meant this as a slur against Scouts Canada, but it would, in hindsight, have been more accurate to say, "What parents would want their child in a community group if the leader hasn't been screened?"

An article in the February issue regarding the church's Leading With Care initiative was very interesting and informative. However, Dorothy Henderson's quote is susceptible to a misreading that might lead one to believe that Scouts Canada does not screen its leaders, but rather leaves that responsibility to the church. Scouts Canada has had a rigorous volunteer screening policy in place since 1997 that includes police records checks, interviews and reference checks. This process is mandatory for all volunteers and is conducted independently from our partners/sponsors, including the Presbyterian Church.

It appears Michael Coren struck a nerve with the self-styled moderates. His article was bang on and it was proven a few pages later by the Faiz hypocritical attack on the Christian Right. Whether the intolerance is from secular or Christian left wing it's still intolerance. The squeals of outrage by Coren's critics demonstrate how deep the denial among the liberal left really is.

Congratulations to Andrew Faiz on pointing out the imbalanced agenda of those he terms "the Christian Right." Indeed, Jesus' concern extends far beyond sexual issues into the realms of justice, equality and integrity. It is interesting, however, to read Faiz alongside Michael Coren's article calling for a less poisonous debate between the "left" and "right" in the media. Faiz gives a lovely example of the writing Coren describes as typical of the secular Left, albeit from a Christian. He interprets R. Schenck's reasonable statement on Evangelical values as "anti-abortion, …anti-homosexual, …anti- ecumenical and anti-multifaith world." Most of the article comes out as an angry critique of a caricature of the worst of the Christian Right, obscuring a good point made which I referred to above.

Despite greater public awareness surrounding sexual abuse, I was appalled to read in the March 2005 issue that some churches are still reluctant to implement programs that not only safeguard children but also the adults who are responsible for their care. I would point out to congregations who are concerned that complying with the stipulations will be too expensive to implement and enforce, that non-compliance may in the end be costlier, and not only in financial terms. Can we afford not to do everything in our power to ensure that children are safe in our churches? Everyone wants to believe their church is exempt and that it is not possible for sexual abuse to occur in their congregation. Pretending we are not vulnerable will not make this problem go away. I do not believe, as Rev. Peter Coutts writes "that we're boxing ourselves in with a policy that we're obligated to follow that could leave us vulnerable to insurance companies." Far better to be vulnerable to insurance companies than to sexual predators. I applaud the new safety measures and agree with David Harris's excellent editorial that "no one can rationally object to making the church a safer place for ministry".