NOTE: Guest speaker Rev. Dr. Jonathan Hong was invited to speak into the theological state of The Presbyterian Church in Canada during our annual Renewal Day on April 25. Renewal News contains excerpts from his presentation. A link to Jonathan's full text, along with the panelists' response and videos of both events, can be found on the 2020 Renewal Day and AGM page.
In This Issue:
- Everyone did as they saw fit – Rev. Dr. Jonathan Hong, Toronto Korean Presbyterian Church
- When all is said and done – Rev. Ian Shaw, RF Board chairperson
- We need to create new wineskins – Rev. James Statham, Peachland, BC
- Panelists respond to Renewal Day message
- Profile: Paris Presbyterian Church – Rev. Joel Sherbino
- A new initiative, a renewed board and a great gift – Rev. Andy Cornell, Executive Director
By Rev. James Statham
This writer is old enough to remember the burning of draft cards to protest the Vietnam war and bras being burned to somehow advance a feminist agenda. Similarly, as both a protest and affirmation, he would have no difficulty shredding his government issued marriage licence. If PCC clergy, who hold to the Biblical view of marriage, took this not so radical step we could then begin the now necessary imperative of reclaiming marriage as the purview of the church. It is possible.
How have I found myself in league with the radicals of old? Our provincial governments have disgorged such a plethora of definitions of marriage it is no longer recognizable. When the defining template is simply co-habiting beyond a weekend fling, involving anyone of either gender, or now ungendered persons, marriage as God ordained it and as practiced for millennia has been shuffled into meaningless irrelevancy. What once could be identified as marriage is now so open ended, it is obliged to eventually include all manner of relationships. For example, the polygamies in Bountiful, BC are referred to as marriages even though no government licences were issued. The spiral began decades ago when common law relationships were given legal equivalency by the CRA for the spousal tax deduction … Read more