Presbyterians who adhere to traditional standards are working together on two new fronts. “Praying, listening, trusting” was formed in June 2020 for the purpose of praying for six months in order to discern God’s direction for those in orthodoxy. “PCC-Covenant” came together in the fall in recognition of a need to work with one another ... Read more
Category Archives: Articles
A Cautionary Tale
Admittedly my awareness of the details is limited [sketchy, disjointed, distant], but even so the situation evokes descriptions like distressing, disturbing, disastrous, devastating, even debacle. One of our partner churches, The Guyana Presbyterian Church, is experiencing deep division, perhaps even its death knell. Recent developments involve: i) two rival groups, each forming a Synod [their ... Read more
Profile: First Presbyterian Church, Trail BC
In the beginning, God sent one Rev. Robertson in 1896 to start the Presbyterian ministry here in Trail BC. And the Lord God continued to send faithful servants to keep up the ministry through the years of the first century of the life of the congregation. In 1925, the continuing Presbyterians were the minority ... Read more
A Remembrance and a “Reminder”
Requiem (noun) — 1) A Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead. 2) A musical composition setting parts of a requiem Mass, or of a similar character. 3) An act or token of remembrance. It’s the third definition which fits Rev. Don MacLeod’s latest published writing. An almost-legendary figure in the PCC ... Read more
A Question of Identity
Who is Jesus? Who am I? Who is the church of Jesus Christ? None of these questions are straightforward to answer; indeed, many spend their entire lives pondering them. It is not by accident either that I write these questions side-by-side. It seems to me that, from the standpoint of a Christian worldview, these questions ... Read more
“Rediscover” the New Wineskins
The headline We Need to Create New Wineskins (Renewal News, summer 2020, p. 2) caught my attention. It seems theologically inaccurate, for Christ Himself created the New Wineskin. The best we can do is design new versions of the old wineskin. But that can’t hold the “wine” Christ offers to cure the root heart malady. ... Read more
Kneeling in Prayer, Standing for Recovery
Response to Diane Eaton's comment: In *We Need to Create New Wineskins*, I had written about PCC clergy being able to recover Biblical marriage within the context of a new “wineskin.” Creating a new wineskin is not foreign to the PCC. It was done in 1875 and in 1925 when there was a resetting of ... Read more
Love is the Answer
Once, after a night of debauchery in my early thirties (at that time in my life debauchery meant staying up to the wee hours playing ‘Hearts’ - the card game, not the relationship pastime), I woke hearing the strains of *Slow Train Coming*. Our host had it hot off the press (it was a LP ... Read more
Profile: Cheyne Presbyterian Church
We are an intergenerational community of believers seeking after the transformative power of Christ to live out the purpose and plan of His calling on our life. Since 1844, the congregation of Cheyne has been serving its community on the outskirts of Hamilton, Ontario. In 1960, the current building was opened in the centre of ... Read more
We Need to Create New Wineskins
It’s time for the church to issue its own marriage licences. 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 ... Read more