The PCC is facing an historic decision. In an effort to find a solution to decades of disagreement over the response to same-sex attraction, the denomination’s 45 presbyteries are being asked to approve parallel definitions of marriage. Each presbytery will be asked to say yes or no to the remits. If at least 23 presbyteries … Read more
NOTE: The roots of renewal are in our congregations. We hope that sharing the brief story of a vibrant congregation may be encouraging to you. Zion, as it’s commonly referred to in PEI, has been serving its congregation for the past 172 years. There has been a distinguished cadre of senior ministers occupying its pulpit … Read more
Renewal Day 2023. Like wild animals removed from their natural environments, are today’s Western believers overly domesticated and thereby innocuous? Have we allowed ourselves to be tamed under the control of the ruler of this world in order to fit in and not be too offensive? Cory McKenna, the speaker at our 2023 Renewal Day … Read more
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
You’ve probably seen the news of what’s going on at Asbury University, a private Christian college in Kentucky. It started during a regular chapel service on February 8 – but didn’t stop. “After the benediction, the gospel choir began to sing a final chorus—and then something began to happen that defies easy description. Students did … Read more
One of the risks that we take in talking publicly is that we have absolutely no control over what’s printed or broadcast. Comments can be taken out of context or be quoted inaccurately. Headlines attempt to draw the reader’s attention but sometimes miss the mark and create the wrong impression. Those don’t sound like the … Read more
“Are we ready for this?” That was the headline in mid-March as pandemic restrictions hit like a tsunami. Thankfully, all those arenas converted to emergency wards were never needed. Now, as we enter phase 2 of the recovery, I ask: Are we ready for a new way of doing church? … Read more
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
As I am writing this piece, General Assembly has just finished. I spent the time before, during and after the sederunts praying for the moderator, the commissioners, the clerks, the help desk people and the technology. Having been a commissioner last year, I knew what a challenge everyone would face and how important it was … Read more
While the Gospel call to salvation is the true and lasting Good News, it’s also true that people working together, sharing their successes and know-how is also good for The Kingdom. In January 2020, the session of Zion Presbyterian Church in Charlottetown, PEI, sent an invitation to each congregation in the Synod of Atlantic Provinces … Read more