I used to play a lot of basketball as a kid and wanted to get back into the game  but wasn’t even sure where to start looking and was daunted enough to let a few years pass.  Through a friend of a friend I heard about some guys who met in the basement of a local church to play pick-up.  Last Monday I decided to give it a try.

I wasn’t invited, didn’t know anybody and wasn’t sure if I had to be registered previously or Steve Nash good to be welcomed.  I called ahead to find out if it was on and was very surprised when someone was waiting for me at the door after hearing that a new guy might show up.   Within ten minutes my host introduced me to all the other guys on the court, explained the house rules (one player had a predilection for travelling but they never called it; small gym so the wall was inbounds; everyone helped clean up afterwards) and passed me the ball.
Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Kristine O’Brien for the memory of a fascinating weekend in 2004 to stimulate ideas concerning planned giving; I remember how “pumped” many of us felt after that experience.  Certainly the statistics that Kristine mentioned about declining membership are out there and have received a lot of attention; however, there is also some good news of a statistical nature.
Read the rest of this entry »

In 2004, I spent a few days with a handful of clergy who had been invited to meet with Herb Gale, who was then our brand-new national Associate Secretary for Planned Giving. It was new for the Presbyterian Church to have someone devoted to encouraging people and churches to give through things like wills, bequests, endowment funds, and gifts of property, and Herb wanted some guidance. He was going to ‘pick our brains’ he said, and hoped to find new ideas. I remember it well.
Read the rest of this entry »

Back in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s my mother’s parents ran a small grocery store in the west end of Toronto. The store was a local centre of community as well as the source for almost all the groceries purchased by the people in the neighbourhood. They would sell fruits and vegetables, canned items, fresh meat and sundry household items.

We all know that type of store no longer exists in even the most modest of small towns. Near our cottage on Six Mile Lake, the small town of Port Severn has such a store, but the slightly larger town of Coldwater, only ten miles south, has a supermarket run by a major grocery chain.
Read the rest of this entry »

I recently had the privilege of attending an all-day interfaith workshop held at the Islamic Society for North America in Mississauga. Keynote speakers included Rt. Rev. Lois Wilson (UCC), Sheik Alaa Elsayed (Imam with the Islamic Centre of Canada) and Rabbi Dow Marmur (Rabbi Emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple and author of a bi-weekly column in the Toronto Star). The audience of about 55 people was well balanced for representation and did include youth, especially Muslim youth.
Read the rest of this entry »

In the Presbytery of Waterloo Wellington, business is as usual.  After our opening worship, the Business Committee makes a report in which all the correspondence is either dealt with or sent to the appropriate committee for consideration.  Items of a logistical nature and general housekeeping are dealt with as well.  Then it is time for each of the Committee Reports, sometimes interspersed with a Stated Hour for a special presentation, or a call, or even an educational moment.  Any other business that arises is then either dealt with or referred to the appropriate committee, announcements are made and the moderator asks for a motion to adjourn.
Read the rest of this entry »

When news about the national church reorganization emerged, a brief announcement on the PCC website was the only information provided. More details are now available. For a description of the vision of The Vine and Canada Ministries merger, as well as background assumptions from the Life and Mission Agency, look for the announcement on the main page at www.presbyterian.ca  called “Vision for the Merger of Canada Ministries and The Vine” or follow this link http://www.presbyterian.ca/pcconnect/daily/5488
Read the rest of this entry »

For the last three years, I’ve been on Assembly Council. I’ve had the opportunity to talk with people from across the country, and time and again I hear stories of small, elderly congregations – less than 50 people out on a Sunday. And I can’t help thinking, “What’s going to happen to those hundreds of little churches over the next twenty years? There isn’t a new generation, or at least, not nearly enough of them, to step in and take the place of those faithful, elderly members?”

I’m thinking, “They’re not going to make it …”
Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Marilyn Craven

Today I attended the Charles H. MacDonald memorial lecture at Knox College in Toronto. Dr. Marilyn Craven, Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University, addressed mental health and ministry. It was an afternoon well spent.
Read the rest of this entry »

By now, many of you will have heard of the reorganization of the national offices. The newly created The Vine and Canada Ministries will merge, financial management within the Life and Mission Agency will be centralized, the Youth in Mission position will be eliminated and absorbed into the work of the Mission Interpretation Coordinator. One support services position will be eliminated. The whole announcement is available here:   http://www.presbyterian.ca/pcconnect/daily/5449
Read the rest of this entry »