On Sunday, June 2, 2024, commissioners and guests gathered for the opening worship service of the 2024 General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada at Knox Presbyterian Church in Waterloo, Ontario. Over 100 others joined the service via livestream. The Rev. Hugh Donnelly and the Rev. Courtney Crawford, ministers at Knox, led worship while the Knox Chancel Choir led the congregation in lively, joyful and contemplative music. The Rev. Mary Fontaine, minister at Hummingbird Ministries and Moderator of the 2023 General Assembly, preached on how brokenness can be healed, emphasizing that we need to care for one another as we walk this earth together as God’s people – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Mary challenged the church as a whole, but also individuals, to continue working toward healing and reconciliation.
Worship was followed by the first sederunt, during which the Rev. Dr. Patricia (Pat) Dutcher-Walls was elected and installed as Moderator of the 2024 General Assembly. The new Moderator declared that she is humbled and delighted to take on this service to the church and that she looks forward to a year of greeting old friends and meeting new ones. Thanking Mary for her friendship, care and compassion she brought to the position of Moderator, Pat spoke to the commissioners about the gifts they have been given to use for God’s glory and prayed that they would love, forgive, serve, listen and respect each other as they move through Assembly together.
Updates on the 2024 General Assembly can be found here: https://presbyterian.ca/gao/ga2024