Page 24 - Presbyterian Connection Newspaper

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NEWS
Newfoundland Minister Marks 60th Anniversary
24
PRESBYTERIAN
WINTER 2018
presbyterian.ca
By Lynne Allan, elder at
St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church in Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L.
Sixty years to the day since his or- dination, the Rev. Dr. Ian S. Wishart marked the occasion in a most ap- propriate place: he was in church, leading the service and celebrating communion with the congregation of St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church in Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L.
Born in 1930 and raised in Toron- to, Ian was ordained there on Sept. 30, 1958, in St. Andrew’s Church, having earned an Honours BA in philosophy and history from the University of Toronto in 1954 and a Bachelor of Divinity (Honours) from the University of Edinburgh in 1957. The year before his ordination he was a guest student at the University of Göttingen in Germany, attending lec- tures and seminars on theology and philosophy.
Ian left Toronto for Saskatch- ewan, where he served St. Ste- phen’s Church in Regina from 1958 to 1965. When he arrived, there was a congregation but no church build- ing. Services were held in a school. A house was purchased for use as a manse and services were moved to the basement, which was set up with seating and a lectern. Sunday School was held in the bedroom. Ian remem- bers, “I had to tell them they had to
build a church because I wanted to get married.” A church was built, he and Jean Law were married in 1963, and their son was born before they left Regina two years later.
Returning to Toronto, Ian became assistant minister at Calvin Presby- terian Church from 1966 to 1970 during his first two years at Knox College, undertaking graduate stud- ies and earning a Master of Theology (Honours). He and Jean spent two more years in Toronto, where their daughter was born. He lectured at Ewart College and York University before answering the call to serve another church, this time in New- foundland.
The family arrived in St. John’s in 1972. Ian served St. Andrew’s (The Kirk) for 26 years, retiring in 1998. Sadly, his wife Jean had passed away 10 years earlier. He has made the oldest and most easterly city in North America his home ever since. He is a long-time member of the Rotary Club of St. John’s and has served as Provincial Command pa- dre for the Royal Canadian Legion.
Ian would retire a second time, in 2008, after taking on the respon- sibilities of interim moderator of St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church, Grand Falls-Windsor. For years he conducted his service at The Kirk in the morning, then drove the 430 kilometres to Grand Falls-Windsor for
Debbie Hynes, Clerk of Session, and Bob Thompson, Board of Managers chair, pre- sented the Rev. Ian Wishart with gifts to mark the 60th anniversary of his ordination during a luncheon held on Sept. 30 in the minister’s honour at St. Matthew’s Presbyte- rian Church in Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L.
There have been many highlights along the way, among them chairing the Committee on Church Doctrine, which oversaw preparation of Living Faith, published in 1984, and writ- ing its introduction. In 2010, Com- mon Order was published, a book of services of worship he compiled and edited. Parts of Living Faith form the basis for some liturgies and prayers in Common Order. Receiving an Honorary Doctor of Divinity from Knox College was another highlight of 2010.
A trip to India in 1989 stands out in his mind and Ian’s inspiration to write a Christmas poem each year result- ed from that trip. It was in Chennai (known then as Madras) that he came to know of Dr. Chandran De- vanesen and met his wife Savithri Devanesen. They were founders of the charity Roofs for the Roofless, a partner organization of Presbyterian World Service & Development. After Savithri was widowed, she started writing an annual Christmas poem and the two exchanged poems every year up to her death in 2015.
Ian talks about stepping back from conducting services at St. Matthew’s, allowing someone else to take the congregation under his or her wing as interim moderator. No doubt one day he will retire...again. In the meantime, he is wished all the best in his future endeavours and adventures.
A Special Celebration in Dartmouth
an evening service, returning the next day. At first it was two or three times a month, but it soon settled into once a month and sometimes he would arrange for another minister to take the St. Matthew’s service. When he retired from The Kirk the services at St. Matthew’s changed to morning from evening, but that didn’t lessen the distance he had to drive to Grand Falls-Windsor from St. John’s.
When another interim moderator took over services at St. Matthew’s
in 2008, Ian retired...or so he thought. It was only six years later when he was called upon to resume monthly services in Grand Falls-Windsor. It’s because he did and continues to do so that the church exists today. He says insisting on the continuance of St. Matthew’s is among the many challenges he has faced in the past 60 years. Other challenges include open- ing all offices of the church to women and ensuring the independence of the Presbytery of Newfoundland.
By Cheryl Weeks, Clerk of Session, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Dartmouth, N.S.
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Dar tmouth, N.S., hosted a gath- ering on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at Brightwood Golf and Country Club to honour its minister, the Rev. Dr. P.A.(Sandy)McDonald,onthe50th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament and his 50 years as minister of St. Andrew’s.
Dr. McDonald was ordained at Knox Church in Stratford, Ont., on May 31, 1968. He was appointed by the Board of Missions to St. Andrew’s & Iona, Dar tmouth and
Musquodoboit Harbour beginning on Aug. 25, 1968. He was inducted as the minister of St. Andrew’s and Musquodoboit Harbour in June 1976. Dr. McDonald faithfully serves the people of St. Andrew’s and they are deeply grateful for his leadership in the work and witness of St. Andrew’s.
He has served as the Clerk of the Presbytery of Halifax & Lunenburg for 47 years and presently serves as Co-Convenor of the Camp Geddie Committee, a Camp of The Synod of the Atlantic Provinces. He served as the Moderator of the 129th Gen- eral Assembly, as a member of the Board of Knox College for 12 years and as a member of the Life and
Mission Agency Committee for 12 years.
Dr. McDonald has had four Knox College student interns and has pro- vided fieldwork supervision for the Atlantic School of Theology Pres- byterian students. For 19 years, he served as a Police Chaplain for the local Police Service and has been on the Dar tmouth Spor tsplex Board for 28 years. He has also served on the Nova Scotia Board and as President of the Canadian Bible Society and on the Board and as President of the Institute of Pastoral Training.
Sandy is married to Christine, formerly from Winnipeg, and they have three children, Ian, Heather and Laura, and five grandchildren.
The Rev. Dr. Sandy McDonald and members of his family.