A publication of the Renewal Fellowship

A publication of the Renewal Fellowship

Channels

Introducing Channels Magazine

The Renewal Fellowship within The Presbyterian Church in Canada was founded in May 1982, and during the next year, plans were made to begin a magazine to reassure isolated and sometimes discouraged Presbyterians in Canada who wanted renewal that they were not alone. Word associations with media, communication, and television channels resonated with the old hymn, “Channels only, blessed Master”, and suggested the name Channels. And so, Channels – intended to be an instrument of blessing for The Presbyterian Church in Canada – debuted in the fall of 1983.

Over the next 23 years, some 66 issues were published. Channels succeeded in placing the Renewal Fellowship within a broader national and international context. Publishing articles written by internationally known authors such as Eugene Peterson, James I. Packer, Michael Green, Darrell Johnson, and John G. Stackhouse Jr. helped members of the Renewal Fellowship to realize that they were a part of a much wider movement.

Recognizing the high quality of this magazine prompted a desire to make a digital archive of all 66 issues. Each article is presented in text format, and at the bottom, a searchable, downloadable PDF copy of the issue opens at the page where the article originally appeared. Enjoy!

Health

Healing Values of Art

By Jan Gray. In a society that is becoming more and more saturated with images of violence, hopelessness, destruction and deception, we need, more than ever, to raise up images of light and hope. The power of art to bring spiritual healing is demonstrated in the life, art, and death of Christian Baran. … Read more

Daily Faith Renewal Reviews

The Race: Discipleship for The Long Run, by John White

Reviewed by David Stewart. Although this is a collection of some of John White’s contributions to Christian periodicals over twenty years, the author has skillfully edited and arranged these earlier pieces, with a result that is surprisingly unified under four broad headings: Christian Beliefs; Christian Witness; Christian Discipleship; and Problems of Christian Discipleship. … Read more

Reviews Worship

A Consumer’s Guide to Preaching, by Jay Adams

Reviewed by Blaine W. Dunnet. Here is a book for your church library. No! It is a book for every worshipper in your church. Put it in their hands, librarians. It is subtitled “How to Get the Most Out of a Sermon.” Preachers expend energy in the preparation of sermons, but did you know that as a listener you must expend energy too? The author, Jay Adams, claims that his book is the only one devoted to genuine concern for preaching from the listener’s point of view. During Sunday lunch have you ever found yourself saying: “I couldn’t get the drift of the sermon” … Read more

Theology

Call It What It Is

By John G. Stackhouse, Jr. Every year as I teach my survey course on world religions at university, I dread having to teach the Christian faith for two main reasons. First, all religions have difficult and complicated features. But Christianity has inexplicable mysteries at its very heart that simply have to be discussed even in an introduction to its teachings. … Read more

Mission

Letter to the Editor

By Robin Ross. Support for the national church has declined, perhaps because church publications never mention anyone becoming a Christian through our social action work, inclusive language has been mandated, and only certain "politically correct" people are appointed to committees. … Read more

Ecumenism

The 6th Assembly of the WCC: An Evangelical Appreciation

By J.H.(Hans) Kouwenberg. The 6th Assembly of the W.C.C., meeting in Vancouver, B.C. July 24-August 10 this year was such a rich, diverse affair that it is hard for those of us who attended to gather our impressions together. Hence the narrow focus of this article. One of the significant and interesting strands in the tapestry of the ecumenical movement is the growing awareness of and appreciation for the renewed evangelical movement in the church of Jesus Christ. … Read more