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!

Worship

Covenanting Liturgy

By Calvin Brown. This Covenanting Liturgy is based on Hebrews 11 and the Covenanting Prayer. It should be read with enthusiasm, feeling and growing intensity. The sense is that as we help one another remember the faithfulness of God exhibited among his people we more and more identify with them until we become one with them in Spirit and are willing also to make gladly the commitment that they did. … Read more

Family Reviews

On Being Family: A Social Theology of the Family, by Ray S. Anderson and Dennis B. Guernsey

Reviewed by Greg Dallimore. Anderson and Guernsey suggest little research has been done in seeing the family, not as individuals, but as an entity which interacts within itself. Individuals, therefore, interact with each other as a system. This book is not designed for the average Christian reader, but for professionals ministering to the family. … Read more

Alpha

Our Alpha Experience

By Andrew Hutchinson. Nicky Gumbel presents a well-grounded understanding of the Christian faith without apology, in a positive, winsome way. Alpha provides for a personal experience of the presence of God, rather than merely talking about God and His mercy. … 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

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

Editorial

Name-Calling

By Calvin Brown. Labelling people is not good when it is used simply to write others off or to demonize them, but it is helpful when we want to have a beginning point for conversation. Avoid stereotypes, and use the words only as descriptive of points of view. … Read more