In trying to be faithful today, many theological colleges are more concerned about the cross-cultural, anti-Judaistic, or feminist dimensions of their work, than about the evangelical and classical expressions of the Christian faith. … Read More
Review: Christian A. Schwarz, Natural Church Development
Christian Schwarz conducted a comprehensive research project with over 1,000 large and small, growing and plateaued participating congregations throughout much of the world to discover certain principles of "natural church development." … Read More
Margaret Avison, Poet
Avison's is an urbanized, educated imagination. Many of her poems have thoughtful and intriguing word choices. The poetry in her second volume, The Dumbfounding, revealed a deep Christian faith which had not been evident in her earlier work. … Read More
Top Ten Reasons Why I Think That the New Revised Book of Praise (1997) Deserves a Place Among Your Resources for Worship
Several reasons commend the 1997 Book of Praise for use, including frequently sung hymns, favourite gospel songs, new praise choruses that some folk used to think weren't Presbyterian, and prayers, poems, creeds, and words of hymns without music. … Read More
Connections in a Disconnected World
In a world of disconnections, The author is glad he belongs to a connectional church, always working on the connection between differing theologies and understandings, differing regions and constituencies — small enough to get to know each other. … Read More
Threatening to Stretch the Tie that Binds Beyond Christian Elasticity
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. The 1996 General Assembly had to respond to an appeal from some members of the Presbytery of Montreal against that body’s decision to ordain to the ministry of word and sacrament a candidate who was living in an openly homosexual relationship and currently serving as an “interim minister” at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Lachine, Quebec. … Read More
The Human Sexuality Report
A promising, seventeen-page interim report on “Human Sexuality” which is now available for study asserts that a Christian sexual ethic will make wise use of tradition, reason and experience, but will subject these to the witness of Scripture. … Read more
How to Become and Be a Christian
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. It is important for people in a Christian church to know how to become and be Christians, because far too many people are too fuzzy about it. Too many people play at being Christians. … Read more
Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, by Eugene H. Peterson
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. Peterson’s threefold concerns are the practice of prayer, the reading of Scripture, and the giving (and) receiving of spiritual direction. This is “a conversation” with this book and not precisely a “book review.” … Read more
Answering God, by Eugene H. Peterson
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. The subtitle of the book is “the Psalms as Tools for Prayer”. It is one man’s journey through the Psalms with a deliberate attempt to see what might resonate and echo, “deep unto deep,” soul unto soul, person unto God. … Read more
Prayer, by Hans Urs Von Balthasar
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. This may be a theological book but it is theology as poetry, theology as a way of understanding the language of the Scriptures as much as the doctrine of the Scriptures. … Read more
Preaching for Today, by Clyde E. Fant
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. Incarnational preaching: “the incarnation is the truest theological model for the mysterious divine-human preaching event, which is neither all of the human nor all of God, but which partakes of both with precisely the same degree of mystery and humility” … Read more
A Primer for Preachers, by Ian Pitt-Wilson
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. This book’s stated intention is both to inspire beginning students of homiletics and to refresh and recharge experienced pulpiteers. … Read more
The Reformed Church of Quebec/L’Eglise Réformée du Québec
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. Although the Presbyterian Church in Canada has supported work in a French Canadian context, nevertheless, the General Assembly did not see fit to second any of our workers who might now already be working within a French Canadian context to the new Reformed Church of Quebec. … Read more
Sexuality and the Church
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. The ecclesiastical landscape of Canada will change significantly if The United Church of Canada adopts the recommendations of its National Coordinating Group for the Programme of Study and Dialogue on Sexual Orientations, Lifestyles and Ministry. But what are the implications for Presbyterians in Canada? … Read more