Bill Steele offers some alternatives to the stiffly formal and intellectual mood that one sometimes encounters in church worship, with obligatory singing and cold prayers. … Read more
General Assembly – For the First Time
By Stan Spavold. Beforehand, the author was in a spiritual malaise, questioning his role as a member of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The Assembly renewed his faith in Christ, reconfirmed why he is a Presbyterian, and reassured him about the future of the denomination. … Read more
Letters
The Editor shares letters received in appreciation for the Wedding Album in the Summer ’85 issue of Channels. … Read more
More Than Coping, by Elizabeth Skoglund
Reviewed by Roma E. Bryant. This book helps us to realize that during suffering, we can cope, and that those we think of as giants of the faith still struggled as we do through terrible odds, and still coped. … Read more
Celebrating Our Cross-cultural Evangelistic Missionary Heritage: The Centenary of James Ira Dickson
By Rev. Dr. A. Donald MacLeod. The tireless efforts of James Dickson, a Canadian Presbyterian missionary, were seminal in the advancement of Christianity in Taiwan, especially among the hill tribes. His wife, Lillian Dickson, began the Mustard Seed Mission, emphasizing sturdy church buildings, adequate child care, orphan protection, and vocational training. … Read more
The Church and Unity in Canada
By Jack Charleson. The interests of Canada can be promoted best when each person in the country is prepared to identify the role they must play to ensure the world can be a better place when influenced by Canadian society. Unity begins with individuals. … Read more
Dutch Calvinism in Modem America: A History of a Conservative Subculture, by James D. Bratt
Reviewed by J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. With its well-documented research (18 pages of selected bibliography) and 80 pages (!) of helpful notes, this book is literally a “Who’s Who” of Dutch Calvinism in America. … Read more
Nothing will lead us to God
By Jonathan Dent — I had nothing to say. I felt nothing coming to mind. I was experiencing a vacuum, a void, an emptiness. Perhaps it was due to the busy-ness of the previous months. Perhaps it was because it was a lovely sunny summer day. Perhaps it was because we had just driven over 5,000 km to get where we were going. Perhaps it was the caffeine I was drinking or not drinking. In any case, I had nothing to say. Nothing to write. And upon reflection, I believe that this nothingness was the most creative … Read more
Our Mission to China
By A. Donald MacLeod. In the mid 1880s, foreign missions became a dominant concern for many young people, who volunteered to go overseas, especially to China. Jonathan Goforth founded the Canadian Presbyterian mission in Honan, north of the Yellow River in China. … Read more
1993 Annual Meeting
Photos by Jack Harewood. The 1993 Annual Meeting took place Feb. 26-27 at St. Paul’s, Nobleton, Ontario, attended by 180 people. Dr. Mel Steinbron, pictured on the cover, is the founder of the Lay Pastors Ministry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and spoke three times on “Giving the Ministry to the People.” … Read more
Finding God in Unexpected Places, by Philip Yancey
Reviewed by Kit Schindell. Philip Yancey shows us how we need to look for God beyond the walls of the church, in the slums and jails or watching a pod of whales. This is not a gritty book, dragging us through "sordid reality", nor is it cute and coy bedtime reading. … Read more
A Christian Manifesto, by Francis A. Schaeffer
Reviewed by Alan Hartley. The book is dedicated “to all those who have said: ‘Here I stand’, facing oppressive authoritarian civil and church power.” This manifesto is meant to create opposition to the breakdown of Christian values in American society. Restitution of the balance between order and freedom will require active involvement by Christians in society. … Read more
Leading God’s People and Caring for God’s People, by Stewart Matthew et al
Reviewed by Peter Bush. These are handbooks for the training of elders, with chapters focusing on helping elders develop their leadership skills, enhance teamwork within sessions, and become pastoral care-givers in their districts. … Read more
Executive Director’s Report Winter 1996
Calvin Brown, the Executive Director, reports on his various past and future speaking engagements, including a Church Growth Workshop in Ottawa, a one-week PCC “think tank”, meetings with Knox and Presbyterian College students, and the upcoming Annual Meeting. … Read more
Kenya: No Price Tag On Democracy
By Timothy Njoya. For twenty years, the author has been persecuted by the Kenyan government's killer machine because his faith was giving birth to democratic political longings. He suffered beatings, cuts, broken bones, and imprisonment, twice experiencing resurrections from a coma. … Read more
Unfinished Business Is His Business: Helping Adults Resolve Their Painful Pasts
By Bob Moeller. The adult children of dysfunctional homes are known as ACOAs – an acronym for adult children of alcoholics, though the term is applied to a wide variety of dysfunctional home settings. … Read more
The Rev. Basil Edward Howell
By Jack Charleson. If it were not for Basil Howell, it is unlikely that the Renewal Fellowship would have been developed and formally constituted on May 8, 1982. … Read more