By Calvin Brown – Throughout the centuries there has always been an interplay between politics and religion and between the spiritual and the secular. Basically, there have been four positions that the church has held at different times and different places in regards to church-state relations. … Read more
Of Church, State and the Political Engagement of Evangelicals
By Bruce Clemenger – The debate about the relationship between church and state has been reignited. Firstly, we should respond to the misperceptions that are rooted in stereotypes, misunderstanding, or bias, and secondly, it is an opportunity to discuss the relationship between church and state. … Read more
The Church and Public Life
The challenge for the religious community is to nurture public places of moral deliberation, but we do so in a post-modern, secular Canadian society and a society comprised of many faiths and cultures. Profound cultural shifts have taken in place in Canada in a short period of time. … Read More
Declaration of Faith Concerning Church and Nation
The vibrant echoes of the Barmen Declaration of 1934 made its impact on Canadian theologians. In 1954, after an enlarged committee had been formed to produce a statement of faith expressive of the Lordship of Christ, the Declaration of Faith Concerning Church and Nation took its final form. … Read More
Canadian Presbyterians Engage the Political Principalities and Powers
Presbyterians believe that the church is to be free from state interference, but how involved can a Presbyterian be in the political scene and remain free to act as the conscience of the state? This article explores some of the ways Canadian Presbyterians have been involved in the Canadian political sphere. … Read More
Review: John Moir, Early Presbyterianism in Canada
John Moir is among the most influential historians of Christianity in Canada, having a special interest in The Presbyterian Church in Canada. He is the author of the denomination's official history, Enduring Witness which tells the stories of notable Presbyterian women and men. … Read More
Editorial – Prayer
By Calvin Brown – Prayer is more powerful than habits, heredity, natural tendencies, and even the forces that hold the planets in place, since it can suspend the laws of the universe, if such be God's will. No other power on earth does the enemy of souls hate and fear as much as prayer. … Read More
Bringing Heaven Down
The only thing the first disciples of Jesus are recorded to have asked Jesus to teach them is how to pray. The fifty-seven words He taught them are brilliant in their simplicity and change the way we understand God, ourselves, and the world. … Read More
The Blessings of the Power of Prayer
Having been raised in a praying family, the author chronicles the rise of a large, interdenominational Prayer Fellowship. She shares the Prayer Group Covenant and some other helpful aspects of the Prayer Fellowship's characteristics. … Read more
The Davidson Family
The classmate of a recent theological graduate reflects on the life and death of a special friend and his family: Kris and Sheryl Davidson, and their daughters Lauren and Katie. … Read More
John Calvin on Prayer
No one in the history of Christian thought has written on prayer as much as John Calvin. Few have approached him in sensitivity and profundity. Fewer still have understood the social/psychological situation from which he wrote everything: the refugee who knows that life is precarious. … Read More
Review: A. Donald MacLeod, W. Stanford Reid: An Evangelical Calvinist in the Academy
Stanford Reid had a very deep love for the Presbyterian Church. He cherished its official theology, only wishing that it was more studied. He valued the system of church government, even when he might be rebuffed by it. He also found signs of life in the denomination. … Read More
Editorial — Education Edition
By Calvin Brown – The Presbyterian approach to education has led to the creation of the worldview that now governs civilization. The danger of glorying in education, however, is that like all creations it can easily be changed from a gift of God to a form of idolatry. … Read More
College Leaders Respond to Some Questions
The questions are about the most important thing that graduates will take away with them, how colleges are addressing the matter of the church in decline, assumptions about the level of Christian formation that entering students have, the biggest challenge facing the colleges, and new initiatives at the colleges. … Read More
The Discipleship Project
The Discipleship Project is a tool for stimulating, promoting and measuring adult spiritual education, based on the assumption that even a 10% increase in serious, intentional adult spiritual growth can offset operating deficits and increase volunteerism for children and youth ministries. … Read More
The Elders’ Institute
The Elders' Institute was founded to provoke Canadian Presbyterian elders and other leaders to lead the church into more faithful, effective, and wise ministry and mission, using both online distance education and face-to-face "On the Road" events. … Read More
A Life Worth Living
A ready-made follow-up for the enlivened faith and enthusiasm generated by an Alpha Course takes the form of the Beta course, A Life Worth Living, a nine-week look at Paul's letter to the Philippians, in the format of the Alpha course. … Read More