Presbyterian Sharing in action

Yesterday was a great day at Knox Church!  Not only did we celebrate Presbyterian Sharing Sunday, we also successfully did our first ever fire drill.  We evacuated the building after singing “We are marching in the Light of God” J and I pronounced the benediction in our parking lot. 

After the service was over, a visitor introduced himself to me.  He is from Miami and it literally just driving through.  I wonder if anyone who was at church noticed the motorcycle with Miami licence plates in the parking lot?  Andrew Hayward Smith is riding from Miami to the Arctic Circle, across Canada to Nova Scotia, and back to Miami for a total of 15,000 miles in 120 days.  Andrew calls this an “interactive fundraising journey” and it is great to meet him and welcome him into our midst if only for a short time.  Andrew is on his way home to Miami, where he will be warmly received by his church, Miami Shores Presbyterian Church. 

Thank you Andrew for worshipping with us and we wish you a safe journey as you do God’s work.  Talk about Presbyterian Sharing in action!

Yours in Christ, Emma.

P.S. Check out his web site - http://www.arcticridefordreams.com/  

Hello, it’s Emma Duncan, the new minister at Knox Burlington and as of today, I will be officially taking over our blog!  A special thanks to Gary Evans, Knox’s Clerk of Session, for moderating this blog since its inception in 2011. 

I will be posting on this blog regularly and it will be a mixed bag of announcements, reflections, and thoughts.  As an avid reader (and former librarian), I will also talk about the books that I have read.  If I am working on a sermon series, I will also post thoughts and observations as I prepare to preach God’s Word.  All in all, this will be way for us to talk about the joys and challenges of serving God in our complex world. 

Yours in Christ, Emma Duncan

This is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Next stop, ordination.

It took only a few minutes for the call process to go through the hands of the Presbytery of Brampton, until Emma was asked whether she would accept the call to Knox, Burlington.
And with a resounding YES, we are now less than three weeks from the time when Emma will be our minister.

As was the case at the Presbytery of Hamilton two weeks ago, Rev. Bob and two representatives from Knox presented the call to the Brampton Presbytery, this time meeting at Trafalgar Presbyterian Church. Once Rev. Bob explained the process to get to this moment in time, Haf Lewis, on behalf of the search committee, and this writer, Gary Evans, as clerk of session, spoke to the call.

And within moments, the call was sustained, the ordination approved, and when Emma was asked to go forward, she was told she had 10 days to weigh her decision, but accepted on the spot.
So now, Emma prepares for her ordination service on July 7 at her home church and then induction on July 14th.

In the meantime, there are two things for the Knox congregation to keep in mind. There is a bus being offered to the ordination service, but we need to know if you are booking a seat by 1 p.m. this Sunday. At the moment, we are somewhat short of the numbers needed, so please sign up by that date if you are planning to take this mode of transportation to Brampton.

The other thing to keep in mind is the induction service that will be held July 14 here at Knox starting at 7 p.m. with a reception in Fellowship Hall after the service.

But for now, let us rejoice that we are now only days from welcoming a new minister to our church.

One more step along the way

While there is still one more approval process as we move towards that day when Emma Duncan will be the minister at Knox, Burlington, Presbytery officials in Hamilton and Brampton are moving ahead quite quickly, putting together the details for the ordination ceremony as well as her induction.

With the Presbytery of Hamilton approving the call on June 11th, we now have word that the Knox contingent will be speaking at the Presbytery of Brampton in favour of the call at 7:15 on June 25th. Interestingly enough, there will be two other calls before Presbytery that night, a rare circumstance to say the least.

But even before the Brampton Presbytery votes on the call, arrangements have been completed for Emma’s ordination service that will be held at 7 p.m. on July 7 at her home church, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Brampton.

It is hoped that a large delegation from Knox will be in attendance that night and to help facilitate the trip, there will be a bus leaving Knox late that afternoon with space for 46 passengers.

If you would like to take the bus, the cost is $10 per person with the money to be given to Kathy Kelly in the church office. Further details about the bus trip will be presented in the days ahead, but in the meantime, if you are interested, please sign the sheet on the bulletin board in the hallway outside the transept.

Then, just one week later, Emma will be inducted as the minister of Knox, Burlington, with the service once again starting at 7 p.m. and on this occasion a large number of people can be expected to attend from St. Andrew’s, Brampton, as well as numerous individuals from throughout the Hamilton Presbytery. Please keep this event in mind, and despite the fact that it is in the midst of the July holiday season, please try to attend this most important event in the life of Knox Church.

As we welcome Emma into our midst on July 14th, we will be saying goodbye to Rev. Bob Docherty on that day as his time as interim moderator will conclude – as he is wont to say – at the stroke of midnight.

Knox has been most fortunate to have Rev. Bob serving as our interim moderator for more than a year, helping to guide us through some difficult waters, all the while with a keen sense of humor. It has been a real pleasure for this writer to have had the opportunity to work closely with Rev. Bob during these many months, seeking advice, clarifying direction, bouncing ideas off his years of wisdom.

He will be missed.

But in the meantime, Rev. Bob will be in the Knox pulpit for two more occasions, on July 7 and July 14 as he concludes his service to Knox and heads back into a well deserved retirement – again.

Clapping for joy...sheer joy!

Clapping?

At Presbytery?

Clapping, where proper decorum is observed!

But clapping indeed was the case at tonight’s meeting of the Hamilton Presbytery when the Knox call to Emma Duncan was sustained by a unanimous vote.

Of course, that bit of breach from decorum was lead by a small group from Knox, so happy that we are now moving on to the next step in the process toward calling Emma as minister of Word and Sacrament.

With 98 per cent voting in favor of issuing a call to Emma, Presbytery approval was a foregone conclusion, except there can always be a snag of one sort or another.
But not on this occasion.

Rev. Bob outlined the steps undertaken as interim moderator to certify the call process, and he was followed by two representatives of Knox, Gary Evans as clerk of session, and Linda Gowing from the search committee, both speaking in support of the call.

And then the all-critical vote, and with unanimous support came the clapping, first by the Knox contingent, followed by other Presbyters.

The call process is a multi-level process, starting with Emma preaching for the call, then the signing of the call, and now, the third step, approval by Presbytery.

There are other steps along the way, but the next one should be no more than a formality, that is the June 25th meeting of the Presbytery of Brampton when Rev. Bob, this writer and one other from the search committee will once again ask Presbytery to sustain the call, but this one will be Emma’s home Presbytery.

So, all being well at Brampton – actually the meeting will be in Oakville – preliminary arrangements are already under way for Emma’s ordination which is scheduled for July 7th at Emma’s home church, St. Andrew’s Brampton. There is every possibility that Knox will charter a bus for the occasion so that there will be large contingent from Knox at the ordination service.

Details will be forthcoming in the days ahead, but tentatively there will be a charge of about $10 for the trip to the ordination service.

And to illustrate how quickly things can move ahead after one Presbytery approves the call is the fact that Emma’s induction at Knox is now tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. on July 14th.

Emma comes calling

This is a very important weekend – and a most exciting one at that – in the life of Knox Church.

Two years without a minister, Knox is now on the verge of calling a new minister, a person who has been heavily involved in her church, a person who had a promising career as a librarian, but one who heard  - and heeded – a call to the ministry.

Emma Duncan recently graduated from Knox College, winning several top awards for her academic prowess. This weekend then marks the next chapter on her journey to the pulpit.

Emma and her family will be at Knox Saturday afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. for a reception so that members can have an opportunity to meet with her before she preaches for the call on Sunday.

During the last week, elders have been busy contacting members and adherents of Knox Church, urging them to attend the reception, but especially the Sunday service as she preaches for the call.

The response elders have been getting is remarkable. It is expected that there will be a significant turnout on Sunday for the service and for the time after worship to sign for the call. As well, so many of those unable to attend have already endorsed the call – asking elders to sign on their behalf, a system allowed within the Presbyterian Church.

The voting mechanism will be outlined on Sunday, but briefly it means that after the service, everyone will adjourn to Fellowship Hall where elders will oversee the process – not only for members, but adherents as well, with adherents concurring with the call.

As a common denominator, the Presbyterian Church wants to see an 80 per cent approval rate before a call is passed along to Presbytery, so while session hopes that we will be close to that 80 cent figure by the time the last vote is counted, elders will then get on the phone contacting those not in attendance.

Once Knox approves the call, it then goes to the Hamilton Presbytery which will meet on June 11th to consider the call, and then all being well, it’s then on to Emma’s home presbytery, the Presbytery of Brampton which meets later in June.

Finally, with all approvals in place, the Brampton Presbytery will hold an ordination service, at which time Emma becomes the Rev. Emma Duncan. It sounds like quite a process, and indeed it is, with one more important step along the way – the induction service at Knox some time in the summer – the date to be established as all steps fall into place.

But first and foremost is this weekend, and we implore each one of you to come to church on Sunday, to hear Emma preach and to sign the call.

Preaching for the call

It was the news we have been waiting for all these long months; we have a candidate who will preach for the call to Knox Church.

Soon after the search committee recommended a candidate, their recommendation was approved by session and then announced with much enthusiasm by our interim moderator, Rev. Bob Docherty from the pulpit on April 28th.

The candidate is Emma Duncan, who will graduate from Knox College on May 8th. Although a new graduate, Emma shone out from all the other candidates who sent in profiles, so much so that the search committee was unanimous in its choice.

One of her references, the Rev. Dr. Douglas McQuaig from St. Andrew’s, Streetsville, had this to say about Emma: “If I could wave a magic wand I would have Emma replace me here at St. Andrew’s when I retire.”

A solid recommendation if there ever was one.

Emma will be preaching for the call on May 26th, and we urge all members and adherents to be in attendance that day to hear Emma, and to sign the call sheet.

There is also another important date to remember. Emma and her family will be attending a reception at Knox on the afternoon of May 25th, giving everyone a first-hand opportunity to meet with her in an informal setting.

There will be more information in the days ahead as we prepare for this most important time in the life of our church, but in the meantime, please circle these dates on your calendar.

So that everyone has a bit more information about this candidate, a short bio is provided on her road to the ministry.

Emma was born and raised in Brampton, and grew up in the congregation of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in that city. Within this faith community she learned about God and the Bible and as well she met her future husband, Richard, in a youth group.

In this congregation, she served as a ruling elder, chair of the Mission Committee, Presbytery representative, and taught Sunday school.

Emma and Richard have been married for 15 years and they have two daughters, Rachel (13) and Heather (10).

Prior to discerning the call to ministry, Emma worked as a librarian and she ended this career as a branch manager for the Brampton Public Library.

During her studies leading to a Master of Divinity degree, Emma led worship in many congregations in her Presbytery and she firmly believes that through engaging worship and preaching, the stories of the Bible can come alive in meaningful and relevant ways.  Emma is passionate about her faith and she is looking forward to walking with people as they live out their lives and faith.

Emma and Richard both come from very close families and they enjoy spending time with family and friends.  In her spare time, Emma is – no surprise here - an avid reader.

Introducing our new church administrator

Since she has been on the job for a month now, thought it high time that I provided a bit of background on our new church administrator, Kathy Kelly.

Kathy says she moved to Burlington in 1975 from Hamilton, where she was born and raised.

Kathy and her husband Dave have two daughters, Victoria and Meghan, as well as two granddaughters, Alexandra, born in 2009, and Samantha, born last November.

Before joining Knox, Kathy worked for The Hudson’s Bay Company for 12 years in the capacity of sales manager and then in human resources. Prior to that she worked for Eaton’s for 25 years until their demise in 2000.

If you have not already done so, please take the time and drop into the office and introduce yourself so that Kathy can put a face to the names of the Knox family

Holy Week services at Knox

It has been 40 long years, but once again there will be Holy Week services at Knox Church.

Session decided in late fall that it was important that the church be open at this most holy time of the year, and made the decision to hold a Maundy Thursday  (7 p.m.) and a Good Friday (9:30 a.m.) service at the church.

Yes, there have been Holy Week services at Knox during those 40 years, but as part of ecumenical services with Wellington Square, Port Nelson and Burlington Baptist churches, meaning that such services were only held here every four years as it was alternated among the various churches.

This year, our interim moderator, the Rev. Bob Docherty will conduct the Maundy Thursday service that will include Communion as well as the Good Friday service, which is being held earlier than our normal worship service so that anyone who still wants to participate in the ecumenical service can still get over to Wellington Square for the 11 a.m. service.

As clerk of session, it was my responsibility to inform the other clergy of the Knox decision, and the following is part of the letter I received signed by the clergy of the other three churches.

We are saddened by your decision, for your presence will be missed. The people and clergy of Knox have contributed much to the spirit of our gatherings. You have richly blessed us in word, song and presence.

We do want you to know that we are grateful that you were able to join us for almost 40 years. This is, indeed, a record of which we can all be proud. Please express our thanks to the members of Session and to the congregation. We look forward to other opportunities when we might worship and serve together as sisters and brothers in Christ.

May God bless you and keep you, as you move forward, as God’s people at Knox Burlington.

A time to thank Trish
Ten weeks ago, I announced that Trish Redding, would be retiring as church administrator, and that if everything fell into place, she would be leaving by the end of February.

It is now going on toward the end of March and Trish is still with us, but only for a few more days as March 28th marks her last day before she heads into retirement.

Bright, cheerful, bubbly, Trish has provided an invaluable service to Knox Church over the years, first as office assistant and then as church administrator, a position she has held for the past five years.

That earlier blog noted that Trish had decided to step down to do things on a personal level, and by the sounds of things, she will be still busy, but busy in much different ways, indeed doing things she never had the time to do with her current responsibilities.

The congregation has an opportunity to thank Trish and wish her well as she travels down a new pathway as everyone is invited to a time of fellowship Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. in Reception Room A and B.

Communion Sunday

This Sunday is Communion Sunday, changed by a week because of the disruption that was forecast by the Chilly Half Marathon, when access is difficult, and parking near impossible. That being said, there were indeed a good number of people who found a place to park, hitched a ride, walked or took some other form of transportation.

We had tried to make arrangements with the city to reserve parking for Knox, and those efforts proved to be just so, so. The group designated to reserve spots for Knox, unfortunately, were located at the wrong lot - I really think we are capable of looking after our own tiny lot, although some racers did indeed try to park there.

In any case, as I started to write this blog, it was 358:17:08:20 to the start of the next race. Yes, the race committee already has information up about the 2014 race, with a time clock attached, and so we already know that the race is 358 days away.

That, hopefully, gives the congregation lots of time to plan, and already there are some new thoughts as to how Knox can enjoy Sunday worship with thousands of racers and even more spectators on our doorstep.

And so, with Communion moved one week ahead, it also means that each of us must remember that this then is the time when we revert to Daylight Savings Time, and that means moving the clocks ahead.

Rev. Dr. Don Donaghey, recently retired from Knox, Dundas, will be with us again this week for the Communion service.

Victor writes

Dear Friends at Knox,
 I apologize for having been incommunicado the last little while. Mea culpa. It is currently reading week at McGill and I am taking the opportunity to catch up on correspondence.

Everything continues to go well at Presbyterian College; this semester I am particularly enjoying systematic theology (who would have guessed?). Clyde Ervine was in Montreal lecturing during the continuing education week in February and I had the chance to participate as well as catch up with him.

After discussing it with Clyde I have elected to remain a member of Hamilton Presbytery rather than becoming a member of the Presbytery of Montreal. It just feels right to remain where I am.

I will be taking an intensive New Testament Greek course this spring (May and June), and will probably take a July course as well to lighten the load for next year since my summer will be a short one. This will allow me more time next year for involvement in non-academic activities at both Westminster and PC. I also hope to take a summer charge next year for the months of May through August as may be available.

I do foresee being in Toronto towards the end of the summer since the guidance conference at Crieff Hills is normally held late August. Quite some time to go before then I know; still I look forward to seeing you all again.

I wish you all a blessed and happy Easter!

Yours in Christ,

Victor

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3)

Job posting

With Trish Redding planning to retire from her role as church administrator in the near future, the personnel committee is now actively seeking a replacement for this position. The job vacancy has been announced on Sunday mornings, it has been included in the church bulletin, and the details below have been posted on the bulletin board outside the transept.

Church Administrator – 24 hrs. Per week

Responsibilities:
• Provide friendly reception to any visitor to the Knox Office
• Maintains database of Church membership information
• Co-ordination of Elders Districts
• Orders Offering Envelopes and prepares them for distribution to the congregation and Sunday School
• Prepare Church Bulletins and inserts
• Office duties to include answering phones, filing, ordering  supplies, arranging routine service calls
• Church Building Scheduling –co-ordinate the schedules and events in the church building
• Prepare Annual Report

Job Requirements/Qualifications:

• Must be proficient in the use of computer programs Excel, Outlook, Power Point and Word
• Must be proficient in the use of standard office tools (copy machine, fax machine etc.)
• Process strong administrative skills
• Self-motivated
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to consistently meet deadlines
• Ability to work independently
• Conscious of the need for confidentiality
• Post-Secondary Degree an asset

Please submit your application and resume to the Church Office attention Personnel Committee

Those were the days

During a bit of research recently, I came across a story in the Burlington Gazette from Sept. 6, 1939, at which time Knox had a vacancy in the pulpit, and the call for applications brought in no less than 69 potential candidates.

Some 74 years later, Knox is once again seeking a candidate to fill the pulpit, but unlike the situation experienced in 1939, there is not such a wealth of candidates – at least not 69 to wade through. However, Knox does have some excellent candidates and the search committee is doing its due diligence in seeking out the right person for this church. The search committee has had one meeting in January already, members of the search committee are out listening to a candidate this Sunday, and yet another meeting is scheduled for later this month.

And so, while the vacancy is now approaching two years, progress is being made, but in the meantime, Knox is being well served through able assistance of our interim moderator, Rev. Bob Docherty, as well as excellent pulpit supply, which, for the month of January, will be Marilyn Repchuck.

Defibrillator instruction

Church members are reminded that this Sunday will see yet another instruction session on just how to use the defibrillator which has been donated to the church, and which is situated on the wall across from the elevator.

Capt. Gary Macdonald of the Burlington Fire Department will be in charge of the demonstration that will be held in Fellowship Hall. There is an open invitation for everyone in the church to attend this session, and to learn how to operate this important piece of equipment.

Trish is leaving

For anyone not in church on Jan. 6, the following is the announcement I made concerning our church administrator, Trish Redding.

There has been a familiar face around the church office for a great many years – five years as church administrator, another seven before that as an office assistant.

But after those many years of service, Trish Redding has decided to step down, to do things on a personal level, to follow a new path down life’s highway.

Trish has been a valuable member of the church staff, and as clerk I am saddened that she is leaving, but happy for her as she sets out on this new chapter in her life.

Trish is going to be very flexible in her timetable. She would like to leave by the end of February, and thus see Knox through its annual meeting. If we don’t have any one in place by that date, she will stay on until such time as the administrator’s job is filled.

Ideally, she would like to be in a position where she could train her replacement so that the transition is as smooth as possible.

With that in mind, the Knox personnel committee will be seeking candidates immediately. They will seek out potential candidates from the Knox family during the month of January, and if necessary, the committee will advertise outside of Knox early in February. Notices will be included in the church bulletin, and on the bulletin board in the hallway outside the transept starting Jan. 13th.

We thank Trish for the invaluable service she has provided to this congregation, so often going well beyond her job description to be of service to the Knox family and to others who come through our church doors.