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.