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.