AOTS (As One That Serves) Christian Men's Club

Central Region Spring Round-Up - April 20-22

2011-11-28T23:21:00.006-05:00

Planning for the Central Region Spring Round-Up in Jackson’s Point Conference Centre is underway and there is some exciting news from the organizers from the Bay of Quinte Conference. David Wilson, the editor of The United Church Observer will be our main speaker on Friday night.

The dates for the Roundup will be April 20th to the 22nd, 2012. Mark your calendars

The Bay of Quinte Conference is hosting, so if you want additional information please email Alex Jackson or call him at 705 745-2637

Look For updates at the AOTS Central Region Conference Blog.

SickKids Foundation and the AOTS Hospital Project

2011-11-16T12:08:00.001-05:00

Established in 1972, SickKids Foundation raises funds on behalf of The Hospital for Sick Children. The Foundation's fundraising is driven by the belief that improving the health and well-being of children is one of the most powerful ways to improve society. Community support like the AOTS (As Ones That Serve), separate and distinct from government and granting agencies, is a critical source of funding for SickKids.

Their mission is to inspire our communities to invest in health and scientific advances to improve the lives of children and their families in Canada and around the world.

At our last National Executive conference meeting we made a decision to donate the remaining Hospital Project funds to the Hospital for Sick Children and The SickKids Foundation is their main fundraising organization.

The National Association of AOTS Men’s Clubs donated $1062 and Layton Stewart had the pleasure of presenting a cheque on behalf of the AOTS.

Working together with the community to help The SickKids Foundation with their vision of “Healthier Children. A Better World.™”

AOTS Past President Takes on Toronto Southeast Presbytery Mission Developer

2011-06-03T11:33:00.000-04:00

Jim McKibbin will take on a 2 year contract position which was the result of a Mission Strategy/East End initiative.

I am delighted to be taking on responsibilities as Mission Developer for Toronto Southeast Presbytery. The Mission Developer is assigned the task of working with congregations to facilitate, guide and support a refocusing of church work in Toronto’s East End. The effects of neighbourhood demographic change, aging congregational membership and the resulting financial impact, challenge these congregations. Within these challenges there are great opportunities to reassess work and adopt new approaches to being church in community.

As a church, social and political activist for most of my life I have a great love for the United Church and the way in which it encourages adherents to combine their spiritual practice with social justice outreach. I have just completed responsibilities as national president of AOTS (As One That Serves) and I currently serve as a commissioner to the 40th General Council. Later in 2011 I will be completing studies in preparation for accreditation as a Licensed Lay Worship Leader. I’ve enjoyed a wide ranging background in communications, sales, negotiation and facilitation. In previous lives I have acted as a senior human resources consultant with Brown Consulting Group, Communications Manager and spokesperson for Statistics Canada and the Canadian Census, Director of the Toronto Learning Annex and chairperson of the Ontario Soft Drink Workers Union.

I look forward to engaging in this work.

Thank you

Jim McKibbin, TS Mission Developer

2011 Biennial Roundup a Great Success

2011-05-07T18:14:00.004-04:00

Over 60 attendees spent a wonderful weekend together as AOTS National and Central Region participated in a joint Biennial/Roundup convention entitled Celebrating Men’s Work in the Church – Making a Difference.

Keynote speaker Michael Blair provided great insight into the act of celebration by focusing AOTS members on celebrating the future as opposed to the past. In his opening address Michael posed three questions:

-What is the legacy you want to leave for those who come next?
-Why make a difference and for whom?

-What does it mean for you to share your faith? How do you share your faith?

He spoke of “presencing” the work of the church by contemporizing the situation we see on our horizon. This is complicated by our desire to be hospitable and act as “hosts” to those we wish to welcome and come as our guests. Relationships become defined over time as host and guest. We become stuck in the past. In this sense we need to dispense with our notions of hospitality, set it aside and practice a future based on equity, recognizing that we all do not start from the same place. If our goal is to make a difference in the world, we need to dispense with relationships that keep us in the past.

Michael’s three keynote presentations had a profound impact on the weekend convention, which was finalizing significant changes to the AOTS Constitution, making us a slimmer and trimmer organization for the times we are in. John Cooke led that work and he will be working closely with new president Dave Morris in transitioning us through to the full implementation of those changes.

John Groeneveld led us through numerous wonderful sing-alongs and led our choir for our Sunday service. John’s work was splendid throughout the weekend and we were blessed with his leadership.

The pace for the weekend allowed considerable time for fellowship. As usual the big screen at Jackson’s point was posted to the respectful hockey game or curling match for all to see and euchre games were played throughout the common area.

George Bishop did a wonderful job providing leadership on the weekend. He organized a Ladies Program for spouses of AOTS members which included a performance of the famous People’s Players. He led a workshop and a wonderful Saturday morning meditation.

Bob Gardner provided Sunday’s morning meditation, in a moving and focused remembrance of his dear wife Eugenie.

Workshop topics included: Outside of the Box Thinking, Making a Difference, Rethinking Our Direction, and Bible Study. Aside from George, David Battaino, Jim Upright and Jim McKibbin were also workshop presenters.

Entertainment for Saturday evening was provided by Cruisin Accapella Quartet. They were very well received providing lots of laughs and great harmonies.

Reverend David Estey provided us with spiritual leadership throughout the weekend in his capacity as worship leader for our Sunday worship.

Throughout the weekend we were ably hosted by the staff of the Jackson’s Point Conference Centre and our own registrar, Keeling Little.

After he was installed President Dave Morris thanked the outgoing executive. He said he looked forward to the road ahead and determining how we can celebrate into the future make a difference in the world now.

A report on the Dondi Project was presented to the convention indicating that the AOTS-supported initiative had raised over $400,000 in total and that all monies raised through the drumming circles and Drumathons would be directed to rebuilding the Lutamo school in Angola.

Convention decisions included the location of the 2013 Biennial in Gander, Newfoundland, in August. Jim Upright was selected as President-elect and Mark Browning took on responsibilities as Recording Secretary. And to the delight of everyone Harold Lorenz agreed to continue as editor of the Handshake. We are greatly blessed.

President’s Monthly Report for April 2011 - Closing Speech

2011-04-15T18:10:00.001-04:00

It was 4 years ago at the Biennial in Peterborough that Bill Love asked me to consider taking on the role of AOTS president. It was an unexpected request. I had left Toronto looking forward to enjoying a weekend of fellowship and spiritual renewal as a member of AOTS and as president of the Toronto Conference of the organization. I was taken aback by the request. I was preparing to take my leave from my position as communications manager at Statistics Canada and had scheduled my retirement for July of 2008. I was looking forward to starting a consulting practice and hadn’t planned on any more volunteer work.

A decision like that isn’t taken without consultation with one’s life partner and I told Bill that I had to consult with my wife. I did and she gave me her blessing and I ended up saying yes. So began my journey – two years as president–elect followed by two years as president. I have not regretted the decision. The burden has been light and the rewards manifold.

This organization is one to treasure. It has a rich history of service and dedication to Christian principles. I have been blessed with the opportunity to uphold both that tradition and honour those principles – in a time of great change in our world, our country, our society, our church and our families. Several years ago I did a workshop here at Jacksons Point – one in which we asked attendees to discuss their understanding of God and if and how God had changed for them in their eyes over the years. For most men God had changed. One man even said the that he concluded that God was a women – seeing as all the bad things men had done in the world like war etc. It was a brave comment and it got a lot of laughs. AOTS has been that forum for me. It has been a place of spiritual renewal – a place of searching for meaning – of openness and inclusivity – where we examine and discuss what spirituality means for us in community, in church, in society in politics and in family.

We have examined those issues here; of what is family and what is kinship – who is the “other” especially when we know that the message of Jesus is that every child is a child of God. So the opportunity of having these discussions, of having these spiritual insights provided by so many wonderful speakers at these rallies, roundups and conventions is why I will never say that I gave to AOTS – no AOTS gave to me. I got more that I gave – I was uplifted by this organization – by its dedication to service and therefore to the inclusive message of Jesus. There are so many to thank. I will name only a few now. My apoloigies to thoise I do n ot mention. My gratitude extends to all AOTSers. Many of those who helped me, who gave to me more that I could give to them are here in this room with me know. People like my immediate past president, Bill Love – and absent is his brother in arms Wally Shoults, with whom I disagreed about the tar sands; although in fairness he would call it the oil sands. And others like our faithful servant, Jim Upright, who held up the entire western end of the country and vice president Gary Ross organizing tours of Newfoundland or Ed Macdonald making sure links with other men's groups were strong in Central Canada or Harvey Douglas who was such a stalwart of giving and service in Western Canada and who carried so much of the Dondi project on his back. It is surprising what one man can do. And he so often keeps us sharp with his email messages.

Or Garnet our past, past president - Sometimes I don’t know what he’s saying but I do know it’s full of love. I am going to give you a kiss later on. Or Al Anthony and Jim Waterfall who are just there – who do the work – organize the events and provide the backbone and spine to club, conference and national initiatives. Or John Cooke who so marvellously took everything good in this organization and carefully remoulded our constitution and bylaws devoting countless hours of work and research. Or Howard Will and Wally MacDonald who are here tonight I am delighted to say sojourning with us one more time and who so actively served us so well, carrying our banner. And Ernie Orpin the wise one who knows where the money is and is buried and who so carefully managed the books for so long. I have learned from you all. And Marvin who does his own work – managing our books controlling the finances and doing such a great job with all of that, as we embrace the internet, website and email age. He makes it looks easy it isn’t. I know I was a treasure once upon a time. I didn’t do so well at it. And Ken Lane who puts together programs and knows the history like no one else and has been there. And is ready to change with the times so long as the course is set to the message of Jesus. It is. And Ray Cockburn my colleague in Toronto Conference who dutifully takes minutes and makes them correspond to reality with whom I have worked for so many years on conference programs. And Harold Lorenz – in my mind’s eye I call him the horse. It is a moniker of respect. Perhaps one of the strongest men I have ever met. I recall him organizing work parties to climb roofs at Lake Scugog. He has managed finances for years for Toronto Conference and at Roundups. He does so many things including acting as our great Handshake editor. And Keeling Little, the registrar/organizer who puts these programs together with such a careful eye for detail and such great respect for the allocation of our budget. And Mark Browning our fresh faced and website manager who is alive with new ideas and the enthusiasm we need to sustain this organization through the changes in front of us and the challenges ahead. And our incoming president who I turn the reins over to this evening, whose steady outlook and patient wisdom will guide us over the next two years. We are in good hands with Dave Morris. And George Bishop who has so often been my voice of reason – the one who has the ability to sit back and see the big picture and the one whose social conscience burns so brightly. He has not been one to trade his capacity to think for the security of being told. I have learned much from him. And Harry Wolfraim who has been my mentor for so many years. Not because he told me to listen to him because he had something to say as I would have done. But simply because he did what had to be done so many times, in so many ways and with such unbridled enthusiasm for the spirit of service that AOTS, the United Church and the message of Jesus represents. I am in debt to you all. It has been your gift to me to bestow upon me the honour of being your leader. Thanks be to God.

Note From Rev Kristy About Electing a Government You Believe In

2011-04-03T02:01:00.000-04:00

Rev. Kirsty Hunter is the minister in Minesing Pastoral Charge in Minesing, Ontario. She is currently the co-chair of the Community Connections & Right Relations Commission in Living Waters Presbytery in Toronto Conference.

Poverty is a problem throughout the world, even in Canada. It is important that we do what we can to overcome the unbalance in the availability of the necessities of life. Kirsty emphasizes the need and some of the ways to get our politicians more involved.

Whether or not we agree with Rev. Hunter, we should ensure we take advantage of our opportunity to elect the members of our parliament.

--------------------------------------- The Letter--------------------------------

Hello Everyone,

As we get closer to the federal and provincial elections I promise to be a broken record reminding you to vote.

We are watching people all over the world lose their lives as they fight for this right and privilege and responsibility that we take so lightly. So plan to vote, and plan to bring someone you care about, and bring someone who has not voted before or who has not voted in a while, and bring someone too young to vote so they can see you model being a part of our democracy, and most important of all think and talk about who and what you are voting for ahead of time.

Below this email and links is a message from an organisation called Make Poverty History. They believe in holding politicians accountable to the promises they have made about world poverty and poverty in Canada. They are not affiliated with any party but they do have a set of core beliefs. I encourage you to read through the material to see their approach. You may or may not agree with them but please notice these important things about what they suggest. First pick three or four things that are important to you. Some of them may be big picture, some may be practical steps you want to see governments take. Second, get involved by asking questions. Third, tell the candidates that you will vote based on your issues. Fourth, talk to other people. Fifth, and most important, vote.

Think about these questions. What is most important to you (education, health care, poverty, security etc.) What are your core beliefs about those issues? What does your faith and the teachings of Jesus mean to you in the voting booth? What questions should you be asking candidates to find out if they share your core values? What answers are you looking for?

I do not endorse any candidate or party. However, as a person of faith I will be looking critically at all candidates and parties to find the one that is a best fit for when I go in and vote. Freedom of religion means the government can't tell me how to worship or what to believe. It does not mean I won't vote based on my beliefs and values. I will make my own decisions and vote just as I hope all of you will.

Below are some links to resources that may be helpful to you or at least stimulate discussion.

Peace and Blessings to you all.

Rev. Kirsty

Elections Canada Info

http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&dir=41ge&document=index&lang=e

Faith Based Resources from United Church of Canada

http://www.united-church.ca/files/getinvolved/takeaction/2011-election-kit.pdf

Fun Quiz to see how you agree or disagree with parties - take it in a group or as a family and talk about it!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/votecompass/

AOTS Biennial/Roundup Message from the President

2011-03-20T21:27:00.001-04:00

Plans are moving forward for the combined AOTS Biennial/Roundup and I am delighted to report that our featured speaker, Michael Blair, will be able to join us for the entire weekend. Michael serves as Executive Minister of the Communities in Mission Unit of The United Church of Canada. He is the former Executive Director of the Toronto Christian Resource Center which is a ministry of the Toronto Southeast Presbytery serving the homeless and marginalized housed in Toronto's eastern downtown area. Previously, Michael served as a congregational minister of a number of Baptist churches in Toronto and St. Catherine’s. As a community chaplain with the Ontario Multifaith Council's Reintegration Program, he worked with individuals leaving the provincial jail system.

Harold Lorenz reports that we have received 21 registrations to date for the Biennial/Roundup. As many of you know the early bird cut-off date is March 31st so it is time to send those registrations in and plan to be with us for an exciting weekend of men’s fellowship and spiritual renewal.

An excellent workshop program is planned and our chaplain for the weekend is Brigadier David Estey (ret’d). Our Saturday evening program will feature the Cruisin Accapella Quartet and John Groeneveld will lead our sing-along’s.

All that will take place in the wonderful surroundings of the Jackson’s Point Conference Centre with the great cuisine provided by kitchen chefs. Don’t miss it!

As this is a combined national convention and biennial our agenda is packed. Please plan to be there for the National Convention where the AOTS national council will present our proposed new constitution. The l Convention begins at 2:00 pm on Friday, April 15.

Thank you all.
Jim

For More Information Check out the AOTS Biennial/Roundup Website
Get Your Registration Form
Contact the Round-up Registrar Keeling Little
Or call him at (705) 476-1126 for more information

President’s Report For March, 2011

2011-03-12T16:10:00.000-05:00

Throughout the past two years I have attempted (with a modicum of success) to write a monthly report for our website. This will be my second last report as I am now in the final six weeks of my presidency.

Last week I received an email from Bay of Quinte Conference president Jim Waterfall that one of our clubs in Picton has decided to close up shop due to a lack of members. At the same time last month I had some correspondence with Richard Friedrich of our Duncan club which was reviewing whether they should stay on as members of AOTS. I am happy to report that they have decided to stay the course.

These are challenging times for AOTSers. We age. Our members become too old to carry on and our clubs pass away into non-existence. But non-existence is not really an appropriate phrase. Our clubs have left their mark on our society, in our communities, and on behalf of our church. I know that with president –elect Dave Morris taking over the reins of the presidency that we will be in good hands.

Hopefully our membership will see fit to adopt the new proposed constitution which has been so ably and carefully constructed by national council member John Cooke. It will allow the incoming executive to do some of our work without the encumbrances of a constitution belonging to another time, when we were bigger and much less top heavy.

While we are going through these challenges to our existence, so is our church. Yet another staff cut took place at our national church office and that is a reflection of how we are changing. Quite simply we are not the church we once were and we have to become the church that the future demands, if we are to have any relevance in Canadian society at all.

Next week, as president of AOTS I have been asked to sit in on a focus group about a new church initiative called United Cares. The long and short of United Cares is that is it a program designed for those members of our communities who do not see themselves as church goers but would still like to participate in valid social justice and compassionate programs through a solid organization that they can trust and know that their money is being spent wisely and with care. We know how important that is from our charitable work on projects like the Dondi drum circles and Drumathon.

And speaking of the Drumathon please allow me to pass onto you why our work will never go into that state on non-existence. Simply because we did it.

Yesterday I received a note from Chris Cullen who many of you know as a focal point contact for the Drumathon itself. Chris is in Kingston attending to her elderly mother. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Chris passed on to the following email she received about the Dondi project itself.

It is funny how things turn out and how in one way of another we are all connected. The note speaks for itself and it mentions the videos that were produced by Men's Ministry Network folks who visited Angola to touch base with those at IECA, our church’s partner, who were struggling to rebuild the Lutamo School.

It brought a tear to my eye. That may happen to you as well. All I can say to all of you is thank you for your support in this. I have called Janice Johnson to give her an update on the Dondi Project.

Until next month... Jim

--------------------------------------------

Hello,

Yesterday I came across the videos for the Dondi Project through Nancy Henderson's web page ( www.nancyhendersonjames.com ). They were tremendously moving. The first video, as you are aware, shows the grave of Amelia DeMorais Wilson. Amelia was my grandmother. Our family had assumed that her grave was destroyed during the revolution, and were shocked to find it still intact. We have a picture of my grandfather placing flowers on my grandmother's grave taken in 1957, the year of her death. It is the only time we have seen the grave--until yesterday on the video.

Two of my grandmother's three children are still living: my mother and my aunt. These videos have had a tremendous effect on our family, as you can well imagine. My grandfather drew the plans for the Currie Institute and oversaw its construction. He and my grandmother taught there (teacher training) for about thirty years. Several years ago, my mother wrote a history of her parents' lives and the work at the Dondi mission, particularly their involvement at the Institute, the printing press, and chapel. I believe you would be most interested in reading it.

I am most interested in receiving current information regarding this very ambitious and worthwhile goal to rebuild the school.

Janice Johnson

President’s Report for February

2011-02-02T12:08:00.003-05:00

Living Out the Beatitudes

A sermon delivered by Jim McKibbin at Beach United Church January 30, 2011

Our scripture today is part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The beatitudes or the lessons of blessedness in the beatitudes are a very large part of that sermon.

If blessedness is goal of a Christian the beatitudes form a radical theological structure for that blessedness. As rules of God, the beatitudes stand in contrast, perhaps to the easier to understand 10 commandments.

The “shall nots” and “shalls” of the commandments are very clear. That is not the case with the beatitudes. They are much less clear. They require constant theological reflection, contemplation, dialogue and action.

But in looking at the question of the beatitudes I’d like to bring to mind a couple of events both of which took place about 30 years ago. The first is the publication of this book called the Be (Happy) Attitudes by Dr Robert Schuller, founder of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California and long time host of the Sunday morning Hour of Power telecast.

The second is the death of this man Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered in 1980, by government assassins, in his church, celebrating a funeral mass, because he spoke out against government human rights violations. In so doing he came to personify the resistance of the people of El Salvador against the oppression of the corporate state.

In examining this scripture today I’d like to focus on the issues of righteous resistance, persecution and the poor in spirit.

Now Dr Schuller has a remedy for the poor in spirit, if we are to understand the “poor in spirit” as being those who exist on the margins, the impoverished, the oppressed, depressed, disadvantaged and dispossessed.

In a light and lively format Dr Schuller transforms the beatitudes into 8 happy attitudes that can change your life. So blessed are the poor in spirit becomes, “I need help. I can’t do it alone.” And blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” becomes “I can choose to be happy anyway”.

Now not to diminish the clearly invaluable contribution to self-help culture that Dr Schuller has made with this New York Times best seller, and how useful it might be to use the beatitudes for self improvement, this may not be what Jesus had in mind.

Dr Schuller makes the beatitudes a me-focused exercise. In writing about the poor in spirit he says that everybody is poor in their own way and in this way directs our focus inward.

The culture of self help is very inward. It is not about the “other”. So in practicing Dr Schuller’s approach we need to recognize that it may cause us to turn away from those who are genuinely poor and poor in spirit.

Archbishop Romero struggled with this very concept; the application of the Beatitudes to the oppressive feudalism of a ruling elite in El Salvador.

Ordained in 1942 Romero was a conservative priest opposing the plea for renewal coming out of Vatican 2.

In El Salvador he supported a policy of peace any price.

As his biographer Victor Shepherd writes when Romero became editor of the Archdiocesan magazine he contradicted the previous editor who had cried out against social injustice.

Instead Romero focused inward on the addictions of the people – alcoholism, pornography, drug addiction.

Ultimately however, Romero was faced with the historic “turn” in his life, when his circumstances necessitated deep personal reflection about what it meant to live out the beatitudes.

The decision he made was as much about what it meant to be church in El Salvador, as it was a personal one for Romero.

With the Jesuits’ declaration of an “option for the poor”, masses of people came to believe in their own blessedness. There was resistance to the oppression and exceedingly cruel state measures against that resistance.

In 1975 a series of events catalyzed Romero. The National Guard hacked people to death in a village as it rampaged from house to house, ostensibly searching for concealed weapons. Soldiers machine-gunned demonstrators killing dozens when 50,000 people demonstrated against rigged elections.

Summoning priests to his residence he told them he no longer needed any evidence, he knew what the gospel required of church leaders in the face of the people’s misery. All priests were to afford sanctuary to those threatened by police and government authorities.

Almost immediately government forces gunned down Rutilio Grande, a Jesuit friend, together with an old man and sixteen year-old boy.

“Undeterred,” Shepherd tells us, “Romero prayed publicly at length beside his friend’s remains, and then buried all three corpses without first securing government permission – a criminal offence. Next he did the unthinkable: he excommunicated the murderers. In a dramatic gesture he cancelled all services the following Sunday except for a single mass in front of the cathedral, conducted outdoors before 100,000 people. When he went to Rome to explain himself, the pope replied, “Coraggio – courage.”

Courage? As Shepherd tells us, Rightwing groups were leafleting the nation, “Be a patriot: kill a priest.”

Romero’s ‘turn’ was based on his recognition that the church needed to take a stand on the people’s resistance. “Would it help move them past an oppressive feudalism or retrench, thereby strengthening the hand of the oppressor?” His “turn” was based on his outreach into the world to those who are poor and poor in spirit, who are meek, who mourn and who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Days before his murder he told a reporter, "You can tell the people that if they succeed in killing me, that I forgive and bless those who do it. Hopefully, they will realize they are wasting their time. A bishop will die, but the church of God, which is the people, will never perish."

Fundamentally, this is what the beatitudes are. They are about the people – the other if you will. They are not singular in their approach.

They require reflection, contemplation, dialogue and ultimately action. As Christians this is an ongoing discussion.

This discussion extends to even identifying how many there are: 7, 8, 9, 10.

My simple mind tells me to count the verses and when one does that there are nine.

Now the ninth one is a most interesting one. It is also one that many people lump in with the eighth. Dr Schuller, for example lists 8 beatitudes – the eighth being “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

He doesn’t mention the 9th which says “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were there before you.”

Now the interesting thing about the 9th is that it is the only one which is directed to you as the reader – not “those” who are someone else and may or may not be you. The 9th is for you.

Is this an invitation from Jesus for us to stand with the oppressed, to resist evil and pursue social justice, to step into the shoes of the persecuted? Is it a message for the church – that the church cannot be a centre of disengagement but rather, must become a centre of resistance?

Jesus is saying “How about it?”

Romero acknowledged this call. He acknowledged that the beatitudes were about what he did. He spent time in reflection, contemplation, dialogue and action. He saw himself in the ‘you’ of the 9th beatitude.

He recognized that there were those who were poor and poor in spirit, and those who were not. He recognized that the amoral corporate state cared not at all, for the blessedness of the people.

In the competitive, globalized world in which we live it is easy to set aside concern for the other. The culture encourages it.

As we know from Romero’s example it is not easy to suffer persecution for righteousness sake.

People are persecuted because they are demonized and hated and singled out for attack. In Romero’s case, because he was unpatriotic – kill a priest.

Just as Jews became the Anti-Christ during the Shoa or Holocaust.

And

First Nations children were subject to beating because they spoke their own language.

The persecuted are criminalized and made demonic.

As retired US Army Colonel Harry Summers states, "It always makes it easier to fight a war if you demonize people so that you're not killing human beings, you're killing the devil."

In his classic work, Peculiar Institution, Kenneth Stampp, wrote about this principle. “Whites decreed that the slaves had no souls, they were not considered human beings, and since they were not human beings, anything could be done to them. And Stampp cites the case of a female slave owner who chopped up one of her slaves to relieve her frustrations.

When we ask how these things can happen, we must recognize the kind of evil that arises from a perspective of demonization and hatred.

It is a perspective of war. It allows soldiers to kill an enemy and step across that sacred line and take a human life. We ask our soldiers to suspend their consciences in war and reactivate them when they return home.

But it is not just our soldiers who are at war. We are at war. There is a culture of permanent war in the world - permanent war - where the persecution of the demonized other, is a staple of the culture.

Political debate reeks with toxicity of demonization, hatred and the singling out of people for attack. Jared Lee Loughner's diabolical mug shot reminds us what happens when the culture of persecution holds sway.

Ultimately in all this the church has choice. As Romero had a choice.

In speaking of persecution Romero said, 'While it is clear that our Church has been the victim of persecution..., it is even more important to observe the reason for the persecution. ...The persecution comes about because of the Church's defence of the poor, for assuming the destiny of the poor."

For living out the beatitude.

Is the church about resistance? For Romero yes. His church lies with the people.

As for Dr Schuller he lives on, once again in retirement in Garden Grove. The Be Happy Attitudes and his other books on how to find personal happiness are still available on the Hour of Power website. But there have been challenges. Three years after appointing his son as his successor Dr Schuller cited a lack of a shared vision as a rationale for removing his son from his position as senior pastor and installing his daughter in his place.

In October of 2010 the Crystal Cathedral declared chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US with debts of $50 – 100 million creating a creditor and media frenzy about salaries paid to executives.

And the beatitudes, they still instruct us on how to live and how to understand the rule of God. We need only take the time to reflect, contemplate, dialogue and take action.

Thanks be to God.

The Art Harding Man of the Year Award for 2010

2011-02-01T17:38:00.003-05:00

Keeling Little (on the left) receiving the award from Edwin MacDonald Central Vice President and Manitou Conference Represenative, with Ken Lane (in the back ground)

Keeling joined AOTS when he was working for CNTelecommunications in Kapuskasing in 1971. Those were the days when we met at the famous Kapuskasing Inn for our monthly supper meeting, sold poppycock and nuts at Christmas time and held Strawberry Festival in June . He can only remember once or twice attending AOTS Round-ups at Geneva Park.

When job opportunities came available in North Bay in 1981, Keeling continued to meet with AOTS at Trinity North Bay and started attending their breakfast meeting in a number of different resturants over the years. Those were the days when we had clubs at Kapuskasing, and members at large at Cochrane and South Porcupine, Smith Falls and a very active group at St Lukes in Sudbury .

It was in 1984 that Manitou conference was approached to host the 14th National Round Up in August 1985 at Huntington College in Sudbury. It was then deceided that the Trinity North Bay Club would take on the Registration.At the time Keeling was involved in learning and writing programs in Basic, so he took on the task of writing a basic program to do the job and with the help of his son Matthew checked in the registered members.

Every time Manitou conference turn comes up Keeling volunteered Trinity to do the registration part of this conference. He has gone from Basic Language , the DatabaseIII, Database IV then back to Database III and Clipper. Now he uses HTML, MySql,and PHP. One of these day you will be able to register on the internet. Keeling has done registration ever four or five years whenever Manitou Conference turn comes up. In 2010 Toronto conference asked Keeling to help them with their AOTS National Biennial and Central Region Spring Round-Up 2011.

Congratulations Keeling Little!! You are truly a great example of the kind of men that make this organization what we are today.

AOTS National Biennial and Central Region Spring Roundup 2011

2011-01-31T16:00:00.005-05:00

Celebrating Men's Work in the Church: Making a Difference
Now more than ever the concept of making a difference looms large in our collective psyche. Experts on the environment tell us our planet is past its "best before" date. We seem to live in a world of permanent war. The gap between rich and poor increases. Jesus calls us to make a difference in the world and to never tire of doing right. As One That Serves (AOTS) has been dedicated to making a difference and getting things done for the past 88 years. Come and Join us for this weekend of friendship and spirituality as AOTS celebrates men's work in the church and looks forward to expanding men's ministry through a spirit of servant leadership.

Keynote Presenter: Michael Blair

Workshops:
will be led by David Battaino, George Bishop, Jim McKibbin, Jim Upright

Outside of the Box

Making a Difference

Rethinking our Direction

Bible Study

Entertainment: Cruisin Acappella Quartet

Sing Along: With John Groeneveld

For More information check out the National Biennial and Central Region Spring Roundup website

Get Your Registration Form

Contact the Round-up Registrar Keeling Little or call him at
(705) 476-1126 for more information

Elected positions on the National AOTS Council

2011-01-24T21:50:00.002-05:00

UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA National AOTS

Elected positions on the National AOTS Council

Responsibilities of each from the AOTS "BYLAWS"

Important Note: A proposal to change the National AOTS Constitution and Bylaws will be presented to the Biennial business meeting in April 2011. If the proposal is approved, there may be some changes to Officer responsibilities, Committee structure, and Committee Chair responsibilities.

Jan 2011

THE PRESIDENT ELECT:
The man elected as President Elect will be installed as President at the following Biennial Convention. His essential role is to train and prepare himself as President.

PRESIDENT:
The President is responsible for overall supervision and administration of the affairs of the National AOTS and ensures that all policies and actions approved by the Convention delegates, the National AOTS Counci1 or the National AOTS Executive are properly implemented.

REGIONAL VICE-Presidents:
It is assumed that a regional Vice-President has an extensive background of experience in AOTS work and is possibilities in much of the region for which he is responsible. Therefore a primary concern would be to facilitate more effective communication, personal contact, phone calls, correspondence within the region, and between the region and the National AOTS. The Vice-President is a liaison, and an interpreter. He is the source of stimulation and support of the AOTS movement.

RECORDING SECRETARY:
The secretary's basic responsibility is to be a Recording Secretary for the National AOTS. He will write up the minutes of business sessions of the National AOTS Convention and meetings of the National AOTS Council and its Executive. He will send these to the National AOTS Office for copying and mailing.

TREASURER:
The treasurer is responsible for the care and custody of the funds and other financial assets of the National AOTS and for making payments for a11 approved expenses. He maintains books of the accounts and reports regularly to the National AOTS Executive.

STANDING COMMITTEES:
Under the BYLAWS there are seven STANDING COMMITTEE'S

The Chairman of all Standing Committee's are elected at a National AOTS Convention.

The Chairman is responsible for setting up his committee so that it, can function effectively and efficiently. A nucleus of able and interested members should be recruited to serve on the committee for a two year period.

They should be in close proximity the Chairman to facilitate meetings and communication.

CHURCH AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
This committee's responsibility covers the service part of the aims of the National AOTS including projects and the support of Youth work. On behalf of the National Council, this committee will have responsibility for such specific National projects as, the National AOTS Hospital Project, the Harry Colnett Memorial Scholarship Project, and the Observer-On-Tape, Youth for Camp, and the D.R. Poole Memorial Awards, as well as other projects assigned to there supervision.

FELLOWSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
A general description of the responsibility of this committee could be described as an interest and a concern for the membership of the National AOTS in the past, present and future. It would develop, experiment and test new modes of membership and new types of clubs or groups to further the aims of the National AOTS in differing regions, among a diversity of potential members in a changing society. Be responsible for the promotion and administration of the David Sherwood Memorial Trophy program.

SPIRITUAL LIFE AND LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE:
It is the responsibility of this committee to monitor, evaluate and devise ways and means of deepening the spiritual life of AOTS men. To be a source of information regarding devotional material and to advise through the Newsletter of materials and ideas that will strengthen the spiritual life of the readers.

The production of Spiritual Life Handbook is the responsibility of this committee.

CONSTITUTION COMMITTEE:
It is the responsibility of the Constitution Committee to keep under review the Rules of Government of the National AOTS and to recommend, from time to time, changes which may be recommended or desirable.

CONVENTION COMMITTEE:
To be responsible for planning, formulating recommendations about, and operating the National AOTS Convention, subject to approval by the National AOTS Council or its Executive.

FINANCE AND PLANNING COMMITTEE:
To assume responsibility to investigate, stimulate and promote ways and means to provide adequate financing for the National AOTS and its National Projects.

To assume the responsibility to formulate and present for approval a budget for the operation of the National AOTS and support for National AOTS projects.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Present one or more nominations to the National AOTS Convention for each position of National AOTS Officers and Standing Committee Chairmen.

Be prepared to recommend to the National AOTS Council or Executive the names of competent men that could fill vacancies that may occur during the time between Conventions.

Download the PDF version of the Elected positions on the National AOTS Council

Proposed Changes to the AOTS Constitution & Bylaws

2011-01-03T01:10:00.000-05:00

Executive Summary

After the 2009 Biennial Conference, the National Council undertook to revise and update the Rules of Government of The National AOTS. This work culminated in a substantial revision of both the Constitution and Bylaws documents. The National Council endorsed the proposed new documents with concurrence in April 2010 as the first step towards final approval. The process for change requires that the membership and clubs be advised of the changes at least 4 months in advance of the Biennial Conference scheduled for April 2011. To meet this requirement, the proposed new documents will be circulated with the Winter 2010/2011 Handshake and be available on the AOTS website. They will be presented to the membership for debate and approval at the 2011 Biennial Conference. All members are encouraged to review and discuss the proposed changes in the months leading up to the Convention.

Check out the new AOTS Constitution and Bylaws Page

For more information contact John Cooke

Telephone 519-869-2908
Address 1945 Huron Ave, Sarnia, ON N7T 7H4

AOTS President's Christmas Message

2010-12-26T20:38:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone and greetings of the season:

At this time of celebration for Christian communities across the world we are reminded of the lowliness of Jesus’ birth. He was born into nothing, the son of an unmarried woman and a father who stood by that woman as they made the journey to Bethlehem.

It is a story worth remembering, as many of us struggle with the mantra of consumption and “buy, buy, buy” during the Christmas period.

It is worth remembering the shepherds who gave up their jobs and travelled from afar to view the Christ child. It is worth remembering that those same shepherds might be people we would shun if they got onto a bus we were travelling on or entered a Tim Horton’s and sat in the next booth over. They would be poorly dressed – not fashionable at all. They might even smell. And they might have some crazy ideas about how one should live one’s life – just like Jesus did.

For me that is the essence of the story of the birth of the Christ child. From a little child born into nothing came great things; a philosophy of life and a spiritual purpose that is inclusive and full of the generosity of God’s love for each and every one of us. Christmas reminds us who we are by telling us the story of Jesus and calling on us to follow that story in our own lives. The story of Christmas helps us define what is important and what is not.

The merriest of Christmas to everyone.

Thank you
Jim McKibbin

President’s Report - December, 2010

2010-12-05T18:49:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

My message this month is one of gratitude for the work of the members of this great organization and all the wonderful work they do. Thank you all.

For those of you tracking the Dondi story the combined contributions to date (in drumming circles and the Drumathon) is $220,000. In addition, the expenses associated with the raising of that money are being underwritten by at least one major donor who has pledged an amount of $200,000. This will mean the $200,000 in monies will be set aside for Dondi and $20,000 for the M&S fund. Monies will be transferred to Angola as obligations, responsibilities and infrastructure are provided by our Angolan partners in conjunction with United Church General Council offices.

Dondi Lessons Learned

The Dondi project provided us with some new understandings of mission support and community fundraising. We learned some things about what to do and what not to do. We have been provided with an excellent summary of an experience by friends in the wider Men’s Ministry Network.

While we did not reach the goal of the project ($1.3 million) we did raise over $400,000 (including major donors) with more money coming in and various locales committed to an ongoing process.

While I would be the last to say the drumming isn’t important, because it is, it’s community building fun too, I am quite comfortable with those who would rather not drum and simply raise money for Dondi. This has turned out to be a splendid project for AOTS. If someone would have told me that we would be part of an initiative that would raise over $400,000 in the name of rebuilding a school in Angola I wouldn’t have believed it.

I think if there is one thing we learned with the process it is that the drumming circles didn’t have to be drumming circles of just men. We started out on that foot but I think we soon learned that being exclusive in our approach was something we shouldn’t necessarily cling to. The drumming circles and the Drumathon had to be community events. The events didn’t have to be about men so much as it had to include men in the organizing.

Harold and the Handshake

Harold Lorenz has told me that we can expect to see the next issue of the Handshake shortly. And we can look for some updates there.

At the same time I must report that Harold has let me know that this will be the last issue of the Handshake that he will be producing and we are now looking for a new editor/publisher.

I am deeply grateful for all the wonderful work Harold has done to professionalize this organization through his work as editor and publisher of the Handshake. In all his AOTS work Harold demonstrates strong ‘can do’ mentality. He has a great drive for results. He doesn’t dwell on obstacles.

We look good thanks to you, Harold. Thank you.

I am pleased to report that Mark Browning has taken on responsibilities as Alberta and Northwest Conference representative for AOTS.

Since my last report I have had the opportunity to participate in a number of AOTS events including the Bay of Quinte Fally Rally, the 50th Anniversary of the Selby / Empey Hill AOTS and an AOTS breakfast and service at Northminster United Church. What follows is the text of the sermon I delivered that day at Northminster.

The Illusion of Celebrity Culture

Sermon, Northminster United Church
November 14, 2010
(LLWL course for May 2011)
Jim McKibbin
Scripture: Luke 21:5-19, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, Isaiah 65:17-25

-------------------------
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable before you god, we pray here in Jesus name. Amen.
-------------------------

It was American philosopher David Star Jordan who said “Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.”

Our lectionary readings today are full of this principle. Doing the right thing is the challenge of our time; certainly the challenge for our church.

In October some 16 positions were made redundant at our national church office and this weekend the General Council Executive is meeting to consider our path forward. We are committed to a course of action to support denominational identity and connection by clarifying and redefining the roles of the courts of the church. We are reducing the complexity and size of The Manual and establishing a Network for Ministry Development which will support new and innovative ministries, giving high priority to using new technologies and new media to their full potential.

Change is at hand. Churches are closing and amalgamating and various initiatives are underway to examine the role of the church in the world. What are we to do? How are we to do it? What do we do with what we have?

As Jesus tells us in today’s gospel reading: the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’ And Jesus of course is speaking of his contemporary society – of his specific situation.

Our specific situation has many parallels. More and more we witness working class people, the poor and many of the elderly struggle with survival. More of those in the middle class see a horizon of full of the discomfiture of unemployment, foreclosure, bankruptcy and a pending currency crisis where their livelihood and wellbeing is seriously compromised. We look to an ecological future where our children, our grandchildren and our grandchildren’s grandchildren face the increasingly devastating effects of climate change.

We are at a past due date.

The church struggles to defend the name of Jesus in the context of a contemporary society where people’s deep sentiments for fairness, justice, equity, compassion, accountability and generosity are turned into election extravaganzas, where the god of public opinion makes outcasts, of all who “never tire of doing right”.

Elections used to be vital, alive with discussion and debate about which way forward. Now they are toxic dead zones where the truth is simply what works, and communication is a constant diet of negativity and self-interest.

The self-interested society - where the key to happiness is just a self help book away! You can make it if you try. And for those of you who don’t. We’ll make you disappear. You are not worthy. You are not a survivor. We extinguish your flame. We decompose your photo as you exit the runway of Canada’s Top Model. You are weak and imperfect. Your imperfection is your fault. You are failing because you aren’t good enough.

It was Bertrand Russell who said: “One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.”

In his book The Empire of Illusion, Chris Hedges tracks “the descent of Ralph Nader from being one of the most respected and powerful public figures to being an outcast” and the decision by major media to simply stop quoting social critics like Nader and Noam Chomsky and others.

Why?

So that this anti-Christ of a runaway corporate state can manage its teetering financial infrastructure down the destructive path of privatization of the social commons? Our water, our health, out very right to life, our right not to be collateral damage in this permanent state of war? Is this what is being asked for?

Can we respectfully disagree? Can we beg the question? Can we refuse to cooperate?

Runaway corporate state you ask? Let us recognize it for what it is. Corporations can be sued by shareholders for engaging in what is called corporate social responsibility. Corporations have all the rights of individuals but none of the responsibilities. When they fail, they are bailed out. When they make a mess, civil society cleans it up.

In the documentary film The Corporation psychologist Robert Hare recites a checklist of psychopathic traits and ties them to the behaviour of corporations:

“Callous unconcern for the feelings of others;
Reckless disregard for the safety of others;
Deceitfulness: repeated lying and conning of others for profit;
Incapacity to experience guilt;
Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviour”.

We should worship this beast?

We see with our own eyes says Hedges: “The worse reality becomes – the more foreclosures and unemployment skyrocket – the more people seek refuge and comfort in illusions”: watching Maury Povich and Jerry Springer. Does it make the pain feel better to see those with even more pain?

Ultimately, there is nothing there. The spectacle has been the illusion and the betrayal.

The reassurances of Bank of Canada types fall on deaf ears. Yes, the slow recovery is even slower than first thought... and jobless too.

Let us recognize that there are those who are tired of doing the right thing – and instead, transform doing the right thing into doing what is good for them, alone? “They are idle. They stand by.”

Some come in the name of Jesus and we are told that he warns us: “Do not go after them”.

“But how are we to know? What is the sign that will tell us? Give us the sign.” And Jesus tells them “you will be persecuted”. Some of you will die. By your endurance you shall gain your souls.”

And Jesus tells them to look at who is being persecuted. Is that their hint?

But what are these riots in France and these cuts in England and demonstrations there as well. As here too and our own G20. There is uproar. The church has a choice.

“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.”

My name? What is it?

“No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat.”

Neal Gabler who wrote Life: The Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality calls “celebrity culture not a convergence of consumer culture with religion but a hostile takeover of religion by celebrity culture.”

We imagine ourselves as the main characters in the movie of our own life, our own personal screenplay, where appearances are everything. Martha Stewart is there telling us how to create, decorate and set design the perfect home. It doesn’t matter that the realities of that home are never discussed, the actual family relationships never addressed.

Not to worry; appearances make everything whole.

The cult of the self dominates our cultural landscape, where we are assaulted with moral nihilism and narcissistic self-absorption.

Things become newsworthy based on their celebrity appeal.

We know that we don’t know. We know we aren’t getting everything. We know we are only getting what is reported. And it’s getting worse.

What we have now is a sinister approach to news communications where reporters no longer ask whether the message is true but rather, whether the message works, whether the political treatise was a success. The truth for the moral nihilist is what works.

We are left with a public that can no longer distinguish between truth and fiction and is left to interpret reality through illusion.

The old production-oriented culture demanded character. The new consumer-based celebrity culture demands personality; the ability to perform.

As people of god we aspire to “never tire of doing what is right” and being accountable before god. “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

As German philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote: The single most important quality needed to resist evil is moral autonomy. Moral autonomy, as Hedges points out is possible only through reflection, self-determination and the courage not to cooperate. Jesus had that courage. It is reflected in all three passages we heard today.

As people of god our challenges are great. Our choices are large.

Hedges reminds us that “no tyranny in history has destroyed the human capacity for love... Love will endure. Hope exists. It will always exist”.

And Jesus tells us, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. ... They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune.

By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

Thanks be to god.

About Movember

2010-11-19T15:58:00.002-05:00

The Mo, slang for moustache, and November come together each year for Movember.

Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month. The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for prostate cancer. Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.

The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 over a few beers in Melbourne, Australia. The plan was simple – to bring the moustache back as a bit of a joke and do something for men’s health. No money was raised in 2003, but the guys behind the Mo realized the potential a moustache had in generating conversations about men’s health. Inspired by the women around them and all they had done for breast cancer, the Mo Bros set themselves on a course to create a global men’s health movement.

In 2004 the campaign evolved and focused on raising awareness and funds for the number one cancer affecting men – prostate cancer. 432 Mo Bros joined the movement that year, raising $55,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia - representing the single largest donation they had ever received.

The Movember moustache has continued to grow year after year, expanding to Canada, the US, UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands and Finland.

Check out this #Movember effort to change the face of men's health http://t.co/lw7a87D via @movember

In 2009, global participation of Mo Bros and Mo Sistas climbed to 255,755, with over one million donors raising $47 Million for Movember’s global beneficiary partners. We are proud to announce that last year’s Canadian campaign was the second largest in the world behind Australia, with 35,156 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas coming together to raise $7.8 million for Prostate Cancer Canada.

Go to the Movember Website!

Greetings members of AOTS Consecon Carrying Place:

2010-11-04T18:44:00.003-04:00

Today you celebrate 50 years of your club’s existence. Congratulations on this wonderful achievement. There are among you some who have taken that entire journey. Please extend best wishes to your four charter members: Gerald Batchelor, Russell Forsythe, Ross Goodmurphy and Gordon Lloyd. These elders and all are honoured tonight. Well done.

Your club has seen many changes since 1960. You were born in the age of: Mike vs Dief, a time of Kennedy, Castro and the Bay of Pigs; and later the Beatles, Vietnam, Trudeaumania, birth control and the sexual revolution; the flag and de Gaulle’s Vive Le Quebec Libre.

You have seen many things including the development of our health care system; Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment and the end of apartheid; the closing of residential schools and apologies to survivors; the advent of the internet; and the challenge of globalization, climate change and 9/11.

And throughout that time you have been an AOTS club devoted to the concept of servant leadership and the teachings of the one we call Christ, Jesus.

Carrying Place United Church

You have sent youth to camp, built cabins at Quin-Mo-Lac for them to sleep in, dispensed bursaries to deserving students, organized strawberry socials, pancake dinners and auctions to raise money for various worthy causes. Well done Consecon Carrying Place. Thank you for your work.

While Christian fellowship and service has always been an important characteristic of AOTS, that spirit of service and reaching out is needed now more than ever. Congratulations and best wishes for the years ahead, as you continue the work of making a real difference for people by being among them as one that serves.

Thank you

Jim McKibbin

President’s Report for October

2010-10-11T15:43:00.000-04:00

Dondi Drumathon Weekend Report

This month’s report will be brief. I am going to mlet the pictures do the talking for the most part. What follows is a brief overview of the Drumathon at Beach United one of 25 across the country. I would like to extend my thanks to all AOTSers who participated in making this program a success. There will be more news next month and in our upcoming Handshake.

Beach United Church held a successful 24 hour Drumathon on October 1st and 2nd raising over $5,000 for the rebuilding of the Lutamo School in the Dondi Region of Angola.

Beach was one of 25 separate venues that organized Drumathon events from coast to coast (Victoria to St John's). The school was destroyed during a 27 year long civil war which left 500,000 dead, thousands of refugees and the destruction of the country's infrastructure. The Lutamo school was originally established by Christian missionaries almost 100 years ago (1914). The United Church has been involved the Dondi school and other schools in Angola for many years and maintains fraternal relations with the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA).

The Lutamo School site is on land owned by IECA, a United Church partner church. Luis Samacumbi, director of the church’s Department of Social Assistance, Studies and Projects, will oversee the rebuilding of the school.

During the Beach event, the Abbey North Drummers (Bazza Hayward, Christine Cullen and Joseph Truss) led various drumming sessions throughout the weekend beginning with a coordinated kick-off on Friday evening. Broadcast facilities were established so that various drumming sites could see each other. The Beach event included time for one film (The Visitor - about drumming) and as well a Jazz Vespers service on Saturday afternoon.

Previous to the Drumathon some $140,00 had been raised by the Men’s Ministry Network and As One That Serves (AOTS) through the organizing of drumming circles and individual donations. The national results from the Drumathon will be available in a few weeks.

All in all the event was very successful and a tired bunch of drummers joined the rest of the congregation on Sunday following the Drumathon to continue the drumming enthusiasm during the regular morning service and raise more money for the project.

You Still Have Time - Banff Men's Conference

2010-09-25T12:21:00.005-04:00

Banff Men's Conference - October 15-17, 2010

To Seek Justice and Resist Evil: Making a Straight Path for the Lord

As men of faith in a complicated and troubling world, we are faced with issues and concerns that can leave us in conflict and confusion. From our first exposure to the church in Sunday School to the messages we receive today in our worship, we know that Christ has called us to love others as we love ourselves. The scriptures tell us that Jesus said we should turn the other cheek when faced with violence and oppression. At the same time when we recite our Creed we promise to Seek Justice and Resist Evil. Every night we watch the news and see graphic evidence, live and in colour, of the level of injustice and evil at work in our world. How do we respond?

Historically, one of the ways we have responded as a nation has been to send our young men and women in uniform to countries all over the world to try to make a difference. How can we, as followers of Christ, reconcile our desire to support these people we have sent into harm's way with the non-violent teachings of our faith? Brigadier General Peter Holt (retired) has strived for 39 years in the Canadian Armed Forces to be a soldier of Christ as well as a soldier of the military. As our theme speaker, he will lead us on a journey to explore our feelings on these matters and empower us to discuss our views in an open and respectful manner.

Registration Form: Banff Men’s Conference October 15-17, 2010

Banff Men’s Conference 2010 Chair
Doug Currie – dcurrie.lcca at telus.net

Registrar:
Richard Roy, Registrar
203, 9505 Resources Road
Grande Prairie, AB
T8V 8C2
Phone: 780-830-7800
Email: beanroy at telus.net

AOTS (As One That Serves) Who Are We?

2010-09-16T13:11:00.000-04:00

AOTS (As One That Serves) is a men’s service club that is affiliated with the United Church of Canada, but is open to all men on a broad ecumenical basis. AOTS aims to promote fellowship, deepen the spiritual life of men, and develop an effective program of Christian service.

Over the years the AOTS has been; Visiting shut-ins, Supporting the local food bank or transitional housing organization, Providing leadership for youth activities in the church, Helping with the upkeep of local camps and sponsoring underprivileged campers and helping supply northern communities and outposts with medical supplies and training.

The AOTS has been around for over 85 years and they have been working hard at staying “relevant” in this modern day.

The AOTS has been working hard at building their network and creating new clubs but despite their enthusiastic efforts the number of national clubs is dropping.

Being involved with this group for over 15 years I have seen the good they have done in their churches, community, provincially and even nationally. They are the workhorses behind many projects and their support usually means that your project will reach its goal. They are not out there preaching the gospel (although some of them would love to if they were asked) they are out there giving to the community in hopes that people will join them, not because of what they believe but because what they do and how much they care.

The AOTS have been instrumental at started The Men’s Ministry Network to unify all men in the United Church of Canada. This organization gives support to for men's groups in local congregations and helps men and men’s groups connect with one another and celebrate, support, and strengthen the many forms of men’s ministry. They are also breaking the barriers between the churches and working ecumenically to find common ground and unity in all of the great religions and churches

One of the national focus for the Men’s Ministry Network is the Dondi Project. The Dondi Project is an effort toward raising $1 million over the next year to rebuilding the Lutamo School at Dondi Angola, which was destroyed during years of conflict and civil war.

Initiated by The United Church of Canada Men’s Ministries Network, the project will reach out to men of all ages across Canada, creating a network that will engage, unite, and inspire.

Our National audience is not only Christian men that are active in the church but for all of those that want to be a part of a great community. I have found that there are a lot of busy people out there with families, work and hobbies that do not have the time to go to church but they still want to be a part of something bigger, give a little back to the community and possibly even grow a little spiritually.

Being a part of the AOTS will help fulfill that need and also make this national movement a lot stronger.

President’s Report - September, 2010

2010-09-02T13:42:00.001-04:00

Wally Shoults

I was saddened to receive Wally Shoults’ resignation as a member of the National Council last month. Wally, along with past president Bill Love has been an AOTS stalwart – flying the AOTS flag in Alberta and other parts west. He has held many positions in AOTS and has decided it is time to let some things go in his life. He’ll be maintaining his focus in Masters Singers (mastersingers.org) and you can catch them at the upcoming Banff Men’s Retreat in October. Wally will also be working on his memoirs and, as many will readily attest, he should have some stories to tell.

We shall miss your voice on our conference calls. Best of luck with all your endeavours, Wally!

Wally’s departure raises the question of leadership in AOTS. What is it? How do we provide it? Where do we go from here? What is our legacy? What does God call us to do?

Leadership and AOTS

Currently, many of us are engaged in Dondi Project work. And we are looking forward to raising as much money as possible for this worthwhile project along with other groups throughout the men’s ministry network. Bravo for that.

And bravo for all the community and church work the AOTS clubs are doing.

We are also finalizing a new constitution and by-laws and looking forward to a combined Central Region Round-up and National Biennial next April. I pleased to announce that Michael Blair, UCC Executive Secretary for Communities in Mission will be our keynote speaker. I will report more about Michael’s participation next month.

Change Management

The change AOTS is going through now is not incremental change but discontinuous change. We are no longer expanding, rather contracting. What has kept us alive in the past is no longer able to sustain us. We are not regenerating. Radical change is at hand. Yet we feel compelled to resist. Our dilemma is that it is impossible to grasp what is new without letting go, of what was.

For many years in AOTS we grew exponentially from west to east year by year and those changes were predictable because we could base our planning on what was.

In the science of change, discontinuous change is the time when greater opportunity presents itself. We look forward to those times ahead.

Precepts of Leadership

Over the course of AOTS’ history many of the precepts of a spiritually-based men’s club have changed dramatically over time. We no longer are what we were. The composition of leadership in the church has changed over time from an overwhelming dominance of men to a predominance of women.

It is interesting to note that AOTS was founded in 1923, six years before Lord Sankey, Lord Chancellor of the Privy Council, announced the British Privy Council decision that "yes, women are persons ... and eligible to be summoned and may become Members of the Senate of Canada."

Women and Gender

We have come a long way, baby!

One of the things we know from our history is how much the women in the church have helped to keep AOTS alive. To be sure, there are a lot of good women ‘AOTSers’ out there.

Currently we have the media coverage and controversy regarding Caster Semenya’s struggle, as a person involved in competitive sports. Caster’s case if you will causes us to examine our understandings of sex and gender

Regardless of one’s thoughts on the issue, Caster, herself, may have it right. “I see it all as a joke," Semenya said. “It doesn't upset me. God made me the way I am and I accept myself.”

Articles of Faith

One only has to read the church’s Basis of Union to see that there are theological decisions based on the articles of faith which lead to further elaborations of the character and presence of God in our lives. The church responds to and is part of the community of spiritual and scientific understanding.

Currently the church is voting on a remit about whether to include these elaborations, like the Song of Faith, along with the Basis of Union.

These further elaborations are based on advanced scientific and human understanding. For example we know much, much more now about the life and times of Jesus than anyone did up until 200 years ago when great advances began to be made about our ability to understand scripture and study history.

And there are other theological questions, implicit in how we read and study scripture. There is the question of ‘sin’ and the divinity of birth which is ongoing one in the church.

We have evolved as church and as a men’s organization, away from what we once were. Yes. But in embracing the change God has in store for us, we enliven our spirit of gratitude and generosity, as one that serves.

The DONDI project – it’s what friends do

2010-08-23T11:43:00.000-04:00

Q: HOW to change the lives of children in Angola, connect with UCC people all across Canada, have a lot of fun and support the Mission and Service Fund – all in one day?

A: The DONDI 24hr DRUMATHON October 1 st & 2 nd 7-7pm!

NO , you don’t have to drum til your hands fall off. The idea is to just keep the beat going – it’s a team effort – all across Canada.

YES , let’s help our longstanding church partners in Angola rebuild the school (destroyed by civil war) where UCC Missionaries have taught for decades. To help us keep this friendship thriving find a Drumathon location near you – or plan to host one yourselves.

Call Chris at (705) 854-0362 www.dondiproject.com/dondi-drumathon-2010.htm

"Just the facts, ma'am" – Joe Friday - President’s Report for August

2010-08-04T11:48:00.000-04:00

Many of you are aware that I issued a personal statement about the G8/20 events on the evening of the summit weekend. I am happy to supply that statement to anyone who would like it. Given that it could be interpreted as a partisan political statement, I issued it personally, and not as president of AOTS. And it will not be posted on the AOTS website.

Last month’s monthly report was a sermon I delivered at Northminster United the week before the summit.

However, political news continues to shape our world and demand our comment. But rather than be politically partisan it is sometimes useful just to examine the facts. And that is my purpose in this month’s missive. Like Joe Friday of Dragnet fame I am just going to stick to the facts.

And the fact of the matter is that there has been a lot going on our political world over the last month: G8/20, the Census, a once-again crisis ridden RCMP, troubling and terrible news of the war in Afghanistan.

As with last month’s report I welcome comments and feedback to this article. The discussion is important.

A Shutdown Federal Parliament

Fact number one is that our politicians haven’t been sitting down to talk about all this. Our Federal parliament has met a total 65 days this year and isn’t scheduled to resume until September 20. Instead we have a mentality that suggests Parliament isn’t necessary, that it can be pro-rogued, dispensed with and ignored. Why pay attention to it, when everything can be handled by executive decision or decree and the public informed or misinformed about it surreptitiously? I don’t think I am being harsh.

Take the very weekend of the G8/20 meetings in Toronto as a case in point.

Mis-leadership at the Provincial Level (Ontario)

An illegal law was foisted on the public (a fact and mistake now acknowledged by Ontario Premier McGuinty) causing mass confusion, the cessation of people’s civil rights, arbitrary arrest, extensive personal injury, resistance to the illegal law, followed by property damage and more arrests.

Many are suggesting that the troubles at the G8/20 meetings and protest were manufactured by security services to reassure the Canadian public that the $1.2 billion expenditure for security was well spent.

“There is a real temptation to think that an issue is less spiritual for being more political, to believe that religion is above politics, that the sanctuary is too sacred a place for the grit and grime of political battle. But if you believe that religion is above politics, you are, in actuality, for the status quo – a very political position. And were God, the god of the status quo, then the church would have no prophetic role, serving the state mainly as a kind of ambulance service.” William Sloane Coffin

A $1.2 Billion Dollar Extravaganza

The G8/20 Summit costs are not consistent with those of recent similar events. The 1.2 million price tag is $270 million over the initial projected budget of $930 million. It is almost six times the $190 million spent for the two-day G8 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, in 2002. And this figure is much, much more than summits in Japan ($381 million in 2008) Scotland ($110 million in 2005) London ($30 million in 2009) and Pittsburgh ($18 million in 2009).

With $500 million of that allocation going to our troubled RCMP where there is a crisis of leadership, it is easy to see why many people are raising the inquiry sign.

The facts are that of the 1100 people arrested “charges” have been already been dropped against 850+. In fact, most weren’t even formally charged. They were simply arbitrarily arrested, detained and jailed, often treated poorly by police services and subsequently released.

Yet it was on the Saturday of that very busy weekend that Prime Minister Harper’s government, which was itself in charge of all aspects of security at the summit, quietly announced massive changes to the Canadian Census – and like his counterpart in Ontario, without consultation or public discussion.

Now this is an old government trick - release something at 4:30 pm on a Friday in the hopes that the media will miss it or ignore it.

Evidence-based Decision Making is replace by Decision-based Evidence making

But this was not just a release (actually an order in council along with a host of other orders) to fundamentally change the Canadian Census rendering it an unusable tool in measuring Canadian demographics. Now it is just not me that is saying that.

The facts of the matter are that Canada’s Chief Statistician, Munir Sheikh has resigned over this issue and Canada’s previous Chief, Ivan Fellegi, who led the agency for 21 years and is now Canada’s Chief Statistician Emeritus has also been very clear that changing the census to a voluntary vehicle will render it useless.

In a report complied independently there were over 160 organizations against the government move including the United Church of Canada and only three individuals of groups in support of it. (See below.)

It is also the case the 2011 long form census included a question on religion. The religion question is asked every 10 years and many organizations look forward to what the census story will tell us about who we are, how we are and what role God plays in our lives.

“To sin by silence when they should protest, makes cowards of human beings.” Abraham Lincoln

On July 22, 2010 our church made the following statement on the Census issue:

“Toronto: The United Church of Canada has added its voice to those protesting the government’s recent decision to eliminate the mandatory long-form census. In a letter this week to Industry Minister Tony Clement, the church urged the government not to implement a voluntary system of collecting detailed census information.

“We see this as a step backward at a time when Canadians need access to reliable census information to help build a more equitable and just society,” says the Rev. Bruce Gregersen, General Council Officer, Programs.

He adds that because the long-form census also contains questions related to religion, it would be a great loss to faith communities and to the country in understanding the multiplicity and richness of the spiritual makeup of Canada.

Gregersen says like other non-profit organizations and charities, the United Church benefits from the wealth of data that is collected and analyzed by Statistics Canada.

He explains that many local United Church congregations, particularly those facing significant demographic change, use census information to help identify community needs within the neighbourhoods they serve.

“Knowing who your neighbours are is an important part of adapting congregational outreach programs and advocacy initiatives that are integral to the church’s mission,” says Gregersen.

“Responding to community needs, both spiritual and social, is how the United Church, its congregations, and its members live out our faith in this world,” says Gregersen. “Losing the statistical tool that helps to identify these needs will seriously handicap our ability to respond as effectively in the future.”

A Compromise Approach

In closing I will quote a recent editorial from the National Post – hardly a left-lib think tank. Here is their response to the Census issue.

We are on record opposing the government's slapdash approach to cancelling the mandatory long-form census. Nothing has occurred in the two weeks since to change that opinion or to alter the impression that this was a hasty decision, and that the dubious explanations now being offered for it were concocted after the fact.

Still, no matter how stringent Statistics Canada's privacy safeguards might be, we understand some Canadians' visceral discomfort with the federal government asking intimate questions about their lives--on pain, however theoretical, of imprisonment. And we also understand the protestations of those outside the nation's capital that this has been blown out of proportion. It's almost certainly true that if it weren't July and political journalists weren't starved for topics, we wouldn't still be talking about this.

But it's making the government look foolish, and it doesn't appear that anything more salacious will come down the pipe to distract the chattering classes' attention before autumn. For this self-interested reason--and also, for the more important and substantial reason that good census data is a valuable resource -- the government should accept a compromise solution offered by the National Statistics Council: Remove certain long-form questions that are deemed particularly invasive and eliminate the threat of imprisonment from the relevant legislation.

Organizations & Individuals SUPPORTING the Government Decision

1. National Citizens Coalition census

2. The Fraser Institute

3. Lorne Gunther and Ezra Levant, National Post

Organizations & Individuals AGAINST the Government Decision

1. Ancestry.ca

2. Association canadienne d’économique

3. Association de la Recherche et de Intelligence Marketing au ministre Clement (ARIM)

4. Association féminine d’éducation et d’action sociale (AFEAS)

5. Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas)

6. Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA)

7. Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives (ACMLA) / Association des cartothèques et des archives cartographiques du Canada

8. Association of Educational Researchers of Ontario

9. Association of Municipalities of Ontario

10. Association ontarienne des chercheurs et chercheuses en éducation au ministre Clement (AERO)

11. Association of Public Health Epidemiologists in Ontario (APHEO)

12. Atlantic Provinces Economics Council

13. BC Non Profit Housing Association

14. Bloc Québécois

15. C.D. Howe Institute

16. Caledon Institute of Social Policy

17. Calgary and Red Deer City Planners

18. Canada Census Committee

19. Canada Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)

20. Canada West Foundation

21. Canadian Association for Business Economics (CABE)

22. Canadian Association of Journalists

23. The Canadian Association of Public Data Users (CAPDU);

24. Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL)

25. Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)

26. Canadian Conference of the Arts

27. Canadian Council on Social Development

28. Canadian Economics Association

29. Canadian Evaluation Society

30. Canadian Federation of Demographers

31. Canadian Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities

32. Canadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences

33. Canadian Historical Association / Société historique du Canada

34. Canadian Housing and Renewal Association

35. Canadian Institute of Planners

36. Canadian Jewish Congress

37. Canadian Labour Congress

38. Canadian Marketing Association

39. Canadian Medical Association Journal

40. Canadian Network of Metropolis Centers / Réseau canadien des centres Metropolis

41. Canadian Nurses Association

42. Canadian Population Society

43. Canadian Public Health Association

44. Canadian Research Data Network Centre / Réseau des centres de données de recherche

45. Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CSEB)

46. Canadian Sociology Association

47. Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

48. Canadian Urban Institute

49. Capital Regional District (in B.C.)

50. Mel Cappe, former Clerk of the Privy Council

51. Centre for Study of Living Standards

52. Chief Statistician of Canada, Munir A. Sheikh

53. CIQSS-QICSS

54. Cities Centre – University of Toronto Research Institute

55. City of Calgary

56. City of Edmonton

57. City of Ottawa

58. City of Red Deer

59. City of Toronto

60. City of Victoria

61. Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada

62. Commissariat aux langues officielles

63. Community Development Halton (Ontario)

64. Community Foundations of Canada

65. Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria

66. Conference Board of Canada

67. Conference des Lecteurs et Principaux des University de Quebec/

68. Conference of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities (Association of Universities in Quebec)

69. Conférence régionale des élus (CRÉ) de Laval

70. Conseil permanent de la jeunesse (CPJ) en désaccord avec la décision du gouvernement fédéral CNW

71. Conservative MP James Rajotte

72. Département de démographie of Université de Montréal

73. Don Drummond; former chief economist of TD bank, former ADM of Finance

74. Environics Analytics

75. Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

76. Fédération canadienne de démographie

77. Federation des chambres de commerce du Quebec

78. Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec

79. Federation of Canadian Municipalities / Fédération canadienne des municipalités

80. Frank Graves, EKOS Research (polling)

81. French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario

82. Glendon School of International and Public Policy

83. Stephen Gordon, economist Université Laval

84. Greater Halifax Partnership

85. Greater Victoria Community Indicators Network

86. Green Party of Canada

87. Alex Himelfarb, former Clerk of Privy Council

88. Imagine Canada

89. Information and Communications Technology Council

90. Institut de statistiques Quebec

91. Institute for Research on Public Policy

92. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

93. Ivan Fellegi, Former Chief Statistician, Statistics Canada

94. JJ McCullough

95. Kevin Milligan, economist at University of British Columbia

96. Liberal Party of Canada

97. Lumina Research Valuation and Advisory Services

98. Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA)

99. Roger Martin, Rotman School of Management

100. Martin Prosperity Institute

101. Medical Health Officers Council of Saskatchewan

102. Metcalf Foundation

103. Metropolis British Columbia

104. Mike Moffatt

105. Nanos Research (polling)

106. National Specialty Society for Community Medicine

107. National Statistical Council ( acts in a consultative capacity for StatsCan)

108. New Democratic Party of Canada

109. Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association

110. Official Language Commissioner

111. Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants

112. Ontario deputy finance minister Peter Wallace

113. Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (OPNHA)

114. Ontario-Municipal Social Services Association (OMSSA)

115. Opportunities Waterloo Region

116. Peel Poverty Action Group (PPAG)

117. Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries (Cambridge,Ont.)

118. Poverty Free Halton

119. Prentice Institute at University of Lethbridge

120. Province of Manitoba

121. Province of Ontario

122. Province of Ontario – Office of Francophone Affairs

123. Province of PEI

124. Province of Prince Edward Island

125. Province of Quebec

126. Quebec Community Groups Network

127. Quebec Inter-University Centre for Social Statistics

128. Regional Municipality of Halton

129. Regional Municipality of Peel

130. Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario,

131. Richard Florida, University of Toronto

132. Rural Ontario Institute (ROI)

133. Saskatchewan Students’ Union (USSU)

134. Social Planning Council of Kitchener-Waterloo

135. Social Planning Council of Sudbury

136. Social Planning Network of Ontario

137. Social Planning Toronto

138. Social Policy in Ontario

139. Société franco-manitobaine

140. SPARC BC (Social Planning and ResearchCouncil of BC)

141. Statistical Institute of Quebec

142. Statistical Society of Canada

143. Statistics Canada Advisory Committee

144. Statistics Canada Advisory Committee on Demographic Statistics and

145. Studies / Comité consultatif sur les études et les statistiques démographiques de Statistique Canada

146. Tasha Kheirridin

147. Toronto Association for Business Economics

148. Toronto Board of Trade

149. Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative (TIEDI)

150. Toronto Public Health

151. Town of Milton

152. Town of Smith Falls

153. United Steelworkers

154. United Way of Canada

155. United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and Area

156. United Way Toronto

157. Université de Toronto

158. Urban Futures

159. Valerie Preston, director of CERIS research centre on immigration and settlement issues York University

160. Volunteer Toronto

The religion question is asked every ten years and was scheduled to be asked on the long form census in 2011. There are only a few days

National Council member Howard Will turns 80

2010-07-12T13:14:00.000-04:00

Come and celebrate Howard Will’s 80th Birthday !

In the courtyard at St. Paul’s United Church, Oakville Ontario
Drop in anytime between 2 and 4 pm on Saturday, July 17

People from St. Paul’s will join in celebrating Howard’s milestone with other friends and acquaintences, such as The Salvation Army, Hiker’s (Anonmyous) and other long-term friends.

For those who don’t know, Howard is now in residence at Trafalgar Lodge, where he is receiving expert care and attention for his condition and well-being.

Howard’s actual birthday was on Wednesday, July 7 but we selected July 17th. as a great day to celebrate with him.

Visitors will be served birthday cake and ice cream along with favourite beverages such as Tea, Coffee and soft drinks.

We ask that you contribute the sum of $3 towards the cost of this reception.

In case of inclement weather, reception will be held in either Watt Hall or the small auditorium organized by St. Paul’s AOTS Men’s Club in association with Howard’s hiking associates...

NAME>>>NAME (Mary O’Sullivan)

Additional Info re Howard's current address:

Trafalgar Lodge Retirement Residence
Room #210
299 Randall Street
Oakville, ON, L6J 6B4

Signs of the Times - President's Message for July

2010-07-06T11:21:00.001-04:00

Father’s Day & First Nations Sunday

A sermon prepared for Northminster United Church
2010-06-17

Lectionary Psalm 42, Galatians 3:23-29, Luke 8:26-39

Signs of times are all around these days as we commemorate and celebrate the 85 years of our church’s existence. We know change is at hand. As we age we are faced with questions of aging. What will we make our congregations become? What is god calling us to do? How do we do it?

There seems to be so much calling for our attention. So much in the world is askew. Maybe we just have more information now and that’s a good thing. But there is so much bad news that one is tempted to cancel subscriptions to newspapers.

These are signs of the times. There are many. Just this week we have before us so many clear examples of how poorly people do when god is not in the picture. When God is silent. It is like this morning’s Psalm and the prophetic words written before Jesus is said to have uttered such similar words, Dear God “Why have you forgotten me?”

This despair of Jesus as he lay dying on the cross. This spiritual depression. We see it in the absence of god and the prevalence of all that god is not.

We see it. We see it this week when a report comes down on the 25th anniversary of the Air India bombing – report which seems to shriek that god is not there, that god is silent that justice is absent.

We see it as we as examine the legacy of security organizations who put their internal disputes and turf wars ahead of the security of the Canadian people.

We see it in a report that states that the non-action of these agencies was a contributing factor in the bombers being able to carry out their evil act. And we see as the commission reports that those turf wars continue to this day.

We see it in quotes from those whose families died on that day.

“One of the biggest memories was Prime Minister Mulroney calling the Indian prime minister to give his condolences when the people on the plane were Canadians. It made me feel small, not important, even though I always felt Canadian.”

And the lesson says there is neither Jew nor Greek.

As Christians we pray for both perpetrator and victim – victim and victimizer - we pray that they may know God and come to terms with a path god would have them lead. We pray for forgiveness and for reconciliation. But as Christians we do not stop at prayer – it is our nature to seek god in community – and in community we seek justice for all of god’s children - we protest iniquity, we protest deception, and lying, and cover-up, we protest corruption and inaction in the face of dire consequences. As Christians we call for change, we stand for change we enact change. We call for a consideration of what God would have us do.

We see it this week as world leaders assemble for discussions. Staggering from their toxic intransigence at Copenhagen world leaders assemble in Huntsville and Toronto this week to have one more kick at the can economic and social recovery.

Recovery for whom one might ask?.... in light of the Johnny- come-lately invitations to the some of the poorer countries of the world.

Our minds and psyches are not just on G8 this week but rather on father’s days – where we honour the icon of fatherhood – good and bad.

For we know that for some fathers the challenge of simply being there was too much. It was more than they could do.

And sometimes we are reminded that what fathers do is far from what God would have us do. We are reminded of that this week when we see some of the bad played out before us as a domineering father and brother are sentenced to life in prison for their insistence upon patriarchy. For their right to their misogyny. For their right to suggest that honouring the father means killing the daughter.

We see it. We see it this week with the apology of the British prime minister to families of those shot dead in the Sunday Bloody Sunday massacre, some 38 years after the event - after an inquiry had determined that the 14 protesters shot dead by police often in the back, were innocent of any wrong doing, and further that the reckless attacks by the security forces were both unjustified and unjustifiable.

We see it now with the continuing saga of the Gulf Oil disaster from the very voices who clamoured for deregulation and less government who now scream the the loudest in saying where is government and why didn’t it save us. These purveyors of blame drown out the voice of god.

We see it in an attack on an aid flotilla attack in international waters – where there is till Jew and Greek, where the lesson of Paul’s letter to the Galatians is still not being lived out.

We see it in the cacophony regarding protesting at the G8 summit. As we are reminded that the protesters in Derry did no wrong. They were innocent.

And we witness the issuing of travel advisories, the shutting down of a city and preparations for violence against those who would who would protest the inaction and ineptitude of world leaders who too often put profit before people.

Knowing that god calls us to both prayer and protest.

We protest a Gulf Oil regional safety plan that was so grotesque in its slipshod construction and its one size fits all approach as though it was mimeographed and passed from one oil company to another. Its inadequacy in the regional Gulf plan highlighted by the provisions for the safety of non-existent walruses in the Gulf of Mexico.

We see it as yet another senior security boss leaving Canada’s troubled $50 million dam project in Kandahar after Canada lost control of the project which is rife with allegations that Afghan partners are colluding with the insurgents in order to maximize profits from lucrative contracts to protect NATO supply convoys jeopardizing the safety and well being of Canadian soldiers charged with safeguarding those supply lines.

We see it. We see it on First Nations Sunday, where this week an historic truth and reconciliation commission began it proceedings. And we remember that good intentions are not good enough. As we hear the stories of the experience of Aboriginal People in residential schools, we learn that they are no longer “our” Aboriginal people; on the contrary we open our eyes to the value of a spirituality we have ignored and denigrated. And we are thankful to god for the opportunity to do so.

And the scripture reminds us of those who ask “Where is your god?” It is there.

In despair that is as deep as Jesus’, we ask what can we do? And as Jesus did we can befriend the man at the tombs. The man from the tombs who wore no clothes.

And on fathers’ day we can recognize that fathers and men are more than the patriarchy has limited them.

We need only look around and see them. People like James Bartlemen who stood up to those in the security services who would have covered up the glaring mistakes and human devastation caused by our security agencies squabbling in the Air India disaster. And we recognize that there were those who attacked him in an attempt to discredit him. We celebrate his exoneration.

We remember men like Bishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela especially this week as South Africa shines on the international stage with the organization of the world cup. Their journey has been long but full of justice. God is present.

Let us not fear to stand-up, to protest. Let us remember that making sure that God is present is often a matter of simply being there ourselves.

Preston Manning wrote an excellent fathers’ day piece for this weekend’s globe and mail writing about behaviours he learned from his father:

He said politicians are subject to enormous amounts of abuse and criticism. And each develops our own mechanisms for handling it. Some choose to fight back blow for bow. Others resolve never to let them get us on an emotional level and gradually develop and hard outer shell that eventually become almost impervious to provocation.

It is a useful strategy except for one dangerous aspect: That shell can render us impervious to emotional messages and appeals of any kind including those emanating from friends, family, wives and children. He quotes Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest and spiritual mentor who has written extensively on father-son relations. Commenting on the difficulty that most men have in shedding tears says, “I suspect non-weeping is the price that male pays for so many years of going to war. You have to split, deny and repress your feeling world to survive such ordeals. In effect we've chosen a survival of cultural and national pretences over the survival of the male soul.

Yes men have been bred like dogs to be so, overdeveloping some qualities of detachment and stoicism and repressing others like feeling, empathy and vulnerability.

This father’s day let us remember that. Those good things that have been passed on to us by our fathers. But if that heritage deliberately or inadvertently has rendered us insensitive to the emotional; needs of mothers, including our own loved ones let us acknowledge that also and leave it behind.

Let us pray for both the victim and the victimizer never forgetting that aside from prayer we are called upon by god to protest the crimes of the victimizers and not just pray about them.

This despair of Jesus – this spiritual depression is resolved, is cured through faith in God and action in the world doing what god would have us do.

Like the story of the man at the tombs. We don’t have to believe the story to know it to be true.

There is hope in God. And out of hope a path forward. We need only walk it.

Thanks be to god.

AOTS Supports Local Charities

2010-06-14T17:07:00.000-04:00

Community Living Sarnia Lambton was given a cheque for $700 in June from the Grace United Church AOTS Club. This is the fourth year that about $700 has been donated. The club operates a fish fry and donates the proceeds to the respite camping program of this charity which serves the needs of mentally and physically challenged adults' Marvin Bildfell, Club Treasurer is seen here presenting the cheque to the charity Assistant Director.

The 85th Anniversary - Connecting from near and far

2010-06-08T12:07:00.002-04:00

Happy 85 th Anniversary, Commissioners of the 40 th General Council

Celebrations of the church’s 85 th anniversary will be happening across the church this month. Here are two church-wide events in which you may be interested and able to participate – from your own home or church!

1. Watch live greetings from the General Council Office’s 85th Anniversary Open House (Thursday, June 10th, 3:00PM Eastern Time)

If you are unable to join us in person at the General Council Office this Thursday, you can still connect with the celebrations which will be happening here and in other locations across the country:

Hear live greetings from members at the open house and at other churches and celebrations by going to the following website between 3:00 and 4:15 Eastern Time: http://momentum.na4.acrobat.com/uc85. When prompted enter your or your church’s name. Up to 100 people can view this video conference at a time, so try again if the conference is full. (Note: the system may automatically install an add-in when you enter the meeting, which will take a few seconds.)
Send in your own greetings. We are inviting everyone to offer a message in six-words on the occasion of the church’s 85 th anniversary. Call or email your “six-word story” to Diane (reply to this email or to the contact information below). As time permits, we will share some of these messages with those assembled at the office and over the video conference

2. Participate in the live steaming of an 85th Anniversary Worship Service (June 20th , 5:00 PM Eastern Time)

On June 20th, 5pm (Eastern Time), a church-wide 85th Anniversary Service for the United Church of Canada will be live streamed on http://ucc85.blogspot.com/ Not only will the service be streamed across the country, but sections of the liturgy will be led online from St. John's Nfld, Kingston Bermuda, Hartley Bay BC, Whitehorse YT., with music from the Every Kid Choir, live and video liturgical dance, prayer, visual art from the streets of Toronto 'Paint Your Faith Project'.

People from across the country will be able to live-Tweet (hash tag #ucc85) prayers and reflections on Mardi Tindal's sermon during the service. Mardi will be engaging some of the tweeted messages in her sermon and prayers will be lifted up during communion.

Diane Bosman

Committee Member Services

3250 Bloor Street West, Suite 300. Toronto, ON M8X 2Y4

Tel: 416-231-7680 x 2211

Toll-free: 1-800-268-3781
Fax: 416-231-3103

President’s Report June 2010

2010-06-04T18:42:00.001-04:00

This month I want to report on two items that I have encountered over the course of the last month.

Contributions of John Spong

I have read a number of John Spong’s books and find his study and scholarship to be top notch. He asks the questions many of us have thought about and he has also done the work to research the answers to those questions. I just finished reading his book Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism and it is no exception.

Spong’s main idea is that fundamentalist notions of Biblical morality and biblical inerrancy fuel prejudice, misogyny, sexism and homophobia.

However, he goes on to point out this does not mean that the Bible is a lost cause. On the contrary the Bible is a dynamic document, dramatic and relevant for our time. However, if ownership of the Bible and for that matter Christianity is ceded to the fundamentalists then many will continue to see the document is irrelevant and antiquated for its time.

Rescuing the Bible is a matter of reconciling scientific breakthroughs with the context in which the Bible was written. Our understanding biblical context has grown greatly in the last 200 years as we learn more and more about the times of Jesus and those who wrote these documents; including what documents were chosen to be included in the Bible and how these documents came to be written.

To ignore this question means that we limit knowledge, religious understanding, insight into spiritual development to a definition written about in the first and second century. There are concepts in the Bible, religious and cultural traditions which are repugnant to us now. They are misogynist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist. They support slavery, murder and other anachronistic anti-people social practices.

Backward concepts are supported through literalism and fundamentalism: concepts like menstruation being unclean and those with disabilities and being cursed by God

As Spong points out, “Womanhood is insulted in verse after verse of the Torah. At one point Moses expresses anger that the women were allowed to live (Num 31:15).

He points out further that these problems of literalism are not unique to what is called the Old Testament. There are a number of occasions when Jesus is portrayed as narrow-minded, vindictive and even hypocritical.

Taken literally, the Bible supports a god who picks sides amongst people, who is vengeful, nationalistic, cruel and sadistic. Literalism and fundamentalism promote the concept of a chosen people and therefore those who are unchosen.

Spong calls for genuine biblical scholarship: scholarship which examines the situational context of how these stories of the Bible and of Jesus came to be written. This scholarship requires us to recognize that there were many different authors of biblical passages which have varying descriptions of God as both omniscient and inept. A literal interpretation of the Bible presents us with many problems as Christians. It steeps us in ignorance and the narrow-mindedness of pre-scientific understandings. Those who insist on Literalism are pushing Christianity to the brink of extinction as a spiritual ideology. Our traditional patterns of thought have not been challenged enough.

Michael Blair – some straight talk

Second, I want to report on an excellent sermon provided by Michael Blair at a Toronto Southeast Presbytery meeting I attended recently. Michael is a senior United Church leader in our church and as a person of colour and a gay man he has a unique perspective on such church topics like inclusion, hospitality and equality. Michael’s words may be hard to hear but they are worth listening to. My notes from his talk are as follows:

Church began as a movement, driven by practicality, limited by resources, as opposed to as we are now, driven by fear of Catholicism shoring up the protestant fortress. We are challenged by the context of appreciating difference. The goodness of god’s creation is found in the differences we have. We are struck with a desire to conform - a sameness. We are afraid to embrace difference. An intercultural church acknowledges differences as opposed to looking for conformity. There are 3 things to consider. We need to have courageous conversations; conversations which are more about process than content; sacred conversations about race, gay and lesbian issues, inside the church. We need to realize that our missionary enterprises created these anti gay and lesbian views that we are hearing from those who have come here now as immigrants. We tend to pour buckets of water on anyone with any spark of evangelism and social justice. We need to deconstruct our language and re-understand our uses of worlds like hospitality, inclusive and equality. These bespeak of a host/ guest relationship where the guest doesn’t have to do anything. Similarly, inclusive suggests that we include the other. But who is the other? It is not a space about mutuality; that you have something to give me. Finally equality suggests we all start from the same place. We do not. We need equity, where everyone gets what they need. Third there is the necessity to seek first, to understand rather than to be understood. It is not us and the other but an understanding of how our differences enrich us. God is calling us to some place other than what we have contented ourselves with.

Jim McKibbin, AOTS (As One That Serves) Past President

Moderator's support for the Dondi Project

2010-06-03T11:30:00.001-04:00

"The Dondi Project is proving to be a vital way of energizing and engaging men of The United Church of Canada for the rebuilding of the Lutamo School, part of Dondi in central Angola. Through events across the country, inspiration is growing for this collaborative project with our long time partner, The Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA). Funds raised will strengthen education in Angola and support for our Mission and Service Fund, thereby strengthening ongoing relationships with our partners around the world."

Moderator,
Mardi Tindal

Greetings Dondi Project Enthusiasts

2010-06-01T11:59:00.002-04:00

The Abbey North Drummers continue to drum up enthusiasm for the Dondi Project on their Western Tour.

Dan Beveridge had a good turnout in Regina to the Dondi Drummers Circle on May 31, 2010 - funds raised on Sunday were $1,388.08. A report from the AOTS Western Vice President Harvey Douglas said that there are men still living in Saskatchewan!! Some of the men at Westminister U.C. in Regina were living proof there are still some men in Saskatchewan and they do come out and have fun when given a chance. He was not surprised with the high number of westerners supporting the project.

You can keep up with their blog and twitter updates at the following sites: http://www.dondiproject.com/ or http://donditournews.blogspot.com/

In June we head to Newfoundland to tell the good news story of rebuilding the Lutamo School.

Please keep the people of Angola and the Dondi Project in your thoughts and prayers.

We continue to sign up locations to host our National Drumathon on October 1st and 2nd, 2010.

We will have a minimum of 100 sites with 20 drummers/site each drummer getting $250 in sponsors. This adds up to $500,000!!

Many of you have already supported the Dondi Project with your time, talents and dollars.

We are now asking that you consider a second financial donation. We have raised $140,000 of our goal of $1.3 million dollars.

$1 million for building the Lutamo School, dormitories, and related infrastructure: $100,000 for our Mission & Service Fund; and $200,000 for staff and expenses which will enable us to bring this project to a successful attainment of our goals. Through this project we are energizing men across our church; deepening our partnership with the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola; planting a seed of hope as the Angolan people seek to move forward as a country of justice and compassion.

Your contributions are making a difference. Your donation will enable us to soon break ground in Dondi!

Please send your cheque to:
Lloyd Paul, Men's Ministries
The United Church of Canada
3250 Bloor St. West, Suite 300
Toronto, ON M8X 2Y4

Make your cheque out to "The United Church of Canada" with "Dondi Project" on the memo line.

All donations of $20 or more will receive an income tax receipt.

Thanks for your ongoing support and engagement with the Dondi Project.

Blessings

Lloyd Paul
Men's Ministries
The United Church of Canada

AOTS National Update

2010-05-20T11:55:00.001-04:00

We just had an exciting National Executive Meeting targeted mostly at revising the Constitution. The organization is much smaller than when the original document was produced. All revisions were approved for distribution to all members on the website and next Handshake. This will be followed by a vote at the next Biennial to make the changes final. Watch for this and there will be contacts provided there for any feedback.

It was decided that the next Biennial meeting will be held in Jacksons Point again on the Friday preceding the Central Region Roundup with the Executive meeting on Thursday. There is hope that Newfoundland might host the following meeting in 2013.

I hope your club is aware of the Dondi Project which is raising funds to rebuild a school in Dondi Angola. The Men's Ministry office at United Church Head Office led by Rev. Lloyd Paul and a board of directors which includes many active AOTS members is leading this. AOTS is taking a support role in attempting to interest men of the United Church in embracing this project. More info is available on the AOTS website. At the Central Regional Roundup an anonymous donor offered to match donations up to $1000 and this amount was donated! The next major event is a drumathon in October.

Please view The Dondi Project Presentation Update for Jackson's Point AOTS

I thought you might be interested in a listing of the clubs in Canada showing the number of dues paying members in each Club. It was disappointing to see two clubs withdraw this year, but this was partly offset by the chartering of one new club.

We are using the website to maintain better contact with members. The intent is that all non-private information will be available there for ready reference. This will include the Constitution, material order forms, annual membership forms and periodic communication from the President. Have a look at it--it is a very professional site.

In closing I wish your clubs well and appreciate the dues sent and the generous donations to our projects. Have a good summer!

Marvin Bildfell (National Treasurer)

The Dondi Project DVD Study Guide

2010-05-07T12:53:00.006-04:00

DVD Study Guide

Voices in the Ruins: The Dondi School Project

This guide also accompanies the YouTube clip “The Dondi Project, Angola” (5 min.; March 31, 2010

147 views The Men's Ministries Network of the United Church is raising funds to help rebuild the Lutamo school in Dondi, Angola with the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola. To learn more and become involved: http://dondiproject.com/

Please contact The Rev. Lloyd Paul for the full-length DVD (21 min).

CONTEXT

The Dondi Project is a response to a call for support from our partner the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA). IECA is working to rebuild a desperately-needed school in Angola. The Men’s Ministries Network of The United Church of Canada is committed to raising $1 million through men’s groups and congregations across Canada.

Voices in the Ruins was filmed in July 2009, and is a co-operative effort of the IECA and The United Church of Canada.

Scriptural context: Luke 10:25–37

OBJECTIVES

• To promote awareness and direct engagement in the project undertaken by the Men’s Ministries Network of the United Church to support the rebuilding of the Lutamo School in Dondi, central Angola.
• To ask congregations to donate to the Dondi Project, to help our Angolan partners achieve their dream.
• To encourage United Church men to use this project as the starting point for creating a congregational group and for joining the Men’s Ministries Network.
• To help participants learn about Angola and about our long-term partnership with the IECA.
• To reflect on who our neighbours are, and on our responses to calls for assistance.

PREPARATION AND SUPPLIES

(For leaders/facilitators)
• To prepare to lead the discussion, reflect on your faith tradition and its relationship to caring for poor and neglected people in the world.
• What does your faith say about justice and care for others? Jot down relevant Bible passages. Read Luke 10:25–37.
• Bring a map of Africa (download one from the Internet or use an atlas) so people can locate Angola.
• Order free materials from the Men’s Ministries Network. (See the contact details on the back page.)
• The 2010 DVD Minutes for Mission (sent to every pastoral charge in the April 2010 Infopac) includes a 5-min. Dondi story. The clip is also on YouTube.
• Organize equipment for showing the DVD: a DVD player or a computer that plays DVDs, a projector, a screen, and speakers.
• Prepare the meeting space for easy viewing of the video.
• Gather flip chart, paper, markers, and pencils to record ideas.
• Optional: provide snacks and drinks/name tags.

WELCOME AND OPENING (5 min.)

• Welcome participants. Open the session with a personal prayer or ask participants to gather for a moment of silence.
• Introduce the Dondi Project as the focus of this study group.
• Read Luke 10:25–37.

INTRODUCTIONS (2–10 min.)

Ask people to introduce themselves and to say why they have come.
DONDI VIDEO (10–35 min.)

Introduce the video.

• The Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA) has been our partner for over a hundred years
• Men of the United Church are invited to help rebuild a school that we helped build originally. Show a map of Angola and the Huambo Province. The estimated cost of rebuilding is $1 million.
• The school was destroyed in a 27-year civil war.
• Education in rural areas is lagging behind that in the cities. For Angolans to lift themselves out of the past, they recognize they need educated people.
• Watch the video. (5 min. or 21 min., depending on which version you show)

GROUP DISCUSSION (30 min.)

Rearrange the seating for small-group discussions. Provide flip charts, markers, paper, and pencils. Ask one person to be the leader/scribe in each group. The leader /scribe will ask the following questions and record the answers.

• What is this video about? What is its meaning?
(2–3 answers)
• What scenes and people do you recall from the film? (An answer from each person)
• What sounds do you remember? What dialogue do you recall? (3–4 answers)
• Where did you notice emotions being expressed in the video? (3–4 answers)
• What did you find most touching? (2–3 answers)
• What surprised you? (1 answer)
• How does the Bible passage we read resonate with this story?
• Do you have questions about the project?
• Do we (as individuals/as a group) want to help the Dondi Project reach its goal?
• What immediate financial commitment can we make?

• What further financial commitment can we make through other fundraising efforts?
• What groups in the congregation might like to join us—youth, the UCW, Sunday school?

ACTION PLAN (10 min.)

Decide who will be responsible for following up on the top 3 actions. This may be an individual for each or a small task force of volunteers. Allow time to be set for a follow up meeting date to be set and a time for the task force to report back to the group/congregation as appropriate.

IDEAS FOR FURTHER INVOLVEMENT

• Walkathon to raise funds for the Dondi Project
• Drumming events with a screening of the DVD
• Multi-generational dinner events with a screening of the DVD and a discussion (as above)
• Participate in a National Drumathon: Oct. 1–2, 2010

CONTACT

The Rev. Lloyd Paul, Men’s Ministries Network
Mail: The United Church of Canada, 3250 Bloor St. West, Suite 300, Toronto, ON M8X 2Y4
Toll-Free: 1-800-268-3781 ext. 4046
E-mail: lpaul@united-church.ca
Visit: http://dondiproject.com/ and http://www.united-church.ca/

Here is a PDF version of Dondi DVD Study Guide

© 2010 The United Church of Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca. Any copy must include this notice.

President’s Report May, 2010

2010-05-04T11:29:00.001-04:00

Taking the Journey – the road ahead

These days we are assailed by media images that reflect the tenor of our times. Images of hypocrisy, scandal, impropriety and fraud; extremism, war, brutality and terror; oppression, torture, cover-up and denial; intolerance, violence, betrayal and murder. We are left to ask where is god? Where is the god of compassion, generosity, gratitude, joy, justice, love, mercy, and peace.

Our spiritual balance is under attack by, among others, radio talk show pundits who preach a never-ending diet of cynicism, despair hopelessness.

No one is accountable. Everyone else is to blame. Only we are without fault.

We are told to foster a spirituality of me-firstism and to set aside any consideration of what god would have us do.

It is a dilemma of our times. One that can only be countered by putting god on the table for discussion and the consideration of what god would have us do, as a basic ingredient of our decision making. There is a necessity for god.

At an AOTS workshop several years ago we examined the question has your view of god changed over time and if so how?

Most said yes; that the male image of god had changed in their beliefs, even if it remained as imagery in their minds. That included one man who said that after all the mess of things men had made that he was now convinced that god was a woman.

Hallelujah for that.

Yet, for all the men there was a constancy of god and a necessity for god even though their image of that god had changed throughout their journey.

So to it is with the church. Prior to and in preparation for General Council 40, which took place in Kelowna in August of 2009, moderator David Giuliano wrote the words ``We are both shaping and being shaped``.

We engage with god anew everyday – as a church of the social gospel we struggle to hear god’s voice on contemporary issues.

Three central questions for the church were addressed by GC 40. Who is the church? What is ministry? What is our doctrine? They are part of our journey as a united church, part of our history, part of the way we do things. And implicit in the discussion is the constancy of voice of god, necessity for that voice and the reassurance that the voice brings as the compassionate one, the one who provides for us all.

It is this sense of compassion that guides our consideration of all of these questions.

Who is the church?

We recalled the church’s apology to Aboriginal Peoples, “In our zeal to tell you of the good news of Jesus Christ we were closed to the value of your spirituality. We imposed our civilization as a condition for accepting the gospel......We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. As a result you, and we, are poorer and the image of the Creator in us is twisted, blurred, and we are not what we are meant by God to be”.

That was twenty years ago. This is a post apology period; we live out god’s word, in truth and reconciliation. We begin a process of inclusion to revisit what we did not do at the basis of our union and establish as policy the presence and spirituality of First People in the United Church.

What is ministry?

What is the place and authority of those who undertake the responsibility of professional ministry? How might people best be educated? How are we doing now? What is changing? What are our challenges?

They included the strengthening of the capacity of presbyteries to effectively exercise their oversight functions. Many congregations struggle financially. The issue of staffing expenditures is often a central concern. How they acquire those staff is a function of the presbytery.

In addition there is the need to prepare and enable new expressions and forms of ministry in a rapidly changing social context.

Much of this relates to youth.

For the most part, our children are not participating in church affairs as much as we would prefer. Many of them don’t attend church regularly at all. We age as a denomination.

In our country, our growth is dependent on immigration.

And no one comes to Canada as a member of the United Church.

But people come with myriad other designations and understandings of spiritual moral development. People assess meaning in life, god in life, out of their own background and upbringing.

And in dealing with the challenges and opportunities of the intercultural context the necessity for god and the discussion of meaning is even more apparent and more required. We need god more now than ever.

What is our doctrine?

Just as we assess our ministry so we also assess our doctrine. Essentially, the proposal of GC 40 is to recognize scripture as our doctrine and include in the Basis of Union three other church statements alongside the 20 Articles of Faith. They are the 1940 Statement of Faith, New Creed (1968) and Song of Faith 2006. We choose to recognize these statements as subordinate to scripture, while recognizing that our doctrine itself grows and develops over time.

So as changes to church, ministry and doctrine evolve, our understanding of god is enhanced. God leads our work. The constancy of god shelters us. God the compassionate one. God the one we find amidst the noise and cynicism of our contemporary existence. God who we find in contemplative reflection, prayer and meditative thought. A god for all people…. a god of green pastures and still waters, a god of right paths, where even in the darkest valley, we fear no evil. Where our shepherd has prepared a table in the presence of our enemies…

In Philip Keller’s book ``a shepherd looks at psalm 23`` he identifies the reference table as tableland or mesa, a flat-topped plateau in the mountains, sought after by shepherds because it was the best grazing place for sheep. The shepherd goes to elaborate lengths to make the land ready for the flock. The table land doesn`t have everything the sheep need so the shepherd brings salt and minerals from without. The shepherd clears waterholes, repairs dams, removes poisonous weeds, protects the animals from their natural predators. The shepherd is the servant of the flock preparing the tableland as the compassionate one. We, of the flock, shall not want.

While god is constancy for us, our understanding of god changes, grows and develops over time; as we are guided by god in our understanding and redefinition of church, ministry, doctrine.

This theme of the shepherd is described again in Revelation 7, where the image of the compassionate one is repeated ``and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them”.

This passage expressed in the simplest terms is as follows: there is a time of great tribulation on the Earth which combines natural disasters with war on an unprecedented scale; it sounds like today. The "Lamb" saves his people from the tribulation, destroys the wicked, and ushers in an age of peace; after the age of peace, there is a second, brief time of trouble which results in the permanent banishment of the wicked; a new heaven and a new earth replace the old, and the people of God go to live in the presence of God and Christ in a heavenly city described as the "new Jerusalem." No matter what their trial or tribulation.

As Martin Luther King Jr said “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

There is no corruption too significant; no impropriety too profound, no toxicity too severe for the compassionate one.

We only need recognize the necessity for the voice of god to be heard in our discussions, our deliberations, our decisions. It will illuminate our path forward in spite of our inability to see the road ahead. God will guide us.

We can be satisfied with the care provided to us by the great pastor of the universe, who we worship in awe and wonder and mystery. Our shepherd is Jehovah. God gives quiet and contentment in the mind, whatever the lot is.

The Revelation passage concludes with the multitude crying out in worship of god who has provided them shelter. “They will hunger no more and thirst no more, the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

And they cry out ``Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might, be to our God forever and ever Amen.

Past President Jim McKibbin

President’s Report - April, 2010

2010-04-15T12:25:00.000-04:00

After a period of discernment I decided to enrol in the church’s Licensed Lay Worship Leader (LLWL) program and I have been ensconced in studies for the past several months. This past weekend I experienced my first intense training program when I met with some 30 other trainees at Five Oaks Centre. I’ll save a description of the program or another article. This month I’d like to share a book report overview I prepared for the weekend: Barara Brown Taylor’s excellent work entitled When God is Silent.

Barbara Brown Taylor touches upon eight central ideas in her treatise, When God is Silent. She calls for homiletical restraint in preaching. For her less is more. The main ideas in this book are as follows:

Language is under attack

We are assailed by a language of untruths. Much of our contemporary communication is steeped in outright falsehood, prevarication, exaggeration and competitiveness. There is a huge discrepancy between the word and the reality. We are buried under a mountain of noise and the noise destroys our ability to discern.

We have not always been deluged with a culture of noise

In fact the distortion of language is a relatively recent phenomenon. It is fuelled by consumerism and the drive to accelerate a social and cultural model driven by consumerism. The more we engage in the practice the more distorted our communications become. This is a phenomenon of our lifetime.

The assault of consumerism has meant that words are chosen not for their truthfulness but for their power to seduce. The practice is so entrenched that we have become inured to it. We no longer accept words as a reflection of the reality we live in. Without this foundation of words our understanding of reality is undermined and distorted.

Preaching is a matter of influence and our ability to influence is undermined by consumerist culture

Barbara Brown Taylor’s work is a spiritual parallel to the work of social scientist Robert Cialdini who decried the practice of miscommunication in advertising in his seminal work “Influence”, written 30 years ago. Cialdini spoke of six weapons of influence (scarcity, reciprocity, commitment and consistency, authority, liking and social proof).

Taylor speaks of consumerism in much the same way. It drives a practice of seduction as opposed to a practice of truth. Cialdini describes the authority principle as one where a ‘televison’ doctor (Robert Young as Marcus Welby) is used as a spokesperson to advertise healthful products – Sanka coffee.

We are have lost the capacity to listen

We are not good listeners. We process information faster than people can talk. We live in a world where conversation is a competitive sport and the first one to take a breath becomes the listener. Listeners reject this designation. They don’t hear what is presented to them and the long for the silence of the unsayable.

The word has lost its sayability in the world. As Taylor says, this is a recent world phenomenon; one where people could spend the evening reading Goethe, Rilke and listening to Bach and Schubert and blithely go to work at Auschwitz in the morning. Words have lost their meaning.

Silence Offers a Respite from the Distraction of the Noise

Taylor points out that silence affects people who are no longer affected by sound. It is ecumenical. It takes us back to those a time before creation when there was no dogma and no crusade and silence was the womb in which the world slept. This is one of the ideas in the book that I found most enlightening; the fact that silence offers humanity a way forward from the noise of contemporary communication.

To be sure, in our world communication has a higher value than contemplation; information is in greater demand than reflection. In the paradigm of current societal culture we proceed from data to information to knowledge to wisdom. There is precious little place for the communication dynamics of reflection and contemplation. In fact, we are encouraged not to do so.

Information (answers) abounds everywhere. Just do a Google search and the miracle of the internet and modern day search engines will produce for us an answer to all of our dreams. However, the answers to our dreams are often without substance. They lack the insight of silence, contemplative thought and reflection.

Connected to everything but silence

Taylor reminds us that there was a time when only two or three people carried a phone around with them all of the time – one of them was the president of the US, who carried it in case of nuclear attack. Now we are all that important. We are all that instant. We are all so connected that we are never at a point when we are not. We are never at a point when we are just with God. And because we are not, it is no wonder we can never hear the voice of God.

On the contrary, God’s silence on questions of fate and contemporary life are deemed to be unacceptable by a world addicted to information, input and regurgitation of the banal. We are garbage in and garbage out. We are our own communication machines.

God’s Silence – the profoundly unsayable

As the preacher said very few people come to me because of something God said to them last night. Most come because they can’t get God to say anything to them at all.

Taylor points out that many of the sayings of Jesus beget silence: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who abuse you; and even more, in a world of machines silence signals malfunction. We are taught to treat silence as discomfiting.

What I find affirming about Brown’s treatise is the fact that it so parallels the void left by our socioeconomic and political system. The arguments made by the various political parties leave one gasping for air. So much information is being shoved down our throats about who is right and who is wrong. I found the health care debate in the US to be an example of this. Where was the consideration of the other?

As quoted in 2 Corinthians *:13 “The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little.” Where was the contemplative thought that reached beyond the ‘me’?

Sometimes it is the unsayable which must be said

In our world the sayability of things has fallen into disrepute. But Brown affirms that”Silence is a central place of faith”.

Homiletical restraint requires economy, courtesy and reverence in the language we use. Say only what we know is true. Respect the autonomy of the listener by being courteous in our approach to language. Decry, avoid coercion. Be the authoritative listener, not the commanding authoritarian.

Explore the practice of restraint in preaching. When we stop talking it is not as though there is no more to be said, it is so the unsayable wishes to be said. And it is said in silence.

God silence is God’s voice. It is accessible through contemplation and reflection. As Brown points out if God were readily accessible religion would be obsolete.

And finally in speech, less is more. A short speech is more difficult to compose than a long one. Finding the economy of words allows the listener to contemplate the understanding of the message of God.

There are no definitive answers to the message of God. What God is saying to each of us individually is matter for each of us to discern.

As preachers it is most important to know what not to say. Answers for everything do not abound. It does not come with the territory – with the wearing of a preacher’s hat. It is a lesson to take away for me.

As Taylor closes her treatise on preaching she reminds us: “What we serve is not supposed to satisfy. It is food for the journey. It is meant to tantalize, to send people out our doors with a taste for what they cannot find in our kitchens. When they find it, they understand why we did not say more than we did. It was not that we didn’t. It was that we couldn’t. Our words are too fragile. God’s voice is too deep.”

Dondi News - Some good news from Ontario - Lets see what the West can do!

2010-03-31T19:00:00.002-04:00

Greeting Dondi People:

Just an update on some things that have been happening with the Dondi Project.

We had a great event at Grace UC in Napanee on Friday evening. The minister there, the Rev. Frank Hamper, had organized an evening of musical entertainment - all the musicians offered their time and talents gratis.

We raised over $3,000! Also there were AOTS men from Grace UC in Trenton; George St. United Church in Peterborough; and Wellington United Church and all 3 plus Grace United Church in Napanee will be sites for our October drumathon!

Today we received a cheque for $855.00 from the AOTS at Trinity United Church in Newmarket and another cheque will follow in June! Good work George!

The event at Beach United Church was full of energy. A member of the Men's Group there, Don Gray, videoed the whole evening and is putting together a 4 minute DVD for us which we can use to promote the experience of a drum circle.

Plans for the Western tour in May continue to move forward. Joe Truss, Bazza Hayward and Christine Cullen will make that trip.

We led worship at Kingsview United Church in Oshawa and shared with them an eight minute DVD that Kate Rodd and Peter Vinet had put together showing how the money they had raised for the Canata School in Lobito, Angola had been used. They are supporting the Dondi Project with $1,000.

Please keep in your prayers the Angolan people living in Lubango in southern Angola. Many families have been forced by the government to evacuate their homes which have been plowed under by the government. See the Africa Files for more information. Gary Kenny just back from Africa has freed up $5000 to go to Lubango to support the people.

Etta Snow called me today to inform me that Dr. George Burgess, a long time missionary in Angola with the United Church of Canada, died over the weekend in Chesley.

His daughter Jean Burgess is the President of the Angola Memorial Scholarship Fund. Funeral arrangements have not been finalized.

Easter blessings.
Lloyd

Earth Hour Lessons in The Yukon

2010-03-29T12:43:00.000-04:00

My wife Karen and I made sure we were prepared to take our part in Earth Hour by turning off all of the power in the house and spending an hour playing a game. We got organized by finding the candles beforehand and choosing Yahtzee as our boardgame of choice before we made our power-off strategy.

With a sick child and both of us juggling our days with overtime and extera caricular activities this past week we had passed each other in the evening like we were shift workers on opposite shifts. All we wanted to do was to sit back, relax, and watch a good movie.

After putting the girls to bed and finishing up the dishes we both went off on our own to check out email and to relax for a moment when we realized that we only had 15 minutes before we had to enact our shutdown plan.

I quickly sent a tweet on Twitter and then shut the computer down. We both ran all over the house turning off lights and unplugging all of the things that take power while they were off and then we both met up in the living room. Candles burning, the Yahtzee box on the table and Karen curled up in the sleeping bag we use as a blanket on cool Yukon nights. It looked perfect!

I opened up the Yahtzee box to find that it didn’t have pencils or even the score sheets to play. My first three attempts at making my own score sheets were stopped with questions about the bonus numbers and then I had no idea how many points to give for the different combinations. I finally gave up with frustration and turned to Karen and said “we should just talk”.

What a mind blowing experience that was! We talked about the children and upcoming kindergarten for our oldest, we talked about our worries and health concerned for our youngest and we even had time to talk about some of our personal goals that we have not had time to talk about with each other.

There were a couple of tense moments when I was caught looking at my watch but it all balanced as we noticed that the flickering candles were in competition with the glow of the Yukon sky. We had a wonderful time.

There is something to be said for taking the time to talk and listen with the ones that we love. Taking a break from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives and stepping back and enjoying the solitude.

We have decided to try to do this at least once a week. It is nice that not only is it good for the environment but it is also good for us and our relationship. I would encourage others to take the time to shut everything off (except for yourselves) and enjoy the solitude. Just don’t look at your watch. It is only an hour and it does come quickly.

President’s Report - March, 2010

2010-03-09T11:35:00.002-05:00

Greetings:

As the country recovers from the celebrations of Canada’s success at the Winter Olympics, it is time perhaps to take stock of our national situation and where we are going.

We are doing that in AOTS as we prepare a national review of our constitution with a view to changing it to meet our current needs.

Today as I write this missive, a new report was released from Statistics Canada projecting a portrait of Canadian population diversity through to 2031.

We have known for some time that the Canadian social fabric is one that is interwoven with the strands of an increasingly intercultural population. That was a main thrust of the 2006 Census report, when 20% of the nation’s population was foreign-born.

Increased Diversity

By 2031 that figure is projected to be 26%. Nearly one half (46%) of Canadians over the age of 15 would be foreign born or have one parent who was foreign -born. If I’m around then I’ll be in that group being the offspring of and Canadian soldier and a war=bride mother.

As well 31% of the national population will belong to a visible minority group.

But what is most dramatic about this report is the growing diversity of the Canadian-born population. By 2031, 47% of second generation Canadians would be a member of a visible minority group. And nationally about 13 million people in the country would belong to a visible minority group.

The number of people with a non-Christian religion would double to 8% of the population and the proportion of those with a Christian religion would drop from 75% to 65%, while the share with no religion would increase from 17% to 21% of the population.

In 2031 within the country there will be great contrast in terms of both the foreign-born and the visible minority populations.

Large Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) like Toronto (50% and 63%), Vancouver (44% and 59%), Calgary (30% and 39%), Montreal (30% and 31%), Ottawa-Gatineau (29% and 36%), Abbotsford-Mission (29% and 39%) and Windsor (28% and 33%) will stand in contrast to other centres like Sudbury (5% and 5%), Quebec City (7% and 5%) and Saguenay (2% and 2%).

Growth Everywhere

But while there is great contrast between cities, the foreign-born and visible minority populations of cities will grow everywhere. The population of visible minority populations will double in Brantford, Kelowna, Sudbury, London, Moncton, Oshawa, Peterborough, Saint John, Saskatoon, Sherbrooke, St. Catherines-Niagara and St John’s. For those of you wishing to access the study report please click on the following link: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100309/dq100309a-eng.htm

To find the CMA closest to you click here: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100309/t100309a1-eng.htm

For us in AOTS this represents yet another challenge. How do we relate to those newcomers and others who have no experience with the United Church? How do we welcome them, throw our church doors open from the inside and say ‘join us... bring us your gifts.... let us share our gifts together and begin a new discussion about meaning, about God.... in a country we both can love”.

Local AOTS Project In The Spotlight

2010-02-19T23:06:00.006-05:00

George St. United Church, Peterborough, Chemong Village , AOTS Community Homes Inc.

Chemong Village is located at1025 Chemong road. It is a beautiful housing project of 60 units arranged in a community-like setting. The project was begun in the late 1980s by the AOTS men's club who responded to the need for affordable housing in Peterborough. They worked tirelessly to raise the resources required to secure the site and build homes that would house families in need of safe secure affordable housing.

The History of the Project:
It all started on a cold blustery night in February 1989. George St. AOTS Men's Club gathered in the basement of their church to hear the story of how some churches had responded to community need by sponsoring rental housing projects. Projects that allowed residents to pay rents that were related to their income. Though a spark was kindled, it required persistence to follow the continuing flame in the burning bush in order to translate this vision into real homes for families and individuals in Peterborough.

Though everyone knew there was a need for affordable housing, Governments who controlled and granted the allocation of subsidies, wanted sponsoring groups to show a specific need for their project. Information from local planning and social service agencies was gathered to get specific names of people who were actually in need. The club set up a booth in a local mall on successive Saturdays. Shoppers were asked to complete an " Expression of interest" form if they needed affordable housing. Over 200 did! If evangelism is carrying the good news to the market place, members of George St. Men's Club discovered contemporary evangelism.

Positive that their work would lead to a housing allocation from the Provincial Government, the club incorporated AOTS Community Homes, a non-profit housing corporation. They hired a development consultant to pursue their dream. Applications in 1989, 1990, and 1991 failed. Undeterred, they kept improving their application. A number of local agencies, such as the John Howard Society and the youth related organizations, were brought on board when it was discovered that many youth, alienated from their families, might benefit from secure housing which would assist them in getting on with their lives. A percentage of the proposed units were allocated to these youth with support services coming from the co-operating agencies.

The application for a housing project was successful in 1992. Even better, the City of Peterborough had a piece of surplus land that it was willing to sell for the project. Planning began, surveys and soil tests were completed. A zoning application was filed and a public meeting was called. Some opposition arose and the Peterborough City Council refused to re-zone the land. Despair! But, only for a day! Looking anew for a piece of land, the group linked up with a builder who was holding a prime piece of land for a condominium development. . Although deemed too expensive, tentative negotiations began. All the planning and design work and firm contracts had to be signed before year-end or the allocation would be lost. The Ministry Of Housing needed our final application before Christmas, because those who had to sign off on the project would be away between Christmas and New Years. Everything came together except that the project could not be built within the cost guidelines imposed by the Ministry Of Housing. Despite tough negotiations, agreement could not be reached with the builder. An at 8 P.M on December 23rd the project died. Perhaps the builder caught some of the meaning of Christmas. By December 28th he accepted our contract proposal and Ministry officials were brought back from holidays to sign off with their approval.

Construction began in the late spring of 1993. Three clusters of stacked townhouses were built to a total of twenty-eight, two, three and four bedroom units. Two units included designs to accommodate the physically disabled. A small three-story eleven unit apartment building with one bedroom units and a community center completed the project. Wonderfully located close to good shopping and other community amenities, the project has been praised for " curb appeal". The first residents moved in , in early 1994. The turmoil and exhilaration of construction soon gave way to the daily tasks of property management. The Board hired an experienced property manager to look after the day-to-day operations. An Operations Committee was struck to supervise. The Board majority is appointed by the George St. AOTS Men's Club, but has always strengthened itself with other representatives of the congregation. Financially, the project has always lived within approved budgets. Physically, the project maintains its look of newness and residents are proud to live there. Socially, thirty-nine families and individuals have affordable housing. Nobody, unless they have been there themselves, fully understands that affordable housing assists in family stability, better diets and a more hopeful future. Not all the youth are able to meet the challenge of independent living, nor are the social agencies that promised to support them. Shrinking social service dollars have forced most social agencies to curtail their outreach programs. Evictions have taken place due to unit damage and non-payment of rent. There is a great satisfaction in the one's who have settled in stable family arrangements and others who have gone on to post secondary education. If real evangelism is the proclamation of good news, Chemong Village, as the George Street AOTS Men's Club housing project is called, continues to burn brightly in the middle of Peterborough.

Now 15 years later the project fills an ever growing need for affordable housing and the commitment of George Street continues. Programs for the Chemong Village Community are supported by AOTS and the wider congregation with activities for children's and community events.

Founding Directors
Harold G. Hubbell - President
William Gilbert - Vice President
Doris Neufeld - Secretary
Carolyn Porteous - Treasurer
Robert Bark
Richard Batten
Art Harding
Douglas Johnson
Rev. Donald Nicholson
John Pearson
Jack Sackvillle

AOTS Central Region Round-Up 2010

2010-02-16T13:05:00.007-05:00

April 16th, 17th and 18th
The Salvation Army Jackson's Point Conference Centre,
1890 Metro Road North , Jackson 's Point, Ontario L0E 1L0

"Blown by God toward Newness"
Action is urgently needed to reverse the impact of climate change on the poor and the earth In our retreat time together, we'll explore what our faith has to say about eco-justice. When creation is threatened, people of faith are called to speak out and act as an expression of their commitment to life, justice and love.

Rev Will Kunder (Secretary of Manitou Conference) is the Theme Speaker at this event.

Workshops
"Slavery run by the Governments" -Addictions by Bill Clark
"Discovering the HANDSHAKE" by Harold Lorenz
"God's Politics" by Rev Brian Bigelow
Visualizing the Future "What is God Calling Us to Do" by Jim McKibbin

Event Music By
Jim Watson and Ken Little

Entertainment

THE C-DENNY BAND

For More Information
Registration Form
Phone: 905-722-3501
Email jpcc@sallynet.org
Website: www.aots.ca/roundup

President’s Report - February, 2010

2010-02-05T11:58:00.002-05:00

Greetings:

Again this month I have a pot pourri of items. It has been a busy time in the life of our church and our organization.

A Great Day for AOTS

The Dondi Project (an AOTS supported initiative to rebuild the Lutamo School at Dondi, Angola) received a great infusion of support both financially and spiritually at the Steering Committee meeting on January 12th at Church House. Several Church House staff provided an overview of how the actually funding would work. The overview included a status report on the latest engineering study for the school and well as thorough description of the logistics related to the actual transfer of the funds.

Many of us in AOTS have not had such a direct connection to an outreach project so it was a very valuable overview. All of this will rely on the relationship between our United Church (UCC) and the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA).

A number of different plans and programs were discussed and a timeline and program plan was developed built around drumming events and drumathons led by the Abbey North Drummers. It was a very enthusiastic meeting. Our vice-president, Harvey Douglas flew in for the meeting and he brought some wisdom having completed work on the western tour.

At the close of the meeting John Patterson, co-chair of the steering committee presented me with a cheque for the Dondi Project for $60,000. I was both delighted and honoured to receive it on behalf of AOTS.

AOTS has pledged to match contributions at a 1 – 10 ratio up to a maximum of $10,000 and I am pleased to report that we have now contributed our maximum. That means that the Project has now raised over $100,000. So Dondi is well underway.

Wetaskiwin AOTS- adapting to a changing world

The website received a wonderful annual report from the AOTS club of First United Church in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. As chairman, Dan Liddle says, they are an AOTS club because “that is what we do”. They are very much still making a difference.

In October, their church burned to the ground apparently due to the work of an arsonist. And while this is an enormous loss, they have decided to start again and rebuild their church. Because of the nature of the fire little in the way artifacts, historical documents or memorabilia could be saved. It was a devastating loss.

By November, the club had organized a Ham supper which fed over 300 people from a temporary location.

Same-sex marriage - as one that serves

In February, the Wetaskiwin club was asked to cater the wedding of two woman members of the congregation. They didn’t hesitate. As Dan Liddle points out, “We did the best we could and successfully catered Sheila and Linda’s June wedding with about 150 people present. They are both very active in the church. This past year has provided an opportunity to demonstrate our ability to adapt to the ever changing world.”

Black History Month

February is Black History month. The dominion Institute provides the following overview of the Underground Railroad. “Between 1840 and 1860, before the American Civil War, enslaved Africans followed the North Star on the Underground Railroad to find freedom in Canada. It was not an actual railroad but a secret network of routes and safe houses that helped people escape slavery and reach free states or Canada. Sometimes there were guides available to help people find their way to the next stop along the way. Travelling on the Underground Railroad was dangerous and required luck as much as a guide.

The "railroad" actually began operating in the 1780s, but became known as the Underground Railroad in the 1830s. The organization used railroad terms as code words. Those who helped people move from place to place were known as "conductors" and the fleeing refugees were called "passengers" or "cargo." Safe places to stop to rest were called "stations." Conductors were also abolitionists—people who wanted slavery abolished. They were Blacks and Whites, men and women. Many of them were Quakers or Methodists.

Places had code names to help keep the routes secret. Detroit, from which most left the United States, was known as "Midnight." The Detroit River was called "Jordan," a biblical reference to the river that led to the promised land. The end of the journey also had a code name, such as "Dawn." People could communicate without being specific: "Take the railroad from Midnight to Dawn." The refugees arrived all across Canada, from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, but most came to what is now southwestern Ontario, to places such as Windsor, Fort Erie, Chatham and Owen Sound.

It is impossible to know for certain how many slaves found freedom by way of the railroad, but it may have been as many as 30, 000.”
“Some of the conductors and others associated with the railroad became famous for their efforts; Harriet Tubman, Mary Ann Shadd and Josiah Henson are but a few.”

As for me, our club recently co-sponsored a fundraising event at our church and I was given the honour of acting as MC for the event. We had a lot of fun and raised some money for the church. On March 20, we’ll be doing our own Dondi Project event and I am looking forward to a very successful evening.

Thank you

Jim

United Church Launches Emergency Appeal for Haiti

2010-01-14T15:59:00.003-05:00

For Immediate Release

Toronto: The United Church of Canada announced today that it is

launching an emergency appeal asking its congregations for donations designated for earthquake relief and reconstruction in Haiti.

"People see a need, and have a desire, to reach out as brothers and sisters in Christ to show compassion to those in dire need," says The United Church of Canada's Moderator, Mardi Tindal. "As one part of God's world suffers, we all suffer."

The United Church's Haiti Appeal will enable global partners in the region to address both the need for immediate relief and for long-term reconstruction following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, 2010.

Funds raised through this emergency appeal will be channelled through the United Church's partners in Haiti and through Action by Churches Together (ACT), the network of churches and Christian aid agencies that enables global responses to emergencies.

Members of ACT are already in place in Haiti, assisting those affected by the earthquake. The United Church's partners in the region are The Methodist Church of Haiti and The Karl Lévêque Cultural Institute (ICKL).

"We rejoice at news this morning that ministers of the Methodist Church are safe," said Jim Hodgson, the United Church's program coordinator for the Caribbean region. "But the same message contained the news that three visitors from the United Methodist Church in the United States are missing.

Our prayers are with the people of Haiti and with those who work alongside them in solidarity."

In addition to launching this emergency appeal, the United Church has also immediately committed $20,000 for Haitian relief and reconstruction from its Emergency Response Fund (ERF). The United Church is exploring further options to respond to the crisis in Haiti in collaboration with other Canadian churches to take advantage of matching funds from CIDA that may be offered.

The Emergency Response Fund is used to help alleviate the effects of humanitarian crises caused by nature, human action, or a combination of both. The fund is replenished annually from the Mission and Service Fund and member donations. Fifteen percent of all donations received and intended for emergency relief, reconstruction, and rehabilitation are deposited into this fund for use in future emergencies that do not receive intensive media coverage. The remaining 85 percent of the monies received are directed as designated by the donor.

It is important to note that unlike many charities, and thanks to regular donations to the Mission and Service Fund, the United Church is able to absorb the staffing and administration costs of processing donations whenever an emergency appeal is launched. Therefore donors can be assured that there are no administrative charges deducted from donations received.

Individuals are invited to contribute to the United Church's Haiti Appeal either through their local congregation or directly to The United Church of Canada's national office, 3250 Bloor St. West, Suite 300, Toronto, ON M8X 2Y4. Cheques should be made payable to The United Church of Canada and marked "Haiti Appeal." Online donations can be made at www.united-church.ca.

Choose "Emergency Response" and specify "Haiti Appeal."

Donations made by United Church members and congregations to the Haiti Appeal are considered "over and above" gifts to the United Church's wider work, so they are not recorded as part of a congregation's Mission and Service Fund giving. But they are eligible for tax receipts. Congregational treasurers may receive and receipt individual cheques and then forward one congregational cheque to the United Church, attention "Haiti Appeal."

Information about the United Church's Haiti Appeal has been posted on the United Church's website (www.united-church.ca) and will be updated as new information becomes available.

For more information, please contact:
Mary-Frances Denis
Program Coordinator, Media and Public Relations The United Church of Canada
Tel: 416-231-7680 ext. 2016
Toll-free: 1-800-268-3781 ext. 2016
E-mail: mdenis@united-church.ca

The Observer on Tape - Talking Magazine Project

2010-01-11T13:37:00.007-05:00

This is a highly work/time intensive volunteer project operated by Eastminster United Church of Belleville Ontario and their AOTS Men’s Club and Sanctioned by The National AOTS.

How Does It work?
Each month an advance copy of THE OBSERVER is received and read onto three ninety minute audio cassette tapes. Pictures associated with the Articles are described to help bring the articles to life. A high speed copier is then used to produce the required number of tapes to be sent out to our subscribers.

The tapes are packed in a special mailing pouch that are then sent to subscribers across Canada postage free courtesy of Canada Post. This special arrangement is extended only to visually impaired persons, thus we cannot honour requests for these tapes for non visually impaired persons.

After listening to the tapes, the subscriber reverses the mailing label on the pouch, and returns the tapes in the pouch, postage free, for reuse. The subsequent Observer tapes are only sent to those that have returned the previous tapes.

There are no subscription costs for this service. We have been fortunate to have been able to cover our operating costs from generous donations received from some of our appreciative listeners. Charitable receipts are issued to individual donors.

History of the Project:
The Observer on Tape Project was started by the Disabled Committee in Winnipeg in 1983. In early 1985, when the chairperson of the group moved from the area, they were no longer able to carry on with the project. At this time, the National AOTS was challenged to take over the project. Jack Arthur, Central Vice-President of the National AOTS, presented the challenge to Queen St. United Church AOTS, Kingston, Ontario, whose president Armando Del Gobbo was himself blind.

In July of 1985, Queen St. AOTS took over the project, and has carried it from 45 subscribers for their first issue (July 1985) to nearly 400 in 1994. Early in 1997 the Queen St. Club regretfully found that they were unable to continue with this project. Subsequently responsibility for this project was assumed by Eastminster United Church AOTS, Belleville, Ontario. To-day the Men’s Club ably assisted by other members of the congregation are pleased to make the Observer on Tape available to the visually impaired.

User Equipment:
Tape playing equipment is available without charge, from the C.N.I.B., to any visually impaired person who is registered with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Inexpensive cassette tape playing equipment is also available from Department, Electronic, and Radio Stores.

Appreciation:
The National AOTS Office is grateful and proud of the Queen St. AOTS Club, and Church for their devotion to this Project from 1985 to early 1997.

We also appreciate that the Eastminster AOTS Club has responded to the challenge, and are devoting their time and energy in this fine example of living “AS ONE THAT SERVES”

To support with a donation, to subscribe, or for further information, contact:
Eastminster United Church AOTS Men’s Club, 432 Bridge Street East, Belleville, ON K8N 1R1

The Observer on Tape Project involves transcribing the United Church Observer on audio cassette tapes and circulating them free of charge, to visually impaired persons

The Future of the Observer on Tape Project:
As cassette players are wearing out and becoming harder to replace it is time to start thinking about other possible solutions to offer this great service. I am presently researching the possibility of also offering the Observer on Tape in other formats like CDs, sound audio players and MP3 download.

Right now we can convert the cassette tapes into MP3 files and burn them onto CDs but as we get more and more orders it will be important to invest in a CD duplicator. These duplicators can be found for under a $1,000 and will help us to quickly produce the one or two CDs per subscriber.

Having this in a digital format gives us more possibilities of serving a larger community. I would like to take the digital data and produce an online podcast version for the United Church Observer that could be downloaded off of the website. This service could be offered free to the Observer subscribers. Non- subscribers may be charged a minimal fee in order to create a larger reader base. I am sure there are lots of people that are stuck in a car for hours a day wishing that they could finish reading an article in the Observer and be able to play it on their car stereo, iPod or MP3 player.

If anyone has any, comments suggestions or direction on a project of this type could you please comment or email me directly mark@aots.ca.

Thank you again to Eastminster United Church in Belleville Ontario for all that they do to serve.

If you would like some more information on the project please contact:
John Babiak, President of Eastminster AOTS Men's Club in Belleville

President’s Report for January, 2010

2010-01-04T12:53:00.003-05:00

Greetings of the season to all!

When it came to writing this month’s article I was confounded by the choice of subject matter. There was much to talk about at year end. So rather than focus on one, topic this month’s report will provide snippets of information on various topics.

AOTSers on Dondi Steering Committee

Former AOTS presidents Bill Love, Wally Shoults, Western Vice President Harvey Douglas and President-elect David Morris have all joined the Dondi Steering Committee as AOTS representatives. This is great news and a very positive boost for the work of what was a small steering committee.

The Dondi Project’s goal is to raise a total of 1.3 million dollars principally to rebuild a school in Angola. A Western Tour built around drumming circles led by Abbey North Drummers has just been completed. Bill, Wally and Harvey were all front and centre for that tour during the fall. The next big development for Dondi will be on January 15 in Toronto where a planning meeting will take place with various members of the steering committee and the church.

This is perhaps the biggest news of the month. John Patterson, who is co-chair of the Dondi Steering Committee had a very productive meeting in December with Bruce Gregerson senior United Church staff person about how the campaign will unfold. The new broadened steering committee looks forward to launching a whole series of initiatives to capitalize on the successful Western Tour and move the fundraising effort further ahead toward its goal.

Christmas Thoughts

I acted as a narrator for our church’s Christmas pageant this year. The event was advertised as non-traditional. But in following the birth of Jesus Biblically we learned that many of the traditions we include in our pageants are not actually part of the Christmas story. We blend our representations of the birth of Jesus into something that never really was. Our tradition of Christmas includes a star and an innkeeper and angels and wise men and shepherds and animals but that scenario is not literally represented in the Bible at all.

Over time we have traditionally interpreted the story time and striven to keep the message.

The year’s pageant allowed us to refocus on the message anew; that to live a life as Jesus lived requires compassion, generosity, gratitude, joy, justice, love, mercy and peace.

It is fine for tradition to shape and mould the story so long as the central message remains in place.

A Time of Sorrow and Brokenness

In the midst of our celebrations for the life of Jesus so much of what we see around us looks broken. As I write this note we absorb the news of the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and a journalist in an attack by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

These deaths cause us much grief as Canadians. Historically, we have always seen ourselves as doing the right thing – standing for justice. Certainly our peacekeeping efforts defined us this way. As a society we have believed we were doing the right thing.

Now in Afghanistan our children are dying for this notion of ‘doing the right thing’. And while death is a consequence of war and while there are just struggles to wage, the question in Afghanistan remains. Is the right thing doable?

Perhaps this is the central question. If our mission there is not achievable then we are putting our children in great danger. And let us be clear about that. There are very few young people in our House of Parliament. It has always been an easy thing for old men to send young men and women to war. And as societal parents to the young people of our country that we put in harm’s way, we have a duty of care for their well-being, as well as those they are organized to protect.

Copenhagen Controversy

At the recent Copenhagen Conference Canada was held in disrepute when our intransigence isolated us internationally with member nations calling for sanctions against Canada.

In her blog about her Copenhagen experience moderator Mardi Tindal indicated that she was looking forward to a worship experience in her home congregation: "I need to worship this morning where it's safe for me to weep over the millions of lives that have just been lost due to the lack of a climate agreement."

Kairos Funding Cut and the Bogeyman of Antisemitism

In a statement about the recent federal government cut to Kairos funding the organization stated: “For more than 35 years, KAIROS and its precursor organizations have been funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). KAIROS has said the decision to cut CIDA funding will have a devastating impact on KAIROS’ overseas partners and the thousands of marginalized people in local communities that these partners support.”

As an ecumenical organization Kairos has stood on the side of those in the world who have no voice. KAIROS works with global partners on a range of social justice issues, including human rights in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Dissent in a democratic country is a necessary ingredient for the healthful functioning of society, in much the same way a free press and media are. When government attempts to quash this dissent it undermines critical commentary and discussion on world issues. In this case the government has equated criticism of the government Israel with antisemitism. This is not helpful.

Website News

Finally, Mark Browning has been developing some website initiatives which bear some examination. I would invite everyone to follow leads from our own website to check out the various initiatives and social media opportunities that do exist for AOTS as we develop this aspect of our work – connecting with men inside and outside of the church.

AOTS National President Jim McKibbin

One Day Closer To Summer

2009-12-23T14:16:00.001-05:00

The coldest darkest days of the year always make me think, if not reverie the summer. I guess with my work organizing the AOTS (As One That Serves) Youth To Camp Project I have found that it is the best time to start thinking about the summer and organizing your troops to see how many youth that you can help go to camp.

A lot of service clubs want to help out kids by sending them to summer camp but they don’t usually think about it until April or May when the camps are already being booked for the summer. I think it is always good to have a little reminder this time of year, about how powerful one week at a summer camp can be for a child.

I spent two summers as a camper at a United Church camp. It was just one week but I can still remember every little detail; the crackling fire on the overnight, the singing at the meals, the moving vespers, the swimming and canoeing, the dynamic counselors, the cabin rivalry and all of the full camp activities.

The experience left such an impression on me that I had to go back for the Counselors in Training program the next summer. I was then a volunteer counsellor for two years and then made it to staff counselor. I didn’t want the experience to fade away too soon so I came back as Games Director and Tripper.

What a fantastic learning experience this was for me and I have memories and friendships that will last forever. Not only did I learn to be a leader and teacher but I also learnt about myself and my spiritual growth.

Being a youth now a days is a lot harder and challenging than years ago. They are bombarded by media and television and movies and music. It is a fast paced society and the youth of today know a lot more about the world around them than we ever did.

There is a real need for good old fashioned community grounding in a camping setting that allows them to sit back and look at the world without all of the computer games and internet filling in every extra minute they have.

Is there anyone out there that has some inspiring camping experiences as a camper, a counselor or just helping out your local camp? I would really like to hear your stories.

Who and What are the AOTS?

2009-12-17T16:29:00.002-05:00

I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about this wonderful organization. The men of the United Church AOTS (As One That Serves) Men’s Clubs have been a big part in the Men’s Ministry in the Church and have been a little too modest to wave their flags so-to-speak.

Here are some of the frequently asked questions that have been asked over the years.

What is AOTS?

AOTS is a men’s service club that is affiliated with the United Church of Canada, but is open to all men on a broad ecumenical basis. AOTS aims to promote fellowship, deepen the spiritual life of men, and develop an effective program of Christian service. In fact, AOTS stands for “As One That Serves”, which is taken from the statement by Christ: “I am among you as One that serves.” (Luke 22.27).

Although the goals of AOTS are taken seriously, club members enjoy the camaraderie of sharing, supporting, searching, studying, and serving together. AOTS fosters a good time for a good cause, mixing the social with the spiritual, as men of the church.

Where Did AOTS Begin?
AOTS was born in Vancouver in 1923. The first official club was formed that year by Dr Herbert Riggs, a physician at Kerrisdale Methodist (now Ryerson United Church). The concept spread quickly to other churches and communities on the West Coast, then steadily across the country. By the mid-fifties, there were close to 10,000 members in Canada and Bermuda. For more information of the history of the AOTS movement, contact the National Office.

Where is AOTS Today?

In the early years of its existence, AOTS, although recognized and encouraged by the church, was an independent organization. Currently, the National Association of AOTS Men’s Clubs is officially integrated into the structures of the United Church of Canada. There are over 60 active clubs meeting and serving in communities across the country from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland and there are even more individual members as well.

What Do AOTS Clubs Do?

The format and style of an AOTS club varies with the size, location, and make up of the community and the home church. Each is geared to the interests, needs and concerns of its members. A typical club meets monthly for dinner or breakfast—this might include an interesting program or speaker, devotionals, and a discussion of on-going service projects. The club is likely to be involved with several community outreach and church-related programs. Some examples:

Visiting shut-ins
Supporting the local food bank or transitional housing organization.
Providing leadership for youth activities in the church.
Helping with the upkeep of local camps and sponsoring underprivileged campers.

While they may serve an obvious practical purpose, AOTS projects promote fellowship and this “hands-on” approach inspires laymen to become more involved in the church.

Is there anyone out there involved in Men's Ministry that has some examples of projects that they are working on?

Temptation and the Christian Man

2009-12-15T02:29:00.007-05:00

As Christian men, how can we live our faith without compromise in a world full of temptations? Can we maintain ethical standards in business and personal integrity in our social lives, when external pressures and internal forces are constantly enticing us away from the Christian life?

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

As Christian men, we think that it should be easy to follow the words of Jesus and have absolutely no problems with temptation. We should be able to function effectively in the world without compromising our faith.

Temptation is all around us and whether we realize it or not we are making those decisions every single day.

The Bottom-Line

Companies striving to succeed in this modern world and strong competition have led to some of the most questionable acts of ethics. It is important for the companies as well as the individuals to stand back and look at the impact of their decision and decide whether it is right or wrong.

Too many people hide behind the bottom-line, doing what is in the best interest for their shareholder or the customer and not using ethics to guide their decisions.

Today more than ever we must strive to do what is right rather than doing what is easiest. The word is getting too small and there is a growing transparency so that no one will be able to hide behind unethical decisions. Many companies have been paying big bucks to reinvent or fix a tarnished image that they have created by these sorts of practices.

Power of the Media

Every day we are inundated by Hollywood beauty and needing to have the newest toys because they make us feel l younger and more popular.

Are we as Christian men going to follow what we are told is right by the media or take the high road and make our own decisions about how the world should be?

When we look at women are we going to judge them based off of what we see in the magazines and on television or are we going to see them as our sisters, daughters and friends. I see my 4 year old daughter playing with boys from daycare as if there are absolutely no differences in the sexes. There seems to be some sort of purity in that childhood innocence that we need to get back. How and when did that change?

Sinning with thought or action is never supposed to be acceptable. God expects us to do the right thing even though we are constantly told by today’s culture sinning is okay.

Giving in to temptation?

There are many examples in the Bible were women are temptations; maybe this has been something that men have been dealing with for a very long time.

The most famous example, of course, was Eve, when she was lured by Satan to eat the forbidden fruit and then tempted Adam (Genesis 3:6). Samson was lured by the deceiving Delilah (Judges 16) and, of course, King David was tempted by Bathsheba. (2 Samuel)

Money was also a frequent temptation in the Bible. Men like Achan in Joshua 7:21, and Judas took money for what they knew was wrong. They both were punished for their sins.

It is good to know and also inspiring that there are several examples of Biblical characters who responded correctly to temptation in the Bible. Abraham refused to accept a reward for service to King Of Sodom after a battle in Genesis 14:22-24. The prophet Elisha refused payment when he performed a miraculous healing in 2 Kings 5:16. Peter also refused a bribe in Acts 8:20: "Peter answered: 'May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!'"

The Right Thing to Do

When I was a young boy I use to ask myself the question, “what would my Mom say if she knew?” or if it was close to Christmas, “what would Santa say?” When we get older we sometimes need that little “check” to give us the time to be objective rather than acting without thinking or simply following the masses.

The truth is we are all tempted by many things, every day and we have to be strong, take the time to ask ourselves one question: Is it the right thing to do and will these actions hurt anyone?

Is there anyone out there that has fought against temptation and won? I would love to hear your stories or comments.

President’s Report - December, 2009

2009-12-10T16:46:00.005-05:00

Providing Abundance... ...what kind of fairness?

The Toronto Conference’s Fall Rally, Providing Abundance ... what kind of fairness?, proved to be quite a surprising event for me.

A day before the event, our keynote speaker, Armine Yalnizyan phoned me to let me know that she had been unable to shake a week-long flu and was probably not going to make it. Clearly, as we talked, it became clear that it was best for her to not even try to make it. So she stayed at home and I got to work sifting through much of the material she sent me that were part of her presentation.

It was a long but enjoyable evening reading through material of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). Ultimately, I was able to pull together some slides and make a presentation on her behalf.

Armine’s focus is on inequality. She acknowledges that poverty levels have gone done in Canada recently while the gap between rich and poor has increased dramatically. The popularly accepted definition of poverty in Canada is Statistics Canada’s low income cut-off; and this is in spite of Statistics Canada’s objections that there is no internationally recognized measure of poverty.

There are fewer people below that low income cut-off; however, the dispersion of income levels continues to grow. And this she asserts is a more effective measure - inequality.

Her work and of the CCPA is about demonstrating how this dispersion is a much better measure of poverty or economic dislocation than the low income cut-off.

Briefly, the wider the gap, the more dramatic this inequality, the less able the institutions of society are to function for the population. This is because those institutions are forced to deal with a population with growing divergent and competing economic interests. As economic power resides in fewer and fewer hands, institutions respond to where that power is more and more. This is true of both the public and private sector. We see this in the public sector as schools in affluent neighbourhoods flourish due to investment and fundraising efforts by parents where schools in less affluent neighbourhoods go without.

In the private sector a market economy is driven by the laws of consumption and scarcity. We are encouraged to consume. Those who do not have the wherewithal to consume become forgotten members of society. There is less and less institutional focus on their needs because their purchasing power is limited. On the contrary, institutions of society now become armed against providing any assistance to growing numbers of people who are being left out of the economic process. Communities become gated. Economies grow around the concept of ensuring that those who have keep what they have and acquire, with the rest of the population receiving the economic reverberations from this group.

This is a simply explained by looking at the effect on the housing market when economic power is concentred in fewer and fewer hands. Those who have much exert an impact on society by virtue of their ability to outmuscle others economically. They are able, and do pay any price for a home they want. Their enhanced ability to compete for housing drives prices up generally. Every single strata of society below them must respond to the tightening of this market; with those at the bottom economic levels facing the hardest economic impact and damage.

The CCPA does interesting work in looking at relationships over time.

The levels of CEO income to the average income has increased manifold over the past few years. Between 1998 and 2007 the annual income of CEOs went from $3.5 million to $10.4 million. The average wage earner went from $33,000 to $40,000.

A big difference, yes. But how big is big?

Plato told Aristotle that no man should make more than five times what another man makes. J.P. Morgan said twenty times and he was a robber baron. What do we have in the here and now?

Well in that same ten year period the ratio actually increased from and 104 times the average wage earner to 259 times.

All that provided a focus for some excellent audience participation. One discussion focus involved having small groups consider the question.

Which group would you prefer to be in?

Making $100,000 a year while 90% of the people make less than you or $110,000 while 90% make more than you?

This was an exercise in understanding how inequality and not low income levels drives people’s perception and experience of poverty. To be sure most people pick the $100,000 figure.

But all that came after a terrific morning program put on by Beach United Youth, the soulliving group. They put together a Jeopardy quiz for the 80 participants for the one day program. The focus of their program was consistent with our theme as best defined by the scriptural text from 2 Corinthians: 8-15, “The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little.”

And all this was followed by the have and have not lunch I described in last month’s report. Sharing ensued.

We close the day with a wonderful Jazz Vespers service with the xCentric Jazz band.

Jim McKibbin , National AOTS President

How Do You Measure Success?

2009-12-09T23:52:00.006-05:00

There is an attitude out there that Christian Men don’t have what it takes to succeed in the workplace. They don’t have that killer instinct that puts them above the rest of the workforce.

I am here to tell you that this attitude is unfounded and there are success stories all around you.

I am a firm believer that success is not just measured by your career but by a balance between work, family and spiritual growth. This does not mean that you have to sacrifice a great career. This is far to the contrary. The enrichment that one receives from a happy family life and a constant growth in spiritually will help propel your career forward with all of the gust of a great wind moving you forward.

I have had the good pleasure of knowing two very successful people. Don Williams and Craig Watson, of the Stirling Ontario area, whom I believe had that drive for success but would also always take the time to help others before thinking of themselves. I have had the pleasure to see them on a family level as well as witness them putting endless hours into spiritual growth and public service.

Don owned a gas station, then sold cars, became the owner of a dealership, and in the end ran a chain of hotels. He always had the time for the church, his family and his friends and was always grateful for his success.

Craig is the kind of guy that you would start talking to and he would show an incredible and authentic interest in what you were saying. He is a real people person and he was a success in business because of what he put into the people around him and the community. When people wanted a new car they would think of Craig right away because of the strong trust everyone had in him. No one would walk away from Craig without a smile on their face and a sense of satisfaction that they had someone looking out for them.

The truth is that there are a lot of Christian men that have reached this level of success. I think we just have to look around, get to know our neighbour, and see what it is that gives them that drive.

I am indeed a lucky man to have spent time with these two men. If I can grow to be half as successful as these men then I know that I will be truly accomplished.

Integrity and Authenticity

2009-12-08T18:42:00.009-05:00

1 Chronicles 29:17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity ...

I thought that this was a fitting verse to start with. Many people can carry on a blog and say what comes to their mind, but not all of them can be secure that their words have passed through their hearts.

It is my hope that this blog will be an example of integrity and authenticity that will help bring you with similar interests together. I hope that we can renew and perfect the high purpose of brotherly fellowship and through this fellowship achieving greater service.

The men of the AOTS have been working hard for over 85 years, to serve the church and community and this will be one of the ways in which we can share some of our thoughts, projects and experience with our blogging.

I know that you will like them as much as I do and if you want to know a little more about who we are and what we do please feel free to check out our website or send us an email.

Welcome all to the AOTS (As One That Serves) new blog.