Letters

Kudos to The Observer for the leadership it has shown in supporting the Royal Ontario Museum’s exhibit “Darwin: The Evolution Revolution.” The Royal Ontario Museum is the first venue to have sponsors for this travelling exhibition: no corporation in North America was willing to sponsor it, perhaps fearing a backlash from conservative religious groups such as creationist or intelligent design proponents. We are proud of The Observer for coming to the support of an exhibition that while not supporting the “intelligent design” position does support an “intelligent faith” position — a faith not in conflict with the modern scientific worldview.



(Rev.) Gordon J. Freer and Arlie G. Freer
Bracebridge, Ont.

We were delighted that The Observer has become the first corporate sponsor the travelling Darwin exhibit has had anywhere in North America. It’s appalling that in this day and age anyone would be afraid of the theory of evolution, but it seems corporations in North America are. Congratulations to The Observer for continuing to be unafraid to champion causes avoided by others. Rev. Al Forrest, a former Observer editor who spoke out on behalf of the Palestinians, would be proud and pleased. We are proud and pleased.


Wendy Duncan
Claremont, Ont.

I can think of nothing the church has done in recent times that makes me prouder than this not-so-simple act.



G.H. Beatty
Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask.

When reason and science are on the barricades in the United States, and to a less public extent in Canada, it is essential to demonstrate that some Christians, and many people of other faiths, do not believe that the world is only 6,000 years old, etc.



Margaret Prang
Vancouver

The museum indicated that its usual corporate exhibit sponsors had backed off, fearing a Christian backlash against their products. So I love the irony of a Christian periodical as sponsor. I wish I could say it didn’t take courage to do this — because I wish it really didn’t. Of course, Darwin is a proper subject for a museum exhibit. His theories have shaped not only the history of science but our very culture. Integrating the insights of Darwin and more recent scientific investigation is the proper work of theology. And you have taken the lead.

David McKay
Oshawa, Ont.

I was surprised to learn that Canadian corporations were hesitant to participate. Their interpretation of society has been challenged by your action, and you have made an important witness concerning our openness.



(Rev.) Bill Booth
Surrey, B.C.

I have never been so impressed by any religious organization. People who feel that evolution is inconsistent with God have a poor and flimsy faith, and they believe in a rather incompetent God who couldn’t get creation right the first time and so must constantly tinker with it. The same mindset that allows people not to believe in evolution allows them not to believe in climate change or anything that doesn’t make an immediate profit, or doesn’t suit their narrow view of the world.

David Bailey
Toronto

Some in the church might question the use of scarce financial resources to help sponsor a travelling exhibit about a scientist. But it makes perfect sense, historically, ethically and theologically. While Darwin has been hijacked ideologically in many directions, he contributed ideas of tremendous theological importance. Do we not care about what is true, insofar as we can attain such knowledge? Do we not seek better to understand the wonders of God’s creation? Through science, do we not better understand ourselves, and even learn more about God? We have nothing to fear from Darwin.



(Rev.) Paul Fayter
Hamilton

Thank goodness for your generosity and that common sense and science prevailed. Shame on those who have not stepped forward with support.



J. Lynn Fraser
Toronto

Your articles highlight the growing awareness of fair trade and the food companies’ response (Justice, March). But inherent in this success is a core contradiction. International fair trade criteria require producers in the south to meet strict social, economic and environmental standards. But there is no such standard for distributors and marketers in the north. The supermarkets that handle fair trade products do not have to reinvest in the community, adhere to good labour practices or use sustainable business practices. They can promote themselves as supporting fair trade if they carry one fair trade product, even though hundreds of other products meet no standard at all.

Fair trade is not just about paying a fair commodity price. It has to be about transforming the dominant northern-controlled economic relationships.

John Brouwer
Guelph, Ont.

The stories written on fairness for the price of Ethiopian coffee were excellent. Though the price of coffee is not yet fair, it has improved. I hope, and it is my prayer, that a day will bring someone like Observer writer Mike Milne to our ginger farms as it did to our coffee farms.



Salfiso Kitabo
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

If the resurrection hadn’t happened, we might never have heard of Jesus (Decoding the Bible, March). Faced with the crucifixion, the disciples “forsook him and fled,” convinced that it meant the end of everything Jesus had been. The evidence of the resurrection was not so much the Gospel stories, which were recorded 40 to 60 years after Jesus’ death and which vary widely in detail, but the transformation of the disciples into the passionate leaders they became.

In Roman eyes, the cross was the ultimate disgrace. For the movement to succeed in that context was the ultimate miracle.



Don Ewing
Guelph, Ont.

Whenever we read a Bible passage, we have to decide if it is a metaphor or a historical reality. We can decide for ourselves, accept someone else’s interpretation or follow centuries-old dogma. If we merely worship and idolize Christ as a perceived deity, we may deny ourselves the opportunity to look for and experience the Spirit of God that dwells within all of us, the Spirit that is at the heart of Jesus’ message and that can put us in touch with the divine.

Hans Feldmann
Nobel, Ont.

I agree that the United Church needs to admit to its real estate holdings. There are a couple of other things it might consider:

1. Admitting that it lacks a mission and finding out what that mission is.

2. Putting property and the Union on the table. That would mean allowing congregations to opt in or out, and to take their property with them if they opt out.

3. That all levels of the church, with grants from governments and industry, redevelop properties that can be fully utilized by communities. A model is First Place in Hamilton, formerly First United Church.
The church also needs to renew the education of its theological colleges. Those will be the next to close if it doesn’t.

Janice Meighan
Toronto

Finally someone has spoken out about the church’s real estate holdings (Observations, March). The Anglican Diocese of Toronto has a congregational development consultant who measures the health of its congregations and is part of a group with the ability to close churches. The United Church needs a similar process. Why do we allow congregations to struggle with survival when the end may be obvious to all but those closest to the issue? If the funds from the sale of real estate could be put to some good use, why are we waiting? Why do we not understand that we are a church in transition?



Gary Ursell
Toronto

Ontario congregations wishing to sell property may encounter The Ontario Heritage Act. This enables Ontario municipalities to forbid building changes and demolitions. Set criteria are apparently non-existent and designation as historic can make a property almost impossible to sell.

After prayerful thought, our 196-year-old congregation decided to give up our 50-year-old building, sell part of our property and build a smaller, “greener” church. Now, Toronto Heritage Services intends to designate our building as historical. This would burden our congregation with a building we neither want nor need. We may not remain viable as a congregation if we cannot unlock the value of our land.



Pauline McKenzie
Toronto

Both the question and the answer have given equal meaning to the words auction and raffle. In an auction, the article offered is sold to the highest bidder. In a raffle, the article is won by the luck of the draw — gambling.

Fundraising by auction is ethically acceptable, but Christian ethics do not sanction raising funds by raffles.



Ken Kemp
Pilot Mound, Man.

The fact that a United Church member even has to ask about rules against raffles (Question Box, March) gives me a “fiddling while Rome burns” feeling. There are more important issues. Why are membership numbers and attendance dwindling? Why are other churches maintaining or even increasing their numbers?



Marvin Barnes
St. John’s, Nfld.

Connie denBok’s article “The call to walk” (At Issue, March) came at the perfect time. I am grateful for the spirit of restlessness in our church. At our last Lenten study, a lively discussion on change developed as we responded to the statement, “Our congregation would be better off without a building.” Two of our six participants agreed. The conversation certainly caused restlessness because our church is preparing for a major building expansion. I am so pleased to belong to a church that is willing to consider change and has “the will to sail beyond horizons.”

Helen Goodall
Belwood, Ont.

Re “Saying ‘I do’ in middle age” (Rites of Passage, March): my husband and I said “I do” when we were 77 and 73, respectively. It was a second marriage for both of us. We met, as we tell people who ask, “in the hot tub in our apartment complex.” Bob had been married for 40 years, I for 50. He took early retirement to take care of a wife badly crippled with arthritis. When I heard this, I realized what good husband material he would be. I took care of a husband with Alzheimer’s for seven years, until a major stroke ended his life. Our student minister, who performed the ceremony, felt we did not need premarital counselling. We celebrated our first anniversary in February.



Irene Nagel-Munro
Moose Jaw, Sask.

The February issue is the best I think I have ever read, and I have subscribed for over 50 years. One article after the other was gripping, pertinent and challenging. Blessings on your work. You are bringing the diverse face of the United Church to all its congregations.

Edna Caldwell
Shanty Bay, Ont.

After more than 50 years of active participation and two terms of overseas duty with the church, I am interested in the issues that only The Observer brings forward. I found the January issue sparkling with issues, capped off with Janet Silman’s “Are all religions equal paths to knowing God?” Thanks.

Lee Evans
Salt Spring Island, B.C.

I am rather appalled at the direction the General Council Executive is taking on wage parity with the private sector (At Issue, February). The result in other non-profits has too often been the appointment of highly skilled personnel who have no understanding of the culture and issues they have to manage. The culture and bottom line of the marketplace are not the culture and bottom line of a faith community. Those who choose to work in non-profit sectors know that their work will not, and cannot, be valued monetarily.

Patricia Beurteaux
Elliot Lake, Ont.

The naysayers and doomsday proponents are out in force. Membership is down, costs are up, old programs are no longer functioning. The national office is reducing funding of some programs and throwing money away on others. Doesn’t that fit those of us whose feet are firmly mired in the last century, the way it used to be? For those stepping out boldly to embrace the 21st century, the next decade is crucial. If we move forward with open minds, we may not recognize ourselves in 10 years. We are about to reinvent ourselves. What an opportunity and what a challenge! Don’t give up on Emerging Spirit too soon. Come back in five years and let’s see where we are.

Rob Johnston
Toronto

My delight was the same as Susan Smith’s (My View, February) when I discovered a place of worship where there was “freedom of thought and expression.” We are encouraged to discuss and ask questions. We accept people of other faiths, other sexual orientations, etc., because they are all “divine expressions of God,” to echo a phrase our minister, Rev. David Hart, often uses. It is wonderful to have found such a spiritual home. Thank you, Susan, for putting into words what I have felt.

Anne Hebb
Halifax

Frequent topics in The Observer are church closures (Church-wise, February), amalgamations, declining attendance and giving. Is there no good news in these times? Are there no thriving congregations left? These “doom and gloom” stories give a person one more reason to abandon ship.

Rob Johnston
Toronto

The editor in his proud statement of The Observer’s history (Observations, February) neglected its Presbyterian roots in not acknowledging the Dundee, Scotland-based Scots Magazine among long-lasting publications. The latter has been published continuously since 1739 and was certainly among the instruments of Scottish Enlightenment that, with the diaspora of Scots over the years, have influenced so many of North America’s institutions, including the United Church.

Iain J. McGilveray
Ottawa

The importance of the Gospel stories is not that they reveal history but that they are stories in which we find a place. We are the children Jesus gathers to his knee. We are Peter who denies, Judas who betrays and Mary who stands at the empty tomb. When we try to rehabilitate Judas, is it because we do not want to face reality about ourselves?

(Rev.) Robert Thaler
New Hamburg, Ont.

It seems that in handling this discovery, the normal scholarly processes were bypassed (open access to sources, peer review). Now a better copy of the original text is available, and the earlier translation that portrayed Judas positively was quite flawed. Of course, the notion that a gospel written much later than the New Testament Gospels can give us a more accurate picture of Judas and Jesus is suspect. It can tell us something about Gnostic Christianity, but that is a different matter. More concerning is our tendency to jump onto the latest discovery about Jesus that promises to challenge and change everything. Let’s take a deep breath. Most of these, when studied closely, change very little.

(Rev.) Greg Smith-Young
Elora, Ont.

The Gospel of Judas (Faith, February) was written in the second century AD. We have no text in the original language, just a fourth-century translation. It comes from the Gnostics, who wanted to make Christianity into a secret society. The early church agreed that Gnosticism was not what Christianity was all about. It says Judas was a good guy. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written in the first century, early enough that the writers could have spoken with some of the participants in the drama. We have complete manuscript evidence from the fourth century as well as fragments from the second and third centuries, all in the original Greek. The early church did all it could to make the story in these Gospels public. They agree that Judas was a bad guy. Who ya gonna believe?

(Rev.) Alan Craig
Brampton, Ont.

There are billions more people in the developing world who would benefit from fair trade and other businesses if only they had access to Fair Finance to start their business, to climb out of poverty and to control their own lives. Thirty-three years ago, the United Church, along with others in the World Council of Churches, founded the Ecumenical Developmental Cooperative Society, the first international micro-lending co-operative. Today the EDCS, or Oikocredit as it is now called, is the largest micro-lending co-operative in the world, with more than 30,000 investors who provide credit to some 11 million borrowers worldwide. Anyone in Canada can invest, which brings a modest monetary return and a rewarding social return to the investor and also changes the world for a billion of the poorest people.

Jo Jamieson
Victoria

You left me wondering about the money. Consider: At $13.95 per pound, fair trade costs about $7 more than regular coffee. Today’s free market price is about $1.20 per pound. The fair trade dividend to the farmer is 16 to 25 percent. Twenty-five percent of $1.20 is 30 cents. So I pay $7 extra of which the farmer receives 30 cents. Where does the other $6.70 go?

Lloyd Karges
Listowel, Ont.

Excellent article on coffee (Cover story, February), and points well-taken. I drink more than the average 90 litres per year and I have started taking fair trade coffee seriously. I am on a disability pension but am wealthy compared to what people growing coffee beans for us are paid and how they live. I can no longer justify paying “beans” for coffee at the expense of another person’s comfort and dignity. If that means I pay a premium for what is far superior coffee to that served at Tim Hortons, I can live with that. More importantly, the growers and their families can live better with that.

Fletcher O’Flaherty
Hamilton

The article refers to a Government of Ontario website where one can verify that a minister is indeed authorized to perform weddings. Unfortunately, the information is seriously in error. In my own case, the website continues to list me as living in a community I left eight years ago. In other cases, clergy in my own community who are no longer in parish ministry are still listed; so are retired clergy who have given up their licences; so are United Church clergy who have left the province. The proper information about my address was sent to the government eight years ago. Conference has continued to send this information since then to no avail. The information provided by the government could lead to significant error. And no one in government seems to want to fix the problem. Caveat emptor. At least where marriage is concerned.

(Rev.) David Shearman
Owen Sound, Ont.

At the time I chaired the Toronto Conference Interview Board, candidates for ministry were required to have psychological testing. The testing psychologist observed, “People in different fields come to me wanting to better understand themselves and how they relate to people. Theological students appear to resist testing, considering it a stress-producing invasion of privacy.” Eventually, testing was dropped.

(Rev.) J. Malcolm Finlay
Toronto

It was a good article, but I feel I read it in a newspaper, not The Observer. I didn’t expect The Observer to be part of a process where a Christian is vilified.

G. A. Mayhew
Toronto

Surely the United Church should respect the privacy of affected young people and churches. This is the sadness of a discernment committee failing to recognize a young person in need of psychological counselling. The article was an invasion of privacy, and to what avail?

Muriel Lockhart
Toronto

The article uses the disguise of concern for the screening process to make a vulnerable being more vulnerable, hung out to dry naked on the lawns of those who know little of the truth of her whole life. What end is served by this continued bullying? It may be that the church could benefit from a review of the ordination process. Does chewing up and spitting out this limited snapshot of Maggi Montgomery-Heersink’s life get the church there? I don’t think so.

Krista Hummell, Calgary

Like other media, your story “The scandal behind the smile” (Church, February) focused on improper weddings. As a former member of the pastoral charge involved, I can tell you that the story — and the hurt — go much deeper. No one is telling of the damage done to the congregations or their communities. No one is telling of the family of an old and vulnerable woman. No one is telling of people like me who left the United Church because of this. I am aghast at what happened and is still happening: the case is moved to Alberta, where the accused won’t have to face others who have been wronged. The real story will probably be buried forever, and again, there is no justice for the victims.

Name withheld by request

We hope the low level of journalism displayed in “The scandal behind the smile” (Church, February) is not indicative of a new editorial trend for The Observer. The pictures, the style of writing, the sensationalism may be good fodder for some newspapers but have little to do with the Spirit of Jesus. We are deeply offended you included this piece of writing at the expense of a child of God.

Marta and Dik Habermehl
Cobourg, Ont.