While the Tim Hortons Brier is going on at the Credit Union Centre, a concurrent national curling event will take place at the Nutana Curling Club. That event is the Friars’ Briar, a bonspiel for clergy from all denominations and regions of Canada. The Friars’ Briar is national in theory, says Augustana Lutheran Pastor David
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The Rev. Eric Dyck, chaplain-general of the Canadian Priory of the Order of Saint Lazarus was in Saskatoon recently to confirm a financial grant the order is giving to the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism’s Ecumenical Shared Ministries Bureau. The Order of St. Lazarus, or, more correctly, the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of
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According to Pastor Harry Strauss, the Saskatoon Evangelical Ministers Fellowship (SEMF) intention is to build up fellowship among its members and within the wider community.

Strauss is an associate pastor at Forest Grove Community Church and chair of SEMF which is an association and fellowship of pastors and leaders from about 40 evangelical churches in the city. It also includes representatives from a dozen or so para-church organizations like Youth for Christ, Power to Change, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and Christian Counselling Services.

SEMF has been operating for many years as an organization that sees its membership constantly changing.

“The heart of our mission is to foster a spirit of unity among Christian ministers and ministries in the city,” Strauss says.

The group meets monthly, and in recent years has become involved in a number of interesting initiatives.
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Church leaders support Good Food Junction; Grocery store heart of Station 20 West Advent sees many churches encouraging members to give a special gift to charity. This year, local church leaders suggest these gifts be directed to the Good Food Junction project at Station 20 West. Earlier this week, local leaders from a variety of
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Special needs met in a special place; Former Presbyterian church becomes resource for the mentally challenged Several decades ago, five lots of city land on McKercher Drive were donated to the Presbyterian Church in Canada by the McKercher family, long-time members of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. A plan was eventually put together to develop a
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Bishop-elect Donald Bolen’s mission; Spiritual shepherd plans to promote reconciliation Monsignor Donald Bolen plans to be a shepherd to the faithful. However, the bishop-elect of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon also sees his ecumenical mission as bringing about reconciliation among all Christians. As bishop, he hopes to lead the Catholic faithful to deeper discipleship
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Faith in face of persecution; Martyred nuns examples of the price of principles How strong would your faith be in the face of persecution? That question, expressed in the theme, The Cost of Discipleship in Our Time, will be examined March 20 at a workshop hosted by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism. The workshop will
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A history of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism (PCE), a book entitled God’s Reconciling Grace, is a story of ecumenism over 25 years.

The editorial committee consists of Vern Ratzlaff, Ursula Wigg, Carol Pek, and Colin Clay with contributions from Fr. Bernard de Margerie and a cast of thousands, says Rev. Jan Bigland-Pritchard, director of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism.

“The book is filled with stories of ecumenical co-operation in Saskatchewan, focusing on the Prairie Centre, but not exclusively,” she says.

God’s Reconciling Grace ($10) will be launched at a banquet on June 4 that is part of the Summer Ecumenical Institute, a conference being held from June 2-5 at Queen’s House of Retreats.
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The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism is sponsoring an ecumenical Lenten study of reforms that shape the Christian church of the 21st century. Nick Jesson, one of the presenters, describes the series as “a forward look so we can understand where the church came from and how we are building it for the future.” The study
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This year marks the 100th anniversary of International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in North America, and the 20th anniversary of the event in Saskatoon. Sister Juliana Heisler, director of parish life at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, has witnessed a steady increase in interest over the past two decades. “Services of prayer
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Rev. Bernard de Margerie was a young priest, newly ordained, when Pope John XXIII put out a call for Vatican II in 1959. “Pope John was supposed to be a caretaker pope,” de Margerie recalls. “Nobody expected him to do anything remarkable.” In fact, Pope John called a general council of the Roman Catholic Church
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The International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and Reconciliation, an annual event in Saskatoon since 1987, draws its theme Jan. 21-28 from Mark 7:37: “He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” It is a theme that resonates with Rev. Jan Bigland-Pritchard, director of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism which
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It is significant that the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism will be host Wednesday to the fifth annual conference on restorative justice. Fr. Bill Bernard, chair of the preparation committee, observes the conference goal is to bring together as many people as possible who work in the area of restorative justice. “We hope to create dialogue
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Each year the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism holds a conference to promote education and understanding among Christians of various denominations. This year, the institute is being replaced by an inter-church retreat that will focus on worship. The theme is Gifts to Each Other: Exploring Our Treasures of Worship and Prayer. “It’s one of those things
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Fifteen years ago, Carol Pek felt an urgent desire to meet and talk with Christians outside her own Holy Spirit Catholic Church. That urgency would eventually spawn SESIG (South East Saskatoon Interchurch Group), sole purpose of which is to create understanding and unity among Christian churches. Ecumenism is no stretch for Pek, who was raised
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Since taking over in January as director of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, Jan Bigland-Pritchard has been kept busy. The centre has just been host to a shared ministry conference that she describes as “a wonderful event, and extremely gratifying in terms of the number that attended.” This has been a homecoming for Bigland-Pritchard, who
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Faith played a vital role in the lives of our forebears. As villages were established across Saskatchewan, various denominations sprang up with them. It is this aspect of the province’s centennial that Christian church leaders want to celebrate. Rev. Allan Grundahl is head of a committee planning a Celebration of Christian Faith in Saskatoon. “This
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“Ministering together when we are small and scattered…” That is how retired Presbyterian minister Jim McKay paraphrased the thrust of the upcoming Collaborative Ministries Conference being hosted by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism. Marie Klombies puts it this way: “The purpose of the conference is to bring together people in Christian ministry — ordained, lay
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The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism has much to celebrate: new premises, a new director, and 20 years of bringing people of faith together. Board member Rev. Hugh Farmer says the location change has been in the works for a while, but the actual move from Second Avenue began in May. PCE‘s new home is the
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Sister Katherine MacDonald, or Sister Kay, sees herself as moving gently into retirement, no small feat for a woman whose 70-plus years of Christian service and achievement could fill a book. MacDonald was born and educated in Saskatoon. She earned a B.Ed. and a BA in History and English at the U of S, and
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Rev. Seung Kim’s faith journey has been circuitous. It began in his homeland of Korea, and two years ago, brought him to Saskatoon, where he is pastor of Calvin-Goforth Presbyterian Church on Sommerfeld Avenue. Kim was brought up in the Presbyterian church in Korea. “My grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. He was the first Christian
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What do you do when you’ve been given the gift of preaching and you’re a Catholic woman? Marie-Louise Ternier-Gommers faced that dilemma. Ironically, she discovered her gift for preaching at the Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) where she enrolled in 1990 with the intention of taking a class or two to better equip her for the
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Ecumenism at work: Nutana Park churches put theological concept into practice It started with one couple who wanted to practise grassroots ecumenism; today it is a grouping of nine churches of different denominations actively sharing worship experiences and learning what elements of the Christian faith they have in common. The group is the Nutana Park
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Sunday’s 17th annual Festival of Faith is particularly significant this year, according to Dr. Ivan Wilson, one of the organizers. Given the strong feelings aroused by the attacks on America, Wilson believes the Festival is especially important. “We need to understand one another and celebrate our religious diversity,” he says. “The Festival of Faith gives
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Good neighbours: McClure United and Holy Spirit congregations have always been close; now they’ve put it in writing If Covenant 2000 were a play, Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church and McClure United Church would be well into the second act. The two churches recently signed a formal ecumenical covenant, committing themselves to breaking down barriers
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Windows To The East, an annual public lecture series on Eastern Christianity, will take place Thursday and Friday at St. Thomas More College. Dr. Myroslaw Tataryn, associate professor of religious studies at University of Saskatchewan, is one of the organizers. As he explains, Windows To The East is part of an on-going lecture series that
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What will you be doing on Jan. 2, 2000 — the first Sunday of the new millennium? Church leaders in Saskatoon hope you’ll be among the many thousands expected at SaskPlace to attend SONday 2000, a “city-wide day of celebration of Our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ.” The 15-member task force organizing the event explains
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When Bernie and Shirley Karstad were considering marriage, they had an added twist to consider. While both were dedicated, devoted and active church members, the catch was that they belonged to different churches. Neither had any interest in switching to another church tradition. Adding further complication, each was bringing children from a previous marriage into
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