Dates & Updates 1

Rosedale Presbyterian Church November 2015 a t o r a p D a y n e R Looking up through the red leaves of the Japanese maple in front of the church. Taking a little sacred time By Rev. Wes Denyer up early to go fishing and spent the day swimming, climb- The Blue Jays’ playoff run this fall inspired a great ing trees, hiking and catching frogs. Other days, we slept in deal of excited enthusiasm in our city. While some fans and lingered through the day without any agenda or re- attended the games in person at the Rogers Centre or on the quirement to be anywhere at a specific time. I experienced big screen at Nathan Philip’s Square, others sat on the edge time at the cottage in a very different way than the Monday of their seats at home in front of the television. The playoffs to Friday routine of school, recess, lunch, school, recess, actually created an emotional roller coaster with great mo- homework, dinner and bed-time. ments of exhilaration and disappointing moments of defeat. My dad did not install a phone line at the cottage. He For a few weeks, the city of Toronto had a palpable atmo- knew that if he did, the calls from work would be steady, sphere of harmony as together, we cheered our beloved ball requiring his attention at a moment’s notice, and preventing team. him from what he looked forward to the most -- the lovely In his book, A Secular Age, McGill philosopher and and welcome change in the cycle of time. professor, Charles Taylor calls a period like this one of our Nowadays, with the wonders of technology, no matter sacred times. This refers to a particular rhythm of time that where we are, at work or on vacation, we are always able to has a unique characteristic that differs from the modern, live on Taylor’s machine time. We can be in constant touch day-to-day marking of minutes and hours which is the way 24 hours a day. Yet there are times when I expect many of we commonly understand time, and which Taylor calls us look forward to enjoying Taylor’s sacred time, when we secular time or machine time. are able to release ourselves from the smartphone obses- Sacred times can refer to the Blue Jays fever we ex- sion, sit back and enjoy all there is to behold in the world perienced this fall, as well as to the natural seasons of fall, around us … the changing of the seasons, friends, family, winter, spring and summer. They can also be times that we music, art, and the upcoming seasons of wonder and peace observe in the Church with Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, throughout Advent and Christmas. Lent, Easter and Pentecost. Each of us is the master of our hand-held device. One of the ways in which I have experienced Taylor’s When we hear that familiar ping, it is possible to say, distinction of time comes from my memories of summer “Maybe later. For now, I’m enjoying the ball game or I’m vacations at our family cottage. I looked forward to the going Christmas shopping with my family or we’re decorat- way in which time felt different there. Some days, we woke ing the tree together. I’ll check my device later.” 2 Rosedale Presbyterian Church Noteworthy Births Baptisms a g e - P s o n d o n a l D n n e A Paige, infant daughter of Adam and Melissa Weiler, was baptized on Sunday August 23. a l l d e n Awards K l i s o n A o f t e s y r a g e o u - P C s o n

On October 14, 2015, Danielle and James Kendall welcomed d baby Lucy. Grandparents, Alison and Stephen Kendall are o n a l

thrilled with the arrival of their first grandchild and the newest D

member of the RPC family.. n e e A o f Congratulations to ... t e s y The family of Caden William, son of Andrew and r o u Samantha Moffat, and fifth grandchild forJohn and Joyce C Moffat. Caden was born on June 16, 2015. Alexandra Page was awarded the Dr. Kathryn McLaren Patholo- gy Prize, as the student with the best overall performance in Year The family of Kalina who was born on July 9, 2015, 2 of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery course at and was welcomed by her big sister Aviana, her mother the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Melanie Palka, and her grandmother, Sheila Tait. Congratulations go to Hannah Tarder-Stoll, soprano lead in Wedding the choir, for taking first prize Catherine Farquarson and in the 20-24 years age group

s o n Sean Evans were married

r in the 2015 Canadian Music on August 15 in Toronto. Competition in Vancouver. The q u h a r Catherine is the daughter

a competition was in June 2015.

F of John and Amelia Far- Hannah is continuing her music quarson.

m e l i a studies at the University of

A Toronto. o f

o s s R t e s y r o u j e o m a I C

Send your news, stories, pictures to Dates & Updates Dates & Updates 3 Noteworthy

We remember ... Alexander Sutherland MacDonald osedale Presbyterian Church lost a good friend own an instrument and so was not playing. In the midst Rwhen the Rev. Alex MacDonald passed away of this period of drought he was working in Essequibo unexpectedly on October 15. As a minister, Alex could not County, British Guiana…and was told that the local be a member of the congregation, but he was very regular Essequibo Boys School (reform) had 24 reconditioned in his attendance, and keenly interested in the life of the brass instruments (sent by some overseas charity) which congregation; he had become friends with many of us. were still in their packing cases. He volunteered to do Alex was born in April 1929 and graduated from Pres- something about the situation, and will never forget the byterian College in 1955 in the same class as Earle Roberts. sheer joy of hearing the boys he had taught play “All The May 2015 issue of Dates and Updates congratulated Through the Night” without too many obvious mistakes. them both on the 60th anniversary of their graduation. The Metropolitan Silver Band provided the music Following graduation, Alex and his wife Ruth were ap- at Alex’s memorial service; it filled the chancel and all pointed by The Presbyterian Church in Canada to work in the space in front of the chancel steps. Alex’s euphoni- our partner church in what was then British um was on a small table beside the Guiana. Ruth’s parents had been missionar- conductor. Several band members dr ies in British Guiana, and she knew it well. a n spoke at the service and the band B Alex worked in the mission school system, r played “All Through the Night”, and, as the country neared independence i l v e and “To a Wild Rose”, another brass S negotiated the handover of the schools to the band favourite. Guyanese government. He subsequently As many at Rosedale church o p l o i t a n worked to establish a training centre for min- r know, Alex’s wife, Ruth, formerly e t isters for the Guyanese Presbyterian Church. M an active participant in the con- o f Unfortunately, as we heard from one of the gregation’s life, has suffered from t e s y

speakers at Alex’ memorial service, his de- r Alzheimer’s Disease for a number termination to “call it as he saw it” led to his o u of years. She is being cared for at C being asked by the Guyanese government to Alexander MacDonald Christie Gardens; Alex cared for return to Canada. There he served in several her while he could and remained congregations, and as director of Evangel Hall, where he her faithful visitor until his death. Alex and Ruth had started its transformation from its traditional shelter role to four children, daughters Beth and Jude, and sons Sandy a facility that includes long-term housing and services. and Bruce as well as grandchildren Laura, Colin, AJ, At his memorial service on November 1, several and Ryan. Our very sincere sympathy goes to the whole speakers who had been his students in Guyana spoke mov- family. While those of us who were Alex’s friends miss ingly of his lasting contribution to their lives. Another him greatly, their loss far exceeds ours. speaker had been in one of his congregations, still others A few years ago, Alex and Ruth made a gift to knew Alex from his volunteer activities in his retirement, underwrite the costs of restoring one of our stained glass one of which was his work as a reader for the “talking windows – the one depicting the birth of Christ. This books” program of the Canadian National Institute for year, the Rosedale Church Christmas card will feature the Blind. His obituary in the Toronto Star said this work that window, and recall their gift. amounted to pretty much a third career; (the day before As we heard at the memorial service, Alex Mac- Alex died he was making an audio recording of the current Donald had a very active ministry in many places. His issue of Maclean’s magazine). ministry among us was one of a supportive and encour- Alex’ other volunteer activity, and great pleasure, was aging presence, friendly, helpful, speaking his mind, but playing his euphonium in the Metropolitan Silver Band always kindly. We have been blessed to have him with which he joined in 1995. His love for brass instruments us. dated to his boyhood when at the age of 12 he learned to Marjorie Ross, with thanks to Sarah Hoag and Mary play in the Stratford Boys Band. The Metropolitan Silver Legge for their contributions Band website quoted from a piece Alex wrote for its news- letter several years ago: For a long stretch in the 1950’s and ‘60’s Alex did not 4 Rosedale Presbyterian Church Noteworthy

books and numerous articles on legal matters. He was an University College Alumni instructor and lecturer in the Bar Admission Course of the of Influence: James Spence Law Society, and has taken part as organizer and presenter in many legal education programs. Jim Spence, a life-long During his 24 years of law practice prior to appoint- member of Rosedale ment, Jim specialized in commercial and corporate mat- Church graduated from ters and government relations as a member and partner in University College, the firm which is now Torys LLP in Toronto. From 1974 in to 1976, he served as Senior Legal Advisor and later as 1962. On November 19, General Counsel to the Foreign Investment Review Agency 2015, he was one of 15 in . e c recipients of the Univer- In his law practice, Jim performed a mediating role in p e n sity College “Alumni of

S corporate partnership disputes. As a judge, he has con- im Influence Awards”. These J ducted many pre-trial neutral evaluations and settlement o f were introduced to rec- conferences. ognize the contributions t e s y r Jim’s many friends in the congregation congratulate of U.C. alumni to their o u

C him on this well-deserved recognition professional fields at an Jim Spence international, national or local level, as well as volunteerism and philanthropy in the wider community. John Morden named At the time of printing, the citation for Jim’s award was not yet available. The following overview of Jim’s ca- to reer, drawn from his curriculum vitae, shows why Univer- Many in the RPC congregation were delighted to hear sity College regarded him as an “alumni of influence” that John Morden has been awarded the Order of Canada. He is a retired judge of the Superior Court of Justice The short (preliminary) citation reads: of . Before his appointment to the Court in 1993 he For his contributions to the administration of justice served as Head of the Law Society of Upper Canada and a in Ontario and for his commitment to protecting the public director of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. He interest. is a Life Bencher of the Law Society and an Honourary A more detailed citation will be issued in a few member of the Advocates Society of Ontario. He is a Senior months when John will be invited to an investiture cer- Fellow of Massey College, University of Toronto. emony in Ottawa to receive the award from the governor- Jim was called to the bar in 1968 after completing his general. The full citation, and, we hope, a picture will be LL. B. at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and his included in the next Dates and Updates. B.A. (honours ) in Philosophy and History at the University In the meantime, our warm congratulations on a well- of Toronto. He is the co-author and/or co-editor of three deserved honour! Congratulations to our graduates From university: in June, 2014. She has been the Director of Christian Ashleigh Shier (daughter of Sue and Michael Education at Armour Heights Presbyterian Church since Shier) graduated last fall with a Masters degree in Health, September 2014. Science-Biomedical Engineering from the University of From secondary school: Toronto. Benjamin Ross, (son of James Ross, grandson of Claire Steep (daughter of Anne McNeilly and Paul Marjorie Ross) graduated in June from the Etobicoke Steep, grand-daughter of Marion Steep) received her Mas- School of the Arts and is enrolled in the Journalism ter of Arts degree from St. Andrew’s University, Scotland, program at Ryerson University. in June 2015. Chelsea Yurenya (daughter of Helen Yurenya Laura Roberts (daughter of Johnmark and Heather and Jack Lukas) graduated in June from Humberside Roberts) graduated from the University of Guelph and Collegiate and is enrolled in the University of Ottawa’s completed a Children & Youth course at French language nursing program. Dates & Updates 5 Noteworthy

Knox Former Resident Award: John Warner Hoag

John passed away ten York and Toronto before taking up the position of Archi- years ago this fall, and so tectural Program Administrator for Co-operative Educa- this honour has come to tion at the . In this position, John him posthumously. Our influenced and contributed to the careers of many young thanks to Sarah Hoag for architects. Having served on the boards of a number of providing this informa- professional organizations, John was a Fellow of the Royal tion. Architectural Institute of Canada, recipient of the Order of John lived in the da Vinci, and was awarded an Honourary Membership by Knox College residence the Ontario Association of Architects. He served on the o a g during his years com- Board of Managers of Rosedale Presbyterian Church, and H a h pleting his Bachelor of on the Committee for Church Architecture of The Presby- r a

S Architecture degree at the terian Church in Canada where he oversaw the develop- o f University of Toronto. ment of the report on Accessibility Guidelines for Church

t e s y A number of years later, Architecture for which he received the Award of Merit in r o u he assisted the Rev. Dr. the 1986 Premier’s Awards for Accessibility. C Don Corbett, who went John was a good friend of many in the RPC commu- John Hoag as an undergraduate from being minister nity and his wit and humour are fondly remembered. We of Rosedale Church to are glad that his friends at Knox College have recognized being principal of Knox College, to establish the Former his contribution in this way. Residents Association (KNOXFRA) as a way of keeping in touch with those who had spent their university years liv- ing in the College. In 2014, the KNOXFRA established an Our Condolences Award for those of its members who had gone on to make Our sympathy goes to Dorothy Roberts and her family significant contributions in their chosen fields. John Hoag on the loss of her sister, Alice LeBlanc, who passed away received one of the four awards made this year. Sept. 2 after a long illness. A celebration of her life took The following is taken from the citation when the place in St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, Don Mills, on award was made this year at a Gala dinner marking the September12. Our prayers are with the whole Roberts fam- 100th Anniversary of the Knox College building: ily as they mourn a wonderful sister, aunt and great aunt. John worked for architectural firms in London, New

Evangel Hall On October 4, members of RPC served dinner at Evangel Hall. Below: Irene King and Marg Tuer prepare pies for dessert; right, Sandy Johnston, Jill Sword, Rocco De Simone and Jeremy butter the rolls. o h n s t o n J a dr l e x a n A o f

t e s y r o u c

h o t o s P 6 Rosedale Presbyterian Church Remembrance Day o s s R j e o m a I t s r e b o R r e a t h e H On November 8, RPC marked Remembrance Sunday. Above: A

special floral arrangement was donated by Dorothy Brough to t s r e replace the customary wreath; right top: trumpeter Dylan Mad- b o

dix performing from the balcony above the transept; right below: R r Brenda and George Reid wearing their service medals. Brenda

took part in the service. e a t h e H

The Arts at Rosedale Welcome Charles On the weekend of Octo- On November 22, the Rev. Dr. ber 24-25, RPC hosted an Charles Fensham was commis- “Artisan Show and Sale” by sioned as Associate Minister in craftspeople in the congrega- our congregation. Dr. Fensham tion and community. This was is Professor of Systematic Theol- followed on November 7 – 8, ogy at Knox College; he has been by a one man show and sale worshipping with us for some by artist Micheal Zarowsky. months, and has requested the On the left, Susan Capling Presbytery of East Toronto to and Wes Denyer are shown formalize his relationship with displaying one of the paintings Rosedale. He will provide assis- for sale. Also on November tance to the minister as needed, 8, the brilliant young pianist, and according to his availability. o a g Mehdi Ghazi, gave a concert A warm welcome to Charles! We H in the sanctuary. a h are glad to have him with us. r a S Dates & Updates 7 Activities Knitting Guild The Annual Sale of knitted goods – tuques, scarves mitts etc. – is scheduled for November 22 following the service. The proceeds of the sale are used to buy wool and cover the expenses of distributing our work. Currently the Rosedale Presbyterian Church Knit- ting Guild has 13 knitters, 8 from the congregation, and 5 who are friends of RPC members. Unfortunately 3 of our members have recently moved away. One went to Yellow- knife where she is hoping to find a knitting group, or perhaps start one. Jill Sword and Dorothy Roberts are Co- Convenors of the Guild. We do not have regu- o s s

R lar meetings, operating on a very informal basis, having j e o m a I conversations at church or t s

over the phone when we encourage our members to keep r e b

up the good work. We provide wool to our knitters, bought o R e

from the proceeds of our annual sale, and from contribu- c u r

tions from our supporters in the congregation. Some of B our members buy their own wool. We make hundreds of Pictured above is the newest addition to our knitting ministry, articles for infants through to seniors Margot Hines, showing off her first contribution, a scarf. Since After the annual sale, boxes and bags of knitted this picture was taken, (up to the writing of this article – October 12) Margot has completed nine more scarves!.Left: Brooke Duf- articles go to a number of missions in Toronto – Out of the ton and Naia. Brooke shows off her purchase at the sale. Bottom left: Slavia Hilbert and Susan Tsonis consider what to choose. Cold, Boarding Homes Ministry, Yonge Street Mission, Our Lady of Lourdes, the Homework Club in St. James Town, Evangel Hall and other agencies serving families in need. We also send boxes to missions of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, Winnipeg Inner-City Missions, the Saskatoon Native Circle Ministry, and the Cariboo Ministry in the British Columbia interior. Lastly, each year several boxes of children’s and infants’ clothes go to the Jobat Christian Hospital in Central India. We use the funds from the sale to cover the cost of sending these boxes. In addition, several members of the Guild knit special shawls to present to babies on their baptism, most recently to Edge (daughter of Catherine Lummack and Marc Ber- nard). Occasionally a shawl is presented to seniors cel- ebrating special birthdays, and especially to those suffering serious illness. The prayers of the knitter always go for the person who receives the shawl. We are so blessed with our hardworking enthusiastic o s s

R knitters, and we very much appreciate the support of the congregation for our efforts. j e o m a

I Dorothy Roberts 8 Rosedale Presbyterian Church Activities RPC to sponsor a Syrian refugee family By Marjorie ross This fall, acting in response to the refugee crisis in Syria and neighbouring countries, a group of RPC members and some people from the community formed a committee to investigate the possibility of sponsoring a refugee family. j o h n s t o n

Two meetings of this group have taken place thus far this a fall and on November 22, the group brought its proposal to dr

a congregational meeting following the church service. l e x a n As a congregation of The Presbyterian Church in A Arija and Clarence Stiver, Michelle Miller-Guillot and others are Canada, we can relate to the federal government through shown listening to the discussion at the congregational meeting. our national office in Don Mills. Rob Shropshire, staff person for refugee sponsorships made a presentation at the will commence as soon as possible, collecting donations first meeting of Rosedale’s group (which was covered by towards a start-up cost of $7500. It will include pledges so a reporter from the Globe and Mail). Rob Shropshire has that givings can be spread out over a twelve month period continued to provide advice to Annemiek Miller, who is towards an overall objective that totals $50,000. convenor of our Missions Committee and also of the Refu- It was noted that this objective is significantly higher gee Sponsorship Working/Coordinating Committee. The than the amount suggested by the government, but was in- formal agreement will be signed by Mark McElwain, Clerk creased in light of the high cost of housing in Toronto. The of Session, on behalf of the congregation. rental figure in the committee’s budget is based on the cost The whole process is still in its initial stage, but the of a 2 bedroom apartment in the Cosburn and Pape area. congregational meeting on Nov. 22 was its official launch. The meeting was also told that two other Presbyterian con- The meeting voted in favour of sponsoring a Syrian refugee gregations in the city had agreed to contribute significantly family and authorized the Board of Managers and the Refu- to the Rosedale project. gee Sponsorship Working Group jointly to establish a fund- This is a fast developing story, and we hope to have raising campaign to support the project. The fundraising exciting things to report in our next Dates and Updates! Book Club At the September 9 meeting there was much discus- sion of Sharon Johnston’s Matrons and Madams which focussed on the historical relationships of the time. The group was also very interested in the fact that the book was based on the author’s own grandmother’s coming to Canada after World War I. A brave woman indeed! We t o n r look forward to Her Excellency’s next two books. Unfor- e b tunately four of our members were not able to attend the o R a r

September meeting. a rb

There was a good turnout for the next meeting of the a B Book Club when we met at noon on November 18 to dis- One of our members has a friend whose daughter has a book cuss the books of Harper Lee, both To Kill a Mockingbird, store near Ottawa. The governor general’s wife, Sharon John- and the new Go Set a Watchman as well as journalist Marje ston, had been invited to visit the store to talk about her book Mills’ The Mockingbird Next Door – Life with Harper Lee. Matrons and Madams. When the store owner heard that the At our March meeting (watch for the date) we will be Rosedale Book Club was reading the book, she suggested we discussing H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald. This meet- send her a picture of the group holding her book. The picture ing will also be at noon, and everyone is welcome. above was taken on September 9 and forwarded to Her Excel- With thanks to Barbara Roberton lency’s assistant. Back row: Dorothy Brough, Claire Marshall, Brooke Alyea; Seated: Liz Pyper, Irene King, Barbara Roberton, Sheila Tait. Dates & Updates 9 Around RPC l y e a A e k o o r B o f o s s

R t e s y r j e o m a o u I C Clockwise from above: Brooke Alyea and her husband visited former RPC church officer Steve Bozso in Amsterdam this sum- mer; Michelle holding Edge; Alison Kendall, Norm Creen and Mark McElwain at coffee hour during the art show; Michael and Rayne took part in the readings during the Remembrance Sunday service. o s s R j e o m a I y o a g b

H a h r h o t o s a P S Calendar November Dec. 6 Communion Nov. 28 Gala Dinner and Auction Dec. 13 Christmas pageant Nov. 29 First Sunday of Advent; Giving Dec. 20 Welcome Home; Christmas Tree; Reception of New Members luncheon; Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. December Dec. 24 5 p.m. Family service Dec. 5 3:00 – 6:00 Messy Church for children of all ages

Da t e s & Up d a t e s : Ij e o m a Ro s s : i j e o m a @r o g e r s .c o m , 416-778-8876; Ma r j o r i e Ro s s : m j .r o s s @r o g e r s .c o m , 416-920-3778