THE PRESBYTERIAN MESSAGE Click for Subscription Form  Editor:  Mrs. Joan C. Cho  11 Vista Ridge Crescent  Saint John, N.B. E2J 4K4 The Presbyterian Message, the official publication of the Atlantic Mission Society, is published 10 times a year. The cost is $10.00 per year for group subscriptions (5 or more copies to one address) and $12.00 for individual subscriptions. To "get the message" contact the Message Circulation Manager Mrs. Jean Williams The Message carries study materials, mission information, worship resources and Synod news. Presbyterians get "The Message"!!

Rev. Dr. Cynthia Chenard, Evelyn Brown, Joyce Jack and Carolyn Cunningham

The Ecumenical World Day of Prayer Service for East Dartmouth churches was held at Iona Presbyterian Church in Dartmouth on March 5, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. Six churches participated in the service. Rev. Kenn Stright was our guest speaker. Rev. Dr. Cynthia Chenard, minister of Iona Presbyterian Church, led a number of the African songs as well as introducing the speaker. Seven of the Iona AMS ladies were involved in   the service.

We attempted through the use of African music and a display of African artifacts to convey something of the Cameroon culture. Rev. Cynthia recounted the background of the African song “Over My Head”. She sang the solo part, the choir sang the reply and everyone sang the refrain. Our choir members and choir director, Rebecca MacEwen, helped us with the singing.  With the closing hymn, “Praise the Lord with the Sound of Trumpets”, we had our choir member/ flute player, Cathy Lee Holmes, play the first verse and accompany us through the remainder of the hymn.

We received positive feedback from many of the attendees with remarks such as “It was a very spiritual service.” The beautiful prayers and liturgy written by the Cameroon ladies, the African songs and our traditional hymns, the wonderful message delivered with passion all contributed to the worshipful experience of the service.

We thank all our friends from   the Anglican, United and Roman Catholic faiths for their participation in this service.      

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VALENTINE TREATERS
The Presbyterian Message, April 2010
S.J. Macarthur Auxiliary , Moncton, N.B.

The S. J. Macarthur AMS Auxiliary of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Moncton, N.B. gathered in February to assemble twenty Valentine Bags to distribute to the shut-ins in the congregation.   This has been an annual auxiliary event since 2003.  

All members contribute. Some make homemade cookies or fudge; some buy fruit.  We usually add such items as a small package of Kleenex, hand cream, Scripture tracts from the Canadian Bible Society or a Christian bookstore…and of course Valentine candies! Care is taken to buy some sugar-free candy for anyone who is diabetic.  This year, some members bought small books and little angels.

            We usually meet on the morning of our regular meeting in February to put everything together and have lunch.  We deliver that afternoon to as many as possible, calling the shut-ins first.  If we can’t get a visit in that afternoon, we try the next day.  We divide the deliveries between those of us who drive and usually take another member with us which makes the visit easier. It does depend on the weather of course, but most times we have been very fortunate. 

The response has really been great.  Most shut-ins really appreciate a visit in the winter months!  We’ve already received several thank-you cards.  

"So fares she forth with smiling, Godward face..."

This line from a poem by Richard Watson Gilder on death  encompasses so much of what we know of Janice Carter.  One of her gifts--to her friends and to the AMS--was her smile.  She always brought laughter into any situation in which she was involved. Another gift was her faith which burned especially bright in these past years as she dealt with an illness that gradually revealed itself to be terminal. And Janice met that illness with such determination! Time after time she proved prognoses to be off the mark, living long beyond what was thought medically possible.

Janice became Editor of The Presbyterian Message in 1987 and the special anniversary issue of October 2007 celebrated  those twenty years.   We give thanks for the legacy she has left to the Atlantic Mission Society.

Farewell to Molly

A number of years ago, Winnie Wilson and Janice created the characters of Mabel and Molly. Skits were presented along with adlib, spontaneous performances. As two unworldly, naive ladies who had never ventured far from Little Narrows, each trip, each mission meeting, was an adventure with comic situations.

When Janice was diagnosed with cancer, Mabel and Molly stopped performing but they continued to exchange e-mail messages. The last one Mabel wrote to Molly was never answered for by then Janice's illness kept her from typing. The following poem which was among Janice's papers could easily be her reply.  "Mabel" (a.k.a. Winnie) read it at the funeral.

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me.
I want no tears in a gloom-filled room.
Why cry for a soul set free?
For this is a journey that we all must take,
And each must go it alone.
It is all a part of the Master's plan,
A step on the road to home.
Miss me a little-but not for long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the fun that we once shared.
Miss me--but let me go.

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His Holy Work

For twenty years, Janice Carter committed herself to God's Holy Work, glorifying God and spreading the good news of the Gospel work through the printed word. Two hundred issues under her guidance spread the news of mission and inspiration to thousands of lives.

In the midst of the great struggle, she never gave up hope or her calling. She carried on her holy work on The Message to the best of her strength until her last breath. In the midst of His Holy work she was confident. For her final service, she chose passages that proclaimed the hope of Glory: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms...I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3)

As editor, wife, mother, friend, she has inspired us with her commitment, confidence and courage. As the Atlantic Mission Society, we pray that His Holy Work of glorifying God and sharing the good news of the Gospel will be continued in The Presbyterian Message. Joan Cho will carry on as acting editor with the guidance of God's Spirit and our prayers and support.  

                     Ann Taylor, President

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Rev. Kenn Stright was speaker for Janice's funeral on Good Friday, March 21. 
The following excerpts are from his address:

We express our sorrow and grief that Janice is gone, her love and grace, her gifts and talents, taken from her beloved family, her community of faith and her Society.  Her life was full and complete and rich in love.

Janice is safe and secure in the Saviour's love. And the Saviour's love transforms death to such a degree that Paul could write: So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord - for we walk by faith, not by sight.

          Janice's hope was built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.  The promise of scripture is that, because Jesus lived and loved and suffered and died and rose again, because he sits at the right hand of God, because he has made peace for us, because he loves us, he will come again - that where he is, we shall be also.

What greater compliment can you give to Janice's life than to seek to imitate her love and good deeds, her selflessness and service and sacrifice? She loved mission, and mission for the Christian is simply reaching out to another in love to share the good news of Jesus Christ.