Under afound Lb - MAINLINE PROTESTANT " churches are undergoing _ Something of a gender’ change while seeking the road to salvation i in the 21st . {That statement should startle : nobody who has recently attended . an Anglican or United church ser- ‘vice, where women typically form two-thirds or more of the congrega- : tion, } ene He: Which fneans, of course, that ‘they also perform a major share of ‘the church’s ongoing work — stew- ' - ardship; worship details, choir duty, fundraising « events, social functions, : he adday me $ aie clergy,” Protestant, women priests and mnin-, isters are commonplace. ‘And now it’s the turn of the liturgy. itself to'saccumb to the feminine touch. Creeping | into |. prayers and hymns are increasing » Teferences to a female. deity. New. hymns sing of “Dear Mother.God” ‘ and “Our Mother Christ”. In‘at “least one North Shore church it’s OK if you prefer to'start the Lord’s * Prayer with “Our Mother.” ‘Meanwhile, gutsy old hymn favorites judged to'be. militaristic -or otherwise politically incorrect “will reportedly get the chop in “next year’s revised United and. “Anglican hymnbooks. Gone alto- . gether, for example, will be Onward Christian soldiers, ot rey (ET me cay “Tas SBT Youre BURYING Vouk CAR SO WAT The CoUntTicn AGENCIES CAN'T SEIZE IT. WHY DoN"T You BURY THE House INSTEAD OF PAYING THE AYES, DARN T THA 1 Ve Jay. HIT Te STétep 1. BURIED LAST Yer, Noel . Wright — marching 2 as to war.” .- Vivid and ‘memorable images like poet William Blake's “chariots of fire” and “dark satanic mills” are . ». Said to be facing a politically cor- . rect rewrite. Ditto everi the “wretch like me” bit (condemned as too . negative and demeaning) in ’ Amazing Grace." * Meanwhile, church attendance “across Canada (now less than 23% of self-described Christians) con- “tinues to drop. So with women . already often the church’s main _ workforce and money source, the © “increasing attention being paid to feminine sensibilities may repre- sent the best hope for a mainline Protestant revival in the decades ahead, » - Recent reports from England defi nitely encourage that hope. Women priests — first ordained by the Church of England just a year - ago and already 10% of all its cler- .C. [8 the only province in which the public doesn’t have access to legal elec- tronic gaming — so says a recent provincial press release. Boo-hoo. Let’s all cry a river of poker chips. This pernicious push to turn booze hounds into junkies of another stripe is yet another example of desperate government machina- tions to find new ways to fleece taxpayer pockets. Ostensibly .the government’s target is 10,000 so-called grey video lottery terminals (VLTs) already said to be in place in bars throughout the province’ and controlled by shadowy biker-types. Put in 5,000 not-so-grey (puce?) video lot- tery terminals and direct the dough, instead, A gaming policy repori to government Says the introduction of “legal” VLTs would “pro- vide security and accountability features nec- essary to ensure public trust.” Let’s put it this way: de you trust a gov- ernment that would choose to expand its exploitation of and profit from those who . have a weakness for gambling? {s there not an issue of ethics and responsi: ble leadership here? . And what follows? A lottery for those seek- ing surgery in‘ hospitals? Next step: fund our health-care. system : totally with the proceeds of government-saric- *. tioned gaming — ~ the sick helping the sick so to speak. a North Shore mayors ‘are dead, ‘fight to am oppose the systematic introduction ‘of VLTs: into our communities and should continue to. into government § coffers, Government Services Minister Robin Blencoe suggests. gy —.are reversing the 140-year decline in attendance there with growing congregations at their own churches, “Women are better at develop- ing relationships with lay people, helping Church members to grow in their faith (and) become more confident in inviting others to church,” explains Canon Robert Warren, the Church of England’s National Evangelism Officer. For such women evangelists, a blander and more feminine liturgy is almost certainly one of the tools of congregation-building in the 90s, It won’t go unchallenged, of ~ - course. Traditionalists will fight awhile agaitist the cleansing of col- orful, macho, hellfire imagery from ’ the King James Bible and the old hymnbooks. Just as they'll take time to get used to God or His Son as their “Mother.” But if the goal is a GROWING © church, the "90s ladies seem to be proving they know better than the old-timers how to make it happen. For those of the latter who still insist on “marching as to war” there’s always the Salvation Amy! MANY HAPPY RETURNS of. Tuesday, March 7, to West Van's Tom Wardell :.. And the same again that day to West Van Councillor Andy Danyliu. WRIGH T OR WRONG: Just because the river is quiet, don't. -think the crocodiles have left e (Malay Proverb). ; do so as forcefully as possible. =<. guates of the week a “Asa pharmacist, the diagno- © sis may be there, but I’m not sure of the medicine they’re pre- scribing.” North Vancouver District Mayor and pharmacist Murray Dykeman, . on the Reform party’s budget plan to rid Canada of its deficit and debt. (From a Feb. 24 News story.) . “The follaceous mountains Grouse and Seymour that rise up’ To touch the soft and peaceful skies.” -.. An excerpt from a poem by . - Joseph Emanuel, who has been, - selling his poetry door-to-door on the North‘Shore for $5 per poem:' (From a Feb. 19 News story.) “They're happy because of the income, because of the jobs for the native Indians. We’re happy . because we don’t have to spend capital. The sports community is Dear Editor: . I would like to respond to the "> _ government's proposal to raise the - fees for university education.. Its - main goal .for doing this is to help alleviate Canada’s debt, by increas-' ing our. own. As-a'Grade 11% student J am adamantly opposed to'any increase. : It is frightening for me to think of : the debt load that I- would have to ° carry through student loans. happy because they are going to’. get their ice rinks, Everybody’s happy. It’s a wonderful world’ “a after all.” .. me North Vancouver District Coun,: a . Ernie Crist; on a deal struck with - the Burrard Indian Band to build a: multi-rink ice arena in the district. : (From a March ‘1 News story. ) “We? re giving up some control: and, you know what, we are get- ting a better deal. We're getting a cappuccino bar, for heaven's Jee North Vancouver Coun, Pamela Goldsmith: -Jones, on the same - Burrard Band ice area deal. ‘(From a March 1 News story. | ee : “Our debt clock keeps ticks ing. o . . North | Vancouver-Seymour “y believe it t would be very” easy fora. student .to finish: university. owing a small fortune. Having. to‘ repay ..this amount: with no guarantee of a job at the end -: : of university, makes:,one wonder whether the price is just too high,’ - and the future too uncertain, to take’ the risk of bankrupting ° oneself * before the age of 25. Neatl Gpstein |; /Baseiiy Vancouver | : Linda Stewart ‘ Sales & Marketing Director 980-0511 (31 .. ; Peter Kvarstrom:: Display Manager . Timothy Renshaw ‘Doug Foot Managing Editor Compiroiter .Peter Speck | Publisher) 0! . Classified Manager Cs 988.6222 (202) Operations Manager 985-2131 (101) "1139 Lonsdale Avenue : North Vancouver B.C, V7M 2H4.: foe North Shore Maneoed: 985-2134 (133) 995-2131 (141) . North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, , Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North - Shore. 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