: 7? S tT :
A CHANG

WE NEED A POSITIVE CHANGE
IN CUR DISTRICT COUNCIL,

A COUNCIL THAT WILL:

e CONTROL, COSTS & TAXES BY FUNDING
’ PRIORITIES, NOT ENVIRONMENTALLY
_ DESTRUCTIVE MEGA-PROJECTS

o CONDUCT COUNCIL BUSINESS IN AN
‘EFFICIENT & BUSINESS-LIKE MANNER

EA WITH ISSUES, NOT PERSONALITIES

@ RESPEC THE NVIRONMENT AND
A

_Maureen |: ‘Lisa Muri"

‘McKeon-Holmes

reverend’s
‘crusade’ criticized

Dear Editor:

Your newspaper very
prominently ran an interview
piece in your Nov, 5. issue
giving a lot of ink to Don
Faris and his constant crusade
to vilify the United Church
of Canada.

His tirades go back a long
way. His colleagues have usu-
ally rolled their eyes, allowed
him his soapbox, but I, for
one, have exhausted my
patience, and a moderate
rebut is long past due.

His latest bombast is to
criticize the church’s latest
attempt to bring some fresh
phraseology, order and con-
tent to a new worship
resource book which secks to
address God in ways’ that
reflect both masculine and
feminine attributes. Ie is
interesting that, despite the
overwhelmingly male author-
ship of the Bible, there arc
many . feminine analogies,
particularly in the book’ of
Isaiah. Don objects to a Suig-

Dear Editor:

Re: Nov. 5 News story.

I feel that (Rev.) Dor: Faris
is do'ag the United Church
and Christiasity a great disser-
vice by insisting that the way
that he expresses his Christian
faith is the only way t to express
Cheistian faith, period

Why can’t he see that oth: .
ers have had a different

énce of life and of God than he:
has, and ‘can’ and. do pes
their faith -. differently.:

faith is just as Christian, real,

and vibrant for them as his is .-
“for: him. VEE che: believes’. in

Chrisdan. unity, why would he
not join to ce! ebrate their faith,

nt Deka mr :
“ does, he would admit that the
° word. “Abba”

has’.a- much: ;
broader meaning thon the nar-
row one “Our ather”, which»

“broadening ow!
‘how other: Christians «(and

gested reference: God as
“Creator” as a nice change
from the overused “Father.”
Such a suggested depiction
sends Don into hysterics.
Similarly, he has always taken
the rigid theological position
that if anything has not previ-
ously been said or written, it
automatically should be dis-
carded as unworthy. He is
constantly on about the
United Church Basis of
Union (1925) as if each jot
and tittle is of sublime revela-
tion. One would ask him: did
God stop communicating
with God’s people as of
1025, or 1611 when the
James Version of the
Bice was published? God has
not been inactive since then.
Hey, Don, here’s some
heresy for you: F would like
to sce a calling together of a
modern church council, like
Nicaea or Constantinopie, to

open up the canon of scrip- --

ture’ so that new inspired
utterances or writings (like!

was put to it by early and jater
translators of the Bible...

The little book Prayers of
the Cosmas looks at the Lord’s
Prayer in the near-criginal
Aramaic text by an Aramaic ~

scholar. It shows that the.
Aramaic text is much broader, ©.
in Scope than that from the

5 Jamies version that is reg
ited in church wor-

We all cant be énsiched by
to hear

and fellow feimans.
In. our. owa “worship -
vices, we still can choose to use

Esper of other faiths) relate'to

"the words and phrases that are

pel to our (oy

- Gii

v Fighting for lower p. operty taxes - after raising our taxes by”
11.6%, next year council plans an increase of 6.7%...

oe Saying “NO” to expensive Poferendum projects ‘that raise

Martin Luther King’ 5 famous
“I Have a Dream” or Bishop
Tutu’s writings) could be
incorporated into the present
New Testament. .Wouldn’r
world biblical scholars “have
fun” with that assignment?
Don has huge trouble
with the homosexuality issue.
He still hasnt recovered
from the United Church
General Council in 1988
removing ali obstacles to gay
ordination of our clergy. If he
had been a practising cle
man in 1928, he ostensi y
would have opposed ordina-
tion of female clergy. Why?
Because it had never been
done beforel =; :
Lighten up, Don. Don't
be so cranky and destinin;
cur church. to. the tras
cap. You will . be: reting.
soon.
-.. Will you. ‘castigate and
claim contamination: of your”
United Church’ pension? ces
Rev, Art Griffin.
‘Vancouver

opinion ::, that ©. th Unit
Church is abandoning its rea:
son for being by repre

logical pressure gr
mathe he’ ae ‘sail en

work of the Holy Raat
n Surely e ; validati