HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-06-09, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2011.
Clark named president of London Conference
Reading program to start at local libraries
President Clark
Reverend Gary Clark was named president of the London
Conference of the United Church of Canada in a special
ceremony held in Sault Ste. Marie on Sunday, June 5. The
conference was broadcast via the internet to the Blyth
United Church Congregation. (Denny Scott photo)
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provide support and consistency for
the president.”
Clark said the system works well
as he considers himself on-loan from
his parishioners to the London
Conference.
“It’s good to have the extra people
involved because, say I have to
preside over a wedding, it means
there is someone else who can stand
in on the executive,” he said. “I’m a
part of Blyth United Church and I’m
being loaned to the London
Conference executive, not the other
way around.”
The ceremony in which Clark was
installed, which was held in Sault
Ste. Marie, the northern-most point
in the Huron-Perth Presbytery, was
broadcast to the Blyth congregation
via Skype (a video conference
calling software that connects users
over the internet), a connection that
Clark thinks is important.
“Technology like that makes the
job of connecting so much easier,”
he said, adding that connections are
going to be an important part of his
time as president.
Clark, as president, got to set the
theme for his time in the role, and
decided to address the problem of
connectivity among the churches.
Using a wave as the icon for it, and
asking whether people are riding the
wave of the future or getting
capsized underneath it, Clark stated
that it’s important for churches to re-
evaluate the way things are done.
Clark said that the silos that were
created by society affluence have to
be changed.
“It used to be that people felt that
the United Church didn’t need other
churches like the Roman Catholic,
or the Anglican churches or things
like that,” he said. “Sometimes
people felt they didn’t even need
other congregations of the same
faith.
“We’re at a point now, however,
where we need each other,” he said.
Clark said he wasn’t talking about
finding ways to convert others, but
work with them, both within the
church congregations and outside of
them.
“Blyth is a wonderful example,”
he said, stating that Blyth United
Church has worked with public
groups to lighten the burden on
either group.
“That’s the glimmer of the vision
that I want to make happen,” he said.
“I want to work together to
accomplish more and become a
better witness.”
Clark stated that the reason he
believes working with other groups
and churches will work is because he
has seen it happen in Blyth.
“The best changes, the ones that
work, are the ones that are proven at
the grass roots level before they’re
brought to a larger group like the
conference,” he said. “The executive
could tell us to do something, but
without an example, or proof that it
works, it’s not going to be as
effective as something brought to the
executive as a working model.”
The installation service that was
broadcast to Blyth United Church is
available online at www.ustream.tv/
recorded/15038795
Local branches of The HuronCounty Library will be headingunder the sea for the annual TD
Canada Trust Summer Reading
Program.
Run by the Huron County Library,
two students – Jennifer Armour and
Katie Mathonia – will be visiting the
different library branches and
hosting a reading club following the
Splash! Celebrate Summer! theme
set out by the program.
Armour says the duo will be
visiting each of the 12 branches
under the Huron County Library
banner for an hour-long program
that consists of a game, a craft,
reading a book and singing.
Each week the sessions will have a
new theme, like week three’s Pirate
Bay theme, which runs July 18
through the 22.
“We will be making hats and
beards,” Mathonia stated. “When the
crafts and singing are done we’ll be
reading [Bill Harley’s] Dirty Joe,
The Pirate.”
Each member of the reading club
can win prizes like books,
bookmarks and stickers that were
donated by local companies.
Both Mathonia and Armour planto be teachers, so running theprogram is good preparation.
“Working with kids and planning
curriculum will go a long way in
preparing to be a teacher,” Armour
said.
“While they do give us a manual to
help us plan the program, we have
free reign to come up with plans for
the program,” Mathonia said, adding
that kind of independent lesson
planning experience will be
invaluable in her education.
The Canadian National Institute of
the Blind will also being co-
ordinating with the program to allow
those with vision impairments to
participate.
The Huron County Library will
also be running a program for the
month of June that will allow youth
to “read away” their fines.
Borrowers with fines in excess of
$10 are not allowed to borrow more
books until they are paid off and
Huron County Library
representative Stacie Van Miltenburg
said that the fines, while necessary,
prove to be a barrier for people using
the library.
“We want to invite people in, notscare them away,” she said. “This isone way to get rid of the barrier.”
Children can “earn” one dollar off
their fine for each 15 minutes of
observed reading, and the time spent
reading in the summer reading
program counts toward it.
Van Miltenburg explained that this
program, and the program the
libraries run where food can be
donated in lieu of fines, are ways
that the library hopes to work with
people to provide a better learning
experience.
The summer reading club will be
held at Clinton Library on Monday
from 1 to 2 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m., at
Wingham, Blyth and Brussels
Libraries on Tuesday (Wingham for
four to six year olds from 10 - 11
a.m. and for six to 12 year olds from
11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Blyth for all ages
from 1 to 2 p.m. and Brussels from
2:30 to 3:30 p.m. for all ages).
For more information call the
closest library of the Huron County
Library: Blyth (519-523-4400),
Brussels (519-887-6448), Clinton
(519-482-3673) or Wingham (519-
357-3312).
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Summer reading
Jennifer Armour (left) and Katie Mathonia have been hired
to do the TD Summer Reading Club through the branches
of the Huron County Library. The duo, who are training to
be teachers, will be creating curriculum and visiting each of
the branches in Huron County to inspire kids to read. (Denny
Scott photo)
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