The Citizen, 1995-09-27, Page 20THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
You are were-me this Sunday
October 1 - Pentecost 17
HOLY EUCHARIST - BAS
Rev. Nancy Beale
Trinity, Blyth St. John's, Brussels
9:30 a.m. 11:15 a.m.
HURON CHAPEL MISSIONARY
CHURCH
PASTOR JAMES H. CARNE AUBURN 526-7515
Sunday 10 a.m. - Family Bible Hour
11 a.m. - Morning Service
8 p.m. - Evening Service
Wednesday 8 p.m. - Prayer & Bible Study
Friday 7:30 p.m. - Youth
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
HIGHWAY 4, BLYTH--523-9233
Sunday 10:00 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Rev. Adrian A. Van Geest
The Church of the "Back to God Hour" and "Faith 20"
Back to God Hour 10:30 a.m. CKNX Sunday
Faith 20 5:30 a.m. Weekdays, Global T.V.
Aft Visitors Welcome Wheelchair accessible
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Cathrine Campbell
11:00 a.m. - Morning Service
- Sunday School
9:30 a.m. - Belgrave Service
We welcome you to come and worship with us.
887-9831 Wheelchair Accessible
Morning Worship
Worldwide Communion
"Communion"
Church School - Nursery
BRUSSELS UNITED CHURCH
Rev. Cameron McMillan
Church Office 887-6259
11:00 a.m.
Manse 887-9313
9:30 a.m. Ethel Morning Worship
Worldwide Communion
"Communion"
Church School
On this day of sharing, gladly do we come
A Welcome to all
PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1995.
From the Minister's Study
CKNX decision not the end of gospel, says pastor
By Rev. Randy Banks
Walton-Bluevale Pastoral Charge
There has been much weeping
and gnashing of teeth of late
regarding the decision by CKNX to
sacrifice Sunday evening church
broadcasts on the altar of format
changes designed to appeal to a
larger audience. There has
undoubtedly also been a heap of
indifference out there about this
development that has not made it
into the newspapers.
From my vantage point, I could
see the handwriting on the wall
when the services were moved
from the morning slot to taped
broadcasts in the evening. Quite
frankly, no skin has been peeled off
my beak because I am a self-
confessed non-listener to CKNX
(gasp!), which, of course, is
tantamount to heresy in this neck of
the woods.
However, I do feel for a fellow
area United Church minister,
whose irony-laced letter to the
editor was misconstrued by some
readers. They understood him to be
lampooning the 'country hicks' of
Midwestern Ontario when, in
reality, he was trying to suggest
that disgruntled listeners should be
letting CKNX know that they are
satisfied with local programming
such as the weekly church service
even if it lacks the polished
production quality of the slick,
syndicated Sunday morning
religious programming from south
of the border.
A couple of shut-ins have
expressed to me their regret about
the discontinuation of this long-
standing programme. Some of my
parishioners have signed a petition
that urges CKNX to reconsider this
decision. I hold out little hope of
this happening in light of a similar
unfolding of events last year at the
now-defunct CFCA in Kitchener-
Waterloo when the plug was pulled
on the 'Golden Hour' church
broadcasts - a 50-year tradition.
CKNX has pledged to continue
to offer the aforementioned canned,
imported American religious
programming that is geared to a
more general audience. We know,
of course, that these syndicated
programmes have the distinct
advantage of being able to pay as
they pray whereas the local church
broadcast was a public service
made available by the station.
The general manager of CKNX is
correct when he maintains that the
station is under no mandated
obligation to make this air-time
available to local churches. I will
however, describe the timing of this
announcement in the middle of the
summer as curious, if not
suspicious.
It is to be hoped that the local
churches and CKNX will maintain
a spirit of co-operation as they meet
the diverse needs of the community
in their different areas. Churches
have in the past, appreciated the
public service CKNX has provided
in announcing church suppers,
garage and yard sales, and other
fundraising activities. We
obviously hope that this will
continue.
There are deeper issues in all of
this than the cancellation of a
programme that is deemed to be
obsolete and irrelevant to the
targeted audience.
For me, this is one further,
reminder (as if I needed another)
that we do not live in a culture in
which the Christian religion is the
dominant ethos, if this were ever
the case. This is the post-Christian
age in which other institutions,
such as the media, do not have the
time, resources, or will to make
special allowances for the church
as they are preoccupied with their
own survival.
More and more, the church is
experiencing what it is to be a
voice crying in the wilderness.
Now, it is a voice without a
microphone and a radio time slot.
CKNX has merely been reading the
signs of the times in attempting to
meet the complex array of needs, of
this thrill-a-minute, visually-
stimulated, virtual reality, net
surfing, superficial cyber age.
Nevertheless, it is interesting that
the church has become one of the
targets of societal angst and
boredom. For example, this past
summer saw the achievement of 15
minutes of fame by those talent-
challenged 'Rembrandts' who
decorated the Anglican church in
Blyth with their unimaginative
Lyle Hemingway was worship
leader for the Sunday morning
service at Brussels Mennonite
Fellowship. The youth looked after
the music for the service. Phil.-
Wagler from Mapleview
Mennonite Church gave the
message, entitled, "Being the
Church in the 90s." It was based on
the scripture passage Acts 2: 37-47.
To many people in today's
society, church has become archaic
and irrelevant — a place to marry
and bury, he said. Has the church
failed?
The local church in Jerusalem in
Peter's time existed in society much
like today's - a lot of religion but
not a lot of faith. Pluralism also
existed in Jerusalem - believe what
you want to believe, but don't push
your beliefs on me.
Peter would have made a good
politician, Wagler said. What
changed Peter? The knowledge of
the resurrection. Each one today
needs to have knowledge of the
resurrection in order to change their
lives. They need daily infilling of
the Holy Spirit and to submit to the
Holy Spirit. Too many Christians
are trying to operate without the
Holy Spirit - they are trying to get
by on human power, he said.
Christians, he said, need to
submit every aspect of their lives to
the lordship of Christ, confess any
unconfessed sins in their lives, ask
God to fill them anew with His
spirit. These things need to be done
every day. They need the Holy
Spirit in our churches, and re-
discover devotion with passion and
zeal.
Wagler said, early Christians did
not separate themselves from non-
Christians in the community. "Do
we have many non-Christian
friends? Do we spend time with our
non-Christian friends?" he asked.
"We must stop living in a Christian
Continued on page 23
anti-Christian sloganeering.
We in the mainline denomina-
tions in particular, have observed
our congregations steadily
dwindling over time. People are not
flocking to hear our Sunday
sermons, so it should not come as a
surprise to us that market surveys
do not show that they are huddling
around their radios Sunday nights
to hear them.
CKNX will no doubt continue to
serve its listeners well in the areas
of country music, news, weather,
sports, and agricultural informa-
tion. It may be disappointing that it
has packed up its equipment and
left the churches, but it certainly
does not mark the end of the
proclamation of the gospel. As the
psalmist has declared (Psalm 19.1,
48.10), the heavens will continue to
'tell the glory of God.'
Your name, 0 God (will) reach
to the ends of the earth' — CKNX,
AM 920 notwithstanding.
It's been a slice I
Don Armstrong lends a hand in the kitchen to slice
barbecued beef for Melville Presbyterian Church's dinner
on Sunday evening.
the
Mennonite youth do music
You are WeCcome at
the
BLYTH CHURCH OF GOD
9:45 a.m. - Sunday School for Children and Adults
11 - 12:15 - Morning Worship
Bible Studies r Wednesday 10 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Phone 523-4590 McConnell St., Blyth