[In March of 1984, a ecumenical group of church leaders welcomed the first issue of PMC - the Practice of Ministry in Canada. Edited by Jim Taylor of Wood Lake Books, the Journal's purpose and stance were explained and every year four or five issues were printed and distributed to congregational leaders and other interested readers across Canada and beyond. The Journal had a run of about nineteen years, the first decade of which I served as chair of the Board.

I plan to re-run on this blog some of the pieces I wrote in those years as a personal reminder of what preoccupied me and many others during those years. When possible, some pieces others wrote will be re-published here as well. HO]

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Why do ministers need PMC?
The publication had its origins in the conviction of a small group of people that Canadian ministry needed its own journal, one which would provide opportunity for sharing insights, experiences, and reflection on ministry as it is experienced in this country.

Canadians have long had access to magazines produced in the United States, of course. There's the Christian Century, and its cousin, Christian Ministry. From the Christianity Today people comes Leadership. The Seventh Day Adventists send out ministry. The Lutheran Church in America has its ministry publication. And so on.

Valuable as these imported publications are, their articles are not always applicable to the Canadian scene. There are many similarities in ministry in the two countries, and these ought not to be neglected. But there are also many differences in geography, in the kinds of minority groups served by the church, and in political context. All of these affect, to a greater or lesser extent, our perceptions of the mission of the church and the task of ministry.

If Canadian ministry is to be genuinely effective within its own context, it needs to find a means of reflecting on its role and its calling, its patterns of theological education, parish service, and social responsibility.

PMC was created for that purpose.

Two years ago, the Co-ordinating Committee on Theological Education in Canada [later called the Churches' Council on Theological Education] sent questionnaires to a random sample of more than 700 ministers in the United, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches.

Of close to 400 responses, 85% indicated a need for such a publication, and a willingness to pay $15 a year for it.
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The Statement of Editorial Policy...says in part: "The journal is a professional publication for ministers and lay leaders which provides information about current thinking, research, and experiences in the practice of ministry...(and) critical theological reflection on practical ministry in the light of modern theological scholarship...."
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PMC is...not the expression of any denomination nor, it is hoped, of any single theological perspective. At the same time, certain convictions will influence the selection and editing of materials.

The first is that God gave us intelligence to be used. Articles should indicate that their authors have, like Jacob at the river Jabbok, done some personal struggling with the truth they seek to express. PMC seeks critical and informed reflection on subjects.

The second is that truth may come from various sources. Insights into ministry may emerge from disciplines other than theology. The humanities, the social and physical sciences, can also make valuable contributions.

Perhaps a third principle should also be noted, the conviction that profound truths and complex subjects can be expressed simply and read-ably.

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[My Comment 35 years later:
In today's context we may again be needing more shared reflection on the work of ministry. The substantially changed context - declining institutional presence of church and other organizations, the increased skepticism about faith and theology in the face of science and materialism, the growth of the "spiritual but not religious" mindset, and the tsunami of information overwhelming everyone via internet, the rejection of patriarchy and the growth of egalitarianism, and much more -
puts institutional church, professional ministry, and personal faith on the defensive.

Pilgrim Praxis is one man's attempt to continue reflecting on what's entailed in being a Christian - a friend and companion of Jesus - today in a world where faith-based seeking, struggling, and hoping is a basic to life. With all people of goodwill - Christian or Muslim, Jewish or Buddhist, Hindu or Zoroastrian, faith-based and no faith - we need to discover the centre of life where love, justice, peace, and hope abound because the Holy One is there. HO]