Reformed Presbyterian Minutes of Synod 1995 - Rparchives.org

90 MINUTES OF THE SYNOD OF THEWoman's Association, given in her absence by Sandra Johns,President of the Woman's Association, and; the report of the Boardto Address Disability Concerns, given by Roy McDonald. Therequest for funds was referred to the Committee on Finance. Thereports were received and appear in the Appendix.The report of the National Reform Association was taken up,received and appears in the Appendix.The report of the Temperance Committee was taken up. It wasnoted that the report that was distributed appears to be the report ofonly the chairman of the Committee. Jonathan Adams, the onlymember of the committee present at Synod was given permission toread a report he had prepared in conflict with the report of thechairman. The status of these reports was brought into question.Synod took a fifteen-minute break at 2:50 p.m.Synod returned from the break singing Psalm 32A and being ledin prayer by the Moderator.The Moderator, after conferring with the parliamentarians, ruledthat since both reports from members of the Temperance Committeeare from single members of the committee, these reports should bereferred back to the committee.It was moved, seconded and carried that the TemperanceCommittee be discontinued.The report of the Committee on Understanding the Times wastaken up, adopted and is as follows:REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON UNDERSTANDING THE TIMESDear Fathers and Brethren:After the report on "Understanding the Times" to the 1994 Synod wasadopted, the moderator remarked quietly, "There was no reference in thereport to Canada." The comment was well taken. This year there are twoCanadians on the committee, and the chairman asked one of them, AubreyAyer, to write the report for the committee. My thanks to him for hisservice.On the Canadian coat of arms is the motto in Latin which translates"from sea to sea."It came about when the Fathers of the Confederation werediscussing a name for the nation they were anticipating. They felt that"Kingdom of Canada" would offend the Americans. Sir Leonard Tilley thensuggested "Dominion of Canada," based on his reading from Psalm 72 thatvery morning of the words, "He shall have dominion from sea to sea . . "However, there does not seem to be much evidence that Canadian politiciansthen or now recognize the sovereignty of God over the nations.The British North American colonies were forced together by such thingsas fear of Fenian attacks from the U. S. A., worsening trade relations withthe Americans, pressure from Britain and promises of a transcontinentalrailway. Even the French Canadians felt there was more protection forlanguage and culture in such a union than there would be in the U. S. A.