A unique opportunity to share has landed in the hands of the congregation of Knox Presbyterian Church recently.
About a year ago, several boxes of dusty gently used hymn books were discovered in the church basement. Not wanting to see the books lie around unused, Rev. Dr. Teresa Charlton, minister at Knox, started searching out a new home for the books.
“I entered all the relevant information into an Internet-based clearing house for religious materials and promptly forgot all about them,” said Charlton.
A year later, as Knox prepared for its annual Mission Awareness Sunday, a letter arrived from the Philippines in response to the available hymn books.
“It was purely coincidental,” said Charlton, “that the letter arrived the same week as we were putting together a Sunday morning worship service to consider the work of Presbyterian World Service & Development, a mission branch of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.”
A Baptist congregation, residing on the airbase of Pasay City, a district of Manila, was looking for “newer” hymn books as they organize for a 50th anniversary service this coming summer.
The congregation of Knox immediately became enthused about supporting the idea of shipping the hymn books overseas. The Sunday School scrapped their plans to “buy a goat,” and baked cookies instead to raise donations for the shipping costs.
When sharing the story with residents at Vernon Restholm last week, Kate McQueen, a longtime member of Knox said, “Imagine, the same hymn books I sang from years ago are getting a fresh start half way around the world!”
Knox will continue to gather donations for a few more weeks, then package the hymn books for their long trip. It is hoped that the books might reach their destination before summer, and the church plans to share photos, letters and possibly build a new relationship with its partner in ministry so far away.
