by Jonn Lavinnder
In the Diocese of Kootenay we are blessed to have Camp Owaissi, which was the topic of our special feature last month, "The Dream Builders." We are also fortunate in having the Sorrento Centre here in this Diocese. The Sorrento Centre is our special feature in this month's edition.
You will notice that the front page looks more like summer than winter. My hope is that you will be inspired to book early for one of Sorrento’s programs looking forward to warmer days after an exceptionally frigid winter. Sally Scales article about the centre also introduces us to Sorrento's Executive Director, The Rev. Barbara Andrews.
"Return Call to the Arctic," which was the feature story in the December edition brought an interesting letter from a publisher promoting a book called "House Calls by Dogsled" — Six Years in an Arctic Medical Outpost by Keith Billington, publisher Lost Moose / Harbour, 344 pages, $19.95.
Newspapers report on what is happening in the community, but rarely, as an editor of a religious publication, do I have to distinguish between a feature article and what might be construed as advertising. This was my initial dilemma when I first heard about Andreas Mladek, who is the subject of our second feature this month.
Andreas Mladek is genuinely concerned about older churches across Canada that are facing the deterioration of their stained glass windows. He is also concerned that there is a shortage of craftpersons capable of doing the necessary restoration work.
For this month's book review, I was delighted with Neil Elliot's choice "Dreams from my Father" by Barak Obama, which is both relevant and topical. In addition, Norene Morrow, at my request, revisits the topic of church music copyright, as a reminder and so we understand the implications surrounding the copying of music.
An important article to read this month is "Giving Hope to the Homeless." To coincide with its 50th year of humanitarian work, the PWRDF is asking dioceses and parishes across Canada to sponsor at least 50 refugees this year. Cory Rundell provides details about current initiatives already in the planning stages within the Diocese.
Lastly a note to our contributors: due to the large number of submissions this month, some articles will be published in the March edition, which will be our Lenten Issue.
