David Ewart

Welcome

Welcome to my personal blog. Right now most of my writing will be for my weekly reflections on the lectionary, Holy Textures. But you can expect erratic postings on leadership, the state of the United Church of Canada, brain-mind research, and anything else that catches my fancy.

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United Church of Canada People Trends - 2010

Click here to download the latest version of my, "United Church of Canada People Trends."

Updated with the latest Year Book statistics for the calendar year 2010.

Below is a JPG of the first page which summarizes the past 3 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the actual results for 2010 were lower for all areas, and in most cases were also lower than what had been forecast.

The result is that compared to when I first started doing this using the data for 2008, the forecasts for 2025 have gotten even worse.

I have been asked, "Why are you reporting this bad news?"

The answer is NOT that I have some sort of perverse delight in the diminishing of my church. These trends are very distressing for me.

However, there is one thing that this data makes very clear - the widespread societal changes that have been taking place for over 5 decades are firmly entrenched and are TOO BIG FOR EACH CONGREGATION TO SUCCESSFULLY SOLVE ON ITS OWN.

And. THE "PROBLEM" IS NOT OUR FAULT.

This is not happening because of something that each congregation has done wrong. There is not a problem with our minister, or our music, or our Sunday School that changing any of them will turn things around.

The problem is external. It is because of changes in the society.

But it is a problem that the United Church as a whole can respond to - not solve, but respond to.

But we cannot do it congregation by congregation because the simple fact is PEOPLE ARE NOT GOING TO CHURCH LIKE THEY USED TO.

In fact, they are not volunteering for anything like they used to. All traditional volunteer organizations are facing these same issues.

We have too many buildings and too few people for the number of people attending church these days.

So the only way to address the issues raised by this data is for congregations to have a clear-eyed look at their situation and decide what to do next.

Our church was founded by folks willing to leave the beloved familiar for the desired unknown.

Where that spirit can still be found there is hope for life in new forms.

David Ewart,
www.davidewart.ca

What Does God Do With A Dead Terrorist?

"What will God do with Osama bin Laden? There is no hate in heaven. There is only love. And in heaven, love is also just, is also always the right relationship that God desires for all of creation. There are no terrorists in heaven. Only God's beloved children."

This was originally written in response to 9-11. But seems even more relevant now upon hearing of the death of Osama bin Laden, May 1, 2011.

Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF copy of this post.

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Since I believe that God is present in every moment of existence, and is the God of all creation, the question must be asked:

What is God going to do with the terrorists who died on September 11?

I also believe that God is both wholly just and wholly merciful, and that nothing can thwart God’s purposes. So the question cannot be avoided:

What does God do with a dead terrorist?

I do not know the mind of God of course, but offer the following act of imagination as a personal response.

My Pre-Obituary

You know that you've reached a certain stage in life when you get an email from the archivist saying, "Please tell us (briefly) about your life and ministry."

It took me most of an afternoon to write, and in the end I appreciated the opportunity.

So. Just to help those who will have the task of one day writing the actual obituary ... here's what I wrote:

Your name
• in the form you most commonly use, David Ewart
• your full name (including middle name), and degrees, David Roy Thompson Ewart, B.Sc. (Hon.), M.A., M.Div.

Date of your ordination: 1978

Name of the Conference in which you were ordained: Manitoba and Northwest Ontario

Chronological list of pastoral charges in which you served (please give inclusive dates):
1978-1980 – Kincaid-Aneroid-Ponteix, Saskatchewan
1980-1983 – Voluntary DSL (Discontinued Service List)
1983-1984 – Hartney-Lauder-Dand, MNWO
1984-1988 – General Council Office (Half-time staff for national study on Sexual Orientations, Lifestyles and Ministry, and other things.)
1988-1994 – Chalmers United, Vancouver, BC
1994-1995 – Haida Gwaii PC, Skidegate & Queen Charlotte City, BC
1995-2004 – Queens Avenue United, New Westminster, BC
2004            -- (4 month interim) Bethany-Newton, Surrey, BC
2005            -- Chalmers Institute, VST, Vancouver, BC
2005-2006 – (10 month interim) Wilson Heights United, Vancouver, BC
2006-2010 – Capilano United, North Vancouver, BC

Birthplace: Minnedosa, Manitoba

Where you spent your formative years - where you grew up: Winnipeg, Manitoba from the age of 3 to 33.

What was your involvement in the church before you were called to ordered ministry?
I was the white sheep in my family, so church involvement was sporadic as a child – I can remember going to SS for a while, but not regularly. In high school I was part of a Hi-C group – for some reason – likely because many of my friends also belonged.

I came into the church through 6 years of active involvement in the YMCA, and so have always had a non-churched, not-very-religious understanding of faith and discipleship. The Y’s Spirit-Mind-Body and YMCA Camp Stephen’s motto: “I am third,” (i.e. God / Christ is first; the other person is second; and I am third) have had a life-long influence for me. The Camp devotionals tended to stress the parables and deeds of Jesus. This is also the place where I received my foundational leadership training and experience.

In university I joined the (very small) SCM. The Secretary / Chaplain, Mac Watts, influenced my decision to study theology after graduating. This was not a call to ministry, but more of a curiosity about Jesus. Basically my thinking was: There had to be a lot more to this guy than I currently understood or his reputation would not have lasted for 2,000 years.

I was also at that time dating a woman whose family were staunch United Church participants, and I tagged along and got involved.

Can you describe how you were called to ordered ministry?
To be honest, I have never felt called to ordered ministry. (In the first place, it wasn’t called that back in my day.) But also, I really had no idea what “theology” was, but in the mid-60’s it was easy to go to university, and I was definitely not interesting in pursuing a career out of my B.Sc. in honours math and physics. So off I went to study theology at United College, Winnipeg. This was 1967.

Those were also the days, when an interest in studying theology must mean an interest in being a minister. As I remember it, I was received as a candidate after a 20 minute interview with the chair of the E&S Committee, just before being introduced to the Presbytery meeting. I can’t remember how I answered any questions about “call” or “vocation” as my role models were not ministers but YMCA and SCM leaders. I had no “call” as such – all I had was “curiosity.”

I studied theology for 2 years and then quit when I realized what “being a minister” meant after a summer being a student minister and a winter internship.

But I remained an active lay leader in my congregation and Presbytery. And at one point – while using some of my vacation days to attend Conference, thought, “If I’m this interested in the church, why don’t I switch and get paid to go to Conference so I can take my vacation and go to the beach instead?”

A short while later, I took a job for Winnipeg Presbytery – as a lay person. This eventually led to me doing my MA in leadership in Spokane, where I met Ivan Cumming, and that led to Naramata and re-applying to become a Candidate and finishing my theology studies. But again, my calling was not to “ordered ministry,” so much as it was to “active, paid, leadership.”

So much so, that after 2 years in my settlement pastoral charge, I tried to resign my ordination. Turns out the United Church has a very inarticulate understanding of ordination, but the long and short of it is, one cannot “resign” ordination; one can only “voluntarily DSL.” Which is what I did.

But 2 years later, I changed my mind about resigning, not because I changed my mind about ordination and call to ministry, but because I was still drawn – called if you will – to active, paid, leadership – and that meant doing it on the Church’s terms, not mine. So here I am.

Please list any post-secondary education and work experience (including degrees or diplomas):
1967 – B.Sc. (Hon.), U. of Manitoba, Mathematics and Physics
1967-1969, M.Div. incomplete, United College, Winnipeg.
1976 – M.A., Whitworth College, Spokane, WA, leadership.
1978 – M.Div., Vancouver School of Theology
Other studies:
1994 – Conflict Resolution Certificate, Justice Institute of BC
1996 – MBTI Certificate
2002 – Natural Church Development Coach’s Certificate
2004 – Family Systems Theory in Ministry, North Shore Counseling Centre
2005 – Powers of Leadership, Whidbey Institute, WA
Work Experiences (Other than UCCan listed above)
1969-1973 – Computer systems analyst & project leader, Manitoba Government.
1980-1982 – Computer Science instructor, Columbia College, Vancouver, BC

Where did you receive your theological education?
United College and VST (see above)

What was a high point in your ministry?
I approach life through ideas – I think about my feelings. So for me, healing, release, new life and energy come through learnings and understandings that correct mis-understandings and open up possibilities never before considered.

So high points for me are those moments of personal connection where new light – new understandings – break dysfunctional bonds of habitual thinking / acting / feeling and bring healing, reconciliation, release, and new possibilities. These have been too numerous – and too personal – to name.

Publically, I’ve been privileged to be involved in some pivotal moments of the United Church over the past 40 years:

• Various discussions and reports about “the meaning of ministry” and paid, accountable, lay ministry in particular.
• Reconciliation with native peoples, and the Land Claims Fund here in BC
• Changing roles of women and men, i.e., sexism, and developing use “inclusive language.” (1980-1984)
• Changing understanding of homosexuality and support for openly accepting lesbian and gay members and clergy. (1984-1988)

What was a low point, or the most difficult part of your ministry?
Apart from being close to clinical depression on my settlement charge, the personal low point for me was realizing how difficult and troubling the move to Haida Gwaii was on our young children- and the subsequent conflict and stress it was causing within our family. It wasn’t given as advice, but meeting with a retired UC missionary on the island and his reflections on the effect his time in Africa had had on his children, helped me to make the tough decision to leave after one year.

In ministry, the most difficult situation was the amalgamation of the three New Westminster United Churches that exploded over a recommendation to sell all sites. The congregation I was at, Queens Avenue, rejected the motion (which was supported by the other two). This led to a split in Queens Avenue and a most difficult and stressful situation for me. I had already given notice months before the meeting, but Presbytery placed me on “stress leave” for the remaining time.

What has been your main passion, or the common thread in your ministry?
Initially I thought my “job” was to be a good minister / manager to healthy, well-functioning congregations and otherwise help them engage in the mission and issues of the day.

Alas, while I have mostly enjoyed meeting all the people I have met in my ministry, I’ve not had the good fortune to meet them in “healthy, well-functioning” congregations. They have all been struggling congregations.

So then I thought my “job” was to help them “fix” what was ailing them.

But alas, despite my best efforts, that too has not worked out as hoped. There are lots of “fixes” being bandied about, but I now believe the “problem” is systemic and we are way beyond the opportunity to fix it. Our ship of faith hit an iceberg of social change 50 years ago, and we still haven’t really noticed that the back half has fully disappeared below the water.

But through it all, my main passion, my common thread has been curiosity and Jesus.

I continue to learn and become more amazed at Jesus’ courage, wisdom, and bonding with/trusting in God.

I continue to hope that my own living will somehow be a small reflection of his.

And I continue to be curious about what new form the experience of God will take in this digital era.

Can you offer a word of wisdom to future generations of ministers? And lay members?
No one really knows what ways of being the church will work in the future. And what is working one place may not work in your place. So. Don’t be envious (or proud).

Experiment like crazy where you are.

Life dies when circumstance change and it doesn’t adapt its form to draw nourishment in new ways from the new environment – so LET GO OF YOUR FORM, and find a new way for the life that is in you to be fed and to give.

Unfortunately, death is part of life. And by and large, the form of the United Church as we have known it will not continue. I’m thinking we will not make it to our 100th anniversary in 2025.

Don’t confuse your calling with your expectations and circumstances. God IS calling you, has desires for you: your purpose and well-being, but never make the mistake of thinking that means happy circumstances.

Stay connected with colleagues – perhaps especially the ones who are like Samaritans to you (i.e., the despised but nonetheless related). They may very well be the ones who come to your rescue because they don’t cherish what you do and will cross boundaries you will not.

Remember. Our church was founded by those who were willing to let go of the beloved familiar for the desired unknown. Where that heart still beats, there is still life.

David Ewart,
www.davidewart.ca

Letter to a Colleague

I recently received an email from a colleague who wrote:

We certainly are in challenging times. Do you have opinions about the future? I know that I find ministry very challenging. Caught between the faithful members for whom church has been lifelong and they like traditional ways, a few people angry and frustrated that society no longer supports the church, and I get a sense from them, if I only was better, music was better, I was more creative, then we would just turn this all around. There are others who want a progressive liberal theology. I find it very hard and it takes too much energy to keep it all together and satisfied.  

You document the demise, do you point people to any signs of hope?

Below is my response (I've changed the name):

Hi Kirk,

My nick name is “Hero of Doom” so be forewarned when you ask me for my thoughts about the future.

The good news in the bad news is: It’s not your fault.

The bad news in the bad news is: It’s not fix-able.

The bad news is this: People are not going to church like they used to, and for the foreseeable future the numbers will continue to decline, and the reasons they are not going to church have nothing to do with anything the church can do anything about. The reasons are all based in the wider culture. I’m going to write a more coherent piece about this one day, but in the meanwhile here’s my first rant on this topic: Imperatives for Change.

I believe the number of people going to church will not reach zero. So there will still be congregations. The problem is that there are too many congregations to economically sustain the number of congregations we have. In cities, this means we are headed for a decade of closures / amalgamations. Same thing is likely for your area of towns and smaller cities, but the options for amalgamations with other United Churches is far more limited. A more likely scenario would be amalgamations of Presbyterian-Lutheran-United-Anglican in each town. But the chances of that are pretty slim given people’s commitment to their particular building and practices. Amalgamations take an enormous amount of volunteer time and energy precisely from groups that have little of either – and take energy away from what is actually needed – getting on with connecting with the few folks still interested church. Sadly, many congregations would rather close than attempt changes that would give future generations a chance to worship.

But the changes I am talking about are not sprucing things up: new music, a better minister, new paint. All of these things are changes that the people in the pews do NOT have to make. And I am talking about changes that the people in the pews must make.

The iron-clad rule of evolution is: When the environment changes, the organism must change its form or die.

And in our case, the “organism” is the people in the pews.

The kind of changes you have suggested are being asked for are all based on the false assumption that the environment has not fundamentally changed – that we can fix our problems with a new coat of paint, a new musical instrument, a new minister.

But it is the form of being church that has to change.

There simply are not enough people going to church to have 10 congregations in each town. This is a reality that each congregation CANNOT solve by itself.

Yes, yes, I know there will be that evangelical church down the road that everyone holds up as an example – except that no one is actually willing to follow their example. And even they cannot avoid the realities I am talking about – they too are mostly drawing on the last remnants of Christendom and have very low ability to actually attract truly secularized, non-churched folks. They too are in for a tough decade.

50% of active United Church clergy today are 55 or older, so the wave of retirements (combined with the lower numbers, and older ages of replacements) should allow everyone to find work regardless of declining attendance – but unfortunately that work will mostly be hard and without many “successes” in the usual sense of growing numbers and easily balanced budgets.

But as I said in a previous piece of writing: Our church was founded by people in the pews who left their beloved familiar for the desired unknown. Where that spirit can still be found there is still hope for the future.

Whatever else you take from this note Kirk, please take this away: It’s not your fault. So enjoy your sabbatical and don’t spend even a nanosecond trying to fix yourself so that this problem will go away.

All the best,
David Ewart,
www.davidewart.ca

Click here, "Letter to a Colleague," for an Adobe PDF copy of this post that you can easily print or email.

United Church of Canada People Trends - 2009 - Reflections

"These are Jeremiah days. The change that is coming will be more like the experience of exile than the Reformation."

When I charted the United Church data for the first time a year ago, my jaw dropped. And when I used Excel to forecast where we'd be on our 100th Anniversary in 2025, my heart sank.

Suddenly, sadly, the past 35 years of ministry began to make sense. What I knew in my bones was actually true:

The number of people coming to church was in steep decline. And there was no sign that they were ever coming back. And they weren't particularly troubled by that.
   
AND.
   
It wasn't just us. In fact, it wasn't just churches. Churches of all kinds are having the same experience; including all kinds of other volunteer organizations.

Now, it is true that everywhere you go, there are some congregations that are doing very well - including United Church congregations. And good on them. But overall, attendance is in steep decline, and for every church that is doing well, there will be 6 or 7 that are struggling and 2 or 3 that are closing because there just are not enough people going to church for all 10 to do well.

What do I mean by steep decline? 86% over the next 15 years. That's the forecast. Because over the past 10 years, we already actually have 100,000 fewer people coming to church each week.

And it's not just worship attendance. Here's what's forecast:

• Sunday School membership declines by 69%.
• New Members by profession of faith disappear altogether.
• Identified Givers to the Mission and Service Fund decline by 74%.
• Givers to Local Expenses by 52%.

And what we are living through is not like the Reformation where the church changed but society as a whole continued to be Christian, either Re-formed or Catholic.

What we are living through is more like the Exile where the people wondered how to sing the Lord's song in such a strange land. Only problem is, unlike the Exile, the "strange" land is our home. We can't even long for a place to return to.

The forecast says that the United Church cannot, and will not, exist in its present form 15 years from now.

Problem is, our present form has demonstrated remarkable tenacity and high resistance to change.

Problem is, evolution makes clear that organisms that don't change their forms in response to changed environments die.

Problem is, not all parts of the church feel the stress, and we keep believing this is a problem that can fixed instead of an irreversible change that can only be responded to:

Even if only 1 in 10 people continue to attend church, how can we change so that we will still be there as church for them?

That is a question that each congregation CANNOT address on its own.

Do we have the courage to die to all that we have separately known and loved, in order to be the church for those yet to be born?

In spite of all the evidence to the contrary - so far - I continue to believe that the adventuresome hearts that once left the loved familiar for the desired unknown still beat, and will rise to the challenge of the days ahead.

Click here to read, download, print, or email an Adobe PDF version of the full 18 pages of charts, United Church of Canada People Trends - 2009 based on the latest national statistics.

David Ewart,
www.davidewart.ca

United Church of Canada People Trends - 2009

 Click here to download, print, or email an Adobe PDF copy of the complete 18 page report, United Church of Canada People Trends - 2009. Below is the first page of this report.

Note: After a good nights sleep and some second thoughts, I noticed and corrected a few typos. I also found an error in a formula, and went back and revised the 2008 functions so that they give a fairer comparison to the new 2009 data. All these changes have been incorporated into the document you can download as of Jan 13, 2011, 3:10PM PST.

The following charts show the history up to 2009 of selected United Church of Canada data, and, based on the previous 10 years of data (2000-2009), projects what the data might be in 2025.

The chart below gives the actual data for 2008 and 2009, and compares the actual results for 2009 with the forecast.

 

In all cases the data declined from 2008 to 2009, and the 2009 actual results were less than the forecast with the notable exceptions of: Pastoral Charges, Baptisms; Sunday School Membership; and Through-the-Week Membership.

Note: For 2009, the ten years of data were examined using the LINEST and LOGEST functions of Microsoft Excel. If LINEST returned the highest coefficient of determination, r², then the straight line TREND function was used to project future values. If LOGEST returned the highest r² value, then the exponential GROWTH function was used. In all cases the r² values were higher than 0.96. And in all cases, the compared r2 values did not differ by more than 0.014. The r² values are noted for each chart. (For the non-statisticians among us, r² is a measure of “reliability.” It provides a measure of how well future outcomes are likely to be predicted. Generally speaking, if the r² value is greater than 95 than the result is considered valid.)

As a result of this process, the GROWTH function was chosen for Pastoral Charges, Baptisms (Children, Adults, and Total), Marriages, and Sunday School Membership. This resulted in changing the previous 2025 forecast of Zero. And to provide a fairer comparison between 2008 and 2009, the forecasts from 2008 were revised using the same functions.

New for 2009 is the inclusion of data for Adult Baptisms, and Identifiable Givers for both Local Expenses and the M&S Fund. While the forecasted declines are serious for all items, the 74% decline for M&S Givers is especially notable.

Buckle Up - Congregational Change Isn't Easy

Peter Steinke had an article, Buckle Up: Congregational Change Isn't Easy, in the November 16, 2010 issue of the Christian Century magazine. The article was adapted from his latest book, "A Door Set Open: Grounding Change in Mission and Hope."

It was good to read a respected leader such as Steinke acknowledge in print just how tough leading change is. And that there are as many "failures" as "successes."

Despite the scores of books, workshops and seminars devoted to transformational leadership, most congregations and leaders are not prepared to institute change on a systemic level. Yet we desperately need training—training that acknowledges three key factors:
1) Arduous effort is needed to move an emotional system to a new way of seeing itself.
    Fear and other emotions complicate all efforts.
2) Many pastors are not prepared to do transitional work in congregations.
3) It's absolutely critical that churches connect serious change with mission.

What I don't like about the article is that Steinke names only 3 key factors when I can think of at least 2 more:

4) Sound business planning and management.
5) Sustainable market share of the church-going audience.

I realize a short article can't cover all the bases, but no amount of re-setting the congregation's mission will overcome poor financial planning and management, or just plain lack of money. Many congregations rely on rental income but are poor property managers and are balancing their budgets by under-funding capital repairs and/or staffing.

We are solidly in an era of "spiritual but not religious," (which actually means, "individual personal preference but not personal sacrifice for the common good.") Which means over-all decline in volunteer organizations of all types - including churches of all types. Which in turn means that our market audience is in decline and fragmenting. Which means that no amount of re-setting the congregation's mission will necessarily overcome being located in an area of declining church attendance.

In other words, even Steinke's good advice about the perils of transformational leadership are, by themselves, only necessary but not sufficient, to address the total situation many congregations and their leaders must deal with.

And by failing to address to the total picture, articles and books on transformational leadership create false hopes that only further destroy the morale of leaders and congregations.

Having said this, I wish I'd seen an article like this 20 years ago. It would have gone a long way to help myself and many other colleagues recognize that congregational behaviours like:

• engage in conflict,
• suffer a malaise of spirit,
• decline in some statistical manner,
• adapt to their most immature members,
• fail to mobilize people's gifts and energy,
• surrender to apathy or complacency,
• do little planning,
• become turned in on themselves,
• blame outside forces (or perhaps one another) for their depression, and/or
• be unable to make effective, appropriate changes.

which Steinke identifies as systemic responses to mission drift were just that: systemic responses to mission drift and not to me personally or to my leadership.

I highly recommend the article, but with qualifications.

David Ewart,
www.davidewart.ca

Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF version of this post.

Permission is granted for non-profit use of my materials. Please acknowledge the source as, "David Ewart, www.davidewart.ca."

The Death of the American Liberal Class - Chris Hedges

Gee, I thought I was gloomy.

Sit down, clear your mind, turn off all distractions, and give 20 minutes to listen to this podcast of an interview with Chris Hedges on what's really goinf down in the U.S. of A.

The Death of American Liberalism - Chris Hedges

 

A Response to "The United Church at 100:" Imperatives For Change

As much as I appreciate the work that is being done to renew or re-vitalize the United Church of Canada through programs and conversations such as Emerging Spirit, "Called to be the Church," Worship Matters, and smaller events on leadership, spiritual practices, systems change, etc., etc. (and I DO appreciate them - been there; done that; bought the shelf-full of books) - nonetheless, all these efforts, in my humble opinion, are lacking a crucial element of analysis.

They do not attempt to describe broader social-economic-political-environmental changes and their impacts on being / doing church.

To date, most of these efforts at renewal examine the church only from our internal experience.

Attendance is down? We need a new minister! We need a projector! We need a band!

We don't ask:

Attendance is down? Is this just our congregation? How are other congregations faring? Other volunteer organizations? Are there differences between older-urban, newer-suburban, and rural? Differences over the decades? Differences between organizational strategies (e.g., having many smaller, local, congregations versus having larger, destination, mega-churches)?

It is important to ask these questions with due care and consideration because often our anxiety causes us to leap to false conclusions:

We are failing, but that evangelical church down the street is growing. It must be because they are biblical and we're not. Let's get a biblical minister. Let's start an Alpha course. Let's start singing praise songs.

Response to Lois Wilson Interview

The June 2010 issue of the United Church of Canada's Observer magazine contained an interview with Lois Wilson, who was Moderator (the national, elected leader) of the United Church 1980-82. 

I am disappointed with her remarks.

Lois has a false memory of the so called glory days. She forgets that after the raucous debate we didn't ALL just go out and have coffee together - many folks felt disenfranchised and complained about the manipulation of insiders - to which Lois herself belonged!

Trashing the current leadership is unworthy of one called to be an elder.

Lois also forgets that we (I mean those of us born between 1930 and 1945) inherited a church built by our parents. They endured the depression and WWII and lived the personal value of self-sacrifice - for the future of one's children and for the greater good of the community. It was their willingness to save and pay in full for what they built and purchased - instead of mortgaging onto generations yet to come - that gave us the freedom and wealth to be that wonderful church she remembers.

That brief blip of time following WWII when the middle class had both increasing wealth AND a modest amount of free time was what fed the "success" of the United Church, and also what provided the luxury of the education, travel, time and money it takes for middle class people to take up the hobby of social justice.

Lois is right that the church needs to find a new way of being, but offers no understandings of the current realities of Canadian society, nor of what way of being the church would be sustainable.

The good old days are gone for good - and my generation needs give whole-hearted encouragement - with deeply-felt apologies for the mess we have created - to those who are doing their best to figure out the way forward.

David Ewart,
www.davidewart.ca