Dr. Margaret Webster
1983 Educator of the Year

"Educators must be prepared continually to re-evaluate their own worthiness to give leadership in educational endeavors which are truly significant. The educator who is doing a superb job in education for the whole congregation is most often seen as a person 'needed' in the life of the congregation. Continuous evaluation requires frequent review of our own philosophy of church education as well as our procedures for administration and actual teaching."

There are moments in life when we can anticipate a special occasion and prepare ourselves for the joy it will bring. One of these moments for many, and especially for the Canadian delegates at the APCE Event in Philadelphia, was the announcement of Dr. Margaret Webster as the 1983 Educator of the Year.

Dr. Webster's dedication and hard work as Principal of Ewart College and Professor of Christian Education have helped to shape and encourage a serious response to Christian education in the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Her influence has been felt internationally, also, as President of the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education, 1981, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Religious Education Association of the United States and Canada.

Equally important as her academic prowess, her administrative and teaching skills, is her own presence as a person of grace and compassion. Her work with students, in camping, in counselling, her encouragement of people in her church community, her gentleness and concern for children, her desire to see adults grow in their faith, give us some sense of the stature of this gracious Canadian lady, whose will to bring hope and faith to the people of her church and community was in a real way recognized in Philadelphia at the APCE event.