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EFC Update Newsletter September 14, 2021

14 September 2021
 

Our Election Posture (Faith Today Column by Bruce Clemenger)

Canadians are going to the polls again in less than a week, on September 20. How should Christians approach elections? EFC President Bruce Clemenger challenges Christian voters not to succumb to “ignorance, indifference or willful blindness” and to “pray for wisdom and grace that we might engage well and vote wisely.”

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Election Priorities (Column by John Stackhouse)

We all have opinions during election campaigns, but John Stackhouse reminds us to put our beliefs into action, too: “During this election campaign, I might enjoy sounding off on social media and in personal conversation about how crucial to me is a candidate’s stance on abortion, climate change, racial justice or euthanasia...However, could anyone tell from looking at my own life that these issues truly matter to me?”

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Election Resources for Churches

The EFC offers a variety of election resources you can freely reproduce and distribute for your church or other gatherings. With less than a week to go before Election 2021, you can still ask questions of your candidates. Go straight to the EFC's list of questions in our EFC Election Engagement Kit 2021.

You can find all our latest election resources at TheEFC.ca/Election. We also have election slides for social media and group presentations and a general one-page brochure (also in French or Chinese) on faith and political engagement.

EFC Granted Intervenor Status in BC Case

The EFC has been granted intervenor status in a BC Human Rights Tribunal case to argue for the ability of religious groups to rent their facilities in a way that is consistent with their beliefs. This case involves a Catholic parish that refused to rent out their meeting facility for a fundraising event by a group whose purposes were deemed to be in conflict with church teaching.

Doors Open in Cuba and Nicaragua

God is opening doors for Scripture distribution in Cuba and Nicaragua, according to a new report from ShareWord Global/The Gideons International in Canada. Read their update, reprinted on our website.

New EFC Weekly Prayer Prompts 

This week’s prayer request is about poverty. You can learn more on these issues at TheEFC.ca/PovertyandHomelessness.

Pray for opportunity, security, provision, hope and freedom for those who cannot meet their basic needs or who are at risk of becoming homeless. For agencies and churches who provide food, shelter, clothing, job training, support and friendship. For us to hear and be moved by God’s love and call to serve those who are in need.

Each week at TheEFC.ca/TakeAction we rotate through a prayer request from each of these five areas: Sanctity of Life, Care for the Vulnerable, Church and Mission, Family and Community, Religious Freedom. We also list an EFC affiliate group to pray for.

This week, we highlight Foodgrains Bank, a partnership of 15 Canadian churches and church-based agencies working together to end global hunger.

Covid 19 and the restrictions have a significant impact on our lives. The EFC continues to offer new Friday@4 pandemic-focused prayer suggestions each week at TheEFC.ca/Covid-19.

Does Your Charity Have a Christmas Gift Catalogue This Year?

Let us know! We’re compiling a list of Christmas gift catalogues for our Faith Today readers, and we want to be sure we don’t miss one. Send us an email at info@faithtoday.ca with a link to your charity’s catalogue by Sept 22.

Looking to Hire or be Hired?

Faith Today's website currently has online classified listings for four pastor positions (in New Glasgow, N.S., and Ontario cities of Erin, Port Hope and Toronto), a chief financial officer, an accounting/finance associate, a major gifts officer (covering Ontario and the Maritimes), a professor of psychology/counselling, and also some part-time positions. Check it out or post your help wanted ads at faithtoday.ca/classifieds.

Coming Events at TheEFC.ca/Calendar 

→ 2021 MK Caregivers Summit (MK Caregivers), online from Dallas, Texas, Sept. 13-16
→ Developing Intercultural Leaders for Missional Ministry (TIM Centre), online Tuesdays from Sept. 14
→ Marilyn Gladu: from Engineer to Politician (Women Together), online, Sept. 14
→ Canadian International Faith & Family Film Festival (CIFF), online Sept. 17-18
→ Expressive Worship for Canada (All In Worship), online Sept. 18
→ 40 Days for Life, online Sept. 22-Oct. 31
→ Canadian Indigenous Realities and the Church (Ray Aldred, Food For the Hungry), online, Sept. 22 
→ See You at the Pole, participating local schools, Sept. 22
→ Mission Leaders Conference Innovate 2021 (Missio Nexus), online from Dallas, Texas, Sept. 22-24 
→ The Timothy Trust Preachers’ Refresher (The Met), Landsdowne, Ont., Sept. 27-29
→ Human Sexuality and Christian Ethics series (Salvation Army), online Mondays from Sept. 27 (register by Sept. 20)
→ Conversations With Carol Graham (Women Together), online Sept. 29
→ Atlantic Church Leaders Roundtable (Kingswood University), Moncton, N.B., Oct. 1
→ Faith Deconstruction: Faith Today webinar with Peter Schuurman, Oct. 5
→ EFC Zoom Prayer for Thanksgiving and Newly Elected Government and Officials, Oct. 7
→ Online Learning Collective: Exploring the Jesus-Centred Way in a Polarized World (Jesus Collective), online, Wednesdays Oct. 6-Nov. 27

Save the Date: Join the EFC’s Online Book Discussion

On Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. Eastern, we’ll be hosting a discussion on what it looks like for a congregation to flourish. It will draw on the book Signs of Life: Catholic, Mainline, and Conservative Protestant Congregations in Canada (Tyndale Academic, 2021). Plan to join co-author Joel Thiessen of Ambrose University in Calgary, engage in a live Q and A and take part in breakout group discussion. Order the book today from your local bookstore so you can read it by November.

Nouvelles ressources en français / New French-language resources

Brochure : Élection fédérale: Foi, vote et engagement politique
Le travail sur la conscience se poursuit pendant la pause parlementaire
Entretien avec David Hearn, président du conseil d'administration de l’AEC
Sur la colline du Parlement d’août-septembre 2021
Mise à jour de l’AEC sur les relations avec les autochtones
Visitez
www.laec.ca.

In Case You Missed It 

→ Helping Haiti After the Earthquake and Other Disaster Responses (EFC website article) 
→ Sleeping While The Kingdom Comes (Faith Today website post) 
→ The FT interview with Joanna la Fleur