Election 2021: The EFC Urges Prayer for Political Leaders
As we await the final tallies, a Liberal minority government is anticipated. The EFC would like to thank all those involved in the electoral process: those who ran for office, those who volunteered, and those who worked for Elections Canada. We want to thank everyone who took the time to vote. Exercising the right to vote is crucial to the well-being of our democracy. Remember to pray for our political leaders and for our country.
Deconstructing Faith, Growing Up in Christ: New Article and Webinar
Religion’s failures are pushing some Evangelicals to change — but into what? Faith Today recently published Peter Schuurman’s analysis of the trend of Christians “deconstructing” their faith.
It examines Christians "who doubt that the faith they have received is the fully refined good God intends, and are seeking to sift out the dross and keep what is most precious." Christians who use the term deconstruction today are either shifting from one Christian tradition to another or else they are leaving Christianity entirely, suggests Schuurman.
In addition to his article now on the Faith Today website, Schuurman will be the special guest at a webinar on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. Eastern hosted by Faith Today editors Karen Stiller and Bill Fledderus.
Register today to join this webinar discussion live at FaithToday.ca/Webinars. Get more unique Canadian Christian journalism like this by signing up at FaithToday.ca/SubscribeFree.
New Faith Today Podcast: The Joy of Multi-Cultural
Tim Tang spoke with us about being intentionally intercultural in church and how we can grow in that area. If we only see people who look like ourselves in our congregation, there is probably room to grow. Tim Tang is the director of the Tyndale Intercultural Ministries Centre at Tyndale University in Toronto.
Four Ways Churches Can Observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Starting this year, Canada will have a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30. The new federal statutory holiday honours the survivors of residential schools as well as their families and communities. It’s an opportunity for all of us who call Canada home to reflect, learn and act. A new post on the EFC website offers ideas about where to begin.
New EFC Weekly Prayer Prompts
This week’s prayer request is about children and youth. You can learn more on these issues at TheEFC.ca/ChildrenandYouth.
Pray for our culture to affirm the dignity and worth of all children and youth, for wisdom and relevance in teaching our kids, and for families in crisis. Pray also for ministries to children and youth, for children and youth needing a permanent home, for youth aging-out of government care and for those vulnerable to enter prostitution. Pray finally for children and youth who see media portrayals of anti-social and harmful behaviours, including violent and degrading pornography.
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 Every Home for Christ, which exists to serve the Church by equipping and mobilizing believers to participate in sharing the truth and love of Jesus with every person and home on earth.
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 this Wednesday, 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.
EFC Granted Intervenor Status in B.C. 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.
→ 40 Days for Life (40 DFL), online and various locations, Sept. 22-Oct. 31
→ Canadian Indigenous Realities and the Church (Ray Aldred, Food For the Hungry), online, Sept. 22
→ See You at the Pole, at participating schools, Sept. 22
→ Mission Leaders Conference (Missio Nexus), online from Dallas, Texas, Sept. 22-24
→ The Timothy Trust Preachers’ Refresher (The Met), Landsdowne, Ont., Sept. 27-29
→ Conversations with Carol Graham (Women Together), online, Sept. 29
→ Human Sexuality and Christian Ethics (Salvation Army), online Mondays from Sept. 27
→ Inscribe Fall Writers Conference (Inscribe), online, Sept. 30–Oct. 2
→ Atlantic Church Leaders Roundtable (Kingswood University), Moncton, N.B., Oct. 1
→ Life Chain (Campaign Life Coalition), online, Oct. 3
→ Faith Deconstruction: Faith Today webinar with Peter Schuurman, Oct. 5
→ The Jesus-Centred Way in a Polarized World (Jesus Collective), online, Wednesdays Oct. 6-Nov. 27
→ EFC Zoom Prayer for Thanksgiving and Newly Elected Government and Officials, Oct. 7
→ Watercooler Break for Communications Workers (CCCA), online, Oct. 8
→ EFC Speaker at Calvary Pembroke Church, Pembroke, Oct. 10
→ Change Conference 2021 (Change Conference), online, Oct. 15
→ Called 2021: Relentless Online Conference (Women Together), Oct. 16
→ Global Leadership Summit (GLN Canada), online, Oct. 21-22
→ Courage and Calling: A Christian Response to Medical Assistance in Dying (CMDA and EFC), online, Oct. 23
Sign Up Now: 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). Sign up now 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.
In Case You Missed It
→ Doors Open in Cuba and Nicaragua (EFC website article)
→ Election Priorities (Faith Today column by John Stackhouse)
→ Our Election Posture (Faith Today column by Bruce Clemenger)