The EFC Presents Three Centres for Ministry
Every now and then we all reorganize ourselves for a fresh perspective. The EFC has done that recently, with a slight reorganization into three more clearly defined centres for ministry. These centres will help us do our work well and communicate about that work even more effectively. Learn more about the Centre for Faith and Public Life in Ottawa, the Centre for Ministry Partnership and Innovation and the Centre for Research on Church and Faith in the latest issue of the EFC newsletter Canada Watch at TheEFC.ca/CanadaWatch. Aussi disponible en français.
Summer Citizenship Challenge: Make One Positive Contact With Your Local MP
The EFC is challenging Canadians to make a positive connection with their Member of Parliament this summer. Connecting with your MP is a way of following Scripture’s call to pray for those in authority over us, and it creates a positive context for future interactions. Read more in the EFC’s recent blog post.
Bill on Pornography Age and Consent Verification
Bill C-270 is a private member's bill that would require commercial pornography sites to verify the age and consent of people depicted before posting their images or videos. Today the EFC sent a letter of support to the sponsoring MP Arnold Viersen, Join the EFC and ask your MP to support Bill C-270. Learn more and find a sample letter you can use to write your MP at TheEFC.ca/C-270.
Action Kit to Halt Expansion of MAiD
People with mental illness as their sole underlying medical condition will become eligible for medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in March 2023. This change was passed into law in 2021, with a two-year delay before the change would take effect. Many Canadians are seriously concerned about this change, including the EFC. Please join us in asking MPs to halt this expansion of MAID for mental illness alone. The EFC now offers a kit showing how each of us can take action at TheEFC.ca/MAIDreview.
EFC Job Opening for Fundraising Researcher
The EFC is looking for a part-time Prospect Researcher, Major Gifts, to join the EFC Development team. The role involves research to identify and provide insight on high net-worth individuals, private foundations and corporations. Application deadline is August 16. Learn more at TheEFC.ca/jobs.
New Podcast Series: All Things Reconciled
Our newsfeeds are full of disturbing and discouraging stories from the war in Ukraine and other places of conflict. The stories that are less frequently heard are the equally true accounts of reconciliation and peacemaking. The All Things Reconciled Podcast tells those stories. Canadian hosts Jeannette Böhm and Phil Wagler work with the Peace and Reconciliation Network of the World Evangelical Alliance. Series 1 of the podcast, produced by the EFC, launched on July 5 and focuses on Ukraine. The four episodes can be found at TheEFC.ca/Podcasts.
Faith Trends Podcast: Two July Episodes
Faith Trends is an EFC podcast of conversations that connect research and ministry. Join co-hosts Lindsay Callaway and Rick Hiemstra as they help us understand who we are as the Canadian Church. Its two most recent episodes are: Second-Generation Chinese Evangelicals, with Enoch Wong (July 15) and Needs of Women Ministry Leaders, with Amy Vetter (July 4).
A Parent Discipling a Young Child
“Being a mom is shaping both how I disciple and how I am discipled,” writes Stephanie Christianson, a “certified theology nerd” at Horizon College and Seminary in Saskatoon, Sask. Read her guest column in the latest issue of Faith Today. (And did you know Canadian residents can get a subscription to the magazine for free? Sign up at FaithToday.ca/SubscribeFree.)
This Week’s EFC Prayer Prompts
Each week at TheEFC.ca/TakeAction, we rotate through a prayer request from five areas. This week we’re praying about Sanctity of Life.
Specifically, we invite you to join us in praying that churches in Canada will increasingly be inviting and caring to people with disabilities.
This week, our affiliate to pray for is Christian Horizons, a non-profit, developmental services organization that helps people experiencing disabilities accomplish their goals and thrive in communities where their God-given gifts are valued and respected.
Also, we just updated our Friday@4 pandemic-focused prayer suggestions. Find new ones each month at TheEFC.ca/Covid-19.
→ How Biblical Poetry Offers Hope in Suffering (Beth Stovell/Regent College), online/in-person in Vancouver, August 3
→ Global Leadership Summit 2022 (GLN Canada), online simulcast to various locations, Aug. 4-5
→ Marriage Enrichment Retreat (Focus on the Family Canada), Priddis, Alta., Aug. 5-7
→ International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, August 22
→ Consumed - A Sacred Quest 3-year spiritual growth program (Renovaré), online weekly with 2 retreats a year in Saskatoon, Sask., starts Sept. 1
→ Perseverance: Moving Towards Greater Mental Wellness (Agora), online Sept. 10
In Case You Missed It
→ Christian Reformed Affirm Traditional Teaching on Sex (Faith Today website)
→ The View from Star Wars Celebration. (Faith Today website)
→ How MAiD is Transforming Canadian End of Life Care (Faith Today feature article)
→ Eight New Articles in French / Huit nouveaux articles traduit de « Faith Today »
→ Review of Prostitution Laws Released: Advocacy Needed (EFC website)
→ Doing What One Can Do and A Week Alongside Ukraine (Dispatches from Brian Stiller)
→ Building Deep-Rooted Relationships: What will it take to improve relationships between the Church and Indigenous Peoples? (FaithToday.ca/Reconciling blog)