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EFC Update Newsletter - January 18

18 January 2022

Join January Discussion on Witness in Canada

A week of nationwide conversations through the OCC Online Forum takes place on Jan. 23-29. Christians will join virtually from various parts of the Church in Canada consider how others are innovating and explore together how God is leading us in areas such as:

  • Christian hospitality and the opportunity to become a welcome church
  • Faith at work collaboration
  • Scattered but gathered (the “diaspora” in Canada)
  • Collaborating inter-culturally: A nice idea or what God intends?
  • Understanding Indigenous realities
  • Applying these topics to my context.

Register soon at www.ourcommoncalling.ca.

Senator’s Bill to Protect Children and Youth

A senator’s bill to protect children and youth from sexually explicit material online is moving through the Senate. Read more about Bill S-210 at TheEFC.ca/S-210 and contact your MP to ask for support for the bill when it reaches the House of Commons.

French Prayer Summit Now Online

La Rencontre au Sommet 2022, the francophone Quebec prayer summit supported by the EFC, has switched to a virtual format. Two Zoom sessions are now planned for Jan. 24 from 7-8:30 p.m. Eastern and Jan. 25 from 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Eastern. Find more information and register here.

The EFC Welcomes New Major Gifts Officer

The EFC welcomes Jacob Birch as our new Major Gifts Officer for Eastern Canada. He looks forward to connecting with our faithful supporters and sharing updates of our current initiatives.

Faith Trends Podcast: Trends in Christian Contemporary Music

​Times are changing and so is the way we worship. ​In this episode of the EFC’s newest podcast, host Lindsay Callaway talks to two of the researchers responsible for a recent study on the trends in worship music in the last 25 years – Marc Jolicoeur, pastor of worship & creative arts at Moncton Wesleyan Church in New Brunswick, and Mike Tapper, chair of the religion department at Southern Wesleyan University in South Carolina.

We hate to make you wait, but an upcoming article from Worship Leader magazine and the Mar/Apr Faith Today cover story will shed more light on this research into the rise and fall of worship songs. 

Is the Church Divided? Faith Today column by David Guretzki

It would be hard to argue that the Church is actually united these days, writes EFC Vice-President and Resident Theologian David Guretzki. Yet, according to Paul, “the unity of the Church depends not on the effort of Christians, but on the very nature of God Himself.”

Win a Book, Meet the Author of Refuge Reimagined and Explore How We Can Better Journey with Displaced People

Our discussion with author and Regent College professor Mark Glanville is coming up. Sign up today at TheEFC.ca/MeetTheAuthor to join EFC hosts Ilana Reimer and Bill Fledderus on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Eastern (4 Pacific, 5 Mountain, 6 Central, 8 Atlantic). Mark will share about his book Refuge Reimagined: Biblical Kinship in Global Politics (IVP Academic, 2021). If you’re a book reader, why not order it now from your local bookstore or public library and read it beforehand? We have three copies to give away. Find and follow Faith Today on Instagram or Facebook to find out how to join in.

Worldwide, people are forcefully displaced from their homes in increasing numbers. How can we extend solidarity and share responsibility for those affected by these crises? Glanville will share his perspective on how we can generously, creatively and engage with hope with refugee issues in our communities.

New EFC Weekly Prayer Prompts 

January 18-25 is the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Pray that the Church will grow into maturity, the unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God (Ephesians 4:13).

Each week at 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 invite you to pray for the EFC as we work out our mission to unite Evangelicals to bless Canada in the name of Jesus.

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.

Coming Events at TheEFC.ca/Calendar

→ Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25
→ Women Leaders Discuss Biblical Leadership Principles (Women Together), online, Jan. 19
→ OneWay Ministries Workplace Summit, online and in Ottawa, Jan. 19
→ World Watch List Release (Open Doors Canada), online, Jan. 19
→ Creator’s Call in a Climate Emergency (Mennonite Church Canada), online, Jan. 20
→ Tips from the Winning Christian Communicators (CCCA), online, Jan. 21, Feb. 18
→ Suffering Well and Suffering With (SA Ethics Centre), online Mondays starting Jan. 24
→ Our Common Calling Forum (EFC/Lausanne/CCCC/CHEC), online, Jan. 23-28
→ Rencontre au sommet 2022 (EFC’s French prayer summit), Jan. 24-25
→ Conversations With Cyndi Desjardins Wilkens (Women Together), online, Jan. 26
→ Meet the Author of Refuge Reimagined (EFC/Mark Glanville), online, Jan. 26
→ EFC Prayer Gathering of National and Regional Church Leaders, online, Jan. 26
→ Business Coalition “Create Conference” Webinar (World Evangelical Alliance), online, Jan. 28
→ 911 Response to Mental Health (Agora Ministries), Scarborough, Ont., Jan. 29
→ God, Science and the Pandemic (Philip Yancey/Am. Scientific Affil.), online Jan. 29
→ Calvin Symposium on Worship (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship), online Jan. 31-Feb. 4
→ Making Peace in a Polarized World (Jesus Collective), online, Feb. 2, 16, March 2
→ Watercooler Break for Communications Workers (CCCA), online, Feb. 11
→ Ending Poverty Together Workshop (Food for the Hungry), online, Feb. 12
→ Racism & the Church: How then Shall We Live? (Acadia Divinity College), online Feb. 15
→ Self-Care While Caring for Others (Acadia Divinity College), online Feb. 15
→ Ottawa Region Charity & Not-for-Profit Law Webinar (Carters), online Feb. 17

In Case You Missed It 

Living in the Light of His Kingdom (Faith Today column by EFC president)
EFC Annual Report
Dispatch from World Evangelical Alliance Ambassador: Post-Covid Church
New Podcast: Funerals. Yes Funerals. (Faith Today podcast with EFC vice-president)
Concern over Government Plans on Crisis Pregnancy Centres