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EFC Update Newsletter February 14

14 February 2023
 

Webinar Next Tuesday: Supporting Canadians to Live: On MAiD + How the Church Can Engage 

Sign up to join us online Feb. 21 for a webinar by the EFC and Christian Medical and Dental Association of Canada. It will provide an overview of what’s happening with MAiD and share some ways we, as individuals and churches, can engage. We’ll learn how to advocate for meaningful alternatives to MAiD and hear about some helpful resources. The webinar will be at noon Eastern. Sign up today (includes the option to download an electronic calendar reminder). 

Bill to Delay Assisted Dying for Mental Illness  

A bill that would delay the expansion of MAiD for mental illness until March 2024 is being debated in the House of Commons. Bill C-39 is expected to pass in the House of Commons and move to the Senate tomorrow (Feb. 15). Please pray for the bill to pass in the Senate. Please continue to pray for a complete stop to the expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying.  

What One Person Can Do to Help a Community Address Our Laws on MAiD 

Read what happened when a woman phoned the EFC asking how she could raise her concerns about Medical Assistance in Dying laws at a local church board meeting. This blog post also links to the EFC’s new six-minute video update on MAiD. 

“Trauma-Friendly Church” Mini-Course  

Our neighbourhoods, schools, workplaces and churches are filled with people who have experienced large and small traumas. Are you equipped to welcome them? Is your church equipped to love, serve and disciple them? 

The Peace & Reconciliation Network invites you and your community to learn the posture and attitude of Christ toward the traumatized through our "Trauma-Friendly Church" self-directed mini-course with trauma therapist Brenton Diaz. 

To access the course and get started simply click here. We encourage you to walk through it with a small group or team. If you take the course, you'll also have an option to be part of a Zoom Q&A with trauma therapist Brenton Diaz. 

Bill C-311: Violence Against Pregnant Women Act 

A new bill would make knowingly abusing or harming a pregnant woman an aggravating factor for judges to consider in sentencing. MP Cathay Wagantall introduced Bill C-311 in the House of Commons on Jan. 31, 2023. For more information and a sample letter you can use to contact your MP, see TheEFC.ca/C311.  

The Story Behind EFC’s New Resource Life Together 

EFC policy director Julia Beazley tells the story of why and how the EFC put together its new resource on disability and belonging. Life Together: Disability and Belonging in the Church is now available online and in print. It touches on important issues including human dignity, discrimination against people with disabilities and the impact of Canada’s MAiD laws. Get the story behind the resource.

New Podcast Episodes Reflect on Reconciliation 

All Things Reconciled is a podcast series from the Peace and Reconciliation Network. Recently it released three new episodes, available at TheEFC.ca/All-Things.  

Episode 2.1 features Johannes Reimer, director of public engagement for the World Evangelical Alliance, reflecting on how the life of an angry prisoner can be transformed into a witness of God’s reconciling mission. In episode 2.2 he reflects on how reconciliation can move beyond ideas and even theologies to the practical everyday realities of society, politics, church life, family and creation care. In episode 2.3 hosts Jeanette Böhm and Phil Wagler wrestle with the hope of reconciliation in their own stories. 

All Things Reconciled is produced by the EFC. Listeners subscribed to the related Faith Today Podcast get these episodes automatically. The PRN is a commission of the World Evangelical Alliance. Series 1 of the podcast launched in July 2022 and focuses on Ukraine. 

Latest Faith Today Podcasts on Caregiving, Mental Health 

Marjorie J. Thompson has reassuring and encouraging words for us on the spirituality of caregiving. She is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, teacher, writer and retreat leader who mentored under Henri Nouwen.  

In another podcast Daniel Whitehead, CEO of Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries, shares his own journey with mental health and the Church, and casts a beautiful vision for all the Church could be.  

Ignite Prayer and Worship Summits Coming to Four Cities    

Christians in four regions will hold Ignite Prayer and Worship Summits this April and May to pray for unity, spiritual awakening, church vitality and healing. Earlier the same day, pastors and other church leaders will gather in a seminar to focus on cultivating a strong culture of prayer in each local church.   
   
Join us in Ottawa (April 14), Calgary (April 20), Kelowna (April 28) and Regina (May 5). There are no fees for the seminar (which concludes with an evening meal for registrants) or the evening public gathering.   
   
For more details and to register for the afternoon seminar/dinner, visit TheEFC.ca/Ignite. There’s also a media release you can share at TheEFC.ca/Media.    

Co-hosts include the EFC, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada, National House of Prayer, Peace & Reconciliation Network, and Vineyard Canada.   

Israel’s Sabbath Year and What It Can Teach Us About Rest  

Resting isn’t just about the individual doing the resting, reflects Faith Today staff Rachel Baarda after a trip to Israel sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Tourism.  

Do You Know What Is Happening in Armenia?

Craig Simonian of the Peace and Reconciliation Network helps explain the current suffering of Armenians in Artsakh in the latest post at FaithToday.ca/AllThingsReconciled.

We‘re Hiring a Research Assistant   

The EFC’s Centre for Research on Church and Faith is hiring a research assistant to work in our Ottawa office. The application deadline is March 8. Learn more at TheEFC.ca/Jobs.     

This Week’s Prayer Prompts   

This week’s prayer request is about family and community. Pray for a culture that respects and fosters faithful, committed relationships; for the marriages and family relationships of the people you know; for wisdom and relevance in teaching our kids; for families in crisis; and for children and youth in government care needing a permanent home. 

Catch up with some of the EFC’s latest initiatives in this area at TheEFC.ca/Family (click “What’s Happening”).

This week's EFC affiliate highlight focuses on Yonge Street Mission. It provides programs and services designed specifically to support and propel our neighbours to remove barriers in their lives, overcome poverty and reach their personal goals.

You can always find the week’s prayer prompts at TheEFC.ca/TakeAction.   

Coming Events at TheEFC.ca/Calendar                          

→ Leaving a Godly Legacy (Women Together), online, Feb. 15   
→ Does the Bible Lie? Accommodation and Cosmology (CSCA), Hamilton, Feb. 17  
→ EFC Prayer for Education and Ministry Organization Affiliates, online, Feb. 22 
→ Love Ottawa Easter Blood Drive Info Meeting (Love Ottawa), online, Feb. 21, 23 
→ Shaping Disciples Who Practice the Jesus Way in a Judgmental World, online, Feb. 23+Mar. 2  
→ PowerUp Gospel Music Workshop (York University), Toronto, Feb. 23-26
→ Theology Pub Night (Wycliffe College), online or in-person in Toronto, Feb. 23
→ Coldest Night of the Year Fundraising Walk (nationwide), Feb. 25
→ Today’s Teens, online/Oakville, Feb. 25
→ Developing Pathways to Jesus for Immigrants in Your Neighbourhood (LMT), online, Feb. 25
→ Business as Mission Vancouver 2023 Conference, Feb. 25
→ A Christian Scientist in a Secular University: Gary Partlow’s Faith Journey (CSCA), Waterloo, Feb. 26

Discounted Tickets for Outpour YA Conference in Ontario      

Know someone who’d love to attend a Christ-focused young adult conference on March 4 in Scarborough, Ont.? Love Is Moving (the EFC’s publication for young adults) is offering 50% off tickets for Outpour (formerly Fluid). Young adults attending a church affiliated with the EFC can purchase tickets using the discount code LOVEISMOVING23. Find out if your church is an affiliate by searching for your church’s name on this list.        

In Case You Missed It        

How to Help with Earthquake Relief in Turkiye and Syria
New Research Highlights Unique Aspects of Small Canadian Churches 
A Free New EFC Resource on Disability, Belonging and Ableism in Churches  
Parking Lot Disaster Showed God at Work (Faith Today blog) 
→ Job Openings: Vice president academic (Hamilton); pastor (Lethbridge, Montreal, Brampton, Toronto, Ottawa, Sault Ste Marie, Uxbridge); Toronto congregational justice and mercy coordinator; Montreal director of leadership programs; and more (FaithToday.ca/Classifieds)         
The Power to Do Good: The Use and Misuse of Power in the Church (new free course by EFC affiliate)  
EFC Work on MAiD Continues (Canada Watch EFC newsletter)  
A Heartfelt Movement of Reconciliation in the Christian Reformed Church (Faith Today blog)  
The Season of Revelation (Faith Today column by David Guretzki)