June 20, 2023
Ignite Prayer Summit Videos
The Ignite prayer and worship seminar and summit to cultivate united prayer across Canada for unity and spiritual awakening was a success, with many encouraging reports.
The videos of the seminars on "Cultivating a Culture of Prayer" by Ray and Fran Duerksen and Jason Matta in Calgary, and Jacob George in Kelowna, and the livestream public prayer and worship gathering in Calgary, are now available.
The next Ignite gathering is being held in Vancouver on November 17 at Broadway Church. For more information, visit TheEFC.ca/Ignite.
Government Matching Certain Donations for East Africa Crisis
To respond to the drought and other crises in East Africa, the federal government announced last week that it will match individual donations made by Canadians to the Humanitarian Coalition before June 30. Learn more.
National Indigenous Peoples Day
Tomorrow, June 21, is National Indigenous Peoples Day. Do you know there are evangelical connections with the establishment and celebration of this day? Learn more in a new post at TheEFC.ca/NIPD.
Faith Today Podcast: How to Help People Who Are Grieving
"Companionship in grief: How we can bring grace to a bereaved person" is an award-winning essay by Susie Colby, published in print last July. The author reads the article for us in this podcast.
Have you checked out Faith Today TV?
Episodes of Faith Today TV can be viewed at on the Faith Today site, or on the YouTube channel. The current lineup features the “Church in Community” show, taking viewers inside the creative efforts of local Canadian churches to serve their neighbours, with an emphasis on tips and advice for churches that might want to offer something new to their communities. The “Take Away Show” features the best take away advice or insights from the award-winning Faith Today Podcast.
How Much Faith Should We Place in Science?
How much faith should we place in science? Ontario physics professor Robert Mann calls Christians to seek new ways to build bridges of trust with the scientific community. Read his blog post.
Top 10 Content at Faith Today
What were the most popular articles at Faith Today online last year? We ran the numbers a little belatedly, but nonetheless here's our top 10 from 2022, along with links to top 10 from previous years. This is a great chance to let us know what you'd like more of next year.
A Sheep Farmer’s Understanding of the 23rd Psalm
“There’s a bond between sheep and shepherd. When I first got sheep, I had names for them all.”
Bethanee Jensen owns and operates Shepherd’s Fold, a sheep farm near Belgrave, Ont. Faith Today writer Amy Gabriel asked her how her work gives her perspective on Psalm 23.
Subscriptions to Faith Today are now free across Canada! Sign up at FaithToday.ca/Subscribe.
This Week’s Prayer Prompts
This week’s prayer request is for religious freedom/conscience protection.
Pray offering thanks to God for the freedom of religion we currently enjoy. Pray for boldness to follow God’s calling to be salt and light, for our nation to allow religious communities to exist and flourish, and for wisdom for the courts and elected officials. Pray also for organizations and individuals who feel pressure to act in ways contrary to their consciences.
Each week we also list an EFC affiliate to pray for. This week, pray for CMDA Canada, which exists to engage, encourage, and equip Christian doctors and dentists to glorify God by integrating faith in practice.
You can always find the week’s prayer prompts at TheEFC.ca/TakeAction.
→ World Refugee Sunday, June 18; World Refugee Day, June 20
→ Learn About the Peace and Reconciliation Network; Meet Joel Zantingh, new Cdn coordinator (PRN), online, June 20
→ National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21
→ Stories of Transformation in Canada (TOWC), online, June 27
→ God Heal Our Land (Overflow/Love on Hamilton/Phoenix Rising Center), Hamilton, July 1
→ B.C. Christian Ashram Retreat (TWU), Langley, July 7-8
→ Deepening Understanding for Intercultural Ministry (CCC/FILL/St. Stephen’s College), Edmonton, July 10-14
→ Praying for Canada (Canadian Missions Conference), online, July 20
→ Stories of Transformation in Canada (TOWC), online, July 25
In Case You Missed It
→ Job Openings: pastor (Red Deer, Montreal, Brampton, Saint John, Ottawa); Montreal director of leadership programs; and more (FaithToday.ca/Classifieds)
→ Hastened Death for Mental Illness Delayed, But Needs to Be Stopped (EFC info and call to action)
→ Two Take Action Brochures: Euthanasia for Youth, Euthanasia for Mental Illness
→ Organizing a Church-Led Donation Drive (Faith Today column)
→ How to Read Our Bibles Better (Faith Today podcast)
→ Megachurch Monopoly on Church Music (Faith Trends podcast)