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June 14, 2016

13 June 2016

THE EFC UPDATE - 2016.06.14
Uniting Evangelicals to bless Canada in the name of Jesus

Sign up to receive the EFC Update via email every Tuesday to keep up with current news from The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

CONTACT YOUR MP: LIMIT HARM OF ASSISTED SUICIDE
EFC supporters are encouraged – as soon as possible – to ask their MP to reject Senate amendments that would widen the range of people eligible for assisted suicide and euthanasia. Greater conscience protection is also needed for medical professions and institutions. See our June 10 video update. Learn more about what you can do about assisted dying.

MORE THAN 25,000 SIGN DECLARATION
Thank you to all who signed the Declaration Against Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. The EFC sent a copy of the declaration with a June 9 letter to the Ministers of Health and Justice, highlighting public support for conscience protection and palliative care, as well as the opposition to hastened death.

FAITH GROUPS CALL FOR IMPROVED PALLIATIVE CARE
Compassion for those at the end of their lives is a foundational Canadian value, and therefore Canada needs a robust, well-resourced, national palliative-care strategy. This was the message of an interfaith statement announced today in Ottawa that the EFC helped produce, together with representatives from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Canadian Council of Imams. The statement and media release are both available in English and in French. Video is also available: EFC excerpt (2 min) or today’s entire bilingual press conference (15 min).

CALL TO PRAYER: ORLANDO SHOOTING 
The EFC issued a call to prayer after the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. “In response to the terrible shootings in Orlando, an act of terrorism and hate, we extend our sympathies and offer prayer for the victims, and the families and friends who lost loved ones.” Read the full call to prayer.

JOIN OUR JUNE 16 WEBINAR: YOUTH AND CHURCH
It’s been five years since the EFC and several partners released their ground-breaking study Hemorrhaging Faith: Why and When Canadian Young Adults are Leaving, Staying and Returning to Church. You are invited to dig back into the research with us. Are youth still leaving? Are they coming back? What worked? What didn’t? What can your church do now to keep this generation of young people? Join this free webinar with three experts from the original project: Rick Hiemstra (the EFC), Sid Koop (Truth Matters) and Dave Overholt (Tyndale/Church on the Rock).

LATEST POST AT THEEFC.CA/BLOG 
→ Palliative care is loving our neighbour, by Beth Hiemstra

WE'RE HIRING!
The EFC has an opening for a nine-month Administration and Accounting Position at our office in Richmond Hill, Ont. We are looking for a committed individual who can work a 35-hour week or a job-sharing arrangement by multiple individuals who divide the 35 hours between them. Application deadline July 1.

COMING EVENTS AT THEEFC.CA/CALENDAR 
→ Free EFC Webinar: Youth and Church, June 16 (see description above) 
→ World Refugee Sunday, June 19 or 26 (see description below) 
→ National Aboriginal Day, June 21 
→ Connect Youth Worker Training, Toronto, June 22 
→ Believers’ Church Conference, Wolfville, N.S., June 22-25 
→ Muslims, Missions and the Heart of God, Michigan, June 23-24 
→ Men for God Conference, Surrey, B.C., June 24-25 
→ Write Canada, Toronto, June 23-25

WORLD REFUGEE SUNDAY, JUNE 19 OR 26
Join others around the world to commemorate the strength, courage and resilience of those who have suffered under the global refugee crisis. Resources including videos, posters and graphics from Mennonite Central Committee Canada and RefugeeHighway.net are available to help you include this annual event in your worship service June 19 or 26.

PANEL ON MIDDLE EAST CRISIS
EFC staff were invited to “Confronting a Devolving Situation in the Middle East,” a recent breakfast at the Rideau Club in Ottawa sponsored by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Free Thinking Film Society and Macdonald-Laurier Institute. A panel included ISIS expert Michael Weiss (author of Army of Terror) and Juliana Taimoorazy, founder of Iraqi Christian Relief Council, in conversation with journalist Terry Glavin. Discussion included the persecution of minorities and how the Middle East situation poses substantial challenges for Canada’s policymakers.

MEET YOU IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD
Don McNiven, the EFC’s director of affiliate and donor relations, will visit Alberta in July, Ontario in August, PEI and Nova Scotia in September and Ontario in October. He would be delighted to visit with supporters to discuss the programs of the EFC and current research initiatives. Email him or call 416-902-9110.

FLOURISHING CHURCHES
What are Canadian churches doing well, and how do they contribute positively to Canadian life? The May/June issue of Faith Today, Canada’s Christian magazine, puts these questions to Joel Thiessen, a sociologist at Ambrose University in Calgary who is helping launch the Flourishing Congregations Institute.

LATEST POST AT FAITHTODAY.CA/BLOG 
→ Let’s do a better job of helping each other, by Jane Harris 
→ Are youth still leaving the church? Join us for our webinar on Hemorrhaging Faith, by Karen Stiller

“SPRING” FAITH TODAY ON SOMEONE YOU LOVE
Want to order a subscription for someone to Faith Today, Canada’s Christian magazine? It makes a great gift that lasts all year. Help a loved one to be better informed, equipped and connected through the EFC’s magazine! As an added bonus, subscriptions now also include our free new youth magazine, Love Is Moving. Details: FaithToday.ca/subscriptions or toll-free at 1-866-302-3362.