Thursday Webinar: How Churches and Organizations Can Communicate Effectively
Sign up today for Thursday’s EFC webinar on communicating effectively. Does your church or organization have powerful stories of community impact to share? Are you wondering how you can reach your audiences even better? Join experts Bill Fledderus (senior editor of Faith Today and adjunct writing professor at Redeemer University) and Patricia Paddey (communications director at Wycliffe College and freelance writer) for a tip-filled webinar to help you enhance your communication efforts. We will field your questions live. This webinar is free, lasts for 45 minutes, and starts at noon EDT.
EFC President Participating at Ottawa Roundtable
EFC President Bruce Clemenger is participating in a roundtable discussion on the theme “Christianity and the Public Square” in Ottawa on May 16th. Part of the Ivison Lecture Series of First Baptist Church Ottawa, other participants include Dr. Andrew Bennet of the Cardus Institute of Religious Freedom and Mike Hogeterp of the Centre for Public Dialogue.
New Audio Podcasts: Voices from the National March for Life and When Is Heresy a Cult?
This year's March for Life in Ottawa was met with loud counter-protests, but thousands of marchers made their way through Ottawa's downtown core nonetheless. In our latest audio podcast, we include several voices from that March, including Angelina Steenstra, national coordinator of Silent No More.
“When Is Heresy a Cult?” is based on a Dispatch from Brian Stiller, global ambassador for the World Evangelical Alliance. He says, “Spiritual movements produce bizarre and often cult-like offshoots. Nowhere is this truer than in Brazil…. The basic doctrinal statement of the Universal Church seems orthodox enough, but it has built itself around leadership, attracting to themselves not just astounding numbers but enormous amounts of funds.” Listen to the whole podcast.
You can also listen to individual episodes of The EFC Podcast (or subscribe to download each new episode automatically) at Google Play, iTunes, SoundCloud, and RSS (Feedburner). Check out our full list of recent episodes.
Canada Summer Jobs Update
The federal government has released the list of employers approved to receive a Canada Summer Jobs grant. A very small number of objecting groups who checked the box and added an alternate attestation or letter have been approved. If your organization has been approved for a CSJ grant even though the wording of the attestation was altered or a letter was included, please let the EFC know at feedback@theefc.ca. Yesterday we also interviewed the EFC’s Julia Beazley, director of public policy, to help us make sense of what’s happening with this controversy and the organizations that applied. Read our new Three Questions interview.
FT Interview with Marv Penner
Marv Penner is a veteran Canadian youth worker with more than 45 years of experience. Currently he is executive director at the Coalition for Youth Ministry Excellence in Kelowna, B.C., and an adjunct faculty member of Briercrest Seminary in Caronport, Sask. Faith Today interviewed Penner as he waited for a flight to China where he was going to train youth workers in the unofficial Church. He spoke to us about what churches need to do today to build relationships with the youth in our midst, and those we would invite in.
Let Us Help You Find a New Employee
Are you looking for a new pastor, director or employee? Consider a classified advertisement in Faith Today, Canada’s Christian magazine. The next issue is Jul/Aug (reservation deadline June 1). The cost is only $22.00 per line. Each line has 5-6 words. You will also receive an ad on our popular website Christianity.ca at no extra cost. Faith Today is published by the EFC and has a national distribution of 20,000 copies. View a copy online at FaithToday.ca/digital. Contact advertising manager Brian Shephard at 705-222-5025 or ads@faithtoday.ca.
Global Day of Prayer to End Famine
On Sunday, June 10, Canadian Foodgrains Bank and its 15 member agencies are calling on all Christians and churches in Canada to join the Global Day of Prayer to End Famine. The day of prayer is a joint call from the World Council of Churches, the All Africa Council of Churches, and the World Evangelical Alliance.
Publicize your event for free.
→ Church Leaders Forums—World Vision: Markham, St. Catharines, London, May 16-18; Oakville, St. John’s, Fredericton, Halifax, June 11-14
→ Mobilize Alpha for Youth, Montreal, May 16
→ EFC Webinar: How Churches and Organizations Can Communicate Effectively, online, May 17
→ Overflow Youth Conference, Waterloo, May 18-20
→ YC Alberta Youth Conference, Red Deer, May 19-21
→ #ChurchToo: A Conference on Responding to Professional Sexual Misconduct, Abbotsford, May 25-26
→ Gardens, Groceries & Grace: A Weekend of Edible Theology, Milton, May 25-26
→ Historymaker Youth Conference, Chilliwack, May 25-27
→ Mobilize Leadership Summit, Markham, June 5
→ Olympic Faith Women's Ministry Retreat, Cremona, June 8-10
→ Can Fundraising Be a Spiritual Exercise?
In Case You Missed It
→ Condolences and Call to Prayer After Toronto Van Tragedy
→ Faith Today Wins Multiple Awards at Canadian Church Press Convention
→ Submission on Human Trafficking in Canada to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights
→ Audio Podcast: Interacting with Other World Religions
→ Dispatch from Brian Stiller: Six Takeaways from The Future of Evangelicalism in America
→ FT On the Go: These Are Stories Worth Talking About!