News From
Talking About Church and Mission
What does the Church need to subscription to someone you love at
focus on to lay a healthy foun- www.faithtoday.ca or call 1-866-302-
dation for the next generation? 3362, ext. 234.
What are the trends in Canadian church
and mission that need to be addressed? March for Life Prayer
To answer such questions, the EFC is EFCpresident Bruce J. Clemengeropened
hosting a series of conversations, most this year’s National March for Life Rally
recently in Mississauga, Ont., and Burn- on Parliament Hill, May 14. This annual
aby, B.C., and more are being planned for national rally organized by Campaign
other regions. Scripture-based, prayer- Life Coalition brought together more
focused conversations facilitated by the than 12,000 Canadians to stand for life.
EFC’s Bruce Clemenger, Aileen Van Gin- It is the largest annual rally in Canada.
kel and Charlene de Haan have already
involved a broad spectrum of denomina- Meetings With Government
tional leaders, ministry executives, local EFC leaders participated in a number
pastors and emerging leaders. of public events in Ottawa with federal
politicians from all four political parties,
Faith Today Wins Awards including a lunchtime roundtable discus-
Faith Today, the EFC’s flagship maga- sion on “Faith and Sustainable Economy”
zine, recently won several awards from (May 12), a public discussion with Liberal
the Canadian Church Press for articles party leader Michael Ignatieff on “What
from 2008. Three were first place Difference Do Churches Make?” (May
awards: for “How to Build a Great 13), a panel discussion on “The Theol-
Church Library” (service journalism), ogy of Public Engagement” (May 22) and
for an interview with the author of The the National Prayer Breakfast (May 28).
Shack and for the Letters section. Sec- Those involved included EFC president
onds were awarded for a theological Bruce J. Clemenger and vice president
reflection on “Money and the Incar- Don Hutchison. Members of the EFC
nation,” the guest column “Surprised Aboriginal Ministries Council also met
by Cancer” and the news story “Video with MPs on June 10 to discuss suicide
Tells of Missionary Abuse.” The popu- prevention and reconciliation initiatives.
lar Kingdom Matters section won hon-
ourable mention for a regular “depart- Response to Documentary
ment.” Subscribe today or give a gift The Global TV documentary Hip 2B
Holy presented a “kinder and gentler
face” of Evangelicals than is generally
portrayed by the media, a face that can
help remove barriers to engaging with
non-Christians, according to Aileen Van
Ginkel, the EFC’s vice-president, min-
istry services. Her comments are online
at www.christianity.ca (click News Web-
itorial).
ing principles as they continue to work
toward their mission to give Muslims in
Canada the opportunity to understand
and respond to the good news of Jesus
Christ. The network operates on the administrative and communications platform of the EFC.
Apology to Youth
The EFC’s Youth and Young Adult
Ministry Roundtable continues to
wrestle with a strong and compelling
theme that emerged at its 2008 forum.
The group, which numbered over
100 and represented a broad spectrum
of ministry to Canadian youth, wrote
a letter apologizing to the Canadian
Church and its youth for not fully releasing and empowering youth into
their God-given dreams for ministry
in Canada and around the world.
The letter, available at www.evangel
icalfellowship.ca, invites Canadian
church leaders to respond, engage and
partner with the Youth and Young
Adult Ministry Roundtable to do better
by and for our youth. Andy Harrington,
a member of the roundtable, followed
up with a full explanation of the consensus and why it matters so much.
COMING EVENTS
details at www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/
events or call 1-866-302-3362
• EFC Christian leaders Connection. new
season of one-day leadership seminars
on current Canadian trends, legislation
and events that affect local congregations. EFC directors present on the
theme “Being Evangelical in a Complex world: stats, Facts and Trends.”
visit the website for fall dates in ontario,
British Columbia and the maritimes.
• renov8: Transforming neighbourhoods. a national church-planting
congress. Calgary, nov. 17-20.
Survey on Healthy Churches
In July, 600 pastors from five evangelical denominations will take part in
the Canadian Evangelical Churches
Survey, looking at worship, church
demographics, community outreach,
finance and mission among other topics. The EFC’s Centre for Research on
Canadian Evangelicalism is sponsoring
the survey and will publish articles on
the results in its online journal Church
& Faith Trends.
PARTNERSHIPS
Outreach Network Meets
The Canadian Network of Ministries
to Muslims ( www.cnmm.ca) gathered
in Calgary, May 5-7, to focus on guid-
EFC AFFILIATE NEWS
Baptists Change Name
Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ) is the new preferred name
for the family of churches that legally remains known as the Baptist Convention
of Ontario and Quebec. A similar group,
