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TWU gets good marks
The February 4 issue of Maclean’s magazine reported the results of the National Survey of
Student Engagement, which asked 150 questions of students at 53 Canadian
universities and colleges.
In the five main areas of evaluation, Trinity Western
University ranked first in enriching educational experience, second in
supportive campus environment, fourth in student-faculty interaction, fifth
in level of academic challenge and 11th in active and collaborative
learning. It is the first time Maclean’s has included Trinity Western in its reporting of any
national university surveys.
Stanley lectures best
 Stanley Hauerwas (pictured) will deliver Carey
Theological College’s 2009 Grenz Lectures. He will speak on
‘Learning the Languages of Peace’ March 8, 7 pm, at First
Baptist Church in Vancouver and on ‘A Worldly Church: Politics,
Theology and the Common Good’ March 9, 1 pm, at St. Mark’s
College Chapel.
Both lectures are open to the public. Hauerwas is
professor of theological ethics at Duke Divinity School and has been named
America’s best theologian by Time magazine.
Marriage for dummies
Paddy Ducklow was installed February 26 as Erb-Gullison
Professor of Family Ministries at Regent College.
Ducklow is a registered psychologist and pastor
emeritus of CapChurch in North Vancouver. At the installation, he gave a
lecture on ‘Marriage for Dummies: A relationship for the rest of
us.’
He fills a Boyd
Greg Boyd is headlining a two-day conference called
‘Who’s Your Leader: Dialogue on the Character of God,’
March 20 – 21 at Oakridge Adventist Church in Vancouver.
Boyd is author of the best-selling books Letters from a Skeptic and The Myth of a Christian Nation. Other
contributors include Herb Montgomery, Brad and Dorothee Cole, Marco
Belmonte, Manuel Silva and members of the 2009 Good News Tour team.
But will it work?
Expectancy Ministries, based in Edmonton, has launched
a ‘Life Above the Negativity’ campaign, urging Christians to
fast from negativity during Lent, March 1 – April 12.
The ministry’s Trevor Lund has written a book
called Life Above the Negativity: from 10
minutes a day. For more information, go to
www.LifeAbovetheNegativity.com or call 888.229.8818.
Another Anglican goes
The congregation of St Mary’s Anglican Church, in
Nanoose Bay voted 81 – 14 February 8 to leave the Anglican
Church of Canada (ACC) and join the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). It
is the 27th parish and the 15th former ACC parish to join ANiC.
The congregation has asked the Anglican Diocese of
British Columbia to agree that it can remain in its building pending a
mediated process to determine ownership.
That’s a lot of shoes
British Columbians donated 112,240 shoe boxes filled
with gifts for needy children overseas through the 2008 Operation Christmas
Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse.
That is an 8.5 percent increase over 2007 and
represents 15.7 percent of the 713,294 shoe boxes collected in Canada in
2008.
Coffee from growers
Duncan Christian Reformed Church has purchased 7,000
pounds of coffee beans directly from farmers in Uganda.
It is hoped that the direct shipment, facilitated by
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, will help raise the income of
the farmers. The congregation is now investigating making similar purchases
from sugar and tea farmers. The Banner
Food on the bus
Lifeline Outreach Society loads a bus with hot meals,
groceries and clothing every Sunday and delivers these items to over 100
needy people in downtown Abbotsford.
Volunteers meet at County Line Christian Fellowship
from noon to 3 pm each Sunday to prepare the food. After everything is
given out, the volunteers return to the church around 5:30 to clean up and
pray.
Interested volunteers can call 604.728.7551 or go to
www.lifelineoutreach.org.
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Who you gonna call?
The Telecare Crisis Line has been renamed The Telecare
Crisis and Caring Line because less than five percent of callers are facing
a crisis such as contemplating suicide. Most just want to talk about their
struggles with relationship problems, loneliness or mental illness. The
Abbotsford-based Christian ministry has been in operation since 1989.
Volunteers listen to callers, guide them toward
solutions, recommend counselling and other services, and pray for callers
when requested. Interested volunteers can go to www.telecarebc.com or phone
604.852.4058.
Anyone wanting help should call 604.852.9099 from
Abbotsford or Mission or 1.888.852.9099 from Chilliwack.
Just like the movie
Dr. R. Welsh of Gateway Health and Wellness Clinic in
Abbotsford is going to Kenya with Samaritan’s Purse from April to
June, to work with the local hospital providing medical training and
routine hospital service.
His wife and three children are going along and will be
volunteering with orphanages and helping out wherever needed.
Welsh also allows his Abbotsford patients to pay
forward all or any of the fees they pay him (for optional services such as
driver’s license medical exams or injections) to cover someone
else’s medical fees; the only stipulation is that the recipient must
be someone less wealthy than the patient.
Christmas giving
Union Gospel Mission (GMU) received record donations in
December, up 24 percent over December 2007.
The increased donations have allowed GMU to cope with
greater demands for its services due to the recession. Until the end of
November 2008, donations had been running 10 percent behind 2007. However,
so far, donations have been down again in 2009.
Fish and then celebrate
The Anglican Coalition in Canada, the North Shore
Pastors Prayer Fellowship, and the Vancouver Pastors Prayer Fellowship are
inviting Christians of all denominations to a Celebration Service at
Harvest City Church in Vancouver March 22, 6:30 pm.
The event will be the culmination of a weekend Renewal
Conference offered by St. Simon’s Anglican Church called
‘Catching Fish in the 21st Century.’
Contact Rev. Ed Hird at 604.929.5350 or St.
Simon’s Church at 604.929.1613 or go to www3.telus.net/st_simons.
Jewish-Christian doc
On March 1 at the Ridge Theatre in Vancouver,
Congregation Beth Hamidrash will host the premiere of The Original Promise.
The documentary was put together over the course of two
years by Doug Kooy, a Christian TV personality, and Bill Iny, a Sephardic
Jew.
The documentary is described as having a fair and
accurate perspective and of showing a side of Israel that is rarely, if
ever covered by national media.
It includes an interview with the CEO of Google
Israel; discussion of the possibility that Arabs could soon constitute the
majority of people in Israel; discussion of why most Israeli teens feel
compelled to go into the army; and a profile of the cartoon hero Falafel
Man, who teaches children how to cope with the everyday reality of rockets
being fired into Israel from Gaza.
Copies of the DVD can be ordered from the website:
theoriginalpromise.com.
Lions serve lunch
The B.C. Lions Fan Club helped serve lunch at Union
Gospel Mission in New Westminster January 16.
Offensive lineman Sherko Haji-Rasouli and two-time Grey
Cup winner Jamie Taras helped serve lunch and spent time encouraging the
homeless. The fan club has been involved with the drop-in centre for nearly
a decade.
–
Jim Coggins
March 2009
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