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Still singing for Africa
The African Children’s Choir held its 25th anniversary Gala Celebration September 29 at Fairmont
Hotel in Vancouver. One-time Georgia Straight music editor Bob Geldof, promoter of Live Aid, returned to Vancouver to be
presented with the Malaika Award at the event.
The choir was formed in 1984 by Canadian human rights activist Ray Barnett,
bringing together orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda. Since then,
choirs have toured the world showing the beauty, dignity and ability of some of
the world’s neediest and most vulnerable children, and raising money to help thousands of
African children.
Winning Wally
B.C. Lions coach Wally Buono was moved to tears September 19, as his team
defeated the Toronto Argonauts 23 – 17. This did not represent merely a triumph over a rival. The victory was Buono’s 232nd as a head coach, in a career spanning 19 years in Calgary and B.C., and
it made him the CFL’s all-time winningest coach. In an emotional speech, he spoke of his deep faith,
and his mother’s fight against Alzheimer’s disease. He also paid tribute to the previous record-holder, Don Matthews.
Buono attends Peace Portal Alliance Church in south Surrey.
‘Missionary bishop’
Over 500 people were present at a Richmond church September 13, as Silas Ng was
installed as a ‘missionary bishop’ for the Anglican Coalition in Canada (ACiC). Ng’s actual consecration as bishop took place earlier that week in Los Angeles,
along with three other bishops.
The ACiC was birthed in January 2004, as part of the Anglican Mission in the
Americas. The arrangement provided a temporary home for parishes which withdrew
from the Anglican Church of Canada but wanted to remain within worldwide
Anglicanism.
Ng will also continue in his role as rector at Richmond Emmanuel Church. Under
his leadership, the 13 year old church plant has grown to more than 400
attenders – and is currently planting a new Chinese-language congregation in Toronto.
150 years of service
Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral in New Westminster celebrated its150th
anniversary last month. The first Anglican service in New Westminster was held
Sunday, September 2, 1859 in the Customs House. The church’s building was destroyed by fire in 1865 and 1898 – the last time in a disaster that destroyed most of New Westminster.
Holy Trinity was the cathedral for the Diocese of New Westminster from 1892
until 1929, when Christ Church in Vancouver was named the diocesan cathedral;
however, Holy Trinity was allowed to retain the title ‘cathedral.’
The September 20 anniversary was a joint celebration with other Anglican
churches: St. John’s in Maple Ridge and St. Mary’s Sapperton. Holy Trinity is the oldest Anglican church established in one
location, in all of B.C.
Out of the Shadows
Stephen Lungu, international director of African Enterprise, will be speaking at
7 pm, October 18, at All Saints Community Church, 12268 Beecher Street in
Crescent Beach.
Born in Zimbabwe, Lungu was abandoned by his parents at age six, and eventually
formed a gang of homeless children known as the Black Shadows. Armed with
bombs, guns and knives, they attended a meeting led by a travelling evangelist
with plans to attack the attenders, but were saved instead. Lungu’s story is told in Out of the Black Shadows: The Amazing Transformation of Stephen Lungu.
Reconciliation for Chinese
On August 31, New Westminster City Council passed a recommendation that a
process of reconciliation be begun with the Chinese community, making it the
first major city in B.C. to do so.
The recommendation takes note of the discriminatory restrictions on employment
and immigration levied against tens of thousands of Chinese labourers brought
to the west coast of North America after 1865. Over the past 18 months,
Canadians for Reconciliation Society has developed a detailed proposal.
They are asking the B.C. government to take an inventory of Chinese heritage
sites in B.C.; develop a database of artifact collections and research
resources in provincial and national museums and archives; do an archaeological
survey of sites deemed to have particularly significant research value to the
history of Chinese in B.C.; create a learning module on Chinese Canadian
heritage and identity for the provincial high school curriculum; and to create
a Chinese Canadian museum.
Heaven on wheels
Gospel Riders are a Christian motorcycle association that supports various
charity events. They also hand out Bibles and witness at various motorcycle
events.
They own a motorcycle that they race at Canadian Motorcycle Motor Racing
Association races throughout B.C. and Alberta; they were involved in the
September 27 ‘Oyster Run’ gathering of 50,000 riders; and they provided security and traffic control at
the October 4 Christmas Toy Run from Coquitlam to the PNE, for the Christmas
Bureau.
The Riders Christmas banquet, December 5 at Eagle Ridge Bible Fellowship in
Coquitlam, is open to everyone.
Contact: www.gospelriders.com.
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Wilf goes wwworldwide
Wilf Ray’s gospel music program ran on a Vancouver radio station for 43 years. The run of
more than 2,000 weekly radio programs ended in October 2008, when radio station
600 AM was sold. Ray ran the program without pay as a Christian service. Past
programs are now available 24/7 on the website www.wilfray.com, with a
different program made available every two weeks.
Care for creation
A Rocha Canada, a Christian environmental organization based in Surrey, is
supporting the ‘Resilient Cities: Urban Strategies for Transition Times’ conference (gaininggroundsummit.com), scheduled October 22 – 23 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
A Rocha will present a workshop at the conference called ‘Faith Angles on Living Sustainably in the City.’
A Rocha notes “more and more people of faith” are seeking ways to implement the biblical mandates to “care for creation, love your neighbour” and be an agent for the “healing” of a wounded planet.
A panel will discuss “What are the most effective and transformative steps for the rebuilding of
eco-systems and local social economies?” and “How do we mobilize the significant social network that is the church, for
positively addressing the health and resiliency of the city?”
Coffee house vision
The Christian community has been very involved in The Envision Coffee House
Concert Series last spring and this fall in Abbotsford. Five of the concerts
were scheduled for the newly expanded coffee shop in the House of James
Christian bookstore, concluding with a concert by The Bruce Ward Quartet on
October 17.
In addition, a number of the bands, at both House of James and some of the other
coffee shops, have members who are Christians.
Christians kicking it
For the first time, on September 29, both the men’s and women’s soccer teams from Trinity Western University (TWU) were ranked first in the
CIS (Canadian Intercollegiate Sports) weekly rankings. The TWU women’s Spartans, with a 4 - 0 record, are the reigning CIS champions.
The men’s Spartans, with a 4-0-2 record, made it to the CIS finals last year. This is
the first time one university has led both soccer rankings since September
2008, when York University had the honour.
www.gospartans.ca
Hope for Judas?
Pacific Theatre, a Christian-based theatre group in Vancouver, is teaming with
Pound of Flesh Theatre to present Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, October 7 – 17. Set “in a place called Hope, halfway between Heaven and Hell,” the play depicts Judas standing trial for his sins.
The witnesses include Mother Teresa, Pontius Pilate, Sigmund Freud, a
foul-mouthed Saint Monica, a high school football coach, a handful of Jesus’ disciples – and Satan. Described as “wildly funny and scathingly provocative,” the play focuses on “eternal questions of forgiveness, mercy and eternal damnation.” pacifictheatre.org
October 2009
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