 | | L.D. Buckingham, Lead Pastor of Moncton Wesleyan |
Big in the east
Moncton Wesleyan Church in New Brunswick officially opened its new 2,000-seat 'Celebration Centre' May 4. The 36,190-square-foot facility is worth $14.2 million. With 3500 members and 1700 visitors on any given Sunday, the church is considered the largest in Atlantic Canada. Lead pastor L.D. Buckingham came to the church almost 40 years ago, when it had less than 150 people.
The nation that prays together
The National House of Prayer has designated June 29 -- the Sunday before Canada Day, July 1 -- 'Government Prayer Sunday' and is encouraging churches of all denominations to dedicate a portion of their Sunday morning services to specifically pray for Canada and at least one elected governmental leader. The NHoP website offers a variety of downloadable resources for that day.
People take longer
A new season of Divine Restoration starts May 12. The Vision TV program features a team that travels around North America doing 48-hour renovation projects in local churches. This season focuses on churches connected to pivotal moments in black history, from the Underground Railroad to the Civil Rights struggle.
Ashram means retreat
The 35th British Columbia Christian Ashram Retreat will be held July 25 - 28 at Summit Pacific College in Abbotsford, BC. The evangelist and keynote speaker will be Jerry Vogt from Kansas City, the International United Christian Ashram President, and the Bible teacher will be Ken Bell, rector of St. Timothy's on the North Shore in North Vancouver, BC. The Christian Ashram movement was founded by E. Stanley Jones, a Christian missionary to India. Other Canadian Christian Ashrams are scheduled for July 11 - 12 in Cymric, Saskatchewan; July 12 - 17 in Berwick, Nova Scotia; July 18 - 20 in Jackson Point, Ontario; and August 14 - 17 in Browns Flat, New Brunswick; as well as Western Ontario, Newfoundland and Caroline, Alberta.
Top Mennonite is a woman
Karen Martens Zimmerly has been appointed denominational minister with Mennonite Church Canada. With her husband Terry, she has co-pastored for five years at West Abbotsford Mennonite Church and for the last 16 years at Grace Mennonite Church in Regina. They have three sons aged 16, 18 and 20.
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A new top Gunn
Joe Gunn has been appointed the new executive director of Citizens for Public Justice. Gunn served in Latin America with Canadian Save the Children, then worked for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops for over ten years, developing policy and coordinating work in the areas of social justice, missions and Aboriginal peoples. Most recently, he has been working in the Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation for the Visitation Province of the Congregation of Notre Dame. Citizens for Public Justice is a national organization, founded over 50 years ago, to promote public justice in Canada through research, publishing and public dialogue.
He will be moderator soon
Cheol Soon Park is the official nominee to be the moderator of the 134th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, which meets in Ottawa June 1 - 6. Park is the son of a Presbyterian minister in Korea. He moved to Canada in 1983 to study at Knox College in Toronto. He has been minister of the 1,500-member Toronto Korean Presbyterian Church since 1991.
United in green
The United Church of Canada has published Greening the Church, a guide suggesting ways to make church buildings more energy efficient and ecologically sustainable.
The importance of having poor vision
Citizens for public Justice has launched an 'Envisioning Canada Without Poverty' campaign, calling on Canadian Christians to study the issue in their congregations and to lobby their Members of Parliament for changes in public policy.
Studying the Canadian church
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada's Centre for Research on Canadian Evangelicalism has announced the first three research projects funded by its 'Healthy Churches' initiative. First, sociologists Sam Reimer of Atlantic Baptist University and Michael Wilkinson of Trinity Western University, assisted by pollster Andrew Grenville of Angus Reid, will study dozens of evangelical congregations throughout Canada to determine what worship styles, leadership structures, evangelistic strategies, Christian education programs, preaching emphases and congregational priorities contribute most to a 'healthy church.' Second, historian Kate Bowler, a Canadian pursuing her Ph.D. at Duke University, will study the growth in Canada of the 'word-faith' movement, an amalgam of Pentecostalism and the 'prosperity gospel' promoted by such US television preachers as Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland and Fred Price. Third, sociologist Joel Thiessen, currently completing his Ph.D. at the University of Waterloo, will revisit the work of Canada's best-known scholar of religion, sociologist Reginald Bibby of the University of Lethbridge. Thiessen will re-interview some of the people Bibby previously interviewed in Calgary to determine what factors prompt Canadians to be more or less involved in Christian churches.
May 8/2008
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