New director for Alpha

Alpha Ministries Canada has appointed Susan Cockburn to the position of national director. She will oversee the staff and strategies of Alpha Canada, which equips hundreds of churches throughout the country that run the popular 10 week course. "Alpha is not just a program," she said. "By running the Alpha course with excellence, people are becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. Churches and communities are benefiting from well-trained Alpha leaders. Alpha is achieving a significant culture-shift, a new vision of evangelism." Her appointment comes at the conclusion of a three-month search for a successor to Alpha Canada's founding director, Sally Start. Alpha is known for its ten-week course which invites guests to explore the meaning of life and examine the evidence for Christianity. In excess of 300,000 people have taken the course over the past decade. It has run in over 3,000 locations -- including churches, pubs, campuses, and prisons.

Only Hugh can transform neighbourhoods

Hugh Halter, national director of Missio, a global network of missional leaders and church planters, will speak at Southside Community Church in Surrey, BC, March 5. The one-day event is the third in a series of events aimed at equipping local churches to transform their neighbourhoods. Halter is also lead architect of Adullam, a congregational network of incarnational communities in Denver, Colorado. The event is sponsored by Forge Missional Training Network and endorsed by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

New Toronto bookstore

Faith Family Books & Gifts will open a new 11,000 square foot retail bookstore and gift shop in Toronto at the McCowan and 401 crossroads in March. The new owners -- a team of senior managers from the publishing, banking and retail industries -- have purchased the remaining assets from the liquidator of the recently bankrupt R.G. Mitchell Family Books chain, with a plan to bring a new brand of Christian retailing to the Toronto market. In addition to Christian books and gifts for every age, the new store will include a coffee bar, expanded music area, original art displays by top Canadian Christian artists along with a wide variety of church resources. The new store will host a grand opening celebration with dozens of authors, media, artists and Christian leaders on Saturday April 4. "We are delighted to secure the prime location," said president Larry Willard, also the publisher of one of Canada's largest Christian publishing companies. He added: "We are also blessed to be able to bring some of the experienced staff of the Mitchell Book Store chain to our new location so there will be familiar faces for many of the Mitchell's customers."

Continue article >>

Mennonite milestone

Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) reached a milestone in January when it passed the 500-student mark in its undergraduate programs in the arts, music, sciences and biblical studies at its Shaftesbury campus. "This is a significant achievement," said CMU President Gerald Gerbandt, noting that he was particularly happy to see the increase occur during the second semester -- a time when many schools budget for a drop in enrolment. Together with over 1,000 students at Menno Simons College, CMU's campus at the University of Winnipeg, nearly 1,700 students are taking courses at CMU. The university is made up of two campuses: the Shaftesbury campus in southwest Winnipeg, which is home to its undergraduate, graduate and Outtatown programs; and the downtown Menno Simons College campus, which offers the International Development and Conflict Resolution studies programs for the University of Winnipeg.

Anglican Network grows

The congregation of St Mary's Anglican Church, in Nanoose Bay, BC voted overwhelmingly February 8 to leave the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and come under the episcopal oversight of Bishop Donald Harvey, moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). St Mary's rector Guy Bellerby has met with the bishop's commissary from the ACC BC Diocese to request an amicable arrangement that would enable the congregation to remain in the church building pending a mediated process. St Mary's is the 27th parish and the 15th former ACC church to join the ANiC this year. It is a semi-rural parish located between Nanaimo and Parksville on Vancouver Island. The congregation has an average Sunday attendance of 100 - 120, with a diverse mixture of retired members and young families. They are an active parish with strong community outreach.

Wycliffe's kids

Wycliffe Canada has launched a new children's ministry program that they hope will inspire kids to consider missions and Bible translation at an early age. "The research is clear," said Paul Meisner of Wycliffe. "Before the age of 14 children tend to make life long decisions to enter the mission field full time." This new arm of ministry will be coordinated by Christy Edwards, who will develop programs and resources for children.

February 19/2009