December 2007 National Updates

December 6, 2007

Youth workers converge for major gathering
NEARLY one thousand youth workers from across Canada gathered for the first ever Canadian Youth Workers Conference (CYWC) last weekend.

STATE of the CANADIAN CHURCH I: an annual canadianchristianity feature.
A NATION of BELIEVERS?
Church attendance in Canada is declining rapidly. Atheism is rising. Christian moral values are being replaced by secular ones.

Giving voice to Darfur's young
THE IMAGES bear all the hallmarks of typical children's art: bold use of colours; carefree disregard for perspective; crude but charming likenesses of buildings, animals and people.

OttawaWatch: Ethics at issue
THE SUPREME Court of Canada reserved judgment, this week, on an appeal by septuagenarian Vancouver broadcaster Rafe Mair against a BC appeal court finding that he had defamed a socially-conservative political activist.

News briefs
• A TWU Christmas
• Meeting their MPs
• Climate care rally
• more

News links
• Stephen Boissoin and the "anti-gay" letter
• The Golden Compass
• Minister and her license plate
• more

December 13, 2007

Faith unscathed by Lumberworld fire
WHEN their landmark enterprise burned down 15 months ago, a career of dealing fairly and going the extra mile with both customers and competitors stood Lumberworld owners Dave Flaig and Clive Piercy in good stead.

STATE of the CANADIAN CHURCH II: an annual canadianchristianity feature.
SHIFTING TRADITIONS
CHURCH LIFE in Canada has always been dominated by traditional and institutional churches, but that may be changing.

Charities hope to help Iraqi Christians
OTTAWA -- Christians are being "wiped out" in Iraq, and Canadian Catholics need to respond to this crisis the way they did to the Vietnamese boat people 30 years ago.

OttawaWatch: The case for careful conversation
ONE OF my press gallery colleagues asked me, earlier this week, if I knew whether Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien is religious.

News briefs
• Pastor Bob goes to heaven
• Catholics observe day of prayer for Aboriginals
• Unborn Victims recognized
• more

News links
• The Golden Compass
• Mitt Romney and Mormonism
• Islam and the West
• more

December 21, 2007

STATE of the CANADIAN CHURCH III: an annual canadianchristianity feature.
ARE CHRISTIANS in DANGER of BECOMING a PERSECUTED MINORITY?

Quebec Protestants welcome "secular" society
WHEN their landmark enterprise burned down 15 months ago, a career of dealing fairly and going the extra mile with both customers and competitors stood Lumberworld owners Dave Flaig and Clive Piercy in good stead.

Comment: Why it is urgent to reach young people with the gospel
I RECENTLY spent some time reflecting upon strategic issues related to the church.

OttawaWatch: Mulroney's interesting Christmas tale
IT'S CHRISTMAS time in the city. And in this city -- Ottawa -- the move is from political strategizing and cross-checking to goodwill and trying to understand the reason for the season.

News briefs
• Blessings seeks financial restructuring
• Gateway of Hope
• Tyndale offers Beds
• more

News links
• Christmas
• Vancouver Sun's poll on morality
• Court rulings with implications for practising Jews
• more