Disasters, divisions
and advances
Top
ten ChristianWeek news stories of 1998
1) 4 Cs adds bite to its bark
In April the Canadian Council of Christian Charities launched an aggressive fundraising drive to support its legal challenges to Revenue Canada’s crackdown on charities. While many ministry workers may very well lose the right to claim the clergy housing deduction, CCCC is also concerned that Christian charities are being specifically targeted. Not everyone within the broader community of Christian charities believes such concern is warranted, and some consider the CCCC approach alarmist.
2) Anglicans declare divisions
Conservative Anglicans were encouraged after the church’s triennial general synod, held in Montreal in May. But the church remains divided, indeed polarized, over issues such as the ordination of practising homosexuals and whether Christianity is the only way to God, with Vancouver bishop Michael Ingham leading the liberal side. Division also marked the once-a-decade Lambeth conference of Anglican bishops from around the world in England in August. A large majority of bishops voted against blessing same-sex unions and ordaining homosexuals.
3) A year of disasters
Natural and man-made disasters captured headlines throughout 1998. From each one, though, emerged stories of Christian compassion in action. During the ice storm that devastated the landscape of central and eastern Canada, the Salvation Army and other groups ministered to material and spiritual needs of the most vulnerable. After the crash of Flight 111 off Nova Scotia, coastal churches reached out to comfort the mourning. And as Hurricane Mitch brought death and destruction to thousands in Central America, Canadians reached into their pocketbooks to help.
4) Christian broadcasting advances
After years of fruitless effort, David Mainse’s persistence paid off and the veteran broadcaster was granted a license to establish a Christian television station in southern Ontario. Six months later Crossroads Television System went on air, and is now available to about 6 million listeners. Meanwhile, plans for a number of Christian radio stations continued to develop throughout the country. However, a Vancouver station that had been broadcasting Christian contemporary music abandoned the format for lack of listeners.
5) Faith makes gains in mainstream media
Many people of faith–Christians and others–believe that the mainstream media generally does a lousy job in its coverage of religious and moral issues. And many in the media agree. This concern was placed squarely on the agenda at a widely publicized "Faith and the Media" conference that brought people from a variety of faiths to dialogue with mainstream reporters and editors at the Carleton School of Journalism last June. ChristianWeek helped organize the event.
6) Christians active in anti-gambling efforts
Churches in many parts of the country lobbied to stop the proliferation of government-sanctioned gambling. In Alberta, churches were instrumental in calling for plebiscites on video lottery terminals (VLTs) in many communities during October municipal elections. Although communities voted to keep the VLTs, the narrow victory in Calgary made all Albertans, including Premier Ralph Klein, take the lobby seriously. Similar groups campaigned against casinos in Ontario and British Columbia. In Ontario, more than 50 communities rejected a proposal to open charity casinos.
7) United Church vs...
The United Church of Canada suffered several legal blows this year. Canadian courts ruled that the UCC was jointly liable with the federal government for abuse suffered by victims of its residential schools. The Bermuda Supreme Court concluded that the UCC has wandered from its Methodist roots after ruling on a bizarre church property dispute. And within its own courts, the UCC continued to deal with challenges from its own ministers such as Alberta’s Ted Wigglesworth and Kevin Annett in B.C.
8) Native issues unsettled
The year began with a landmark apology to natives by the Canadian government for its contribution to the destruction of native culture. At the same time, a $350 million healing fund was announced. Native abuse victims at residential schools heard an apology from the United Church that sponsored the schools, but discovered the church is appealing its order to compensate victims. A landmark legal decision granting the Nisga’a people a broad land claim settlement is causing controversy in B.C. A couple thousand Christian aboriginals from around the world gathered in South Dakota’s Black Hills to celebrate indigenous expressions of the Christian faith. But many Native Christians are concerned that destructive elements of their culture are being accepted.
9) Computers: friend or foe?
"Y2K" became part of most Christians’ vocabulary as ministry groups prepared for possible computer malfunctions on January 1, 2000. Several Christian colleges took their first major step on the internet by offering online courses. Other colleges spurned the technology, even when offered free software that helps transfer course material from the chalkboard to the computer screen.
10) Abused MKs finally get action
Years after they were physically, emotionally and sexually abused at a missionary boarding school in West Africa, MKs finally received acknowledgment of their suffering from the Christian and Missionary Alliance, which operated the school. An independent commission of inquiry, after spending 18 months investigating, concluded that nine individuals, three of them now deceased, had perpetrated various abuses against dozens of children. Although the denomination had since made some changes in its boarding school operations, the commission’s report included a number of recommendations to further protect missionary children.
–Selected by Debra Fieguth, Kevin Heinrichs and Doug Koop
