“Street preachers” Lawrence Irwin (left) and Art Pawlowski (right) baptize Richard Reid in Calgary’s Bow River. (photo by Peter Fleck)
Volunteers take church to the street
CALGARY, AB—What began as an initiative by a small group of enthusiastic believers in the Stampede city eager to engage in some good, old-fashioned street-corner preaching has blossomed into a weekly gathering for “street people” that is becoming known as the “Street Church.”
Each Sunday afternoon at a green-space sandwiched between a downtown drop-in centre and a convenient baptismal tank—otherwise known as the Bow River—an evangelistic team headed by a local chiropractor can be found leading worship for some Calgarians who wouldn’t be comfortable walking into a church. read the full story>
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Same-sex bill passes
OTTAWA, ON—Less than 24 hours after a late-night sitting of the Senate approved Bill C-38, a prickly political season came to a close July 20 when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada gave Royal Assent to several controversial pieces of legislation and “marriage” was officially redefined to include same-sex couples.
Canada is the fourth country—after the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain—to legalize same-sex marriages. read more>
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Mission targets Toronto
TORONTO, ON—Operation Mobilization (OM), a mission agency that strives to equip people for world evangelism, is reaching out to the world by reaching out to Toronto.
For the three week period from July 16 to August 7, local OM volunteers joined workers from across Canada and overseas for Challenge Toronto ’05; a short-term training and outreach mission that aims to befriend Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and others in Canada’s largest city. read more>
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Christian human rights group tackles “sex tourism”
Frank Stirk
Joanne Verbeek, a detective with the Toronto Police sex crimes unit, can now put a human face to the potential victims of “sex tourism”—the children of an impoverished nation who are being preyed on and brutalized by foreigners from countries like Canada.
Verbeek was recently in Cambodia as a volunteer with International Justice Mission (IJM) Canada, a Christian human rights organization that rescues victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery and oppression.
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Baptism called into question for children of same-sex couples
Joel Coppieters
MONTREAL, QC—It is not a foregone conclusion that the Roman Catholic Church will baptize the children of same-sex couples, Quebec City cardinal Marc Ouellet told a federal senate committee in mid-July. “According to our canon law, we cannot accept the signatures of two fathers or two mothers as parents of an infant.”get the full story>
