Government appointee attacked for his beliefs

Liberal leader says hiring Darrel Reid is “an affront to our democracy” Recent statements in the House of Commons disparaging Darrel Reid’s faith-based convictions suggests to some observers that the way many Canadians regard evangelical Christians has hit an “unprecedented” low. Reid is a former president of Focus on the Family Canada. He was narrowly defeated when he ran for the Conservatives in Richmond, B.C., in the last federal election. The attack on Reid, led by interim Liberal leader Bill Graham, was prompted by news that he had been hired as chief of staff to Environment Minister Rona Ambrose. read the full story>

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Legal counsel leaving EFC Likening the move as taking her “out of the trenches and into the training ground,” Janet Epp Buckingham, former legal counsel and director of law and public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), has been appointed to the position of director of Trinity Western University’s Laurentian Leadership Centre in Ottawa. She took up the reins of her new position in September. Each semester, the Laurentian Leadership Centre (LLC) offers a select group of up to 23 upper-year university students the opportunity to participate in a live-in student extension program in the nation’s capital. read more>

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Prayers at Laval city council banned The Quebec Human Rights Commission has ordered the province’s second largest city to stop opening its council meetings with prayer. The September 22 ruling came as a result of a complaint lodged by a Laval citizen almost five years ago and has already resulted in what is expected to be the first of many more similar requests. read more>

“Ark” to house splinter Anglican congregation

PENDER HARBOUR, BC—Sightings of a modern day Noah’s ark were confirmed as the new building of Christ the Redeemer Anglican arriving via waterway on a flotilla of boats. The congregation had been evicted by their diocese from their church building in 2005 for supporting a traditional definition of marriage.

Nickel Brothers House Moving transported the empty worship space from Campbell River to its new home in Kleindale. The hall, seating 140, is larger than their previous home which sat 90, and will form part of a 4,800 square-foot facility for worship and fellowship and service to the community.

In his second visit to B.C. this year, Bishop Greene from Rwanda affirmed the great symbolism and encouragement of Pender Harbour’s accomplishment for Canadians and Anglicans worldwide.

“I am profoundly impressed,” said Bishop Greene, “with the life, health, and forward thinking of the Anglican Coalition in Canada.”

The congregation is part of the Anglican Coalition in Canada overseen by Bishop Thomas Johnston of Rwanda with Paul Carter as Network Leader. (Anglican Church League)

Full story in our print edition>

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Korean-Canadian church bridges the generation gap

A Baptist church in East Vancouver is helping to halt the exodus of second-generation Korean-Canadians from their parents’ church.

“Our parents, because of language and culture, had to be exclusive. But the second generation has no reason to be exclusive,” says Yong Kim, pastor of Immanuel Christian Fellowship. “We have every reason and potential and opportunity to be inclusive. And this is what we are going for.”

Full story in our print edition>

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Private and homeschool curriculum under fire

A story in Le Devoir, one of Montreal’s French dailies, has brought several Christian schools as well as the curriculum produced by a leading evangelical homeschooling publisher to the attention of the provincial ministry of education.

After it was revealed that hundreds of Hassidic Jewish students were attending a school not endorsed by the Quebec ministry of education, Le Devoir set out to discover whether similar situations existed in other ethno-religious communities in the Montreal area.

Full story in our print edition>