2006: year in review
Compiled by the editors of ChristianWeek
Political sea change
Last January, Canadians voted for political change and elected a minority government headed by, Stephen Harper, whose Christian faith has been shaped by reading C.S. Lewis and Malcolm Muggeridge. The Conservative victory ended 12 years of a tired Liberal administration humbled by corruption scandals and dithering leadership. In recent years Liberals also championed an aggressive social agenda that drew many previously quiescent Christians into the political process. Harper’s take-charge approach encouraged friends and infuriated foes. By year-end, Liberals were still in relative disarray while the tenuous Conservative grip on power was strengthening.
Marriage debate simmers
The issue that so animated socially conservative communities in 2005 did not entirely go away. Although Parliament had already decreed that “marriage” in Canada includes same-sex couples, many advocates of traditional marriage continued to believe that the decision could be overturned. The election of a Conservative federal government furthered those hopes, but the prospects for reversal are slim. A vote on whether Parliamentarians should reconsider the issue was expected before Christmas.
Schools in transition
There was more than the usual amount of ferment in the halls of Canada’s Christian institutions of higher learning. Trinity Western University painfully worked its way through a top-level transition, eventually passing the torch from founding president Neil Snider to newcomer Jonathan Raymond. Evon Horton, former president of Masters College and Seminary, left for a pastoral job in Florida after the Pentecostal school in Toronto lost its major supporting partner and its academic accreditation. Columbia Bible College bade a sudden farewell to its top three executives, including president Paul Wartman. Richard Blackaby stepped away from his longtime role as president of Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in order to devote full time to his father’s U.S.-based ministry. The Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto inaugurated John Suk as president.
Anti-poverty network matures
A major conference for 350 Christian front-line poverty workers issued a strong public statement—The Ottawa Manifesto—calling for greater commitment to act against poverty and injustice. Working with the support of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, the conference was organized by a 14-member group involving directors of inner-city ministries and street missions across Canada. “The Church in Canada has a responsibility to provide moral leadership by making a priority of caring for people who are poor, particularly people who are homeless, in its own budgets and activities,” states the Manifesto. “Government responsibility does not excuse Church apathy.”
Middle East conflicts trouble Christian unity
Conflict in the Middle East continues to vex peoples around the world, including Christians in Canada. Israel lives under constant threat from belligerent neighbours and their allies. However, it currently is the Goliath in the region, small in population and area but dominant militarily. Justice for displaced and oppressed peoples drives the Christian conscience of many churches. Others emphasize solidarity with Israel as a preeminent value. The division revealed itself starkly last March when a key sponsor for MissionFest Toronto threatened to withdraw support if Palestinian Christian Alex Awad was allowed to be a speaker. Awad attended, but not as a presenter.
Enviro-consciousness growing in churches
Canadian churches are beginning to awaken to the call of green action. Certainly, high fuel costs and draughty buildings are a key reason why a growing number of churches are forming energy committees and looking to improve their environmental practices. Green church buildings are also beginning to come into vogue. The ecumenical Kairos is working to educate churches about better environmental practices, and the B.C.-based A Rocha is “a national conservation organization working to show God’s love for all of creation.” These Christians see great opportunities for the Church to recover its ecological conscience.
Gideons work around Bible ban threats
For 60 years the Gideon Bible Society has been giving away New Testaments to Grade 5 students in public schools. In recent years, however, the practice has run into opposition in a number of jurisdictions. This year’s flashpoint was New Brunswick, where a complaint from a parent led to a ban in Moncton schools and launched a province-wide debate. A new policy announced in April allows religious materials to be distributed with prior permission from the Department of Education as well as from the parents or guardian of each child.
Popular culture engages spiritual quest
Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code, spawned a host of imitators. A movie version of the bestselling book that implicates the historic church in a conspiracy cover-up and exploits the legend that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had child was released in May. And although Christians created an entire industry to debunk the book’s historical and theological claims, the public appetite for the genre seemed to know no bounds. The movie turned out to be a dud, but the allure of Gnosticism continues unabated. In April, with much fanfare, the National Geographic Society rolled out an ancient document called the “Gospel of Judas,” which depicted the betrayer of Jesus as a hero. While the popular press trumpeted it as a challenge to the message of the traditional gospels, the document itself—while authentic—is 300 years removed from the events it discusses.
Prayer profile rising
Prayer is supposed to be a consistent Christian activity, but it takes many forms. Public expressions of Christian prayer emanating from movements developing in recent years took a major leap forward in 2006. The establishing of the National House of Prayer in Ottawa is one particularly visible landmark. Thousands of young people spent July 15 in Ottawa praying for MPs and for the restoration of righteousness in Canada. Meanwhile, prayer initiatives throughout the country coordinated their efforts into the same 40-Day window in May and June. And numerous local efforts continue to expand. For example, many mothers gather regularly to pray for their children, teachers and schools through the Mothers Who Care ministry.
Christian leaders struggle with sexual sin
Evangelical Christians are rightly known for taking a hard line against any expressions of sexual intimacy other than between a husband and wife. But lust is a demon with designs on the pulpit. One 500-congregation Canadian denomination, for example, has averaged five “moral failures” per year over the past 30 years. Most of those pastors lose their jobs. This year’s more prominent casualties include the founding pastor of the 1,700-member Westside King’s Church in Calgary and Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals in the U.S. and founding pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs.
In passing
- A Mennonite from Winnipeg, Cindy Klassen became Canada’s all-time most decorated Olympian with a five-medal performance at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
- The Canadian Bible Society celebrated 100 years as an autonomous Canadian organization. Its actual origins in Canada stem back to 1804 when Teyoninhokarawen (Captain John Norton) translated the Gospel of John into the Mohawk language.
- The development of a significant centre of Christian learning in southern Ontario took a big step forward when Tyndale University College and Seminary announced the purchase of a major campus on Bayview Avenue in Toronto.
- The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches passed a resolution that lifted the current restriction against women serving as senior pastors.
- Willard and Betty Thiessen smiled for the cameras to celebrate 30 years on the air with their daily “It’s a New Day” program.
- In a move that will more than double its capacity in Ontario, Teen Challenge purchased a $3.1-million, 87-acre property north of Toronto in July. The ministry operates faith-based, one-year residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs for young men and women.
- Culture warrior Ken Campbell, 72, best known for his fierce opposition to abortion and libertine social policies, succumbed to prostate cancer.
- Longtime Evangelical Fellowship of Canada legal counsel and policy director Janet Epp Buckingham moved into a new role as director of Trinity Western University’s Laurentian Leadership Centre in Ottawa.
- Winnipeg pastor and inner-city community activist Harry Lehotsky died after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 49.
