Canada hosts international rural church conference
Delegates discuss churches’ vital role in rural communitiesby
Andrew Siebert
ChristianWeek Staff
BRANDON, MB—"In all countries, rural communities are becoming disenfranchised, economically and politically."
So says the Canadian Rural Church association, which recently invited more than 80 delegates to the fourth international rural church conference in the Prairies in early July.
Visitors from South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, India, Iceland, the island of Tonga and various countries in Europe gathered to discuss challenges posed to their communities by rapid globalization.
Prison Fellowship International holds world convocation
In a striking array of Christians unified in a common cause, cutting across denominational, national and socio-economic boundaries, 850 Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox delegates from 120 countries took part in Prison Fellowship International's World Convocation in Toronto.
Prison Fellowship Ministries was founded in the U.S. by Charles Colson in 1976 after he was released from prison for Watergate-related charges. Other countries, including Canada, developed their own ministries under the umbrella of Prison Fellowship International (PFI). It is the world's largest criminal justice ministry, a global network of indigenous organizations that mobilizes more than 100,000 volunteers.
Colson, now 76, took part in an award presentation to Ron Nikkel, the Alberta-born president and CEO of PFI. Nikkel previously worked with young offenders for Youth for Christ Canada. PFI has grown from five to 110 member countries during his 25-year tenure.
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Catholic and Anglican agencies join Canadian Foodgrains Bank
The voice of Canadian Christians fighting to end world hunger just got stronger.
Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) recently announced that two new members have joined their ranks-the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) and the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund of the Anglican Church of Canada.
CFGB welcomed the two new member agencies on June 21, bringing the number of church-based agencies engaged in their mission to 15, and strengthening Canada's Christian representation for global social justice.
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Canadian Southern Baptists plan name change
Canada’s Southern Baptists are just one vote away from adopting a new name.
By a show of hands, churches represented at the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptist (CCSB) annual meeting in Richmond voted overwhelmingly to become known as the “Canadian National Baptist Convention.” Very few were opposed.
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Quebec church planting pioneer remembered as mentor
“Counting the ones he actually planted and the daughter churches they planted, Bill Phillips was involved with 15 Quebec churches,” Fellowship Baptist French Mission Board director David Dobson told more than 400 people assembled for the pioneer church planter’s funeral in Montreal on July 6.
Family members and friends who participated in the bilingual service filled in the details of an incredible life. Originally planning to go to Africa, the young man from Brantford wound up in Quebec in 1950 struggling to learn a new language and to adapt to a culture that turned out to be as challenging as any he might have found on another continent. He had only been in the province for a few months when he spent his first night in the Alma city jail for preaching the gospel. It was during that night in jail that his call to Quebec was sealed in prayer.
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Ex-addict launches music website
Jerry Martin has gone from the bottom to the top in less than four months.
In early 2007, Martin was living on the streets of Calgary, as he had since 2002. That’s when his wife left him, taking their three children, and his brother was murdered in British Columbia. Having first tried cocaine at the age of 15, Martin turned to drugs again and lost whatever he had left.
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