News briefs

Announcement ends Durance record

Dr. George and Beverley Durance

A capital alliance for both ministries

campusfire, a Christian ministry that serves hundreds of students and youth leaders at more than 1,200 high schools, colleges and universities across Canada, has become an arm of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada (BGEAC). The campusfire ministry began in 1999 and includes the annual campusfire youth training event, the Campus Ministry Network, the Canadian Campus Ministry Leaders Forum, the 'See You At The Pole' school prayer ministry, Challenge Sunday and the campusfire website. At the BGEAC, campusfire will be part of a youth-oriented ministry group that includes epicenter, founded in 2004 to offer "a multi-phase, year-long Christian training and mentoring initiative enabling young people to live lives of faith amid the pressures of contemporary culture."

Diocesan actions get cold reception in the Arctic

The synod of the Anglican Diocese of the Arctic passed a motion three months ago criticizing decisions by the Dioceses of Ottawa, Montreal, Niagara and Huron to support the blessing of same-sex unions. The Diocese of the Arctic also passed a motion expressing "strong support" for Canadian Anglican parishes which have decided to leave the Anglican Church of Canada over the issue and join the Anglican province of the Southern Cone. The synod also discussed problems among youth, housing for Anglican ministers, the rebuilding of St. Jude's Cathedral in Iqaluit (which was damaged by arson in 2005) and a new English/Inuktitut hymnbook called Voices of Worship. -- Anglican Journal

He'll only speak for an hour

Lutheran Hour radio speaker Rev. Kenneth Klaus will speak twice in Canada in September: at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Stony Plain, Alberta, September 21; and at the Rotary Complex in Stratford, Ontario, September 27. For information, call 1-800-555-6236.

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Pray for the persecutors

The 2008 International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) will be observed November 9. In recent years, Canada has observed the day on the third Sunday of November to avoid scheduling conflicts with Remembrance Day observances, but this year IDOP Canada has chosen to observe the event on the second Sunday of November as is done in other countries. This year's theme is 'Pray for the Persecutors' (Romans 12:9-21) and is focused on North Korea, India, the Maldives and Eritrea. A 'toolkit' of resources for the event can be downloaded free of charge. IDOP says 200 million Christians around the world are suffering for their faith.

A week to end poverty and hunger

KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives is promoting the Week to End Poverty October 12 - 19. October 16 is World Food Day, the theme for which this year is 'World Food Security: The Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy.' October 17 is United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, whose immediate goal is to reduce the proportion of people affected by extreme poverty and hunger by half by 2015.

Hiring the write person

Denise Rumble has been hired as the first paid managing director of The Word Guild (TWG), effective September 1. TWG is a national association of more than 325 Canadian Christian writers and editors that was founded in 2002 and merged with Christian Info Canada in January 2008. Rumble, who lives in St. Marys, Ontario, has been serving as volunteer associate managing director since October 2006. Sandra Reimer, who has been serving as volunteer managing director, will remain part of TWG's volunteer leadership team, in charge of the organization's fundraising efforts. The organization is best known for its annual Write! Canada writers' conference and the annual God Uses Ink writing awards.

Sending comfort to the afflicted

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) shipped 10,000 heavy-weight comforters to Afghanistan from its warehouse in Plum Coulee, Manitoba, in late August. The comforters were made by volunteers. At the same time, MCC shipped 13,000 health kits from its warehouse in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Earlier this year MCC sent a container of 9,000 school kits to Afghanistan. These supplies are distributed to people who have been forced to flee their homes to safer regions within Afghanistan, refugees returning to their homes and other vulnerable populations living in tents, makeshift shelters and bombed out buildings.

September 4/2008