He promises to do a good job

Kirk Giles has been appointed president of Promise Keepers Canada, effective April 1. He has been on staff with the organization since 1996, serving most recently as director of ministry advancement. He replaces Ron Hannah, who retired March 31.

Sun editor shines on Catholic Register

Jim O'Leary has been named publisher and editor of the Catholic Register, the oldest weekly Catholic newspaper in Canada. He has more than 25 years of experience in media, including holding several editorial positions with the Toronto Sun and Sun Media's canoe.ca. Most recently, he was a partner in a private book publishing and photo marketing company. He is a member of St. Patrick's parish in Markham, Ontario. He replaces Joseph Sinisac.

Sexual unions cause division

Fourteen clergy from the Anglican Diocese of Toronto have written a formal letter to their bishops asking then not to proceed with a plan "to offer prayers and blessing to same-sex couples in stable long-term relationships." The letter calls the action "inflammatory" in a denomination in which people "hold two opposed and irreconcilable views on marriage and on the morality of same-sex relationships."

United against poverty

The Canadian Senate and House of Commons have unanimously passed a resolution calling on the G8 and G20 meetings scheduled for April 2 in London to address "increased and enduring poverty and its social and economic effects on individuals and nations" and to support "critical income security initiatives and social infrastructure investments" which "protect human dignity, the common good, equality of opportunity and economic prosperity." The motion was introduced by NDP MP Tony Martin and Conservative Senator Hugh Segal. The action was strongly endorsed by Citizens for Public Justice and other Christian social action agencies.

Charities doing well

The Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC) surveyed its members March 5 - 20 and found that almost 60% of the 398 respondents said their donations from September to January were the same or better than the previous year. About 20% have seen a small decline, and very few have had a decline greater than 20%. Ministries that are growing or declining usually attributed the change to long-term trends such as stewardship development programs rather than the current economic climate. Half of the respondents have not changed their spending. Some have reduced operating expenses, delayed or frozen pay increases and hiring, or increased communication with their donors. Almost all have avoided drastic action such as job cuts, but many expect the major impact of the world economic downturn will come within the next six months. Ministries reliant on donors in Ontario and British Columbia have seen the most significant declines in donations. Ministries with the closest connections to their donors, such as schools and small churches, were more likely to have growing or stable donations. Since three-quarters of ministries have no significant investment portfolios, few were affected by the drop in the securities markets.

Continue article >>

But the need is great

Union Gospel Mission (UGM) in Vancouver has decided to close its youth drop-in centre on Seymour Street. UGM said the centre was limited because it lacked an emergency shelter and alcohol and drug recovery services. UGM has referred its 40 clients at the centre to a similar centre run by Covenant House on the same block. UGM president Bill Mollard said the closure made economic sense even though ministry resources are vastly inadequate to the need in downtown Vancouver: "It's kind of like 15 ants trying to figure out how to eat an elephant. There's just a lot more elephant than there are ants."

Lutherans can blog

Lutheran Church-Canada (LCC) has launched four blogs: InfoDigest (news and information), On the road (posts by LCC executives as they travel on behalf of the church), Think Digital First (director of communications Ian Adnams describing how churches can use new media tools), and One2One Connect (ideas for building relationships for the sake of the gospel). All of the blogs encourage comments and interaction from readers. The denomination also has Facebook and Twitter pages.

Mennonite Brethren can wiki

The Board of Faith of Life of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches has decided to put its church leadership manual Following the Call online in a Wikipedia-style format. The resource provides guidelines for pastors and church boards, including everything from sample contracts to evaluation procedures. The Board also plans to put its popular pamphlet series on current Christian living issues online; the pamphlets can then be translated into other languages by the Conference's sister conferences around the world.

Catholics can Facebook

Anthony B. Taylor, Bishop of Little Rock, Arkansas, has become the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States to set up a page on Facebook. He did so after Stephen Elser, a high school student, set up a Bishop Taylor Fan Club page. Taylor's page now has over 900 "friends."

Lutherans can still sing hymns

A workshop in Montreal has been scheduled for April 27 - 29 to introduce the new French-language hymnal and a new French-language service book produced by Lutheran Church-Canada. People interested in learning how to use the new resources are expected to come to the workshop from Canada, the US, Haiti, Rwanda, Congo, Togo, Burkina Faso, and Burundi.

April 2/2009