More Grace on TV

The Christian Channel was renamed Grace Television Network in mid-September. The network was purchased from S-VOX by World Impact Ministries (WIM), led by evangelist Peter Youngren, in May. Grace TV provides Christian programming to 30 percent of the Canadian market 24 hours a day. It hopes to double that coverage in two years and then expand to locations in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Christians kicking it

For the first time ever, both the men's and women's soccer teams from Trinity Western University (TWU) were ranked first in the Canadian Intercollegiate Sports (CIS) weekly rankings September 29. The TWU women's Spartans, with a 4-0 record are the reigning CIS champions. The men's Spartans, with a 4-0-2 record, made it to the CIS finals last year. This is the first time one university has led both soccer rankings since September 2008, when York University had the honour. TWU is a Christian university based in Langley, BC.

No support

The Canadian government has turned down a request from Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) for a $1.5 million grant. CoSA is a program that surrounds released violent and sex offenders with a group of volunteers in order to offer support and hold them accountable. CoSA had asked for the money to help it evaluate and refine its current structures and practices. There are currently 16 CoSA's operating in communities across Canada, and the idea has also spread to Great Britain and the US. CoSA said the grant was refused even though the Public Safety Department's own National Crime Prevention Centre had supported the application. Maureen Donegan, coordinator of Fraser Valley CoSA in BC, said refusing the grant will "increase the threat to public safety in our communities."

Networked marriages are better than deadlocked marriages

Greg McCombs of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada's Canadian Marriage and Family Network (CMFN) will be travelling to Saskatoon in October for a meeting with local pastors and church leaders. They will discuss ways to work together to strengthen marriages in the Saskatoon area. CMFN is hoping to work together with similar networks in other cities.

Canadian Christians make music

The Gospel Music Association Canada 2009 convention will take place October 20 - 25 in Calgary. The event will include training workshops; a worship night with Brian Doerksen; two evening concerts with Downhere/High Valley and The Hunters/Young Street Vocal Band; 'showcase' concerts throughout southern Alberta; and the awarding of the annual Covenant Awards. October 10 is the deadline for anyone wanting to submit a song or perform in GMA's Cross Canada Talent Search.

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A centre for people in outlying areas

The Centre for Rural Community Leadership and Ministry (CiRCLeM) is holding a fall conference on the theme 'Rooted in faith' at the Best Western Wayside Inn in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, October 15 - 17. CiRCLeM works to educate and encourage religious and civic leadership in small towns. It offers a master of sacred theology degree in rural ministry and a rural ministry concentration for pastoral students at Saskatoon Theological Union. It also offers online resources for rural ministry, and a mentoring program for new rural church leaders.

Still singing after a quarter-century

The African Children's Choir held its 25th anniversary Gala Celebration at the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver September 29. Bob Geldof, promoter of Live Aid and other concerts, returned to Vancouver to be presented with the Malaika Award at the event. The first African Children's Choir was formed in 1984 by Canadian human rights activist Ray Barnett, bringing together orphaned and vulnerable children in Uganda. Since then, choirs have toured the world showing the beauty, dignity and ability of some of the world's neediest and most vulnerable children and raising money to help thousands of African children.

A spiritual battle

October 4 was the sixth annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem. The effort is supported by over 1,000 church leaders around the world. The organizing committee is chaired by Robert Stearns and Jack Hayford, president of the International Foursquare Church. "At the root, the unrest in the Middle East is a spiritual problem requiring a spiritual answer," said Stearns.

But will the play be condemned?

Pacific Theatre, a Christian-based theatre group in Vancouver, is teaming with Pound of Flesh Theatre to present Stephen Adly Guirgis's play The Last Days of Judas Iscariot October 7 - 17. Set in "a place called Hope, halfway between Heaven and Hell," the play depicts Judas standing trial for his sins. The witnesses include Mother Teresa, Pontius Pilate, Sigmund Freud, a foul-mouthed Saint Monica, a high school football coach, a handful of Jesus' disciples and Satan. Described as "wildly funny and scathingly provocative," the play focuses on "eternal questions of forgiveness, mercy and eternal damnation."

October 8/2009