He's the Brian behind the operation

Journalist Brian Stewart will deliver the keynote address at a 'Making a World of Difference' gala fundraising dinner for CH Global in Kitchener, Ontario, November 24. Stewart retired in July from a 45-year career that included service as a CBC foreign correspondent and news anchor. Stewart's documentary on the Ethiopian famine in the mid-1980s has been credited with alerting the world to the crisis and inspiring the Live Aid concert. CH Global assists children and adults with special needs in 12 countries around the world, including Canadian First Nations communities.

Gracious award

Retired publisher John W. Irwin and his wife, professor Eleanor Irwin, have established the $5,000 Grace Lilian Irwin award for the best book published in 2009 by a Canadian author who writes from a Christian worldview. The winner will be selected from the finalists in The Word Guild Canadian Christian Writing Awards, which will be given out June 16. The awards now cover 20 categories of books and 15 other categories of writing. Grace Irwin, John's aunt, was an author, classics scholar at the University of Toronto and ordained minister who passed away in September 2008 at age 101. Her best known books are Least of All Saints (1952), a novel, and Servant of Slaves (1961), a dramatized biography of hymn writer John Newton. The Word Guild gave her the Leslie K. Tarr Award in 2002 for outstanding career contribution to Christian writing and publishing in Canada.

Not thankful for this harvest

David Matas and David Kilgour have released an updated version of their 2007 book Bloody Harvest, which presents new evidence that Falun Gong practitioners in China are being killed for their organs. Falun Gong is a set of exercises with a spiritual foundation begun in 1992. It was initially encouraged by the government of China, but was banned in 1999. Matas is an international human rights lawyer based in Winnipeg. Kilgour is a former long-time member of parliament from Edmonton and former Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific.

Torontonians have five heads

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed William Terrence McGrattan and Vincent Nguyen as auxiliary bishops for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. They join two other auxiliary bishops, John A. Boissonneau and Peter J. Hundt, in assisting Archbishop of Toronto Thomas Collins. Born in London, Ontario in 1956, McGrattan studied at St. Peter's Seminary in London and the Pontifical Gregorian University. He has served in several pastoral appointments in the Diocese of London, and since 1997 has been rector of St. Peter's Seminary. Born in Vietnam in 1966, Nguyen moved to Canada in 1984. He has a BAS in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, an MDiv from St. Augustine's Seminary in Toronto and a licentiate in canon law from the Angelicum in Rome. The Archdiocese of Toronto has 1,626,465 Catholics in 244 parishes and missions, 286 diocesan priests, 433 religious order priests, 119 permanent deacons and 651 religious sisters.

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Children's Sunday

The United Church has declared that this year's Children's Sunday (November 22) will focus on the thousands of Canadian children who are currently in the care of child protection agencies, along with the foster parents, social workers, and community agencies who care for them. "Canada's child protection system is desperately in need of care itself," said the church's moderator, Mardi Tindal. "Children have a right to be nurtured and cared for regardless of their circumstances. My hope is that as a result of this focus on children in care, many United Church congregations will hear and respond to the cry for justice from children in their own communities."

Three new bishops consecrated

The Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) consecrated three bishops in St. Catharines, Ontario last week. Stephen Leung, Charles Masters and Trevor Walters were consecrated by Robert Duncan in a service which saw the participation of 15 bishops and more than 60 priests and deacons from across North America. The service of consecration was the culmination of the ANiC's second synod. Messages of greeting, support and encouragement were sent to the synod from a number of bishops from the Church of England and from primates representing Anglicans from around the world. The ANiC is under the episcopal authority of Bishop Harvey and is a diocese in the Anglican Church in North America which unites over 100,000 faithful Anglicans from across this continent. The ANiC now numbers 33 parishes and eight forming congregations in North America with more than 3,500 in church on an average Sunday.

Ring your bells!

KAIROS is asking every church in the country to ring its church bells 350 times for "climate justice" on December 13 at 3pm. This is set to coincide with an ecumenical service that the World Council of Churches is coordinating at the height of the international climate change talks taking place in Copenhagen. Why church bells? Because for thousands of years, they've been used to warn people of imminent danger and also to call people to action. Why 350 times? Because according to climate experts, 350 parts per million (ppm) is the upper limit for carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in our atmosphere. Until about 200 years ago, our atmosphere contained 275 ppm of CO2, but now the concentration stands at 390 ppm. If 350 rings is a little too much noise for your neighbourhood, KAIROS suggests you try 35.

What are polar bears doing in Rwanda?

Todd and Trent Courage, founders of the annual Courage Brothers' Polar Bear Dip for World Vision, visited Rwanda this past summer and saw firsthand how donations to the Dip have made life better in Rwanda. This year, January 1 will mark the 25th anniversary of the event, which raises money to support fresh water projects and improve the quality of life. To date, this event has raised over $420,000; last year alone, it raised over $55,000.

Ambrose hosts business conference

Calgary's Ambrose University College Business Society will host its first annual 'Christian Business Conference' November 13 - 14. The conference will feature several business people ranging from entrepreneurs to senior corporate executives, all with valuable insights into today's business environment.

November 19/2009