Anglican parishes appealing

The trustees of four Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) congregations in the greater Vancouver area have filed an appeal of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kelleher's November 25 decision on ownership of their parish properties. Kelleher found that Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster had no authority to replace the trustees, but also that the trustees owed a duty to use the church properties for the benefit of the diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC). The four parishes have an average Sunday attendance of 1,500. However, the case is expected to set a precedent for other parishes which have also left ACC for the ANiC. The ANiC has 33 parishes and eight forming congregations with attendance of more than 3,500. ANiC legal representative Cheryl Chang noted that an appeal had to be lodged within 30 days of the decision, and said it was difficult for the congregations to make a decision over the Christmas season. They will now have more time to consider whether to continue the appeal, to abandon their claims or to seek a negotiated settlement with the diocese.

Muslims RIS in Toronto

The eighth annual Reviving the Islamic Spirit (RIS) convention, held in Toronto December 25-27, attracted 17,000 attendees from across North America. The convention featured singer Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens); Hamza Yusuf, founder of Zaytuna College, the first Muslim college in the U.S.; Oxford professor Tariq Ramadan, named by Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people; Abdal Hakim Jackson, University of Michigan law professor and author of Islam and the Blackamerican; Zaid Shakir, scholar and anti-drug campaigner; Zainab Alwani, researcher on female Islamic scholarship and author on domestic violence; Aisha Al Adawiya, executive director of the human rights group Women in Islam; Jamal Badawi, management professor at St. Mary's University in Nova Scotia; Liberal MP John McCallum; the comedy group Allah Made Me Funny; and the Muslim hip-hop group Outlandish.

Connecting with leaders again

In this new year, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is offering more of its one-day Christian Leaders Connection workshops on the theme 'Being Evangelical in a Complex World: Stats, Facts and Trends.' Workshops have been scheduled for January 19 in Edmonton, January 21 in Calgary, January 25 in Toronto, February 16 in Belleville, Ont., March 25 in Winnipeg, March 26-27 in Caronport, Sask., April 13 in Ottawa and April 21 in Cambridge, Ont.

They play to full homes

Rosebud Theatre in Rosebud, Alta., has announced a five-play schedule for 2010, all on the theme 'Consider yourself home.' The plays were chosen to demonstrate that there is hope in the midst of financial difficulties. The plays are:
• We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay (March 12-May 15), a comedy by Dario Fo about two Italian housewives who revolt against the high price of groceries.
• Oliver! (May 28-August 23), a musical by Lionel Bart based on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist -- about a young orphan forced to become a street pickpocket, who eventually finds a home.
• Woza Albert! (July 2-August 29), a drama by Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon about Jesus coming to South Africa under apartheid.
• The Road To Mecca (September 10-October 23), a drama by Athol Fugard about a free-spirited old woman who fights to stay in her eccentrically decorated but dangerous home against the wishes of her unfriendly neighbours and well-intentioned friends.
• The Secret Garden (November 5-December 23), a musical by Jim Crabtree about a girl placed in an unfamiliar home -- and a garden that transforms her and everyone around her.

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The right debate

The Heintz versus Christian Horizons case, concerning the right of Christian organizations to impose moral codes of conduct on their employees, has generated considerable comment, by people ranging from Charles Lewis in the National Post to Don Hutchinson of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The case was heard December 15-17, but a decision is not expected for several months.

Apology pending

The Council of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has approved a statement that expresses "deep regret and sorrow" for Lutheran persecution of Anabaptists (Mennonites) beginning in the 16th century, and asks forgiveness "from God and from our Mennonite sisters and brothers." The statement will be voted on at the July 2010 LWF Eleventh Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Don of a new era

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Donald Bolen as Bishop of Saskatoon. He replaces Albert LeGatt , who was earlier transferred to become Archbishop of Saint-Boniface in Manitoba. Bolen was born in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, in 1961. He earned a BA from the University of Regina and a licentiate in theology from Saint Paul Seminary in Ottawa, and was ordained in 1991. The Diocese of Saskatoon has a Catholic population of 86,645 in 98 parishes and missions, served by 49 diocesan priests, 43 religious order priests, three permanent deacons, 182 religious Sisters and Brothers, and 10 lay pastoral workers.

Shall we gather at the Games?

National House of Prayer is partnering with Keats Camps, Barnabas Family Ministries and More Than Gold to establish the Keats Island International Prayer Centre. The idea is to gather people on Keats Island near Vancouver February 12-28 to pray for the Vancouver area and the nations of the world during the 2010 Olympic Games.

Calling Scroll Control

In December, Jordan formally asked Canada to seize the Dead Sea scrolls which were then on display at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The request was based on the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which requires a country to "to take into its custody cultural property imported into its territory either directly or indirectly from any occupied territory." Israel took control of the scrolls from a Palestinian museum when it gained possession of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967. Jordan said it was not asking Canada to determine who owns the scrolls, but simply to place them under Canada's safekeeping until their ownership could be determined. Israel argued that the short-term, temporary exhibition of scrolls in another country does not constitute 'exportation' under the Hague Convention. It is acknowledged by both sides that the scrolls were originally Jewish documents. A spokesperson for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade said that "differences regarding ownership of the Dead Sea scrolls should be addressed by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. It would not be appropriate for Canada to intervene as a third party."

Living on faith

Living Faith Bible College in Caroline, Alberta, is seeking to raise an extra $300,000 to pay off a $150,000 line of credit and finish the 2009-2010 school year in the black. The college blames its current financial problems on less than expected rental income last summer and less than expected enrollment this school year (18 students instead of the recent norm of 30-50 students).

At least they won't have to face Simon

Gospel's Dynamic Duets, a Canadian reality show designed to discover new gospel singers, will debut January 16 at 5 pm ET on the CTS network. Each of the 13 one-hour episodes will be re-run the following Saturday at 1 pm ET. The first episodes feature auditions held in fall 2008 in Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver. In subsequent episodes, the show's judges -- producer/songwriter Stephen Lewis, songwriter/vocalist Cassandra Sommers and singer Kevin Pauls -- reduced the contestants to 40 for round two, to 20 for the semi-final and to 10 for the final. The four winners will each be paired with a well-known Christian music star to sing a duet, and all four songs will be released on one album.

January 6/2010