A tempting role
Heather Pattengale (pictured) is the producer and plays Eve in ‘The Diary of Adam and Eve,’ Alberta’s Rosebud Theatre’s latest production October 6-8. The show is an adaptation by Mark Bucci of Mark Twain’s humorous tale and “follows Adam and Eve as they encounter the ups and downs of being the world’s first couple living together in paradise,” explains Pattengale. This part is the culmination of Pattengale’s time as a student at Rosebud School of the Arts. Pattengale’s husband, Paul Zacharias, composed an original score for the show.
Suspected of unorthodox behaviour
Archbishop Seraphim Storheim, who leads the Archdiocese of Canada in the Orthodox Church in America, has taken a three-month leave of absence, effective October 1. According to the October 5 Globe and Mail, Storheim is being investigated in relation to allegations of sexual abuse involving two boys under the age of 12 more than 20 years ago. At that time, Storheim was rector of a church in Winnipeg.
Chris is a blue CHP candidate
Chris Kempling has been nominated to run as the Christian Heritage Party candidate in the British Columbia riding of Kamloops Thompson Cariboo in the next federal election. Kempling was a school teacher and counsellor who was suspended by the British Columbia College of Teachers and disciplined by the Quesnel School District for expressing opinions critical of homosexuality in letters to a local newspaper. Kempling currently works as a marriage and family counsellor in private practice.
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Toronto’s Tyndale University College and Seminary has seen a 10.7 percent increase in the number of students attending the school this fall. Since 2007, enrollment in the BA in Business Administration program has grown by 50 percent, and enrollment and the BA in Psychology program has grown by 35 percent, while the certificate and graduate diploma programs grew by 22 percent and the BA in Religious Studies program grew by 27 percent. Tyndale has also launched three new programs in the last two years: a Doctor of Ministry, a Bachelor of Education and a BA in Linguistics.
Religious Freedom discussed
Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario, and the Christian think tank Cardus are hosting a one-day conference called ‘Liberty or Liability? The Future of Institutional Religious Freedom’ October 27. Keynote speakers include Stanley Carlson-Thies (president of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance), Don Hutchinson (of the Centre for Faith and Public Life) and Kevin Boonstra (editor of LexView).
If you’re pro-life, you need a lawyer
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s (EFC) Back-to-School Blitz continues with the release of ‘Pro-Life Clubs and the Law,’ offered by the EFC’s Centre for Faith and Public Life. This is a guide providing information for students and their legal counsel on the law and legal principles involved in challenges to pro-life campus clubs.
Campus atheists unite
The Secular Student Alliance is an umbrella for non-religious, agnostic and atheist students in the United States in order to “promote the ideals of scientific rationality,
secularism, democracy and human-based ethics.” It now has affiliates on 219 US post secondary campuses, up from 100 in 2008.
Death by starvation
Derek Miedema of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, has written an analysis (PDF) questioning the death of Kulendran Mayandy. Mayandy, 48, originally from Sri Lanka, was pastor of a small church in Brampton, Ontario. He had a heart attack May 29, 2010 and suffered severe brain damage. After two months in the William Osler Health Centre, friends say he could breathe on his own, speak single words, recognize people and take small amounts of food by mouth. The centre stopped providing nutrition in late June, but family and friends appealed to the Consent and Capacity Board of Canada, and the food was restored July 16. However, the Board appointed a friend as Mayandy’s Substitute Decision Maker on August 13, on the condition that he agree to the removal of food on August 17. Mayandy died September 6 of kidney failure and a seizure. The IMFC says he essentially starved to death.
Keeping missionaries in line
Wycliffe Bible Translators has released a new survey detailing missionaries’ extensive use of technology while in the field. The survey, which included responses from more than 800 active missionaries spread all over the world, found that about a third of all Wycliffe missionaries use email daily to communicate with family, friends and supporters back home. More than half said the ability to maintain an online connection to home extends longevity in the field. “Just 10 years ago, missionaries were relying on written mail and the occasional, expensive, international phone call to keep in touch with their loved ones, which contributed to homesickness,” said Bob Creson, CEO of Wycliffe. “Today, nearly all of our missionaries are only an email away from their families.”
God is as close as your phone
Faith Comes By Hearing, a ministry based in the United States, has released a series of free apps, called Bible.is, which allow people to access the Bible on their iPhone, Android, iPod Touch and iPad. National director Troy Carl reports that since the launch, the apps have had more than 5 million Bible touches, averaging more than 37 minutes of listening time per user. The six apps include a Bible Survey (a 61-day overview of key stories from the Old and New Testaments) and a You’ve Got The Time program (which allows listeners to complete the New Testament in 40 days by listening 28 minutes a day).
Word for word
The Gospel According to Matthew, a word-for-word film version of the Gospel of Matthew, using the New International Version, was released 15 years ago by Marchiano Ministries. However, it has never been available in Canada. It will now be distributed by Crown Entertainment of Canada. Crown will also release Jesus the Christ (a feature-length edit of Matthew), Acts of the Apostles (another word-for-word film) and Who Is Jesus? (an evangelistic DVD using footage from Matthew).
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