Prayer Time
EFC Prayer Ambassador Roger Helland and The National House of Prayer are co-hosting an EFC-Wide Zoom Prayer for the Federal Election, from 11:00 a.m.-noon Eastern time on Monday, September 13. Join us at https://theefc.zoom.us/j/84865042270?pwd=c0FLZGZ6MzhsSmVFVUZxNGZnSjU0QT09.
Or call one of these numbers (204 272 7920 Manitoba; 587 328 1099 Alberta; 647 374 4685 Toronto; 647 558 0588 Toronto alternate; 778 907 2071 British Columbia; 438 809 7799 Montreal) and enter meeting ID: 848 6504 2270 and passcode: 638168.
Call for Prayer for Afghanistan
The EFC joins with the World Evangelical Alliance in calling for prayer for Afghanistan. “The WEA calls on churches and believers to pray for the country, especially for Afghan Christians and others who are vulnerable, and those who have already fled or are trying to flee abroad.”
New Video: What Churches Can and Cannot Do During an Election
We have a variety of election resources you can freely reproduce and distribute for your church or other gatherings. The EFC has released a new 2-minute EFC video to help churches be active during an election and still follow the rules that guide their non-partisan participation.
You can find all our latest election resources at TheEFC.ca/Election. Our complete EFC Election Engagement Kit 2021 is available for a free download now, including our 2021 election questions for candidates. We also have election slides for social media and group presentations and a general one-page brochure on faith and political engagement.
Why the EFC Encourages Christians to Vote
Engaging with government officials, businesses and community leaders is part of our Christian witness, according to a new post on the EFC website that also introduces our free EFC Election Engagement Kit.
Contributing to the Good of our Neighbours
Voting, volunteering and engaging with government are some of the ways we can express God’s love and heart for justice to our communities and government, writes Ilana Reimer in a new post on the Faith Today website.
New EFC Weekly Prayer Prompts
This week’s prayer request is about palliative care. Pray for those at the end of life, who have received a terminal diagnosis or who have suffered a traumatic injury, and their families. Pray for our culture to be life-affirming and compassionate; for our churches to be known for supporting and caring for loving those at the end of life; and for all Canadians to have access to high quality palliative care.
You can learn more on these issues at TheEFC.ca/PalliativeCare.
Each week at TheEFC.ca/TakeAction we rotate through a prayer request from each of these five areas: Sanctity of Life, Care for the Vulnerable, Church and Mission, Family and Community, Religious Freedom. We also list an EFC affiliate group to pray for.
This week, we highlight Salvation Army. The Salvation Army offers several hospice programs in Canada, offering inter-disciplinary teams that are sensitive to the needs of the terminally ill and their families. The Salvation Army hospice programs have expertise to care for residents at the end of life.
Covid 19 and the restrictions have a significant impact on our lives. The EFC continues to offer new Friday@4 pandemic-focused prayer suggestions each week at TheEFC.ca/Covid-19.
Looking to Hire or be Hired?
Faith Today's website currently has online classified listings for two pastor positions in Ontario (Erin, Port Hope), a chief financial officer, an accounting/finance associate, a major gifts officer (covering Ontario and the Maritimes), a professor of psychology/counselling, and more. Check it out or post your help wanted ads at www.faithtoday.ca/classifieds.
Five Reviews from JulAug 2021 (Faith Today article)
Are you looking for some late-summer reading material for the cottage or the back deck? We've reviewed five books, including John Stackhouse's Can I Believe? Christianity for the Hesitant, Peter Mansbridge's best-selling Extraordinary Canadians: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation, and more.
Get more unique Canadian Christian journalism like this by signing up at FaithToday.ca/SubscribeFree.
→ A Faithful Election Conversation 2021 (CPJ/MLUC/BCC/CO), online, Sept. 1
→ Faith Recovery: Spiritual Maturity (National Bible Institute), online, Sept. 4
→ Life Shared Summit (Alpha Canada), online, Sept. 9
→ Watercooler Break for Communications Workers (CCCA), online, Sept. 10
→ Youth Ministry Online Summit - Volunteers (Alpha/YWC/YFC), Sept. 11
→ EFC-Wide Zoom Prayer for the Federal Election, Sept. 13 from 11:00 a.m. to noon ET
→ 2021 MK Caregivers Summit (MK Caregivers), online from Dallas, Texas, Sept. 13-16
→ Developing Intercultural Leaders for Missional Ministry (TIM Centre), online Tue.’s starting Sept. 14
→ Canadian Indigenous Realities and the Canadian Church (Ray Aldred, FFTH), online, Sept. 22
→ Mission Leaders Conference Innovate 2021 (Missio Nexus), online from Dallas, Texas, Sept. 22-24
→ The Timothy Trust Preachers’ Refresher (The Met), Landsdowne, Ont., Sept. 27-29
→ Human Sexuality and Christian Ethics series (Salvation Army), online Mon.’s starting Sept. 27 (register by Sept. 20)
→ Atlantic Church Leaders Roundtable (Kingswood University), Moncton, N.B., Oct. 1
Save the Date: Join the EFC’s Online Book Discussion
On Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. Eastern, we’ll be hosting a discussion on what it looks like for a congregation to flourish. It will draw on the book Signs of Life: Catholic, Mainline, and Conservative Protestant Congregations in Canada (Tyndale Academic, 2021). Plan to join co-author Joel Thiessen of Ambrose University in Calgary, engage in a live Q and A and take part in breakout group discussion. Order the book today from your local bookstore so you can read it by November.
Nouvelles ressources en français / New French-language resources
→ Le travail sur la conscience se poursuit pendant la pause parlementaire
→ Entretien avec David Hearn, président du conseil d'administration de l’AEC
→ Sur la colline du Parlement d’août-septembre 2021
→ Mise à jour de l’AEC sur les relations avec les autochtones
→ Mot du directeur régional pour le Québec de l’AEC de juin-juillet 2021
→ Au travail pour protéger les enfants de la pornographie
In Case You Missed It
→ Helping Haiti After the Earthquake and Other Disaster Responses (EFC website article)
→ Three Pages a Day to Read the Bible in a Year (Faith Today website post)
→ Seeking to Belong (Faith Today article)