New Bill to Ban Conversion Therapy
A new bill to ban conversion therapy was introduced yesterday. Bill C-4 goes further than the previous ban, the former Bill C-6, which died when the election was called. The new bill bans the practice for both adults and minors. The EFC is concerned that the definition of conversion therapy remains overly broad and will impact freedom of expression and religion. We are working on a response to the new bill and will make resources available at TheEFC.ca/C4.
EFC Vice-President Contributes to New Book
David Guretzki, the EFC’s vice-president and resident theologian, contributed an essay to the newly released book The Inherence of Human Dignity (Anthem Press, 2021). The book launch happens on Thursday, Dec. 2 at Cardus Ottawa and will be livestreamed. The collection consists of scholarly papers presented at the 2019 meeting of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR) World Congress. It explores themes around religious liberty and human dignity.
Faith Today Blog: Beyond Pestilence and Flood – The Story of a B.C. Church
Justin Lueck, the lead pastor of City Life Church in Chilliwack, B.C. had been planning a Community Impact Sunday for November 21. Then the floodwaters hit. This blog and video interview share the incredible community impact that happened when the waters rose.
Faith Today Podcast: No Cure for Being Human and Just Being Wonderful with Kate Bowler
To read her is to love her, in our opinion. Kate Bowler brings fresh honesty to some of life's toughest questions. In this interview with Karen Stiller, Kate takes us behind the scenes of her latest book, No Cure for Being Human, and also solves a lot of everything, all the while making us laugh.
New EFC Weekly Prayer Prompts
This week’s prayer request is about church and mission. Pray for Christian living that is rooted in engagement with others in Scripture and prayer for increasing commitments among Christians to witness to God’s love in all areas of life and society; for congregations that seek to discern how God is leading them in changing times.
You can learn more on this topic at TheEFC.ca/ChurchandMission. Each week at 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 ShareWord Global (formerly the Gideons), which “exists to ignite and fuel a passion in people’s hearts to share the gospel—training and equipping them, as a community of believers, to effectively introduce people to Jesus through God’s Word.”
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.
→ Entrepreneurial Leaders Organization National Forum (ELO), online, Nov. 30
→ Canadian Indigenous Realities and the Church (Ray Aldred/FFTH), online, Dec. 1
→ Understanding Occasional Religious Practice (St. Mark’s College), online, Dec. 3
→ EFC Speaker at Kingston Church, Ont. (Bethel Alliance), Dec. 5
→ Fighting the Evil of Corruption (Global Network on Integrity), online, Dec. 9
→ Watercooler Break for Communications Workers (CCCA), online, Dec. 10
→ Philosophy in the Reformed Tradition 2021 (ICS, various), online, Dec. 8-11
→ A Post-Pandemic Missiology for Ministry Leaders (Wycliffe College), online, Dec. 14
→ Tips from the Winning Christian Communicators: Writing Categories (CCCA), online, Dec. 17
In Case You Missed It
→ Be Kind to Your MP Campaign
→ What Does It Look Like for a Congregation to Flourish? (recorded webinar)
→ EFC President Gives 700 Club Canada Interview
→ Habits that Can Help Us Grow (Faith Today podcast)
→ Clergy Resilience (Faith Trends podcast)
→ Making it Count (Faith Trends podcast)
→ Habits that Can Help Us Grow (Faith Trends podcast)
→ Dispatch from WEA Global Ambassador on the Work of the Holy Spirit in the Worldwide Church
→ Pastor Shares Church Response to B.C. Floods (Faith Today blog)
→ Flood of Relief from Churches (Faith Today blog)