Tag Archive
Can we stop Christian kids from leaving the Church?
I said a few weeks ago that we would have some comment on a new study released on why Canadian youth are leaving the Church. The study, “Hemorrhaging Faith,” was sponsored by several different groups, including the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. This trend seems to be the subject of a growing number of discussions among church leaders in the past few years. This study is apparently the first one providing a useful amount of Canadian data and analysis. Christian leaders involved in the project have, therefore, said that it’s a very important piece of work. The results, though, weren’t unsurprising so I’m not sure how important the project really is. In an article on the report published by EFC’s magazine, Faith Today, John Wilkinson, chair of the EFC’s Youth ad Young Adult Ministry Roundtable, said “For those of us who are close to what is going on in youth ministry across Canada, the research findings are not so much surprising as they are confirming.” There may be one important exception to this, which is what we want to consider here. At this time, we have not yet read the original report. We have been following some of the comments made by others.
EFC president’s weak response to marginalization of faith in the public square
ChristianGovernance eletter – September 8, 2012
Can you be bought off with only the freedom to worship?
ChristianGovernance eletter – June 4, 2012
Freedom of worship or freedom of religion? The wrong answer spells doom…
Letter to Canadian Heritage Minister on SciTech Museum’s Sex Exhibit
May 14, 2012
The Honourable James Moore
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
Dear Minister Moore,
I am shocked to hear about the explicit sexual content of the exhibition “Sex: A Tell All Exhibition” that is scheduled to open May 17 in the federally funded family environment of the Canada Science and Technology Museum.
CFA and EFC have different views on child sex crime reforms – EFC’s position
You can also read this commentary online here.
Rolling the Dice: The Proposal to Change the Criminal Code from “Child Pornography” to “Child Sex Abuse Materials”
Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 1:18PMShould the term “child pornography” in the Criminal Code be changed to “child sex abuse materials”? While there may be laudable principles for considering to do so, it would be a legal gamble – with children at risk – to amend the law. This gamble could very likely provide child abusers with a new legal defence when faced with charges related to child pornography. The EFC has a long history of public policy engagement on matters of child protection.
CFA and EFC have different views on child sex crime reforms – CFA’s position
Received via email [This is CFA's perspective on the issue]…
Subject: Child safe nation petition
Dear Pastors and others,
CFA’s ChildSafeNation campaign asking the government to revisit section 163 of the criminal code and make changes to the code to help protect children from internet sex crimes is making significant progress. CFA is asking for three changes: 1) Change the term ‘child pornography’ to child sex abuse materials; 2) Implement mandatory reporting of child sex materials and 3) Enact tough mandatory sentences for these crimes.
Faith groups find common ground – Or do they?
I can’t make head or tail of the following article. The categories, distinctions and paradigms don’t seem to be coherent. When ecumenism goes too far, it is invariably based on incoherent notions. I can’t find a single philosophical strand that ties all the disparate thoughts in this article together. We shouldn’t be instinctively hostile to the idea of working together with others and building coalitions to achieve shared goals, but if one has to throw reason out the door in order to participate in a particular coalition, then the parties should re-think the merits of that approach.