People and Events

The Canadian government is considering repealing section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which allows parents to use reasonable force to correct a child without being charged with assault. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada argues that the net effect will be the criminalization of spanking, bringing "grief to those parents who use spanking as part of overall discipline in a reasonable, conscientious way," says Janet Epp Buckingham, chair of EFC's social action commission. EFC argues that parents must be able to exercise their parental authority within the reasonable limits enshrined in current Canadian law. It recommends that the government revise Section 43 to define "reasonable force" and launch an advertising campaign to clarify the legal limits of physical discipline and suggest alternatives to it.--
EFC

Bill C-32 is a Canadian government bill that proposes a surcharge on every blank cassette tape sold, in order to compensate Canadian artists who suffer income loss due to illegal taping of compact discs and cassettes. The amount being discussed is 37-40 cents per tape, raising the cost of blank cassettes by 50-60%. While groups who help people with perceptual disabilities will be exempt from paying the surcharge under the bill, other charities (including churches) will not be exempt. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada says that churches use hundreds of cassettes a year to record sermons (which are not copyrighted) for distribution to seniors or missionaries. EFC is urging the government to create an exemption for charitable organizations.--
EFC

Mennonite Disaster Service , after consultation with local Mennonite leaders, has decided to rebuild three houses located atop a mountain between Aibontio and Coamo, Puerto Rico. The houses were damaged by Hurricane Hortense, which battered the island on Sept. 10. Immediately after the storm, Puerto Rican Mennonites organized to help clean up 20 houses.--
MDS

The first Balkan Evangelical Conference attracted 1,500 delegates to the two-day event held in September in Belgrade, Serbia. Those attending were from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Sponsored by the Serbian Evangelical Conference, the theme of the conference was "Hope for the Balkans". Its purposes included giving voice to the region's evangelical churches, promoting their unity and affirming that peace and forgiveness for the region's peoples can be found only in Jesus Christ.--
MCC

House church leaders in Vietnam report growing persecution after the nation's governing Communist Party announced in June that it would be taking a harder line on religion. They report the imprisonment of 13 house church leaders, the raiding of churches and fines levied against Christians found meeting together. House church sources in Ho Chi Minh City claim to have overheard an official from the Ministry of Socialism and Culture say, "We must force all illegal churches to register under the Tin Lanh churches. If not, we will destroy all of them. We should use every means to intimidate them until they join." Vietnam's official Protestant church, Tin Lanh, has grown to over 450,000 members, but house church numbers in southern Vietnam have reportedly grown faster, doubling or possibly tripling in the last five years to around 80,000 members.--
EPNS

The First Nations Conference on Traditions of Non-Violence held at the Squamish Nation Recreation Centre in North Vancouver in October was the first of its kind. It was prompted by the sometimes violent events at Ipperwash, Gustafson Lake and the Oka crisis. The conference was attended by native people from across Canada, including chiefs, elders and a significant number of young people. Women were well represented as spokespersons and were given special recognition by a number of speakers. Special guests were people from the Gandhian Non-Violence Movement in India. There were also members from the RCMP, the City Police Association and the federal government. The Governor-General opened the Conference. A small number of non-Native guests were there as well, making the total attendance over 400 people. "There was so much emotion there, and they were so articulate," said Bill Thiessen, Director of Programs for Mennonite Central Committee B.C. Thiessen was there with Menno Wiebe from MCC Canada by invitation from Ovide Mercredi, the First Nations Grand Chief. Seminar topics included "Non-violence as a traditional way of life of the First Nations People", "Healing domestic violence--
seeking alternatives" and "First Nations conflicts with state authorities".--
MCC

Immigrant investors injected nearly $606 million in investment capital into Canada last year, according to Lucienne Robillard, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Robillard also said the family class component of immigration has declined due to modification of the definition of "family" in 1992 regulations and due to tough economic times. Since World War II, Canada has helped settle over 700,000 refugees. Canada expects to receive up to 220,000 people in 1997, including up to 113,000 economic immigrants (90,000 skilled workers and 23,000 investors), 66,200 family immigrants (limited to spouses, fiances, children, parents and grandparents), 8,500 other immigrants and 32,300 refugees (7,300 government-sponsored, 4,000 privately-sponsored and 21,000 already landed in Canada.--
Government of Canada

A study of members of the Mormon Church concludes that religion-based teachings against premarital intercourse do not lead to an abnormal sex life after marriage. The study found Mormons much more likely than other Americans to say premarital sex is unacceptable, but found no significant difference in sexual appetite or conflicts after marriage. Researchers from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah noted that a number of writers have suggested that saving sex for marriage could lead to "sexual maladjustment", ranging from reluctance to have sex after marriage to unusually high levels of sexual activity to "make up for lost time". But the study found no significant differences in the sex lives of married Mormons. The study also found that people with no religious affiliation reported the most sexual activity and the most conflicts about sex.--
EPNS

The Billy Graham Crusade in Charlotte, North Carolina held at the end of September set several records for a North American Billy Graham crusade, including the largest opening night attendance (65,000), the largest youth night (88,000) and the largest average attendance (76,125/night). A total of 336,100 people attended the meetings, of whom 22,249 came forward to make a commitment to Christ. Charlotte was Graham's boyhood home town.--
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Mennonite World Conference president Raul Garcia has sent a letter to US President Bill Clinton expressing concern that the US Congress is considering lifting a ban on the sale of arms to countries in Latin America. The letter specifically noted that "such an action would direct funds toward the purchase of instruments of violence and death when instead it could be invested towards peace and life (education and health) in a continent in search of its fulfillment."--
Mennonite World Conference

Citizens for Public Justice , a think tank and lobby group with roots in the Dutch Reformed Churches, supported in principle Bill C-33, An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act

, which was passed in early May. The bill adds sexual orientation to the list of grounds on which federal agencies and federally regulated businesses (such as banks) are prohibited to discriminate in the areas of employment and the provision of goods and services. CPJ also supports the extension of regular pension, health, tax and other benefits normally available to heterosexual couples to same-sex couples as well. Instead of broadening the definition of "marriage" and "spouse" to include homosexual relationships, CPJ proposes that a new category be established to describe other committed relationships that are eligible for benefits, called "registered domestic partnerships". This category would be open to heterosexual and homosexual couples alike, and would be legally equivalent to marriage. CPJ's Public Affairs Director Gerald Vandezande said, "Any relationship, whether gay or straight, just friends or even relatives, should be entitled to the same pension, health and other benefits as `married' couples if they enter into a public commitment."--
CPJ

Island Christian Info , a Vancouver Island monthly newspaper, appointed C. Lloyd Mackey, as editor in July. Mackey, 56, is a long-time journalist and founder of Christian Info News

, a similar Vancouver-based newspaper which was involved in ICI's start-up 12 years ago.--
Island Christian Info

The Canadian Bible Society hosted a World Assembly of the United Bible Societies Sept. 26-Oct. 3 in Mississauga, Ont. The meeting of 370 delegates from 135 Bible Societies charted a course for Bible translation, production and distribution into the 21st century. This is the first time the UBS World Assembly, which convenes once every eight years, has been held in Canada. The last meeting was in Budapest in 1988. On Sept. 28, about 65 cyclists completed a 4,400-km cross-Canada trip to promote the work of UBS. The cyclists averaged 180 km per day, riding from Vancouver to Mississauga, Ont.--
UBS

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the World Evangelical Fellowship will be co-hosting a two-day Mission Leadership Symposium for Canadian Christian leaders May 5-7, 1997 at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. The symposium will be held prior to the WEF's General Assembly in Abbotsford, B.C. May 8-15. The Assembly is a major gathering of international evangelical leaders held every six years. Over 800 delegates are expected. Symposium topics will include the globalization of mission and interdependence between the Western church and the rest of the world.--
EFC

A group of psychologists have estimated that the amount of psychotherapy needed so that the typical patient derives maximum benefit is 58 weeks.--
Psychology Today

54% of Americans believe churches should express political viewpoints, according to a survey of 2,000 adults. In 1968, only 40% thought churches should do so.--
Pastor's Weekly Briefing

The JESUS film has been translated into 364 languages, and another 190 translations are in production. There are currently only 5 countries without known showings of the film: Andorra, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde Islands and Seychelles. Reports from mainland China indicate that during 1995 approximately 1.5 million people saw the JESUS film or video through church or home showings. In one area, a fellowship of 30 members that met in someone's backyard grew to 500 people within a few years through weekly screenings of the video. Another church of 700 members more than doubled in size within two years through the same strategy.--
Campus Crusade for Christ

59% of those who attend church weekly said they give to the poor overseas, compared to 42% of monthly attenders and 22% of those who never attend, according to an Angus Reid poll. About half of regular attenders said they do volunteer work, compared to one-third of those who never attend church.--
Mennonite Central Committee