People and events

British Columbia Premier Glen Clark
called 30 of B.C.'s religious leaders together for a meeting in the NDP caucus room in the legislature in Victoria July 8. The 30 represented a variety of Christian, Jewish, Native, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Islamic and Baha'i religions. About half were Christians of various denominations. Clark came up with the idea for the meeting after reading Jim Wallis's book The Soul of Politics; Wallis is a left-wing evangelical in the US, best known as editor of Sojourners magazine. Tim Stevenson and John Cashore, two former United Church ministers in Clark's NDP caucus helped him set up the meeting. Gerald Vandezande of Citizens for Public Justice, a Canadian Christian lobby group with Christian Reformed roots, was flown in at government expense to be guest speaker for the occasion. Although Clark attended Roman Catholic elementary and secondary schools, he admitted that he is not particularly religious. He also said that he expected some of the religious leaders would disagree with some of his government's policies. Vandezande, for instance, a supporter of the Christian Labour Association of Canada, opposes the government's Bill 44, which would virtually eliminate small unions such as CLAC, giving large unions a virtual monopoly; the government has since withdrawn the bill for redrafting. Asked after the meeting if he could identify any real leadership or original thinking among the group, Clark singled out Vern Heidebrecht, senior pastor of Northview Community Church in Abbotsford. During a private portion of the meeting, Heidebrecht had criticized Clark's government for blocking construction of a home for single mothers in Abbotsford because it would be based on a Christian philosophy.--
CHRISTIAN INFO NEWS

A new newspaper, Christian Lifestyles , was launched in Winnipeg on Sept. 15 to cover Manitoba news and life from a Christian perspective. Aimed at a younger market, the newspaper promises to tackle a wide array of issues and events as well as offering columns on practical lifestyle issues such as money management and household tips. It is published by Fellowship for Print Witness, producers of the national evangelical newspaper ChristianWeek, and is available free at over 400 outlets across Manitoba.--
CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLES

Chinese Christians in Vancouver this summer gathered over 2000 names on a petition opposing gay-friendly materials in school classrooms. Tom Trueman, a Vancouver School Board employee, used School Board letterhead to respond. His letter stated, "If the people who signed the petition do not agree with the laws of Canada, they are welcome to move to some other jurisdiction which has human rights views which are as repressive as their own." Trueman has refused to apologize, but a School Board official expressed regret over the letter and noted that Trueman is no longer a School Board employee. Mrs. Chan, an MB church member who helped organize the petition and who did not want to be identified further for fear of reprisals from the gay community, received a copy of the letter. She pointed out that the petition did not ask that the board approve materials which portray the gay lifestyle as unhealthy and abnormal. Rather it requested the Board not to approve books, literature and other material "that portray the lifestyle of homosexuals, bisexuals and other transgendered individuals as healthy and normal". Chinese Christians in Vancouver have also lodged a formal complaint against Vancouver police for allowing gay activists to drown out a pro-family rally this summer by shouting obscenities and threats.--
CHRISTIAN INFO NEWS, BCTV

Michael L. Lichtenberger , controller of Bethel College, a Mennonite liberal arts school in North Newton, Kan., has allegedly stolen over $1.2 million from the school in the last seven years, half of it in 1996-97. He was fired in June due to irregularities found in the business office and is now facing charges of theft and forgery. Bethel president Douglas Penner said the losses do not jeopardize the school's operations or programs. Bethel has an annual operating budget of $10 million and has ended every year in the black since 1972. Several members of the Bethel community have tried to visit Lichtenberger in jail but he has refused to see them.--
MENNONITE WEEKLY REVIEW

The British Columbia government , despite objections from the religious community, this summer gave homosexual couples the legal right to call each other spouse, along with a host of other rights and obligations that that relationship implies. The legislation, which was opposed by only 9 of the 75 MLAs, means that same-sex couples will be considered the equivalent of common-law heterosexual pairs.--
CHRISTIANWEEK

A Christian music concert was included as part of the Abbotsford (B.C.) International Airshow for the first time this summer. Local Christian peace activists, who protest the Airshow itself each year, objected to the location, claiming the military aspects of the show were incongruous with the message of Christian love. Local churches turned down invitations to provide the music, and fewer than 300 people attended the event. A Surrey, B.C. group, Daystar, was featured in the concert.--
CHRISTIAN INFO NEWS

The Gospel Community Chapel of New Hazelton, B.C. is excited about outreach to native people in their area. Eleven nights of camp meetings last December, with speaker Joe Bullcalf, a Blackfoot Indian from Browning, Montana resulted in several conversions and 28 people baptized. The native group holds services in the church, and there is interest in integration with the Gospel Community Chapel. --
Gospel Community Chapel

Adding fingerprints to driver's licences in Georgia has drawn criticism from privacy advocates, civil libertarians and conservative Christians who feel the program is a step toward the "mark of the beast" foretold in the Bible's Book of Revelation. "We don't know what the mark is, but having fingerprints on ID cards seems too close," Cyndee Parker told reporters. "You don't want to get up to heaven and have God say, `Remember when you had your body turned into a bar code? That was it.'"--
EPNS

Physician Robert W. Martin , who for nearly two decades served with Mennonite Board of Missions in Israel, has been named an officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Martin, with his wife Nancy, served at Nazareth Hospital in partnership with the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society 1965-68, 1971-78 and 1987-96. Robert served as the hospital's chief executive officer while Nancy directed the hospital's school of nursing.--
Mennonite Weekly Review

The M2/W2 (Man to Man/Woman to Woman) prison ministry has moved to 208-2825 Clearbrook Rd., Abbotsford, B.C. V2T 2Z3. The phone number remains the same (604-859-3215). In the past year, M2/W2 was involved with 1,433 prisoners and ex-inmates, 616 of whom were matched with M2/W2 volunteers. M2/W2 volunteers made an estimated 10,500 visits to prisons. Financially, total income rose from over $348,000 the previous year to over $418,000, but expenditures were up from over $352,000 the previous year to over $432,000 in 1996-97. Staff salaries will be cut 5% in the next year.--
M2/W2

Russia's lower house of Parliament , the State Duma, voted 357-6 (with 4 abstaining) Sept. 19 in favour of a "compromise bill" on church-state relations. Victor Korkaltsev, head of the Duma's religion committee, said the law would create an obstacle to religious expansion into Russia, outlaw "totalitarian sects" and limit the activities of missionaries. The bill was also expected to get approval from the upper house, the Federation Council, and from President Boris Yeltsin, who vetoed an earlier draft of the bill this summer.--
Compass Direct

A grenade exploded at a Christian bookstand in Gaziantep, Turkey on Sunday, Sept. 14, killing one and injuring 25. The bookstand was operated by the Turkish Good News Publishing Company and was part of the annual Gaziantep Industrial Trade Fair in southeast Turkey. Both President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz condemned the attack on the bookstand, which was given wide media coverage. Nine members of the outlawed Islamic VASAD organization have been arrested. Over 800 books were sold before the attack, and many people showed genuine interest in the bookstand. After the attack, the bookstand was closed for fear of further action and reprisals by families of the injured, who seemed to blame the bookstand for the problem.--
Compass Direct

Canada's New Harvest is a recent book published jointly by Vision Canada 2000 (the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada's task force on evangelism) and SIM Canada. The book is intended to educate laypeople about ministries to new Canadians and encourage those already in such ministries.--
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

Mennonite World Conference executive secretary Larry Miller is temporarily based in North America until July, 1998. Office space for MWC staff members Larry Miller, his wife Eleanor and Wayne Mark Thomas will be provided by the Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana. The new MWC office can be reached by phone at 219-294-7131.--
Mennonite Church General Board

Mennonite Central Committee hopes to collect at least 4,000 "Comfort 'n Joy bundles" to send to refugees in Bosnia and Serbia in time for Christmas. More than a half million refugees displaced by civil war are still unable to return home and are hard pressed to make a living. People interested in assembling a bundle should contact their provincial MCC office for details on content and delivery deadlines.--
MCC Fresno Pacific University , an MB liberal arts university in Fresno, Calif., is showing significant increases in its graduate student enrollments. The graduate school was up 27% over 1996 in late September, although final numbers will not be available until mid-November. Teacher education enrollment is at 191, compared to 98 students last year; this increase is due largely to state-mandated classroom size reductions. The Centre for Degree Completion has 159 students, compared to 161 last year, and the School of Professional Studies had a summer enrollment of 8,300 students, 1,600 more than last summer. Traditional undergraduate enrollment is 602, compared to 592 last year.--
Fresno Pacific University

An Amish woman, Mary Kuepfer , was struck by a shattering beer bottle on July 20 in Milverton, Ont., cutting her face severely. She, her sister and a boyfriend were riding home from a wedding in a buggy when the bottle was thrown from a passing motor vehicle. Since then, national and local media have brought much attention and support to her and her community. A trust fund set up at a local credit union to assist with medical expenses, has grown to close to $100,000. Also, a reward for information regarding the perpetrator created by a Guelph lawyer and the Canadian Jewish Congress has now reached over $30,225. The Kuepfers are willing to forgive the perpetrator, saying, "Our biggest concern is that the person who threw it becomes aware of the near tragedy. . . . We've all made mistakes in our life, and we can overlook this one if they just learn from it."--
Mennonite Reporter

Two Palestinians , Saliba Tawil and Lourdes Habash, were sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee this summer to attend conflict transformation training at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Habash said, "To say we will face . . . power and domination with peaceful means is difficult. But . . . we must work very hard to achieve this."--
MCC

At the request of Tanzanian Mennonite Church officials , Mennonite Central Committe has contributed $40,800 to buy corn for distribution to about 7,500 people in the Mara region. This is only a small amount of what is needed. For over a year, the rains have failed or been shorter than normal in northern Tanzania, and acute food shortages affect 60% of the Mara region.--
MCC

Beans, onion seeds, hoes and machetes , which are necessities for agricultural life, are in short supply in six displaced person camps in northern Uganda. In late April and May, Mennonite Central Committee contributed $30,000 for 20these supplies and for powdered milk for malnourished children in the camps. While most of Uganda is at peace for the first time in many years, people in the northern region have suffered at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group.--
MCC

Incidents of wife assault in Canada have declined by 18%, from 14,420 in 1993 to 11,829 in 1996, according to Statistics Canada. University of Calgary criminologist Augustine Brannigan says that the three-year decline stems largely from the same cause as this year's 6% drop in violent crimes overall, the aging of the population: "If there's less wife beating, it is because there are proportionately fewer 16-to-30-year-old males."--
Western Report

The Vatican has received 4.5 million signed requests since 1993 asking Pope John Paul II to declare as dogma that Mary is "Co-Redemptrix", "Mediatrix of All Graces" and "Advocate for the People of God". Many Roman Catholic theologians contend the "maternal mediation" of Mary is too complicated to be defined as dogma, but the idea is accepted by many lay Catholics and is being promoted by Mark Miravelle, who founded Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici (Voice of the People for Mary Mediatrix). He quotes Mother Teresa as saying, "Of course the Blessed Mother is co-redeemer; of her own free 20will, she gave Jesus His body, and His body is what saves us."--
Western Report

The old Coaldale MB Church building is being restored as a museum. Its previous owners renovated much of the church, so much work is needed to restore it to its original design. The society handling the restoration, Gem of the West 20Museum, would welcome donations and correspondence to Box 343, Coaldale, Alta. T1M 1M4. --
Rudy Hiebert

SunRidge Community Church was highlighted in an Okanagan Valley weekly newspaper in August. The Westside Weekly interviewed the pastor of the MB church plant, Mike Klassen, and outlined a number of the church's upcoming activities.--
Westside Weekly

The Mennonite Senior Sports Classic is being held June 24-27, 1998 in Goshen, Indiana. The weekend is open to all Mennonites (and those connected to Mennonites in some way) over 50 and will feature 12 different sports. The goals for the weekend are to encourage a "get fit/stay fit" lifestyle among Mennonite older adults; to provide mutual social support; and to assist the church in promoting the well-being of all of its constituents. More information is available from Helen Unrau at MCC 20Canada, phone (204) 261-6381.--
Mennonite Association of Retired People

The Frank H. Epp Memorial Fund annually distributes approximately $2500 to support study projects dealing with history, peacemaking (particularly in the Middle East), Mennonite ecumenicity and the Christian faith. Preference is given to Mennonite and Brethren in Christ persons who are studying or working in Canada. Application forms are available from Sam Steiner, Administrator, Frank H. Epp Memorial Fund, Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo, Ont. N2L 3G6. Applications must be received by Nov. 15, 1997.--
Conrad Grebel College