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Church Tag

26 Jun 2017 Will Bill C-51 permit protests in church services?

Posted at 12:59h in Bills and Motions, Fundamental Freedoms 1 Comment
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Take Action: Send an EasyMail letter to share your concerns about Bill C-51 with your MP   Did you know that Canada’s Criminal Code (section 176) prohibits obstructing a “clergyman or minister” from “celebrating divine service or performing any other function in connection with his calling” or disturbing “an assemblage of persons met for religious worship”? That prohibition might not be there for long. A new government bill, Bill C-51 (which has passed its second reading and has been referred to committee), would delete these prohibitions from the Code. Would that mean removing legal protection for churches...

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23 May 2017 LN Feature: Confusing the roles of Church and State

Posted at 06:00h in Fundamental Freedoms, Legal Cases 0 Comments
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ARPA Canada lawyer, John Sikkema The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a case that has profound implications for the legal relationship between Church and State. It involves church discipline and centres on the question of whether someone who has been disciplined by a church can appeal that discipline in the secular court system. ARPA is looking at filing for intervenor status in this case and lawyer John Sikkema is busy this week studying what it would take to file that application. LN: So give me some background on this case. I...

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03 Feb 2014 The Truth about Missionaries: Bearers of Freedom

Posted at 15:33h in Multiculturalism, Public Theology 0 Comments
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ARPA Note: We are reposting this article because of its clear significance to our Canadian context. It should be a wake-up call to anyone who believes that we can change a society for good by leaving God's Word hidden in our homes. By John Stonestreet, Breakpoint Commentaries: What's been perhaps the greatest force for democracy and freedom in the world? Read the surprising answer. For the last several generations, missionaries have gotten a lot of bad press. They're called cultural imperialists or tools of colonial oppression, and in the pages of books such as "The Poisonwood Bible," or, for an earlier generation, James Michener's "Hawaii," they're presented as paternalistic, ignorant enemies of glorious indigenous cultures. Even many supporters of so-called "native missionaries" in Asia, Africa, and Latin America suggest that Western missionaries should just "stay home" and "let the nationals do it." But a funny thing happened on the way to missionary irrelevance: Ground-breaking, peer-reviewed research reveals that the presence of Protestant missionaries is the greatest predictor of whether a nation develops into a stable representative democracy with robust levels of literacy, political freedom, and women's rights.
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14 Jan 2010 Churches and Political Action

Posted at 17:53h in Blog, Economics 0 Comments
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by Mark Penninga (First printed in Reformed Perspective magazine, December 2009): Confusion abounds and blood pressure rises as church councils and members discuss what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to political activity in a church. Can a member of a church distribute literature from a political party in the church mailboxes? Can an all-candidates forum be hosted in a church? Unfortunately there are many misconceptions about the law on this matter. And even when we understand the law, some even tougher decisions remain.
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25 May 2009 Churches, Politics, and Charitable Status

Posted at 18:30h in Blog, Public Theology 0 Comments
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What Kind of Political Action Should Churches Be Involved With? By ARPA Canada (www.ARPACanada.ca) There is fear and hesitation among many churches to get involved in anything political. There are a few reasons for this. First, most churches are registered as charitable organizations which allows them to provide tax receipts for the donations they receive. As registered charities, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) enforces strict regulations about what they may do, including when it comes to politics. Since churches want to be able to continue giving tax receipts to members, they are very careful to not do anything that may jeopardize their charitable status. A second reason for the fear of politics has to do with the sensitive nature of the subject. Christians have very different perspectives on how to vote and many are tired of the debate over which party to support. Added to this, there is also a longstanding sentiment that politics is about the ways of the world and Christians should spend their time on our own church and family activities such as mission, evangelism, and world relief.
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07 Aug 2008 As Marriage Declines, Church Attendance Falls

Posted at 16:07h in Blog, Family 0 Comments
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by Devon Williams, associate editor, Focus on the Family's Citizenlink.com 'Marriage is a gateway into family life, and family life, in turn, is often a gateway into church attendance.' A dramatic decline in marriage, particularly among young adults, has led to a decline in church attendance over the last three decades, according to a study by Robert Wuthnow, a sociology professor at Princeton University. Read the whole article here. ...

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