Archive for tag: social policy

Archive pour tag : social policy

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has underscored the value of continuing ecumenical dialogue at a “passionate theological level” while at the same time having “a closer relationship of action” that addresses the needs of the world in such areas as poverty and social justice. Ecumenism must be “something that is our burning desire,” Welby told a gathering of ecumenical guests at a reception at Toronto’s St. James’ Cathedral Centre, during his “personal, pastoral visit” to the Anglican Church of Canada April 8 to 9. “In the last seven verses of John: 17, Jesus prays with extraordinary passion and extraordinary directness about the absolute necessity of the visible unity of the church… Love one another…” In a divided and diverse world, Welby said the church could demonstrate “how humanity can overcome its cultural divisions and truly be… a holy nation of God’s people.” In different parts of the world, there has been “a new movement of the spirit,” said Welby. He cited a decision by Chemin Neuf, a Jesuit-founded French Catholic community with an ecumenical vocation, to accept his invitation to take up residence in Lambeth Palace. Last January, four members set up “a fraternity” in Lambeth Palace. “We hope that is something that will grow and develop,” said Welby, adding that he and his wife, Caroline, got to know the community over the last seven years. (The archbishop’s spiritual director is a Swiss Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Nicholas Buttet.) The Guardian newspaper has noted that the move breaks five centuries of Anglican tradition and ushers “a further rapprochement between the churches of England and Rome.”
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Posted: Apr. 11, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7508
Categories: Anglican JournalIn this article: Anglican Church of Canada, dialogue, ecumenism, justice, Justin Welby, social policy
Transmis : 11 avril 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7508
Catégorie : Anglican JournalDans cet article : Anglican Church of Canada, dialogue, ecumenism, justice, Justin Welby, social policy

Station 20 West Will Go Ahead – With Your Help!

I am writing with my Board’s unanimous backing to ask your financial and personal support for the re-designed Station 20 West project. The project seeks to raise $1.675 million by December 31, 2008 in order to build in the spring of 2009.

Background
$8 million of provincial funding was withdrawn earlier this year from a project designed to bring food security, nutrition education and health services within the reach of residents of Saskatoon’s core neighbourhoods, many of whom cannot travel to get food and services.

Decision to go ahead
Public support since the announcement of the funding cut has been overwhelming. Saskatoon City Council unanimously agreed to give Station 20 West an extension on the time it has to begin building. The Station 20 West Board decided to go ahead with what was always at the heart of the project – a community grocery store, including a small café, with a commercial kitchen next door managed by CHEP to provide nutrition education and help for people wishing to develop small catering businesses. There will also be office space in the complex available for health and community services.

Why a community grocery store?
Access to affordable, quality food is difficult for those in the core neighbourhoods with no transport, and poor nutrition leads directly to poor health. The last grocery store closed over 10 years ago: the nearest one today is 2 kms away. Imagine a single mother trying to bring home a week’s shopping on the bus while managing 2 small children. Imagine an older person with arthritis waiting in the cold for up to half an hour for a bus, then struggling to bring heavy groceries home. This store is wanted and needed. Local people have already pledged to spend over $1 million at Good Food Junction during its first year.

Why a church-based appeal?
Church organizations and Christian people have been involved in Station 20 West from the outset, happy to partner with all who share this vision. A recent meeting of Saskatoon senior church leaders expressed strong support for the revised Station 20 West project. The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism wants to bring this need before the Christian community as a whole because:
• Serving and giving dignity to the poor was at the heart of Jesus’ ministry (Luke 4:18)
• The first apostles urged their churches to “remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10)
• Jesus loved bodies as well as souls – his healing miracles and feeding of large crowds (Matthew 14: 13-21) show his care for the whole person. As his followers, we take his example seriously.

Ways to give (and get a tax receipt)
• organize a fundraiser: e.g. St. John’s Anglican Cathedral recently had a community BBQ.
• have a ‘bakeless bake sale’, an event where everyone brings a financial gift instead of baking
• Invite a speaker from Station 20 West to your worship service, and take a special offering.
• If you have been blessed financially (perhaps through the recent increase in the value of your home) become part of the “Silver Dollars Club” – making a major gift in multiples of $1000.
• Contribute to the PCE Appeal online. Make sure to mark your donation ‘Station 20 West’ Cheques made out to ‘Prairie Centre for Ecumenism’ and marked ‘Station 20 West Appeal’ can be mailed to the PCE at 600- 45th St. West, Saskatoon S7L 5W9. 100% of all funds so marked will go to Station 20 West.

Find out more
• Station 20 West website
• Good Food Junction Grocery Store
• Look for Appeal updates on the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism website

Blessings

Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard, Director, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism
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Posted: May 22, 2008 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=460
Categories: NewsIn this article: affordable housing, community development, Saskatoon, social policy
Transmis : 22 mai 2008 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=460
Catégorie : NewsDans cet article : affordable housing, community development, Saskatoon, social policy

Evangelical theology stresses the importance of a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ and sees the transformation of individuals as an important part of the transformation of the world. However, the notion of a purely privatized faith in which the gospel only affects individual, personal or family life but has no wider implications for society must be rejected as inadequate.
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Posted: Sept. 15, 2007 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=349
Categories: NewsIn this article: environment, Evangelicals, justice, peace, social policy, statements, theology, World Evangelical Alliance
Transmis : 15 sept. 2007 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=349
Catégorie : NewsDans cet article : environment, Evangelicals, justice, peace, social policy, statements, theology, World Evangelical Alliance

Canadians spend more on gambling than they do on education or personal care. According to a report from the Vanier Institute of the Family, legal gambling in Canada attracts $1,080 per household compared to $1,007 for education or $834 for personal care. Gambling losses in 2003-2004 amounted to $596 per adult, or nearly $50 per person per month. Using data from Statistics Canada’s 2002 “Canadian Community Health Survey,” the Vanier Institute reports that almost 1.2 million Canadians exhibit at least one indication of problem gambling behaviour — roughly enough persons to fill a major Canadian city.

The report, entitled “Gambling with our (Kids’) Futures: Gambling as a family policy Issue” was written by Arlene Moscovitch, and is available online or in print through the Vanier Institute. The report argues that gambling is more than just a personal problem. Treating problem gambling as an individual pathology discounts its impact on the families of the problem gambler, as well as the wider society. Recent research supports a move towards a public health model that considers the impact of gambling on the community. Social policy relating to alcohol and tobacco has been greatly strengthened by a similar move to a public health model.

In related news, the Roman Catholic bishop of Calgary has sent a letter to each Catholic school in the Calgary separate school system critical of a recent decision of the school board. In late 2005, Bishop Frederick Henry asked the Catholic school board to put an end to school-based fundraising practices that involve morally repugnant forms of gambling. On May 31, 2006 the board adopted a task force report on school-based fundraising. One recommendation of the report rejected the bishop’s request, allowing the continued use of fundraising under guidelines to be established by the school district in consultation with school councils and principals. In Bishop Henry’s recent letter, dated June 20, the bishop said: “The acceptance of the Task Force’s recommendations constitutes a failure in Catholic leadership, pays lip-service to the pillar of ‘Catholicity,’ and is equivalent to Esau selling his birthright for a mess of pottage (cf. Gen.25: 29-34).”
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Posted: July 8, 2006 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=252
Categories: NewsIn this article: 2006, Calgary, Canada, Frederick Henry, gambling, social policy
Transmis : 8 juil. 2006 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=252
Catégorie : NewsDans cet article : 2006, Calgary, Canada, Frederick Henry, gambling, social policy

Catholics are permitted to support attempts to limit the evil aspects of an abortion law, says Pope John Paul in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae. In Germany, however, the moral complexities have made the Church draw back, which threatens to reduce its influence in society. A journalist on the weekly Rheinischer Merkur highlights the German bishops’ dilemma.
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Posted: Aug. 21, 1999 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6689
Categories: TabletIn this article: abortion, Catholic, ethics, social policy, theology
Transmis : 21 aoüt 1999 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6689
Catégorie : TabletDans cet article : abortion, Catholic, ethics, social policy, theology