BCY News

May 2, 2011

Sheila Macfarlane, mother of Kerry Macfarlane Bell and mother-in-law of the CBWC’s Executive Minister, Jeremy Bell passed away on Monday 2 May.

Sheila was an active and accomplished person with many good friends. She was a student leader, an athlete, and very involved in the community. Above all, she was a loving mother and a supportive wife to her husband of 65 years, Alan. She is survived by her three children, Doug (Penny) Macfarlane, Linda Murphy and Kerry (Jeremy), as well as 6 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and her special niece Patricia Doheny.

A Celebration of Life will be held at McCall Bros. Floral Chapel, Johnson & Vancouver St. in Victoria on Monday, May 9 2011 at 2 pm with a reception to follow in McCall’s Family Centre. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Society. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccallbros.com

Please keep Kerry, her father Alan, her brother Doug and her sister Linda, as well as their extended family, in your prayers.

CBWC News

Assembly 2011, held in Banff April 28-30 is now over. We would like to share briefly some ofthe highlights.

Dr. Marva Dawn gave two keynote addresses that were at once Christ-centred, charming, highlypersonal and encouraging. Her biblically-based talks on personal and congregation healthrelied heavily on personal examples of her own long history of cascading health problems thathave affected her body but not her soul. Using the story of the woman who had been ill for 18years from Luke 13, she pointed us to Christ as our source of healing. She encouraged us withadvice from Catherine of Siena: “Be who God made you and you will set the world on fire”,a quote that many found so inspirational that it worked its way into the addresses of severalother speakers. From Romans, she exhorted us to offer our church bodies as a sacrifice toGod, undergoing continual transformation and discerning God’s will together. More than oneperson was heard saying that her two talks and her workshop on Walking with Those who areSuffering were ‘Marva-lous’.

The most emotional highlights of Assembly happened 16 times as we introduced 16 new churchplants into our Canadian Baptist family. Representatives of each new church were invited tospeak to the Assembly and were highlighted in video clips that will be shared with all CBWCchurches via a DVD. Prayers and congratulations encouraged everyone. These short sessionswere very touching gifts to everyone who witnessed them.

Other highlights:

Social Justice News

Check out the facts on immigration in Canada by listening to an audiofile of CBC’s As it Happens. Carol Off interviewed Professor Sharry Aiken, an expert on Canada’s immigration policy from Queen’s University on April 13, 2011.

The 5 minute clip explains that Canada’s current policies favour the immigration of economic immigrants instead of families and refugees. Hear what was said by going to CBC here.