WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES

he February 2 introduction of Bill C-38, the "Civil Marriage Act," by Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler has raised concerns for religious freedom of clergy, congregations, and individuals across Canada, according to Barry W. Bussey, public affairs and religious liberty director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada.

The bill, which is expected to pass the federal Parliament before June, redefines marriage as "the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others," as opposed to a union of one man and one woman. And while the legislation stipulates clergy are "free to refuse to perform marriages that are not in accordance with their religious beliefs," Bussey told ANN that such protection can't come from the federal lawmaking branch.

"Our concern has always been that of maintaining freedom for our religious expression of faith," said Bussey, who is also an attorney. "The government's bill appears to protect clergy from having to perform marriages against their conscience. However, the Supreme Court in December stated very clearly that the federal parliament has no authority to grant such protection -- it is the role of the provincial legislatures."

The Canadian constitution divides jurisdiction over marriage between the federal and provincial governments -- the federal government has jurisdiction over the "capacity" of marriage, whereas the provincial governments are responsible for the "solemnization" of marriage, he explained.

"The federal government's insertion of those religious exemption clauses really has no legal weight. It must be said that given the current climate, it is unlikely that any province would require clergy to go against their conscience in the performance of marriages. However, at least two provinces have stated that all non-clergy marriage commissioners must marry same-sex couples even if it violates their conscience," Bussey explained.

Four days of hearings were held at the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal in a case involving a local Knights of Columbus chapter, part of a Roman Catholic laymen's organization. The chapter refused to rent its social hall to a same-sex couple wishing to hold their wedding reception there.

"The bottom line is that of maintaining religious freedom," Bussey said. "We're not interested in foisting our moral view on anyone else, but we are concerned that we will still be able to continue with our faith."

According to media reports, some 66 percent of Canadians surveyed say they would vote against same-sex marriage if a plebiscite were held. According to the National Post, Cotler said the government would not put issues of "fundamental human rights" before voters.

And, the same newspaper earlier reported that Foreign Minister Pierre Stewart Pettigrew told a New Brunswick, Canada, audience that the Roman Catholic Church should not be involved in the debate over Bill C-38: "I find that the separation of the church and state is one of the most beautiful inventions of modern times," he was quoted as saying.

There are 329 Seventh-day Adventist congregations in Canada where 53,000 baptized members are among weekly worshippers.

Inter-America Holds First Women in Leadership Summit
Women from the Inter-America Division met for the first Women in Leadership Summit held at the division headquarters in Miami, Florida, on January 24-26. More than 160 women from publishing ministries, missions, conferences, and unions in IAD attended the event, which was sponsored by the division's Women's Ministries Department.

Waveney Martinborough

"This event was part of a strategic plan that was organized earlier this quinquennium," says Waveney Martinborough, IAD's Women's Ministries director. "We wanted to bring [together] women leaders for training reinforcement."

Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America, was the keynote speaker.

"You must make a difference where you are," said Leito during his address. "Open ways for others to follow, and mentor women not to shy away from assuming leadership in God's cause."

Women in leadership roles at the General Conference held seminars on a broad range of subjects, including challenges of women leaders, relating to gender differences, harassment in the workplace, and mentoring the next generation of women leaders.

"I was particularly impressed with the seminar on sexual harassment," says Judith Smith, publishing ministries director of the Caribbean Union. "Literature evangelists face some of these challenges as they visit in homes, so the techniques and the advice given can help me disseminate information that would help my colporteurs in dealing with customers when they visit in the field."

According to Smith, more than 80 percent of the literature evangelists in her union's territory are women.

"I'm sure that many of the strategies [the speakers] shared I will take and implement in my mission so that we can collaborate in the advancement of the church work in our territory," says Raiza de Ramirez, women's ministries director for the East Venezuela Mission. Ramirez also stressed the importance of the seminars for the more than 300 women leaders who are actively involved in women's ministries in her territory.

"Let no one put you down because you are female leaders," said Martinborough. "Believe in yourself not with arrogance but with confidence in the Lord Jesus. Be an example in what you say in love, faith, purity, and with integrity. . . . You must live what you preach."

NET 2005 to Be Uplinked From Church Headquarters
Doug Batchelor, president/speaker of Amazing Facts, will be presenting NET 2005-"The Prophecy Code: Bible Secrets Unlocked," live from the General Conference headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, March 4-26. The series will be broadcast by Hope Channel and ACN, using state-of-the-art satellite and multimedia technology, including 3D-animations. In North America, The Prophecy Code can be seen on the Hope Channel's Esperanza and ATN service channels in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Internationally, it can be viewed on Hope Channel International in English. For broadcast channels and times, visit www.hopetv.org/prophecycode.

At the same time that Batchelor will be presenting his evangelistic series, Mark Finley, General Conference field secretary for world evangelism and former speaker/director of It Is Written, will also be broadcasting his evangelistic series, ACTS (Adventist Commission Through Satellite) 2005-Revelation Offers Hope, throughout the Eastern Hemisphere from Kiev, Russia-which means It Is Written and Amazing Facts will be preaching the gospel message at virtually the same time throughout most of the world.

For more information about the programs, go to www.net05.org. --AR.

King's Heralds Bass Jerry Dill Dies at 77
Jerry Dill, 77, the bass singer in the King's Heralds quartet for the Voice of Prophecy radiobroadcast from 1947 to 1962, died January 15 at Puyallup, Washington. Memorial services were held there on January 22.

Jerry Dill

Dill and his King's Heralds colleagues sang not only in English but also in several other languages used by Voice of Prophecy affiliates around the world. Known as Los Heraldos del Rey in Spanish, the quartet was featured regularly on La Voz de la Esperanza.

Dill's 15 years with the quartet involved much travel, including many trips across the United States and Canada, and tours to Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the Far East. After leaving the quartet, Dill served as a singing evangelist for the Central California Conference for a decade and then as a local pastor there. During 1992 and 1993, he performed with the other members of the 1962 King's Heralds in a reunion tour of the United States, Canada, and Brazil.

Dill is survived by his wife, LaVona, 8 children, 11 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.                     --Voice of Prophecy public relations/AR.

Southern Baptists Select Cleveland for Evangelism
The nation's largest Protestant church, the 16.3 million-member Southern Baptist convention, has selected Cleveland, Ohio, as its strategic focus city in the United States for the years 2006 and 2007. It is planning a two-year, approximately $2.5 million evangelistic effort to win souls in northeast Ohio.

Volunteers will be pouring in from all over the country to help win converts and start new churches in an area that now has only one Southern Baptist church for every 43,000 people, compared with the national average, Southern Baptists say, of one of its churches for every 6,400 people. In Canada, the same type of campaign will be conducted in Vancouver.

The initiative, which has already taken place in Phoenix and Chicago and is now in New York, began in 2000 as an ambitious effort to expand the reach of the denomination from its historic base in the South to key metropolitan areas in the North and West.         --Religion News Service.

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