People & events

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled, in a 5–4 decision, that researchers from Harvard University cannot patent a mouse they genetically altered to make it more suitable for cancer research. Although patents for the mouse have been approved in the US, Europe and Japan, the Canadian court ruled that Harvard can patent only its process, not the mouse. The decision pleased religious and environmental groups, who argued that life forms are not inventions and it would morally wrong to patent them.

—Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, National Post, CBC.ca

28,663 Americans were killed by guns in the year 2000. This is down from the 1990s, when gun deaths averaged over 30,000 a year. Suicides make up the largest share of the gun deaths.

—Mennonite Central Committee

Architect Rudy Friesen of Winnipeg will present a B.C. Mennonite Historical Society lecture called “Into the Past: Buildings of the Mennonite Commonwealth” on the evening of Feb. 22 at Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C. In 1996 he and Sergey Shmakin from the Ukraine photographed former Mennonite buildings in Russia and then published a guidebook for tourists seeking their roots. For further information, phone 604-853-6177.

—B.C. Mennonite Historical Society

The Anglican Church in Canada and the Presbyterian Church in Canada have reached agreements with the Canadian government on sharing the costs of abuse claims by former residents of Native residential schools. Anglican, Presbyterian, United and Roman Catholic churches ran the schools for the Canadian government from the 1850s to the 1970s. 12,000 Natives have launched lawsuits claiming physical, sexual and cultural abuse at the schools. The final settlement costs are expected to be over $1 billion. The Anglican Church has agreed to pay up to $25 million of that; the money will be raised over 5 years by all Anglican dioceses, not just the ones named in the lawsuits; the Church spent $1.2 million on the issue in the past year alone, but so far all of that money has gone to court costs, not to settlements with the Natives. The Presbyterian Church, which is named by only 240 plaintiffs, has agreed to pay 30% of the costs in the suits in which it is named, up to a total of $2.1 million. The Presbyterians will also contribute $500,000 to help implement the agreement and will raise money for a “healing and reconciliation fund” that will assist Natives generally. The United and Roman Catholic Churches have not yet reached cost-sharing agreements with the Canadian government, and the government has not yet reached agreement with Natives. It is not clear whether that will be done through negotiations or through the courts.

—ChristianWeek

Mennonite Benevolent Society in Abbotsford, B.C. is celebrating its 50th anniversary May 24. There will be an open house at the multi-level seniors’ complex it operates – Menno Hospital, Menno Home, Menno Pavilion and Menno Terrace – followed by a banquet and program at Columbia Place, Columbia Bible College. A 50th anniversary book will also be released on that day.

—Mennonite Benevolent Society

Abed Abdul Razak Kamel smuggled a gun into the Jibla Baptist Hospital in Yemen Dec. 30 and shot and killed administrator William E. Koehn, 60, obstetrician Martha C. Myers, 57, and purchasing agent Kathleen A. Gariety, 53. He also wounded pharmacist Donald Caswell, 49. Kamel, a student in his 30s at the militant Al-Iman University, then surrendered to hospital security and was arrested. He said he killed the Americans “to cleanse his religion and get closer to Allah” because they were preaching Christianity in a Muslim country; he expressed confidence that he would now “go to heaven”. The shooting has been linked to the assassination of a Yemeni opposition politician two days earlier by Ali al-Jarallah, an associate of Kamel’s; was said to be in revenge for the November killing of Al-Qaeda’s top operative in Yemen by an unmanned US missile; and has also been linked to the planned handover of the hospital administration to a Yemeni charity later that day. Koehn and Myers, who had served in the hospital for over 25 years, were buried in Yemen. Most other personnel at the hospital, including Koehn’s wife Marty, have decided to stay in Yemen; they have sent word to Kamel through his lawyer that they forgive him. Yemeni police have arrested another 30 suspects, mostly militant mosque preachers, in the shootings. On Dec. 31, hundred of Yemenis gathered at the hospital to pay their respects. The hospital treats 40,000 patients a year under contract to the Yemeni government.

—Compass Direct

200 volunteers canned 8183 28-ounce cans of meat Nov. 28–29 in Winkler, Man. The 10,000 kg of meat will provide protein for one meal for 81,000 children around the world. Mennonite Central Committee has been using a portable canner to process meat for hungry people overseas for 58 years and in 2001–2002 canned 426,276 cans of meat. This is the first time the canner was set up in Manitoba. The project was made possible only through assistance from Winkler Meats because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency requires that such canning be carried out through an already existing meat handling facility.

—Mennonite Central Committee

Two young men threw explosive devices into a small Presbyterian chapel in Chianwali, Pakistan during a children’s Christmas program Dec. 25. Three children were killed, and 13 people were injured; three have permanent eye damage; one of them may lose the sight in both eyes. Police have arrested Muslim cleric Maulvi Mohammed Afzal and five of his associates for urging his congregation to kill Christians, but they have not arrested the two men who carried out the attack and whom Christians say may have been recognized by bystanders. The government has offered to pay medical expenses and compensation to the victims. Some Pakistani newspapers blamed the attack on three of the Christian victims.

—Compass Direct

The Mennonite–Catholic International Dialogue held its fifth meeting Oct. 25–31, 2002 at Mennonite Central Committee headquarters in Akron, Pa. Designed to promote better understanding between the two Christian traditions, the Dialogue is sponsored by Mennonite World Conference and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. It has been convened annually since 1998 and is expected to issue a report at its final meeting March 23, 2003 in Strasbourg, France. The Mennonite participants are Helmut Harder of Winnipeg, Nzash Lumeya of Fresno, Calif., Howard J. Loewen of Pasadena, Calif., Neal Blough of France, Mario Higueros of Guatemala, Andrea Lange of Germany and MWC director Larry Miller of France.

—Mennonite World Conference, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity

Three of the four Shelter Now workers jailed in August 2001 for preaching Christianity in Afghanistan and later rescued by American troops, are now back working in that country. Shelter Now, a Christian relief and development agency, was officially welcomed back into the country Dec. 25, 2001 by Afghanistan’s new government and is helping to rebuild a hospital, build 300 homes, manage water projects and coordinate projects of other aid agencies.

—World Pulse

Mennonite Central Committee is inviting women to fast every Wednesday from Jan. 22 to March 8 (International Women’s Day) as a call for a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis. MCC notes that it is women who have suffered most from current United Nations trade sanctions on Iraq and who will suffer most in a war. Further information is available from the MCC website or by phoning MCC Peace Ministries Coordinator Esther Epp-Thiessen at 204-261-6381.

—MCC Canada

Rhonda Glenn was appointed co-host of the Canadian Christian television program 100 Huntley Street last fall, joining veteran David Mainse. A graduate of Evangel College in Springfield, Mo., she worked as an editor for a weekly newspaper in Ontario, then as a reporter and news anchor at CHRO TV in Pembroke, Ont. In 1998 she became co-host of an afternoon show on the Crossroads Television System, which is also operated by Crossroads Christian Communications, the parent company of 100 Huntley Street. Her husband Ray David co-hosts Rise and Shine, a Crossroads morning program. Glenn replaces Lorna Dueck, who had co-hosted 100 Huntley Street for the last eight years but resigned to spend more time with her family. Dueck will continue to work part-time on the “Listen Up” segment of 100 Huntley Street.

—ChristianWeek

60% of senior pastors in the US say that they generally agree with the theological positions of their denominations, while 23% say their denominations are more liberal and 19% more conservative than they are. On political issues, 58% say they agree with their denominations, 16% say their denominations are more conservative, and 27% say their denominations are more liberal. Mainline church pastors are most likely to disagree with their denominations (for instance, 71% of Methodist pastors say they are out step with their denomination’s liberal political views), and Pentecostal/charismatic pastors are most likely to agree with their denominations. This information comes from Ellison Research, which surveyed 475 pastors drawn from all Protestant denominations.

—Evangelical Press News Service

Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C. is presenting a Youth Workers Conference March 7–8. Guest speaker is Mark Driscoll, founding pastor of Mars Hill Fellowship, an innovative church in Seattle, Wash. that reaches out to persons in the postmodern culture. There will also be workshops focused on a number of cutting edge youth ministries and issues. For more information, see the Columbia website or phone Gareth Brandt, director of the Youth Work Department, at 604-853-3567 ext. 323.

—Gareth Brandt