Faith & Witness The Canadian Council of Churches

How can Christians and Muslims engage in dialogue and partnership? Gail Allan and Muneeb Nasir, co-chairs of the National Muslim Christian Liaison Committee, talk about why it is important for Christians and Muslims to learn about one another's traditions and concerns, build relationships, and work together. They share ideas on how your local community can engage, including participating in an online project that connects Muslim-Christian partnerships in Canada: councilofchurches.ca/mapping-diversity/

How does ecumenical dialogue help churches work for justice and peace? What does ‘peace’ mean for Christians? Peter Noteboom, Acting General Secretary of the CCC and former Associate Secretary for the Commission on Justice and Peace, discusses ecumenical and theological principles for justice and peace work, shares personal reflections on peace and peacemaking, and speaks about the current work and future directions for the Council.

Every year, Christians around the world gather to pray and share fellowship during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme for 2018 comes to us from the Caribbean region: “Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power” (Ex 15:6). 
What is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and why is it important? And how can your local community take part?
Pastor Susan Climo, chair of the Canadian Week of Prayer for Christian Unity writing team, answers these questions and more…
Visit www.weekofprayer.ca / www.semainedepriere.ca to download 2018 materials, share your local celebration, or connect!

This year, we commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. What makes this anniversary unique – and uniquely ecumenical? How can we participate in this event? And what can we learn from it? Sr Donna Geernaert (CCCB) and Pastor André Lavergne (ELCIC) join us to talk about these questions, and about Together in Christ, a new ecumenical resource that offers Canadian Catholics, Lutherans, and other Christians an opportunity to get to know one another through Bible study, prayer and reflection. This resource is available here:
http://www.elcic.ca/ecumenical/TogetherInChrist.cfm
http://www.cccb.ca/site/eng/commissions-committees-and-aboriginal-council/national-commissions/christian-unity-religious-relations-with-the-jews-and-interfaith-dialogue/documents/4634-together-in-christ-lutherans-and-catholics-commemorating-the-reformation

Have you ever wished you really understood genetic modification and food engineering? What does it really mean for us? Is it good? Is it bad? Who decides?
We know these technologies aren't going away. But, can science answer values questions?

 
Join us to discuss cutting-edge genetic research and its impacts on food and farming. What ethical questions do the technologies raise?

 
Links mentioned in the episode:
 
Synthetic biology products database:
http://database.synbiowatch.org/

NY Times articles about older GMOs; not synthetic biology, but the danger is the same with synthetic biology: sometimes we believe the hype about benefits and ignore the risks:
 
Monsanto Weed Killer Roundup Faces New Doubts on Safety in Unsealed Documents https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/business/monsanto-roundup-safety-lawsuit.html

Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/business/gmo-promise-falls-short.html?_r=0

Church positions on synthetic biology:

Commission of the Bishop’s Conferences of the European Community http://www.comece.eu/dl/KptMJKJOOMLJqx4KJK/20160119_SyntheticBIO_EN.pdf
 
Church of Scotland http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/3793/synthetic_biology_report.pdf
 
Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers) http://quakerservice.ca/SBIssues

The Quakers also produce general updates about twice a year with simple info on some of the applications of synthetic biology. These are available for download at:
http://quakerservice.ca/SyntheticBiology

What is ecumenism? Why is it important for Christians? A 'seasoned' ecumenist, the Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, Canadian Council of Churches' General Secretary, and a 'newbie' ecumenist, Kaeli Sweigard, delve into these questions and more!