Stan Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 In this issue: Canada City of Brampton considers taxing Church Property World Kenya : Workers at Adventist university evacuated Adventist leader appeals for calm in Kenya Canada Source URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2008/jan/08010407.html LifeSiteNews.com Friday January 4, 2008 Church Property Tax Exemption, Freedom of Religion and Association in Peril In Ontario City "secret report" leaked By Thaddeus M. Baklinski BRAMPTON, ONTARIO, January 4, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A "secret" report studying the way churches, mosques, temples, and other places of worship have traditionally been exempt from paying property taxes, commissioned by the Toronto, Ontario region City of Brampton, has come to light. A leaked draft of the report was circulated among a number of Brampton churches who have formed the Brampton Faith Coalition, headed by pastor Kevin Begley of the Harvest Worship Centre, in order to fight the proposed legislation. The list of recommendations in the report are chillingly reminiscent of communist era repression of not only established religious organizations but also of the right to gather in small groups for religious purposes. The study proposes a regulation on "house churches", that is, gatherings in private homes, to limit attendance to no more than twenty people, including children, or to ban them from residential areas altogether.Other recommendations include: taxing all "non-worship space" owned by religious organizations such as halls, nurseries, offices, kitchens, parking lots, etc (only the actual space where the congregation gathers for worship would be tax exempt); redefining what constitutes a "place of worship", including removing of provisions expressly allowing church properties to be used for community services such as day care or study centers; placing severe restrictions on the establishment of new churches, including regulating what space these start-ups could rent, where, and for how long; establishing a ratio of one place of worship for every ten thousand residents; substantially increasing permit fees for renovation, new construction, and zoning and variance issues. The City of Brampton has refused to produce a copy of the study for public examination, citing confidentiality rules, but Brampton City Council is scheduled to vote on the issue later this month. Contact informati! on for each Brampton City Councillor and Regional Councillor:http://brampton.ca/mayorcouncil/home.tml# To contact Mayor Susan Fennell: The Mayor's Office City of Brampton 2 Wellington St. West Brampton, ON L6Y 4R2 Phone (905) 874-2600 Fax (905) 874-2620 mayor@brampton.ca To contact Pastor Kevin Begley and the Brampton Faith Coalition: Harvest Worship Centre 79 Bramsteele Road Brampton, Ontario L6W 3K6 CANADA 905-861-9244 info@hwc.org World Kenya: Workers at Adventist university evacuated as national conflict continues January 7, 2008 Nairobi, Kenya ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] After a mob threatened the campus of Adventist-owned University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, students and staff took refuge at a local police station. Church officials have since moved the 280 students, staff and international workers to Nairobi ahead of renewed violence expected later this week. [photo: courtesy University of Eastern Africa] Church leaders evacuated 280 students, staff and international workers from Seventh-day Adventist-owned University of Eastern Africa, Baraton to Nairobi on January 6. More than 100 staff members had earlier taken refuge at a local police station amid violence fueled by contested election results in Kenya last week. Adventist Church officials in East-Central Africa secured funding over the weekend from world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, needed for the evacuation from the university to safer conditions in the country's capital. The situation in Nairobi, while "not back to normal," has improved, with most offices open and the city's transportation system running, said Geoffrey Mbwana, president of the church in East-Central Africa. While ethnic tensions eased over the weekend, church and national leaders anticipate violence will again escalate as opposition leaders challenge President Mwai Kibaki's second term. The moving of staff and students was meant to preempt conflict surrounding a series of countrywide political rallies planned for early this week, Mbwana said. "Of course we are praying for calm, peaceful rallies, but we are taking caution at every point," Mbwana said. Church leaders reiterated their call for nationwide restraint and reconciliation in a press statement released by the East African Union on January 4. The statement echoed an appeal to end violence released last week by world church Executive Secretary Matthew A. Bediako. "The responsibility of safeguarding and maintaining peace lies with each and every one of us," the statement read. It also urged Mr. Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to engage in "honest and forthright" talks. "They should ... provide leadership in this dark hour by coming together in open and honest dialogue to bring a lasting solution to this impasse. Let us remember this country is bigger than all of us," the statement continued. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Kenya is providing emergency food assistance and medical supplies for displaced and affected families in coordination with other humanitarian agencies in the country. Meanwhile, church leaders in Kenya are working to help a group of Kenyan Adventist students on retreat in Rwanda back into the country. While some roads have reopened, most remain blocked, Mbwana said. Church leaders have sent food and basic supplies, including tents, to the students, all of whom remain stranded in Kampala, Uganda. Adventist leader appeals for calm in Kenya January 3, 2008 Nairobi , Kenya ... [ Ansel Oliver/ANN ] Seventh-day Adventists are joining the international community in expressing concern over violence in Kenya that has reportedly left 300 people dead and 100,000 displaced in the wake of presidential election disputes. In a January 3 statement, Adventist world church Executive Secretary Matthew A. Bediako appealed to Kenyan "political leaders, heads of religious communities, traditional leaders and peace-loving people to come together and find ways to promote reconciliation." The appeal will be televised on the church's Hope Channel. "Resorting to violence only creates victims, many of whom are innocent children," Bediako said. "As a Christian church, we also urge all Kenyans to value solidarity and the Biblical principles of peacemaking, forgiveness and reconciliation above ethnic loyalties." Bediako also appealed to Adventist leaders and members to be examples in promoting unity. Church leaders in Kenya report that about 200 students, staff and faculty at Adventist-owned University of Eastern Africa, Baraton are taking refuge at a nearby police station after officers escorted them on December 31 from the campus, which was surrounded by a mob. Roads to the airport have been blocked by mobs and the workers remain at the police station, said Geoffrey Mbwana, president of the Adventist Church's Nairobi-based East-Central Africa Division. Preparations are underway to transport them to Nairobi. A Kenyan official said violence has only affected about 3 percent of the country's 34 million people, according to USA Today. "As a faith community we strongly believe in prayer," Bediako said to church members. "We therefore invite our brothers and sisters around the world to bring before God's throne the people of Kenya, and other regions where there are crises. We pray that calm will be restored throughout Kenya, and throughout the world." There are more than 560,000 Adventists worshiping in some 3,500 congregations in Kenya. Watch on YouTube PARL ALERT is a service brought to you by the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada. The opinions expressed in this email are strictly those of the authors and do not reflect the official teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Quote If you receive benefit to being here please help out with expenses. https://www.paypal.me/clubadventist Administrator of a few websites like https://adventistdating.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Quote: Watch on YouTube Quote May we be one so that the world may be won. Christian from the cradle to the grave I believe in Hematology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted January 10, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 10, 2008 If a chruch is involved in a business, why should such aspects be tax exempt. If a local congregation establishes a day-care center, why should such be tax exeempt and/or not subject to regulation as is a dayl-care center run by a non-chruch organization. Yes, I know that a day-care center may be established under laws that apply to non-profit entities and are not specific to chruches. As those laws exist, let the churches establish day-care centers under those laws and not thoswe that apply to churches. Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuff sed Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Why should the government be subsidizing "Religion" to start with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted January 11, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 11, 2008 The power to tax, is the power to destroy. Religion should not finance government. But, it is O.K. for churches to pay for services given by government. NOTE: Where I live the government pays for my water, trask collection and electricity. I in turn reemburse government for those services. It is O.K. for churches to do the same. Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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