Televised finale caps
PETERBOROUGH, ON—Organizers of Celebration 2005, a three-week long, nation-wide Christian service campaign, are declaring it a success, estimating that up to 50,000 people took part.
While he's disappointed that only "about 230 churches registered for the event officially," David Macfarlane, director of national initiatives for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), says that for every church that registered, there were eight to 10 congregations participating that did not register.
He surmises the $250 registration fee was a "stumbling block," for many churches, and that in the end the EFC dropped the charge altogether, inviting churches to register by sending in whatever they could.
"It's realistic to think about 2,000 churches across the country [were involved]," he says. "As many as 66 churches participated in some communities, while only three churches registered.
"If every one of those 2,000 churches had 25 people mobilized; that would be 50,000 people. Some churches have had 1,000 people [actively involved in Celebration 2005]," says Macfarlane.
For a year leading up to the May 21–June 12 campaign, churches were encouraged to "celebrate the love of God, by sharing it through creative and expressive acts" in their local communities.
One of the stated goals of the initiative was to "offer Canadians a very different view and experience of God and the Church than what is commonly offered in the media, movies or television," and to generate "a new awareness of authentic Christianity in action."
But Macfarlane says Celebration 2005 was much more than simply a huge public relations campaign. "I'm hoping it was more than that," he says. "It's a three week window. It's not a one-day, two-hours, get-out-and-do-a-PR-thing in the community.
"We're asking people to get out and make a difference over an extended period of time."
Churches prayed for their communities, organized free barbecues and block parties and gave away everything from flowers and clothes, bicycles and groceries, to haircuts, manicures and pedicures.
Macfarlane says a number of churches plan to continue projects begun during the three-week window. "It's a natural bridge to the community," he explains.
Celebration 2005 may have been a natural bridge, but it was also a costly one. Macfarlane says it cost the EFC "upwards of $400,000 over the last two years to get Celebration 2005 up and running. In addition, local congregations had expenses directly related to the events they chose to run in their neightbourhoods."
Lorna Dueck, who hosted the nationally televised wrap-up event from Del Crary Park in Peterborough, Ontario, likened the effort to setting a lamp on a stand for all to see, saying there is a price tag associated with setting up a lamp stand.
"There's just a cost to putting a light on a hill. It's part of the reality of getting out there and making this public," she said.
At the wrap-up event, Tim Coles of Kawartha Youth For Christ said from the perspective of his community, the expense was worth it. "This whole thing has really helped us to engage our community better."
Peterborough churches cleaned up local trails, offered free car washes and oil changes, all designed to "let people know that we're just there to care and serve with no strings attached," Coles explains. "Celebration 2005 is a catalyst to get people out [serving in their communities]. And once they're out there, they see the potential."
EFC president Bruce Clemenger says evangelicals are more likely to give money to charity and to volunteer in such places as soup kitchens, palliative care wards and hospices than the typical Canadian. "But has the church really engaged the community?" he asks.
"Many people in our society know [Christians] for what we're against," he explains. "They hear us speaking out on a variety of issues. This is a way to mobilize churches, to get Christians involved in their communities in positive and visible ways."
He says the events help "people to understand our heart and that we're agents of God's love. We are saved by grace and we're trying to extend that grace to others. So that's really what it's about."
At the end of the hour-long wrap-up event, Peterborough resident and audience member Wendy Murack expressed enthusiasm. Celebration 2005 "is going to be a torch to light the rest of this nation on fire for God," she said. "We're hoping, we're believing, we're praying that this will start revival in Canada."
"We would like to keep the momentum," Clemenger says when asked if the initiative might become an annual event. "We would like to see this become habitual."
A structured debriefing is scheduled to take place this fall for those churches who registered for Celebration 2005.
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