Daniel Stulac

Learning To Be Here: Canonical Reflections on the Canadian Prairie

At an exegetical level, this plenary address describes ways in which the books of John and Acts expand upon the Old Testament’s place-based creation theology. John’s portrait of the incarnate Christ makes sense only with reference to the Old Testament’s abiding regard for the holy materiality of God’s good earth, while Acts asserts that the Holy Spirit makes concrete hope for life in the Promised Land radically available to everyone, everywhere. In sum, the gospel proclaimed in both books does not “de-place” Israelite faith, but rather “all-places” Israelite faith by taking seriously the Old Testament’s vision of a landed worship community composed of Israelites and Gentiles alike (Acts 13:47; see Isa 49:6). In the New Testament, “Promised Land” is any materially particular place that the Holy Spirit generates faith in Christ.

At a theological level, the address puts these observations into dialogue with the work of agrarian and Kentucky farmer, Wendell Berry, as well as with the speaker’s agroecological experiences in rural Saskatchewan. For any Christian church that imagines itself to be a redemptive witness within the modern, industrial, disintegrated, unholy, and idolatrous culture that presently governs North America, Berry’s unswerving fidelity to his particular place helps to prompt a crucial question: How might a contemporary gathering of Jesus-followers, aware of its creaturely “placed-ness” before its Creator, worship God in ways consistent with this theological truth? How do we learn to “be here” as a mode of missional resistance over against the cultural rootlessness with which we are surrounded?

Pierre Gilbert

Real Threat or Nothing Burger? The Potential Revocation of Churches’ Charitable Status

In its 2025 report, the House of Commons Finance Committee recommended revoking charitable status for churches and other religious organizations. Though the recommendation was not adopted, its inclusion without prior public consultation served as a wake-up call to many. Drawing from a major study for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, retired professor Pierre Gilbert will examine the historical, social, and ideological factors behind this recommendation and what it may signal for the Church's future in Canadian society. Gilbert will also explore the fiscal, cultural, and theological implications of such a policy change. The issue goes beyond tax privileges — it speaks to the Church's vital role as a bulwark against the rise of secularism, a repository of truth, and a voice of hope for future generations. His presentation is both a policy analysis and a passionate call for the Church to awaken, engage the culture, and remain faithful to its prophetic mandate.