TRUTH BE TOLD

   Convention 2008:  May 1-3

Best Western Hotel - Cambridge, Ontario

When you proclaim His truth in everyday speech, you're letting others in on the truth
so that they can grow and be strong and experience His presence with you.
(1 Corinthians 14:3, The Message)

Plenary Speakers

DREW MARSHALL is host of The Drew Marshall Show, Canada’s most listened-to spiritual talkback radio program. With years of pastoring, counselling, public speaking and writing to his credit, Drew’s provocative yet genuine style has sometimes been described as disturbing, but is always interesting. Drew has interviewed some of the best in entertainment about their spiritual lives (including Alice Cooper, James Brown, Amy Grant, Randy Travis, Chuck Norris and such Canadian notables as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Don Cherry). He talks to everyday people about “messy spirituality” and opens up the phone lines to talk about the issues that the Church and other Christian media don’t, won’t or can’t.

Marianne Meed Ward is a weekly columnist for the Toronto Sun, covering growth in the 905 region. She previously served as the Sun’s faith and ethics columnist and for 10 years worked at Faith Today as news editor, then managing editor. For the past 13 years she has run a freelance communications business, Meed Ward Media, offering writing, editing, teaching, consulting and broadcast services to a variety of clients, including many CCP member publications, as well as CBC radio and television, Chatelaine, E! Hamilton, Ryerson University, Tyndale University College and Seminary, and World Vision Canada

THE REV. DR. DAVID PFRIMMER is principal dean and professor of Christian ethics at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary on the campus of Wilfrid Laurier University. Prior to this appointment, David served for 20 years as director of the Lutheran Office for Public Policy, an office established in 1982 to assist the church to engage in a public witness to address important social questions. He has served with many faith councils including the Canadian Council of Churches, the Ontario Multifaith Council on Religious and Spiritual Care (Chaplaincy), the Ontario Social Development Council and the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC). Among many other academic accomplishments, David has a doctor of ministry degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Schedule of Events

Thursday

12 p.m.                                      Registration begins

1:30-3 p.m.                             Opening Session with keynote speaker Drew Marshall “Truth Be Told—There is life beyond the church walls”

3:15-8 p.m.                            Bus tour of Mennonite country/Dinner at Stone Crock  Restaurant, St. Jacobs

8:30-9:30 p.m.                  Reception (cash bar)

Friday

7:30-8:45 a.m.                      Continental Breakfast/Devotions/Annual Meeting

9-10:30 a.m.                         Workshops 1 and 2

10:30 a.m.                             Coffee Break

10:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.      Workshops 1 and 2

12:30 p.m.                            Exhibitors’ Lunch and Roundtable Discussion Groups

1:30-3 p.m.                           Workshops 3 and 4

3 p.m.                                     Coffee Break

3:15-4:45 p.m.                    Workshop 5

6:30 p.m.                                Reception

7 p.m.                                     Awards Banquet (cash bar) with entertainment provided by humourist and inspirational speaker Judy Savoy

Saturday

7:30-8:45 a.m.                  Continental Breakfast/Devotions

9 a.m.                                   Plenary Session—Ethics Roundtable Discussion with Marianne Meed Ward, Larry Cornies and David Pfrimmer

11 a.m.                                Closing Remarks from CCP President Glen Argan and Farewell Luncheon

Workshops – Friday, May 2

Cynthia Brouse has worked as a copy editor, researcher and writer since 1980 for publications such as Saturday Night, Toronto Life, Maclean’s, Reader’s Digest, Chatelaine and The Globe and Mail. She was managing editor of Saturday Night for two years, has spent five years on the communications faculty at Toronto’s George Brown College and, since 1987, has taught fact-checking and copy editing part-time at Ryerson University. A former co-ordinator of the Magazine Publishing Certificate Program in Ryerson’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, Cynthia now freelances as a writer, copy editor and teacher/trainer.

Workshop 2: Making the Most With What You’ve Got—Turning amateur works into something worthy of print

Karen Stiller is a freelance writer and editor. She serves as associate editor of Faith Today magazine and editor of Women Alive magazine, as well as writing regularly for various publications and organizations such as World Vision Canada.

Robert White has been editor of ChristianWeek Ontario since its launch in March 2002 and hosts Faith Journal, a weekly newsmagazine radio program on Kitchener's Faith FM 94.3. His newspaper career began 20-plus years ago, reporting for and editing mainstream weekly newspapers and freelancing for mainstream and Christian publications. His column, "A Matter of Faith," has appeared in the Guelph Mercury since 1996. Robert has been secretary of the Canadian Church Press since 2005.

Andrew Faiz is managing editor of the Presbyterian Record. He has been a journalist in print, radio and television, working for, among others, the CBC and TVOntario. His feature documentary Flemingdon Park: The Global Village was produced through the National Film Board and aired on Vision-TV. He is also a playwright and producer.

 
Workshop 3: Be All That You Can Be—Redesign of a magazine/newspaper

Brandon Laird teaches graphic design at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont. A graduate of St. Lawrence's Graphic Design program, Brandon then completed a post-graduate program at Sheridan College in computer graphics and was awarded the Ontario Society of Graphic Designers' Award of Merit in 1994. Since then, Brandon has worked for a wide variety of clients across Canada on national ad campaigns, multi-media project management and award-winning magazine layouts.

Workshop 4: If You Post It, They Will Come—A how-to session to increase traffic on your website, incorporate multimedia and do on-line distribution

Tim Miller Dyck has been editor and publisher of Canadian Mennonite since 2004. He has an undergraduate degree in computer science from the University of Waterloo, a masters in journalism from the University of Western Ontario and some seminary training. Previously, he worked for seven years for a large computer newspaper covering the information technology industry. He is a member of Steinmann Mennonite Church in Baden, Ont., where his wife is one of the pastors.

Bill Fledderus is senior editor of Faith Today. He also performs a variety of webmastering duties for www.evangelicalfellowship.ca. He is married, has two boys and lives in Oshawa, Ont.

Workshop 5: Photography is More Than Taking Pictures

Michael Hudson is a commercial and editorial photographer residing in Toronto. He is a graduate of Sheridan College, Oakville, Ont., in applied photography and visual art with further studies in photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Michael worked in France as a photojournalist for five years, returning to Canada in 1997, where he resumed work on a freelance basis with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto and other clients. As photographer for The Anglican Newspaper, his work has been referred to as a “ministry of photography.”