Calgary bishop comes to defence of lay pastor

posted on February 8, 2010

Friday, 29 January 2010

Written by Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News

OTTAWA - The Glory Christian Fellowship ran afoul of Revenue Canada due to the activities of its lay pastor, Artur Pawlowski. In December, the church received a letter from Revenue Canada informing it that its charitable status was revoked because “members of the Board of Directors espouse strong negative views about sensitive and controversial issues, which may also be viewed as political, such as abortion, homosexuality, divorce, etc."

“God bless him for what he’s doing," said Calgary Bishop Fred Henry. “Artur is out there on his own; he’s doing stuff that nobody else will do." Part of Pawlowski's ministry includes feeding the poor and evangelizing the homeless.

The bishop called the letter an attempt “to muzzle somebody” and that Pawlowski was possibly being singled out because he represents a small organization. “If they are successful in shutting him down, who’s next?"

Henry wondered if this move will silence and intimidate others from speaking out “on societal issues that Christians cannot accept."

The bishop said Pawlowski’s case is bringing “some flashbacks” of a phone call he received in 2005 from a Revenue Canada official who threatened to revoke his charitable status for his robust defence of traditional marriage during the height of the same-sex marriage debate. Henry also faced two human rights complaints that were subsequently dropped.

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