Our MCN Dispatch — June 14, 2026

Hello Missional Friends,

John 13:34-35 reads:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Christian engagement during Pride Month

I appreciate many articles in Premier Christianity, published in the UK with strong UK Evangelical content. Most agree that Christianity in Europe and Britain face an even more secular culture than here in Canada and the US. Perhaps due to these differences, many of us are impressed with British Evangelicalism, including many famous leaders such as John Stott (co-leader with Billy Graham of the Lausanne Movement initiated more than 50 years ago) Nicky Gumbel (the Alpha Ministry that continues to flourish around the world) and many others. Evangelicalism is strong and creative in the UK, and it comes across in a much more inviting flavour than what we have seen in American evangelicalism in recent decades. So, I often find Premier Christianity exhibiting a more “missional” style of engagement than is common in America.

Having attempted to navigate streets yesterday to avoid Pride Parade in Regina, I was attracted today to a Premier Christianity article. Andrew Bunt addresses Sexuality and Gender in a recent book published by Inter-Varsity Press, and now in this brief article.

How Christians can have better conversations this Pride month | Opinion | Premier Christianity
Also downloaded and reformatted here for personal and small-group study.

Exploring a Christian response to problems of poverty in Regina

A reoccurring theme in our Missional vision of ministry is the challenge of poverty and all its related issues. My wife and I have lived with many of these challenges over the decades as we have attempted to guide a child we chose to adopt more than 50 years ago. Now with three family units to whom we give care in North Central, we recognize so many of the problems. We are also very grateful to the Christian ministries that help to bring hope and positive community support to people that simply struggle for many reasons (something we might discuss another time).

Just recently I turned again to my Microsoft AI tool, Copilot, to quickly search the internet for insights and resources on how the secular world is viewing the phenomenon of poverty and how Christianity often finds a ministry role in this burgeoning area.

I queried the system here in three steps:

How do the social sciences generally view the causes of poverty
What has been the history and effects of NGO efforts to address these issues
What might be an effective role of the Christian Church in meeting needs.

This is a rather lengthy analysis. The first two sections provide an important framework, but it is the third section that I strongly recommend that church groups focus on. But this analysis is just an introduction to a very complex challenge both for society generally and for our Christian community.

There will be laity in our churches who are close enough to the poverty crisis to have insights and a desire to find ways to be engaged. Please watch for further opportunities on how we might explore all of this collaboratively.

Links at the end of each section of the document linked just below provide a host of articles that address different aspects of this problem. I am in the process of selecting some that might be of particular value to ministry leadership as we might choose to focus and consider response.

QS — Exploring Poverty Alleviation and the Role of NGOs including Churches

On the appointment of our new Governor General and her views

The link below provides access to the text of the Installation address of The Right Honourable Louise Arbour. I have also included this statement to encouraging readership and reflection:

Specifically, how does Louise Arbour’s installation speech resonate with a biblical worldview? In what areas might we find meaningful points of agreement, and where might thoughtful questions arise?

A missional church perspective seeks to affirm values, insights, and practices that align with the teachings of Christ wherever they are found. Like the Apostle Paul, our discernment involves articulation of the reasons for our faith—reasons that transcend prevailing secular ideologies and are rooted distinctly in the gospel itself.

In posting this and encouraging reflection, I am attempting to step away from the political polarization that too often characterizes our Christian exploration of political leadership. Is it possible? Am I having some degree of success?

This, then, is a kind of study guide. We would be pleased if some Church or home study group might choose to explore the presentation by Louise Arbour and report back to us with comments to share.

Reflecting on our new Governor General’s installation speech

Korean missionaries serving in northern Saskatchewan?

Here is some insight into a case of “foreign missions” coming full circle back to Canada in Christian service. In this article I briefly introduce Pastor Kim who works out of Prince Alberta as a missionary with Korea SIM. I include here his reporting of the recent shooting drama in Pelican Narrows. Many of our own inner-city Indigenous people (including our own daughter) are from this community and have loved ones living there.

Pastor Changsub Kim addresses the recent crisis in Pelican Narrows

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Views expressed above are those of the current coordinator/editor and do not necessarily reflect the views of our advisory team.
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Ron Richmond
Acting Coordinator
Missional Church Network
306.591.3936
Ronald.Richmond @ sasktel.net

Published here (with minor edits): 2026/06/16