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Re: Book Clubs with Clout, May 13
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In Alberta, a ‘Book Club with Clout’ would be The Banff Book Discussion Weekend. Its genesis was Brian Thompson’s 1953 book discussion group at the Calgary Public Library, spun off to the U of C in 1961 and led by Mac Coleman and Mac Moir. They wisely decided a weekend of discussion within the beauty of the mountains would be ideal. Thus started the longest-running program at the Banff Centre, now in its 60th year.
A Canadian pastor who gained a degree of notoriety after being arrested during Easter weekend in April for allegedly violating COVID-19 limitations on gatherings was arrested once again under similar charges, along with his brother, on May 8th by Calgary Police.
Calgary’s Street Church’s Pastor Artur Pawlowski and his brother Dawid Pawlowski were arrested and charged with “organizing an illegal in-person gathering,” according to the Calgary Police Service.
Video that captured the arrest of the two individuals showcased numerous police vehicles lined up on the side of the road as officers were handcuffing the two brothers.
During the video, one onlooker can be heard telling officers enacting the arrests:
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There are about 3,100 churches in Alberta and pretty much the only ones we hear about are the two that have repeatedly defied public health orders.
First, there was Edmonton-area GraceLife Church. Its pastor, James Coates, was eventually arrested and jailed for refusing to adhere to COVID-19 health measures. The measures required that no more than 15 per cent of the building’s capacity be filled with people and everyone is to be masked. Eventually, authorities were forced to put up an unscalable fence around the Spruce Grove building to prevent the defiance from taking place. Neighbours of the church say they were being verbally accosted by the parishioners.
By Craig Bannister | April 7, 2021 | 1:07pm EDT
Rev. Franklin Graham
(Getty Images/Logan Cyrus/AFP)
“I don’t know who this pastor is, but I kinda like him!” Reverend Franklin Graham says, praising the Canadian minister who verbally ousted police trying to shut down his service on Saturday.
“I appreciate his boldness and tenacity in standing up for the rights of his church when police showed up without a search warrant. You can watch his cell phone video here,” Rev. Graham tweeted Monday, linking to a Fox News report describing how Calgary Street Church Pastor Artur Pawlowski took on police trying to use coronavirus guidelines to put an end to an in-progress religious service.