Togeather in Faith
Religion is one of the main engines of the forward movement of civilization. It is also essential to this process. Religion is also an engine of growth in the individual. It is an energizer because it gives purpose in life. Inspite of the fact that western society has become quite secular and secularization has taken hold of many religious institutions, religion is a very big part of the lives of individuals and even nations of the world. The book "God is Back" by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge talks about the return of religion especially amongst some of the evangelical Christian denominations. There seems to be something in every individual that yearns for something deeper than a very materialistic life.
In Fort Mcmurray we have many different places of worship. It is not my desire to push any one faith but to encourage everyone to participate in a faith of their choosing. Most participants of the major religions today hold a belief in one God, however the view that these individuals hold of this One God are extremely varied although most agree on a couple common attributes. The major attribute is that God is love. Another that God is good. These two attributes alone should be sufficient to draw us all together in harmony, but as we know we build many fences around ourselves keep ourselves separate from other groups that have a different view of God. But when we think about it: How big is God anyway? How incomprehensible is this progenitor of love? Does anyone have a monopoly of an understanding of God? Can anyone or any group honestly say that they have enough knowledge about the Infinite, that they have no need to learn from anyone else or from any other group of religionists? It has been said that the more you understand your fellow humans, the more you will love them. If God is love, then maybe it behooves us to seek to understand his children--our sisters and brothers—so that we may love them all the more
If we put an effort into finding out what we have in common rather than what our differences are we will find that that which we have in common when weighted with its importance as to eternal value(s) we will find that the different faiths have many of the same goals. As I did a little searching into the different faiths in Fort McMurray, I looked at a few of the websites of the churches and other places of worship.
One aspect that all religious groups seem to take very seriously is the family. In today's society where some groups seem to be offended when there is talk of the importance of family, it is refreshing to see that most religious groups place a high value on the monogamous marriage and the raising of children and actually see this task as a tremendous blessing from our Creator. And while I would not in the least take away from this high calling I would also point out that many faith groups are also reaching out in love to those individuals that for one reason or another cannot attain to the high ideals of a monogamous marriage and the raising of children. These individuals can also be very instrumental in enhancing the knowledge of the Infinite amongst our fellow sojourners on this planet.
It is with this in mind that I have put the time and effort into putting this website together. I would like a good section on information about the various faiths in Fort McMurray written if possible by members of these different faiths. The space available to each group really has no fixed limit. Use enough space to tell about you particular denomination or faith especially as regards its presence in Fort McMurray. It would be great for visitors to read a little about the history and beginnings of your group in Ft Mac.
As I get the site fully operational each group can have an individual nominated to update their own area of the site by logging in with a user and password. Till that is set up please just forward any article you want posted to me -- Richard Frans at
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It is of course my desire also, that people coming into town to have a website they can go to and choose a place of worship that suits them best. This is a also great aid for people that have a desire to fellowship with others of similar faith but have not been attending a place of worship for sometime..
I want to thank you for visiting this site and I hope you enjoy your stay. Please feel free to email me at JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING with comments and/or suggestions.