National Post Staff  Nov 2, 2011 – 6:45 AM ET | Last Updated: Nov 2, 2011 8:52 AM ET

Calgary street preacher smells bias in the city’s unwillingness to deal with occupiers

Kevin Libin In Calgary

Three young men emerge from their tents at the “Occupy Calgary” encampment at Calgary’s Olympic Plaza on a weekday afternoon and make a beeline for a café a few dozen yards away. One of them plants his money on the counter and orders a shot of tequila.

“No. Don’t do it,” shouts a man sitting by the window. “It will ruin your life.”

“Yeah, but it warms the belly,” the customer smiles back.

The man at the table is Artur Pawlowski. He is the preacher who runs Calgary’s Street Church. He does this a lot: sermonizing to the city’s scruffier elements — the homeless, the drug addicts, the alcoholics and the drifters. They know him. Four times a week he sets up shop, just across the street, on the steps of City Hall and cooks meals and dispenses clothing, along with sermons, to the needy. Lately he’s been running into a lot of the Occupy Calgary types. They’ve been crossing Macleod Trail for the food. And he’s spent time in their camp, trying to talk to them about Jesus. He addressed one of their twice-daily “general assemblies” with his message. His message hasn’t been received terribly well.

Mr. Pawlowski shrugs. He’s used to his work not always being popular and he’s as tenacious and patient as anyone you’ll find. For the past six years the city has hit him with injunctions, fines and arrests. He posts copies of the tickets on his Street Church website; they go on for pages. Police have confiscated his signs and his Bibles. He’s moved to the steps of city hall in protest, after being driven out of the needle parks and underpasses where he used to minister to dealers and prostitutes.

He’s spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, mortgaging his home twice in the process, in legal battles over what he believes is his constitutional right to preach the gospel, and help the needful, on city streets. The city, too, has spent a fortune prosecuting him. He’s long believed the city had a bias against Christians. The fact that the anti-capitalist occupiers have been left to openly flout, for two weeks, many of the same bylaws that he’s been routinely ticketed and arrested for, he says, is proof of it.

“I have stood over 70 times in the courts. We have been charged over 100 times. Eight arrests,” he says. “Just because I believe in Jesus Christ, I’m treated differently.”

Mr. Pawlowski isn’t calling, as many Calgarians are, for the occupy tent city to be cleared out. “I respect them and I respect their rights to free speech,” he says. He just wants the same tolerance from City Hall for his church’s anti-materialist message as the city has shown for the anti-materialist message of the couple of dozen tent dwellers planted on a patch of grass along Calgary’s pedestrian mall since mid-October. The city has requested the self-styled occupiers leave; they’ve refused. They stayed put over the weekend when the city’s Muslim community was forced to hold a cultural festival around them, having booked and paid to legally rent Olympic Plaza. They crashed Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s food truck exhibition there on Monday afternoon, wading in with signs about food justice. The city says they’ve caused $40,000 worth of damage to the park.

Calgary officials, as in most other “occupied” cities, have laid off. They’ve ignored flagrant bylaw violations. Most obviously the protesters are camping overnight in a city park, which is against the rules. But they’re erecting signs on city property too—about crushing capitalism, jailing corporate pigs and the like — an offence that Mr. Pawlowski’s church has been charged with on several occasions. His church’s signs say things like “Jesus is Lord” and quotes from the Bible, such as “Let us not become weary in doing good.”

The protesters serve communal meals without permits; Mr. Pawlowski has been ordered to get licensed by the health department to feed soup and sandwiches to the homeless. Police have said they’ve handed “occupiers” tickets for smoking, dogs, and open liquor, but no one seriously thinks they’ve been strict about the letter of the law. Mr. Pawlowski was once fined for running an extension cord over a city sidewalk. One time, police handcuffed him and hauled him in after organizers of a street festival complained he was bothering them by reading a Bible aloud.

Mr. Nenshi has been trying to play all sides of the argument. It isn’t easy. He’s reminded us that we “live in a society where people have freedom of expression.” But since that right has obviously never been absolute on city property, he’s added also that “for better or worse” (as if it wasn’t quite clear which) the campers are “setting themselves up as people who have special access to [public] space others don’t have.” When reporters press him about ending that double standard, he warns about fascism. “Thankfully we live in a world where politicians don’t have personal strike forces,” he told the Calgary Sun a few days ago. But then, on Tuesday, he told the Herald, “the city certainly has the strong arm of enforcement and if we have to use it, we will.” Clearly he’s hoping the campers will soon politely pack up and leave voluntarily, saving him an inevitable confrontation.

They won’t. In fact, a confrontation is surely what they’re waiting for, says Calgary alderman Jim Stevenson. “Some of these people would love to get their picture on the news being pulled out screaming and kicking,” Mr. Stevenson says. He maintains, as the mayor has, that it’s the city’s legal department that’s holding back a high-handed response, agonizing, reportedly, over the group’s Charter rights.

They seemed not to agonize nearly as much over Mr. Pawloski’s rights — even though he’s beat the city again and again in court. One dismayed judge remarked in a 2009 decision favouring Mr. Pawlowski that the city’s deployment of bylaw officers and police officers to restrict his preaching “fall precariously close to being excessive and, to any reasonable observer, an abuse of power.”

It’s plain to Mr. Pawlowski that the city simply fears the fact that the tented pseudo-Marxists will holler and fight any move against them in a way that he never has. What he doesn’t mention is that the reason that prospect worries the city so is because some Calgarians, watching a spectacle like that on the news, might feel sympathy for these “occupiers” in a way they never have for an embattled Christian street minister. The evidence certainly seems to back up Mr. Pawlowski’s claim about the city administration’s bias against Christian missionaries. But the difference in public interest between his rights and the occupiers’ suggests the administration isn’t alone.

National Post
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Even though there is still a lot of time until the March for Jesus 2012, there is much to organize to make sure that the march is a memorable and God glorifying event. With that in mind, we are pleased to announce that the first March for Jesus 2012 organizational meeting is soon to be held at the Centre Street West Campus facility. Last year's organizational meeting went well in that we had many people come out and present their views and commit to assisting with and promoting the March for Jesus 2011. Those individuals actively delivered on their commitment and were helpful in getting the word out and in getting more participants to come and enjoy what the Lord was doing. We were blessed that some even faithfully financially supported the march, others committed and delivered worship teams, and equipment, and still others came and volunteered in various ways both leading up to and on the day of the march.

We are hoping to see even more attendees and participants in this year's organizational meeting and in the carrying out of the March this year. So if you have ideas on making the March better, if you have skills, and gifting to contribute, please come and participate in this year's organizational meeting. You are important and needed in making this celebration all that it can be in Christ Jesus to the glory of the Father.

We are asking for your feedback on the following TV commercial. We are thinking of putting it on CTV, Global TV, etc and would like to know your thoughts:

We would also like your feedback on the following radio commercial as we are thinking of airing it on QR77, AM660 and AM1140 and would like to know your thoughts:

Here is a video to remind you about how wonderful the March for Jesus 2011 was, and to encourage you to get to word out to as many as possible about the upcoming march.

The organizational meeting will be held at Centre Street Church West Campus on Saturday November 5th 1:30pm

For more information about the March for Jesus 2012 or the organizational meeting, we can be contacted via the following methods:

• By phone: Artur at 403-607-4434 or Jim at 403-690-4636
• By e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Social networks: facebook page or March for Jesus 2012 organizational meeting page or 2012 event page

Please encourage your friends your family and your neighbours to come and have a wonderful time at our Father's Day Celebration. Let them know that you are proclaiming your love for Jesus publicly to the glory of your Heavely Father.

To all who came to last year's organizational meeting and contributed in one way or another to making the March for Jesus 2011 a great success, we sincerely thank you and ask God's blessing upon you for your heart and service.

KATIE TURNER METRO CALGARY Published: October 19, 2011 5:35 a.m.

2012 will mark the first March for Jesus in Poland, after twenty years of absence . In Polish, the March for Jesus is known as Marsz dla Jezusa.

The March for Jesus is a time for Christians from various backgrounds and ethnic origins to come together and celebrate their mutual and common love for Jesus Christ to the glory of the Father.

Some have asked, "Why a march?" Others have said, "Why not keep it in the churches? Can't we just celebrate our faith behind closed doors?" To those questions we answer, "Jesus said, 'go out into the highways and byways and compel them to come.' He also said, 'Go and preach the gospel to all creation'. And 'If you confess Me before man, I will confess you before My Father in heaven, but if you will not confess Me before man, then I will not confess you before My Father.'"

So the March for Jesus is about public confession of our faith in Christ, it is a public invitation to all who would come to get to know the lover of their soul, the one who knit them together in their mother's womb, and the one who can save them from their sins. The March for Jesus also has spiritual power as a public proclamation that Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and is a spiritual trumpet call to alert the principalities and powers of this age that Jesus will one day rule and reign and place all under His direct authority and dominion.

The March for Jesus is also a unifying act, bringing together the greater body of Christ in one Spirit and one accord, setting aside denominational, ethnic, economic and other differences, to stand with one voice and praise the True and Living God for all that He has done, is doing and will do.

In 2010, the March for Jesus was brought back to Canada in Calgary, Alberta, Canada after ten years of absence. Both last year and this year the march was a huge success with thousands attending, praising, worshiping and praying to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ His Son. There were many victories in the natural and in the spiritual. Public testimonies and public confessions were made. Free food, caps, balloons, t-shirts, ice cream and clothes were given away at the event.

The Marsz for Jezusa in Poland will take the experience and that was gained in putting on the March for Jesus in Calgary and create the experience of a lifetime on the streets of Warsaw. We are all looking forward to many testimonies of the great work of the Holy Spirit in 2012.

If you are interested in attending the March for Jesus in Poland in 2012 then you should check out the official Marsz dla Jezusa website at http://www.marszdlajezusa.pl. If you are interested in attending a March for Jesus in Canada, check out the official March for Jesus website in Canada at http://www.marchforjesus.ca.

Artur Pawlowski
Marsz dla Jezusa
http://www.marszdlajezusa.pl

On August 4, 2011, Linda Gibbons was re-arrested on a sidewalk in front of the Morgentaler abortion mill in Toronto. She is the self-sacrificing grandmother who has spent over 8 years behind bars for speaking to pre-abortive women about the life they are carrying within their wombs. On August 10, Mary Wagner was also re-arrested in Toronto. She was speaking quietly to women in the waiting room of the Bloor West Village Women’s Clinic, pleading for the lives of their unborn children. Within one week, these two stalwarts of the prolife movement were taken off the streets so that the abortion machine could carry on its grisly business in Toronto without the nagging voice of conscience.

In July, I had the privilege of meeting Linda Gibbons for the first time. During her short period of freedom between incarcerations, she was visiting her family in BC. She shared with me her passion for rescuing the unborn and for sparing women the devastating after-effects of abortion—a “choice” which leaves scars that just won’t go away.

Linda has counted the cost of obedience and considers it a sacrifice she must make. She has a deep grasp of the moral and legal implications of the struggle in which she is engaged. She related to me how the courts and legislatures have cooperated with the scheming machinations of the poor-choice lobby. As a result, the so-called “temporary” injunctions—created to shield abortion mills from public scrutiny and honest debate—have become a mailed fist to punish people who share her profound convictions about the value of innocent human life, including life in the womb.

Over the years, the use of injunctions to keep prolife people off public sidewalks has been accompanied by increased penalties, including severe sentences, devastating fines and the stigma of a criminal record. Evidence for the harshness imposed on those seeking to exercise their free speech and follow their conscience while defending innocent human life is the fact that Linda, a principled, gentle and compassionate woman, has spent more time in prison than Karla Homolka, the murderess lover of Paul Bernardo. Homolka, who participated in several murders, including that of her own sister, was released from prison on a plea-bargain, in spite of lying. Linda Gibbons goes to jail for telling the truth in love.

One burden Linda carries is the knowledge that so many good and loving prolife people have been bullied into silence or at least inaction by stiff penalties and being unfairly branded as federal criminals. Few are willing to pay the price of violating the phony injunctions. For her no price is too high for obedience and saving lives. Her case will go to the Supreme Court this winter where the unequal application of these laws across Canada’s provinces will be the primary question.

Linda shared with me the gist of an interview with a major news broadcaster in which she was asked about the sacrifices she has made in her personal life—the missing of birthdays and other special family times. The interviewer wondered if she wouldn’t like to be “normal”, to have a “normal” life with all its “normal” pleasures and occasions. I was struck by her answer, which went something like this: “While Canada continues to kill over 100,000 innocent human babies each year, do I have the right to claim a ‘normal’ life? Why should my life be ‘normal’? These are not ‘normal’ times. Killing babies is not a ‘normal’ state of affairs. If more Canadians realized what was going on inside those abortion mills, if we really knew and believed that human beings were being systematically killed under the false label of ‘choice’, we wouldn’t be standing still. We would be rushing in to protect human life.”

I would add that if all we prolifers fully understood what was going on and the responsibility that rest on us, we would not be bullied into silence and inaction. If the travesty that is abortion were fully understood by our politicians, our judges and our police forces, officers would be protecting people like Linda and Mary, not arresting them.

In this busy age, it is easy to let Linda and Mary become merely news items, unusual people in a whirlwind of tragedies around the globe. It’s easy to forget that in the Canada we know and love, two gentle and peaceful women are behind bars for their beliefs while an abortion industry sucks the life out of a generation too numb to care. We must care. We must speak. We must encourage our sisters who have been on the frontlines for a generation yet unborn and have sacrificed their personal comfort for the freedoms we all cherish.

The least we can do for them is to ensure that their voice is heard, even from behind prison doors. We need to be an amplifier for them so that their cries and the cries of the unborn may awaken a society deadened to conscience and tragically seeking to cover its shame.

These are our sisters. We must honour their sacrifice, plead for their release and keep their names and their mission in our hearts and prayers.