2024 Annual General Meeting
For those who were unable to attend the Annual General Meeting on December 12th; you missed an evening of some business, the viewing of the film "Dead Name" as well as a discussion regarding the transgender movement and the "Let Kids Be" campaign.
We opened the evening by reading from Isaiah 1:1-10. Here the prophet Isaiah is calling the people of Judah back to God. We also see in these verses how the vulnerable are the first to suffer. After opening, we started the evening off with some pie from The Hot Oven in Verschoyle while we watched the film "Dead Name".
The film covers the story of three parents whose lives have been shaken and forever altered because their children have declared (or have been given) a transgender identity. We saw how shocking it is for parents to hear that their children in their mid to late teens have seemingly out of nowhere decided to switch from female to male or from male to female. In another story, we follow one parent's nightmarish descent into the transgender world as her ex assigns a female gender to their very young son. Ultimately, we find these parents struggling with disbelief, loneliness, helplessness, isolation and despair.
Following the film, we opened the floor to questions:
1. Are there any positives on this front?
a. Europe tends to be ahead of us with all the bad stuff but in this case, most European countries have actually stepped back from what would normally be prescribed for puberty blockers, surgeries etc. The UK has announced that all medicalization has been paused while they research and now this research is showing that it isn’t helping and so the government has announced they are indefinitely stopping this for minors. This is coming to North America as well. There are US states as well as the Alberta government who have passed legislation to stop it for minors.
2. The most overlooked part is the financial benefits for people in the medical industry which is why they recommend these things and won’t stop until there’s legislation against it.
a. Yes, but in the UK last year there was a case of people suing the UK government over this stuff and similar things are happening in Canada. Gender dysphoria is a mental health problem but that’s not how they are treating it.
3. After watching this film, I can’t help but think how primed these parents are for the gospel. How can we use all this for good?
a. This entire culture is run further and further from the gospel and they have rejected “what is thy only comfort in life and death?” and this is the end result. This is a huge opportunity to show love and preach the gospel of Christ’s love for them.
4. Is ARPA involved in any legal cases regarding this?
a. Yes, in BC there was a similar situation to Jonas and his mother in the film. There was a case where the mother fully supported the daughter’s transition and the father opposed. Ultimately, in this case the father lost the case to the point where he lost custody of his daughter and went to jail because he refused to follow a court order about pronouns and names.
5. These young people that transition all seem to have troubled pasts?
a. There are under-lying issues every time including autism, sexual trauma, broken families, abused young girls, bullying, PTSD, puberty, etc. It’s important to show love when talking to these people. Speak the truth of God and that God made you and he didn’t make a mistake. That doesn’t mean you don’t have feelings and don’t struggle, but that doesn’t change the truth.
6. Each of these three families say they don’t know what to do as parents. Are there support teams for these people?
a. Yes, there is growing support and people talking leads to more people talking.
7. What is the suicide rate on those that are transgender?
a. July last year, more than 40% of transgender adults have attempted suicide in the US. People defending transgenderism will often pose the question, “do you want a live son, or a dead daughter?” (or vice versa). They’re implying that if you don’t support your child and let them transition, they will commit suicide. The research doesn’t support this. In fact, studies show that in 80% of cases, if you leave them alone, it will go away on their own.
Our hope and prayer is that we would continue to stand for the vulnerable while bringing the gospel of Christ to our Canadian society.
Our meeting also included voting in the 2025 board, a recap of the past year's events and a financial report.
