EDMONTON—A Christian group declaring war on “passivity in the church” is putting some on edge as it hosts a multi-day event in Edmonton.

The Revival Reformation Alliance has a 3,000-seat hall at the Edmonton Expo Centre booked for its Battle for Canada, a five-day event where speakers give sermons about family and morality, sprinkled with homophobic, transphobic and anti-abortion messaging that members of Edmonton’s LGBTQ community say is offensive. They’re disappointed the event is being held in the city.

“God wants to deliver his church of pornography, adultery, a lack of faith, pride, and our arrogance, our divisions, our lack of love, our bitterness,” group leader Art Lucier said Thursday morning, as he told audience members to repent for their sins.

People jumped and waved their hands, and some knelt or lay face down on the ground. Many shouted and wept openly. The front of the stage was lined with tissue boxes.

Lucier and others called up people who had suffered abuse as children and had them tell their stories, as they asked God for personal healing and forgiveness for their abusers.

A band played ethereal music in the background, sometimes interjecting with singalongs.

Lucier decried divorce and the “destruction of the family,” and spoke at length about his anti-abortion views. He has said that those who don’t speak out against abortion are cowards.

“I don’t want to come across condemning, but you know what? There’s no cowards allowed in heaven, so I’m told. We want the kingdom,” Lucier said.

Edmonton Pro-Life had a table set up at the entrance.

The group claims on its website it is on the front lines of a battle to “restore Canada under the Christian God,” and has a logo depicting a Canadian maple leaf with a torch. It targets First Nations, Métis and Inuit people specifically, offering them free entry to the events.

A promotional video features a man speaking over epic instrumental music declaring “There is a battle for this nation,” and depicting same-sex marriage, abortion and cannabis legalization in a negative light.

The site specifically decries the legalization of homosexuality and a “war for our children and their identity,” and states that God creates people to be strictly male or female — a view also expressed on stage Thursday.

Glynnis Lieb, executive director of the University of Alberta’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, said she’s not surprised the group has such a large following given the current political climate.

Lieb, who has a PhD in personality and social psychology, said it’s becoming increasingly common for right-wing groups to appeal to fears of general unrest — often stemming from financial and social insecurities — and entice people with messages about “traditional religious views” and returning to a “safety net.”

But she’s worried it will unite people who are fearful of social change and looking for scapegoats.

“I think that the faster change happens, the more it is uncomfortable for a subgroup of people who feel like they can’t understand or predict how the world is working. Or, the things they knew and understood to be true, they feel judged on. Whatever it is, it’s new, it’s uncomfortable, it’s scary and it’s very easy to revert back to what you understand and what you grew up with,” Lieb said.

“Sadly, it’s not surprising to me at all that they’re going to get a large number of people coming out and trying to find explanation and solace and make the world seem to be predictable and make sense to them again.”

The conference kicked off Wednesday evening with a screening of anti-abortion film Unplanned, which steering committee member Marc Brisebois said drew a crowd of 2,800.

Thursday’s crowd was much smaller, with fewer than 1,000 in attendance.

Most were in their 50s or older, but the group also has a children’s ministry where kids are trained to memorize scripture.

Brisebois said in an interview before the event that the “battle” his group is fighting is spiritual and not physical.

“Fundamentally, we just believe that Godlessness, in terms of a lack of knowledge in God, is a key problem in our nation,” he said.

“We believe that there are structures — demonic structures, spiritual structures — that there’s another realm that is here right now that is not physical. And that’s where the battle is.”

He said events like Battle for Canada reconcile attendees with God, growing the “aggregate sense of righteousness” and affecting the culture and direction of the country.

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On the group’s homophobic and transphobic messaging, Brisebois believes the alliance is simply following the word of God.

“The foundation of scripture is that if you don’t know who God is, then whatever version of love you think you have is in a deficit position. Because He defines what love is.”

The Revival Reformation Alliance bills itself as a coalition of “ministries, ministers, intercessors and saints,” with a base drawing from Protestant, Catholic, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Baptist and other Christian denominations.

A previous Battle for Canada, funded by Kelowna, British Columbia-based Harvest Ministries, took place over 10 days in North Battleford last fall to mark the 70th anniversary of a Christian revivalist movement in the small Saskatchewan city.

North Battleford lawyer Rob Feist questioned the group’s use of a taxpayer-subsidized venue at the time, calling it an “anti-LGBTQ+, anti-reproductive rights, pro-Trump, extremist right-wing political-church group” in a lengthy blog post.

Organizers claim God directed them to host the follow-up event in Edmonton, which he said people came from across North America to attend.

Attendees were encouraged to fast for 14 days leading up to the event.

Registration cost $69, though Lucier declared Thursday afternoon he would open the rest of the conference for free to anyone who had not already registered.

Lil Finlayson, who travelled from Kelowna to volunteer, said her family comes from a background of sexual and physical abuse, and she felt a sense of healing Thursday morning as others shared their stories.

“I just really felt that there’s a healing that came today, for me, through all of this. And not just for me but for my children and my grandchildren,” she said. “There was a release, that they would know the peace and love of God.”

Lieb said people are becoming more savvy about how they share information online, so it can be hard to decipher the true political agenda of groups like Battle for Canada when their public messaging is a mishmash of sometimes contradictory ideas.

She said it’s important to stay vigilant.

“We’re in this heightened state of paranoia anyway — I speak from the LGBTQ community — because everybody feels targeted and we’re not sure what’s coming out of the election and all those things. But marginalized groups are worried in general right now in the province,” Lieb said.

“We have to be mindful and we can’t ever assume that something is benign.”

Michael Green, executive director for the LGBTQ youth-centred Altview Foundation, said in an email that it’s important to make space for diverse spiritual beliefs but those beliefs should be challenged when they endanger vulnerable populations.

He feels the Battle for Canada is a “rallying cry” for extremism and he’s disappointed the event is being hosted in Edmonton.

“When public rhetoric raises tensions and incites action against individuals or groups that rhetoric claims as responsible, violence becomes probable but not predictable,” Green said.

“Meanwhile, the targets of that rhetoric begin to fear for their safety as hate targeting them grows in frequency and intensity.”

Edmonton Expo Centre general manager Arlindo Gomes sent Star Edmonton a statement saying his venue does not censor programming related to third-party events “unless there is a violation of our legal system or if authorities have stated a public safety concern.”

The event is scheduled to run through Sunday.

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