DINING ATOP a downtown revolving restaurant, not long ago, we were like most of the other tables: a group of men in business suits. As | dipped my spoon into the soup, the chap opposite asked: “Do you mind if we just give thanks?”’ Ever quick on the uptake, I replied: ‘*Huh?”’ As my lunch mates bowed their heads, my Spoon was poised in midair. Childhood visions of the family dining room flashed back; I'd reach for a dinner roll, and mother would bark from the kitchen, ‘‘Not until we say grace!”’ - Prior to that lunch, my contact with Mel Bryan, a fixture at the Capilano Golf and Country Club, was on the golf ccurse. His game was free of religious ceremony, aside frem the reverence with " which we viewed any acceptable . Shot. Mel is a jock. He is also some- _ what of a socia} crusader, Cana- dian director of field services for Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family, more of a phenomenon than a mete organization. : In Canada, any book that sells . 10,000 hard-cover copies will be on the best-seller list for weeks. Its author will be an instant celeb- rity, popping up in media every- - where. Focus on the Family, founded by the loquacious and prolific Dobson at Colorado Springs in 1977, has fostered hundreds of books. Those that don’t sell 50,000 are Mops. Most surpass 100,000, and Dr. Dobson’s Dare to Discipline has sold 1.25 million. Each month, the Focus on the Family ma‘.azine goes to two mil- lion homes. Over 100,000 of these : are in Canada. More than 1,800 . fadio atations (225 in Canada) carry Focus programs. © A quiet and unassuming ‘pookstore on West Pender Street, near Bute, rivals Duthie’s in sales. An impressive library of tittes promotes so-called ‘‘family values."’ K evokes evangelical Christiani- ty, yet religion is down-played. “The effort is ecumenically sup- ported by many different Protes- tant faiths. cc, There are many taboos in this literature: pre-marital sex, con- traception, abortion, matrimonial infidelity, homosexuality or any of _ the other liberal manifestations of MEDICAL CLINIC Unit 560 Park Roya! Shopping Centre, North West Vancouver, B.C. V7T 1H9 URGENT CARE & OUT OF HOURS CARE No appointment necessary Hours: 9:00am - 9:00pm 7 days a week Phone (604) 922-7390 Fax (604) 922-1536 seco weone weer ero wee = = “Clip & Save asauaewenn ene wee os High School Driver Training Courses For registration and starting dates — 1993: TIME SCHOOL Carson Graham S.T.A. Handsworth W.V.S.S. Sentine! Seycove. Windsor Sutherland Collingwood SPECIAL SPRING BREAK BEGINNERS DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE - MARCH 15 & 16 FROM 9:30 A.M. - 3:00 P.M. Conducted by North Shore Driving School Lid. in cooperation with the North & West Van School Beards Leader in ‘High School Driver Training since 19617 88-1138 0 Bannerman OPEN LINES modern society. This is WHOLESOME. Get it? Mel Bryan’s professional pedi- gree was a religious fellowship in its own right, the followers of Big Blue, the rock-solid career path of the International Business Machine Corp. A UBC commerce grad in 1962, he rose through the ranks of IBM in Calgary, New York City and Vancouver, but struck out to make his fortune in 1979. Wheeling and dealing with various investments, he says he lived the illusionary ‘‘good life’’ to the fullest, measuring personal success in money, parties and " women. or 922-0466 He says he was “tone of the * boys,’” always ready for a ribald adventure. “Through all of that, 1 blew apart a family."’ He lost his wife and became separated from ‘‘three great kids.”’ Financial calamities soun followed. “*My life was a mess,’" he says now. He met his current wife Katherine in 1985. An American, she had just come through ‘‘a very unpleasant divorce."’ With her four children, they began to rebuild their lives in West Vancouver. Mel Bryan's conversion con- tinued in 1987 at a Montana “retreat,” which might be described in today’s colloquialism as male bonding. A year later, at the same locale, he met Dr. James Dobson. His evolution was enhanced in 1989 after some good conversation with hockey legend Paul Hender- son, an ordained minister. Henderson led him to a Billy Graham crusade and the ‘‘born again” chapter of his life began. Contact with Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family put him on the ground floor of rapid growth through Canada. The organization has counsellors, psychologists, thera- pists, wrikers, researchers, clergymen of many faiths and assorted other gentle people with soothing messages for troubled times. Mel Bryan is the affirmative ac: tion guy: ‘‘Field Services.’’ If Focus on the Family were a hockey team, Bryan would be the enforcer, the goon ready to take on all comers. He has stood before schools protesting condoms in the washrooms. He is currently threatening a national boycott of Imasco, the conglomerate that owns Canada Trust, Imperial Tobacco, Shop- pers Drug Mart and Uniied Cigar Stores. ““We want them to stop selling hard-core pornography,’’ Bryan says. When it is suggested that he’s a Don Quixote, chasing impossibfe dreams of purity, he points to a 1990 Focus on the Family cam- paign in the United States. The organization identified 10 major firms whose advertising was sponsoring ‘‘repugnant, violent’’ television shows, “We wrote to all of these and asked them to withdraw their advertising ... nine out of the 10 eventually complied,’’ Bryan said, Burger King said it refused to be intimidated. Focus on the Family launched a national boycott, with dazzling results. Burger King was quick to” capitulate, not only withdrawing the advertising from the offensive programs, but also placing 558 ads in prominent newspapers apologizing for its association. Focus on the Family is not yet as strong in Canada as it is in the ELENA HALL BUYING OR SELLING Committed to working with you 623-7053 / 925-1111 Sutton Group - Sentinel] Realty DATE Apr. Apr. 05/93 Apr. 05/93 Mar. 23/93 Mar. 08/93 Mar. 08/93 May 03/93 May 03/93 Mar...92/93 Apr. 13/93 May 25/93 May 25/93 May 18/93 May 11/93 May 11/93 May 04/93 °3:15 Realtor Real Estate? ROOM Room 209 Room 202 Room 219 Room 236 Room 300 Room 212 Room 211 Room 304 Room 207 “3:20 3:05 3:20 3:15 3:00 3:15 3:30 3:20 ee Se Sunday, February 28. 1993 - North Shore News - 9 Mel Bryan puts Focus on the Family United States, but Bryan is confi- dent that Imasco will soon learn the consequences of the indiscrim- inate sale of lewd material. A second thrust is a new videotape titled Sex, Lies & The Truth. Bryan describes it as ‘‘a values motivational approach to teaching our kids.”’ There is nothing extreme about it. In an unemotional way it outlines all of the pisfalls and dangers of pre-marital sex. It is a highly appealing state- ment in favor of an impossible, and maybe dangerously naive goal: abstinence. More than 50,000 copies of the video have been produced, and it will be seen by a minimum of 60 million people this year. Mel Bryan hopes to put a copy into the hands of each of the 850 school trustees in British Colum- bia. Decrying the collapse of modern families, Bryan laments: ‘‘If we think we have problems on the streets, we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg.”’ He grows caustic in apportion- ing blame. He cites statistics: 90% of child abusers are men; 98% of drug dealers are men; 99% of first-degree murderers are men; 95% of criminals are men; 91% of drunk driving carnage and 75%, of all traffic accidents are caused by men, ‘*We have nothing to be proud of,”’ he said. ‘‘Most men don’t have an accountability group. It’s macho not to share our feelings.” Me! Bryan is more fun when he is playing golf. - MARINA B.C’s Premier Marina Now Has MOORAGE AVAILABLE TO 25’ * 860 Berth Full Service Marina * BC's Most Protected Moorage © 24 hr. Staffed Security ° Competitively Priced * Ample Secured Parking CALL SOON — AVAILABILITY LIMITED — 921-7434 Thunderbird Marina — Fisherman's Cove 5776 Marine Dr., West Vancouver, BC. WINDOW DESIGNS & DECORATING CC CONCEPTS = __ Creative ideas to beau your! home win your de. The designer quality y you've come to expect from jJarzor 6 Window Designs now has an added bonus, our lowest price guarantee. 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