Finding Hope

Where do you find hope?

I have been weighed down with the burdens of the difficulties of change in some of our MCBC congregations. I have also been weighed down in my volunteer ministry with the despair of a man who is seeking to bring his wife and daughter to Canada, but has almost exhausted all of his options. He is a fairly new Canadian, and I know him from when I was pastor at Sherbrooke. In my personal life, there are ongoing relationship challenges with some of our fellow-owners in our townhouse community strata.

Where is the hope in the midst of this kind of heaviness? In my last blog entry I shared about some new signs of the church coming together as a more unified voice of witness these days. This gives me hope.

Awhile back Diane and I went to a story-telling concert with Adrian Plass (as the Christian humourist storyteller) and Glen Soderholm (as the musician). It was so peaceful and energising of an evening.

Last night Diane and I, our daughter Jill and her husband Andrew went to the Vancouver Symphony Christmas concert. It included an ensemble choir and an actor/story-teller interspersing the songs with dramatic readings from "A Christmas Carol". What a great evening again set aside all the troubles of the world and just take it in.


Then tonight, the Place of Refuge Society board hosted the MP for Vancouver South, Ujjal Dosanjh, at the Place of Refuge house. Mr. Dosanjh was given a tour of the house and then we sat down to tell him about social justice concerns in this area of Vancouver - matters to which we would like him to give influence. These included: affordable housing, affordable daycare for low income people, the increasing number of people begging on Fraser Street, and more. There were people who spoke that represented MCC-related ministries in all of these areas of concern. Mr. Dosanjh was very supportive of our concerns and simply said that we needed to raise our voice louder so that our voice gets all the way to Ottawa for the federal government to hear these concerns. This meeting was filled with people that have hope for a better community. I also was filled with hope. I guess it is people with hope who give me hope. It is being with people who give off positive energy coming from godly convictions that energises me and lifts me to a place of new hope after walking in places of despair. (Photo courtesy Patrick Tam/FlungingPictures.com - Thank you Patrick.)

May God bless you with this hopefulness too!

The Church Coming Together Across the Board

Recently I heard this quote, "What the ecumenical movement was unable to do, the missional church is doing." Within the last six months I have been given opportunity to participate in three gatherings of British Columbia church leaders that have brought together an unprecedented mix of area church leadership.

On October 13th, district leaders from ten different evangelical denominations gathered in Surrey to build relationships and learn more about what it means to be missional. This group included the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Mennonite Brethren, Christian Reformed, four different types of Baptists, Evangelical Free, Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and us. As Lee Dyck says in the ECDC report, Mennonites are very near to being the missional church that God has called us to be. For 10 years we have claimed our way of being as missional church and we have taken some major strides in this direction. Many other evangelical churches have only begun to realise that the church growth paradigm they have been working with is no longer useful in our multicultural world and with this generation of young adults, and that the missional church paradigm is worth considering.

On November 9th I attended a More Than Gold prayer meeting for the executive leaders of this effort (the coordinated Christian presence at the 2010 Olympic Games). Again, this was a cross-denominational gathering of church leaders seeking to respond to God's call.

Then yesterday (December 7th) I had the privilege of sharing lunch with a new, but not so new, group of church leaders - even more diverse than the first group. We were at least 15 church leaders called together because of our denominations' commitment to participate in More Than Gold, but more so, called together to just meet each other and let God lead us in the things that he might call us to do. Someone mentioned that if you added up the people that all of our church groups represented in BC, it would be at least a million. Wow! The interesting part is that six of those in this second group were also part of the first group called together on October 13th. I am working at helping coordinate this by simply making sure that the facilitators of both gatherings are talking to each other.

I believe that God is doing a new thing where the walls of division between churches are coming down. We are starting to find that our similarities are more important than our differences! Who knows what God's plans are, but let's be sure to engage the new thing that he is doing. In John 17 Jesus said the world will know who he is when his followers are unified.

Let me know what you think of all this.

U2 360 Tour Performance in Vancouver

Okay, so this is a little late, but I wanted to tell you about our experience at the U2 concert on October 28th. Diane is not really a fan, but she came because I was going, and because she knows that they are the biggest band in the world right now, and have held this recognition for some time. She also knew about their over-the-top production that they were bringing. The massive claw that arched over the stage was overwhelming when you first entered the seating area of BC Place. The purpose of this stage effect was to ensure that, even in a football stadium with 60,000 people present, no one would have a bad seat. The screen that was suspended above the band gave everybody a 360 degree view of the concert, and the speakers gave a 360 sound. Take a look at my cell phone photo of the stage.



Yeah, I didn't think of bringing a real camera. I also was concerned about the appropriateness of taking photos at a concert, so I just took an empty stage, and no photos of the concert itself.

It was really loud! Since I know the words to many of the songs (or at least some of the words), I wanted to sing along, but unless I totally knew all the words, I couldn't pick up the words I didn't know because it was just too loud to understand them. I slept well the night after the concert, but my head didn't stop ringing until 8 o'clock the next morning! I guess it is expected at a rock concert. When I listen to their albums in the car or at home, I can adjust the volume to an understandable level, and that's how I learned to enjoy their stuff.

Volume aside, it was a great concert. The weaving together of themes of justice and songs that picked up these themes was very well done. Songs like Beautiful Day, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, and One were a real experience of God's presence, not to mention a rendition of Amazing Grace.

This was the last concert of the tour, and it seemed like they (the band) just didn't want it to end. They came back to the call of the audience three times.

I kind of wonder how long U2 is going to keep going and how long they will keep reinventing themselves.

A Night at a Very Special Opera

Diane and I attended a very powerful performance of "Amahl and the Night Visitors" in English. Tonight it was at Sherbrooke Mennonite Church (Friday November 27th). There are still 5 performances left at various churches in Vancouver. Just go to www.operaappassionata.org - to learn about the opera, go to "Events;" to reserve tickets, go to "Tickets;" and to see when and where the next performances are, go to "Calendar."

I highly recommend it as a great event to help you enter this year's Christmas season. It presents some interesting new angles on how we might think about the Christmas story.

Do it! Don't delay. You will be blest.

Got It!

Thanks to the help of the Administrator of the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO), I got the information about the Reformed/Mennonite reconciliation. It was found in an article in the August 2, 2004 issue of the Canadian Mennonite. An excerpt of the article is quoted below.

"On June 26, 2004, Christians from the Zwinglian Reformed tradition and the Anabaptist church confessed sin that had separated them 500 years ago and extended forgiveness to one other.

Some 400 people from four continents participated in the Anabaptist-Reformed Reconciliation Conference. The settings were the Grossmünster, the church where in 1525 Ulrich Zwingli preached against the Anabaptists, and the nearby Limmat River, where in 1527 Zurich authorities ordered the drowning of Felix Manz, one of the earliest Anabaptist leaders. About a dozen Canadians were present.

In an afternoon worship service, Larry Miller, executive secretary of Mennonite World Conference, preached from Zwingli’s pulpit. In his sermon, “The new city,” he said that the best in the Reformed vision of the church was like the Old Testament city, “open to all citizens without exception.” It lifts Jesus as lord of all and calls the church to shape society.

The Anabaptist vision, said Miller, was typical of the New Testament “city set on a hill,” a community of disciples following Jesus in daily life, separated from the world while witnessing to it. Persecution, however, drove Anabaptists into separatist communities.

“After lighting the lamp, we hid it under the bushel where it neither illuminates good works nor provokes offerings of glory to God,” said Miller. He commended the Reformed Church for taking steps “towards fuller communion with former adversaries.”

Confessions and responses from each group were among the conference’s most moving moments. Reudi Reich, president of the Reformed church in the Canton of Zurich, read a statement of regret for the persecution of the early Anabaptists.

In response, Ernest Geiser, president of the Council of Elders of the Swiss Mennonite Church, said: “Descendents of the formerly persecuted Anabaptists among you today no longer see themselves as victims…. We accept your confession with a spirit of forgiveness.”

In the evening, people gathered on the bank of the Limmat near the spot where Felix Manz was drowned. A rowboat slipped silently along the river and in a dramatic move, the rowers snatched the cover from a new plaque on the wall.

The English translation of the inscription reads: “Here in the middle of the Limmat River from a fishing platform, Felix Manz and five other Anabaptists were drowned between 1527 and 1532 during the Reformation. The last Anabaptist executed in Zurich was Hans Landis in 1614.”

At the dedication of the plaque, Reich again asked forgiveness for the persecution inflicted on Anabaptists nearly five centuries ago. Thomas Gyger, president of the Swiss Mennonite Conference, noted that city authorities and the church in the 16th century were trying to maintain public order in the face of what they considered a serious threat. He expressed gratitude for the memorial and the steps towards reconciliation."

Lutherans Seek Forgiveness

Back in July, in Paraguay, at Mennonite World Conference 2009, speakers from almost all of the major church groups around the world brought their greetings. While we all have our unique approach to being Christian, I was marvelling at this strong statement of commitment to work together. Then the Lutheran Church representative came up. One could have missed what he had to say if one was engaged in a side conversation with a new (or old) friend from a completely different place on our planet that just sat down in the chair next to you. Let me just give the quote about this historical event as taken directly from the Mennonite World Conference website.

"Asunción, Paraguay—A moving gesture of reconciliation and strong preaching marked Assembly 15’s first full day, on Wednesday, July 15.

Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), addressed the gathering with a “heavy heart,” he said, because of the “painful history” Lutherans and Mennonites share, especially the persecution – and execution – of Anabaptists in the 16th century.

“This history of condoning persecution," he said, "is a spiritual wound we [Lutherans] carry around in us." He further described the condemnations of Anabaptists, contained in the “anathemas” of the Augsburg Confession, as “the poison of a scorpion.” The Anabaptists did not strike back, he said; “we have it in us.”

“We were wrong, regrettably wrong,” he said. “Execution was not the only choice, even then.”

In recent years, Mennonites and Lutherans have been in dialogue about these matters, and Lutherans are seeking a “healthier” continuing dialogue now, said Noko, “as we address how we condemned you.” At their meeting in 2010, the LWF will be asked “to take action which will put us in a new position to the anathemas and express our deep repentance and regret.”

The assembled Mennonites reacted spontaneously to Noko’s words by standing and applauding.

MWC president Danisa Ndlovu also responded. “What we have heard will change our lives and perspectives,” he said.

“We are witnessing the breaking of walls,” he continued. “We are ready to receive the words we have heard.” The two men then embraced.

Ironically, these representatives of Anabaptists and Lutherans are both from Zimbabwe. Ishmael Noko's mother, in fact, was a Brethren in Christ woman who married a Lutheran. Said Larry Miller, MWC general secretary, "Divine providence has brought these [two men] together." End of quote.

Just to say a little more about the irony of who is carrying forward the reconciliation; these are two Zimbabweans, leading the healing process of disastrous times for European Christians. If the Mennonite Church had started in Africa, history may have taken an entirely different course, and this reconciliation may have never been necessary.

Well, this blog entry has been prompted by a praise item in the November 2009 edition of the Mennonite Church Canada Witness PrayerNet (to which you can subscribe - or may already). I quote, "We are grateful that God’s promises of reconciliation shine brightly in a damaged world! The Lutheran World Information (LWI) Council has unanimously adopted a statement asking forgiveness from Mennonites for a legacy of violent persecution. The statement expresses “deep regret and sorrow" for the past and asks forgiveness, “from God and from our Mennonite sisters and brothers.”

Praise the Lord for his hand of reconciliation! A similar process also took place with the Reformed Churches back in ... I'm still looking for when and where this happened, but it was only a few years ago.

More Than Gold - Prayer

I just spent an evening praying for More Than Gold (MTG). This is the Christian presence at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. It was a call to prayer for the staff and executive committee of MTG. MTG is a very diverse expression of the Christian faith, and this was reflected in our prayer experience. The prayer time began with the standard cell group/Bible study type spontaneous prayers of praise and intercession. Then the leader urged us raise our hands (if we were good with that) and give up to God whatever came to our hearts and minds. Then she asked us to pray as the Koreans pray (she had recently been at a Korean gathering for MTR). This Korean style was not different than what I would consider Pentecostal/charismatic prayer where everybody prays out loud at once. We prayed like this for a bit, and when things started quieting down, one in the group said that people and churches of the more liturgical tradition will give their prayers to God, ending each prayer with something like, "We lift our prayer to you," and then the whole group saying, "Lord hear our prayer." We carried on in this style for some time. We ended with praying with and for the person next to us.

The diversity of prayer traditions reflected the diversity of the church traditions participating in MTR. Even more, it reflected the willingness of the people to participate in each other's preferred styles. This diversity of church tradition and prayer style also brings diversity of ministry. It is very cool that MTR is doing: chaplaincy (the more direct outreach and spiritual ministry), radical hospitality, and social justice initiatives. Go to the website www.morethangold.ca to discover everything there is to know about this initiative. This coming weekend there are 2 training events and an opportunity to serve. You will be surprised as to how these folks from so many different traditions are taking the love of Jesus as their motivation and working together as one - without focusing on differences, in fact, actually taking interest in each others' unique priorities that they bring.

Go for it. Go to the website and just keep clicking on stuff to go deeper into what it's all about and how you can participate.

Pastors Gatherings

One of the highlights of each month (well, about 9 months of the year anyway) are the pastors lunch gatherings. We have 2 groups that meet. The Vancouver area gathering is on the 3rd Tuesday of the month and the Fraser Valley gathering is on the 3rd Wednesday. Just to prove that it is true, the photos above were taken this past week. The informal shot of the Valley Pastors gives the profile of the backs of the heads of three amazing pastors. I was going to offer to take anyone out for lunch if you could identify these pastors, but the "posed" photo reveals their identity. The picture just above this writing is the Vancouver group.

These gatherings are mostly the lead pastors, so we also have a youth pastors monthly gathering besides these. I am truly thankful for the partnership we have in the work of God's Kingdom here in Mennonite Church BC.

The Crazy Busy Fall

Throughout my years of pastoring people have often mentioned that the summer slowdown must be nice in my work. I have usually said that the change of pace from scheduled events to planning and connecting with people less formally is nice, but I haven't really seen the kind of slowdown that is imagined. In fact, the language of catchup is probably more correct that slowdown. Summer does give space for a vacation break and that's great. The break is probably more real for the members and volunteers who are able to take a break from church by being away on weekends because their ministry responsibilities stop for the summer. Regarding the crazy busyness that doesn't really stop during the summer for pastors - we do it to ourselves because we love what we are doing.

Regarding the fall - this year it all came from every direction at once sometime in the middle of last week. There were meetings - and the related tasks that always come out of meetings, the need to make a quick trip to Kelowna to care for some church matters, the need to do some writing - for this blog, and out of that, some reflections for News 'n Notes, getting ready for this year's Pastor/Spouse Retreat, working out some computer glitches, and doing my volunteer responsibilities as the communications coordinator for the Place of Refuge board (the board for our recently opened drug and alcohol recovery house in Vancouver).

Of course, there is the need to juggle things to accommodate my fitness schedule (i.e. the fall hockey schedule). I can't always change the busyness of work, but I can keep my life healthy in the midst of it by giving appropriate attention to my fitness and diet.

It is interesting that we don't have any pastoral installations, licensings or ordinations this fall. I believe it is the Lord's timing to allow for these other priorities to receive their due.

So, your prayers are appreciated - for me, and for all our pastors in MCBC as we serve and lead in the work of the Kingdom.

Our son, Mark, has a job - and more

Just before Mark moved to Saskatchewan to start a new job as sports writer for the Prince Albert Daily Herald, he and Lisa got engaged! They are planning their wedding for next August (2010). Yeah, it's a little tough to move 20 hours away when you are newly engaged - thank goodness for Skype! They can talk to each other every day on the internet, and see each other while they're doing it - for free! If we had only had Skype when we were in Africa more than 20 years ago. Actually, email would have been amazing - anything more than recording audio cassette tapes of our kids talking and sending them in the mail.

Mark started his work at the beginning of September. This is the job of his dreams, the thing that he spent four years studying for. Every article is a good read, and usually accompanied with a really good photograph - but then who am I to speak, I'm just his Dad. No, he really does good work. Hopefully his work will be noticed by the Vancouver media outlets. Actually a daily paper in a small city is great experience on many levels.

A New Start in Burns Lake

On August 16th, we celebrated a new start for First Mennonite Church, Burns Lake. Actually, Helmut and Eve Isaak already started as interim pastors in the middle of January of this year, but it soon became evident that they were the right people to lead the congregation into the years that lie ahead. The mid-August installation service simply served as the affirmation of this calling. Helmut and Eve have settled well into the congregation and the community, and are very well received.

It has often been difficult to have a meaningful partnership with our congregations that are further away from the Lower Mainland, but I believe that we have forged a very good relationship in the last couple of years - even though it has been through adverse times. There has also been a strengthening of the partnership between First Mennonite Burns Lake and Church of the Way in Granisle. Church of the Way was a church plant of First Mennonite, a little over an hour up the road, years ago. The current leadership of both congregations have a particular interest in nurturing this relationship. This is very encouraging.

MCBC Motorcycle Ride 2009

Our second annual Mennonite Church BC Motorcycle Ride took place on the weekend of August 8th and 9th. This year there were 6 bikes with 7 riders (compared with 20 bikes and 23 riders last year). We went to Vancouver Island, making it a 2 day trip. Our connection on the Island was the United Mennonite Church at Black Creek (1/2 way between Courtenay and Campbell River). There are a couple of riders among the people at the Black Creek Church, but it only worked out for one couple to be involved. Gary and Gloria Cashman were wonderful hosts for the weekend. We stayed overnight at their home on Saturday.

Our place of meeting, and official start of the ride was on Saturday at noon at the Black Creek Church. Our destination was Gold River. This road is a beautiful ride with lots of nice twists and turns that only a motorcyclist can really enjoy. The weather was nice, but a bit iffy. We got rained on kind of in the middle of the ride both on the way out and on the way back. I don't think anyone complained too much. It was a lot of fun. The photo above is at the end of the road. Beyond the community of Gold River, the road continues down to the dock where a whole new opportunity awaits those who want to get out on the water.

When we got back to the Cashman home, Gloria had dinner ready for us! We had a great evening of connecting stories.

On Sunday we joined the Black Creek Church for their morning worship service. It was a neat show of support for a congregation that often feels it is quite removed from the majority out in the Lower Mainland. Not only were the bikers there, but 2 youth groups from the Lower Mainland were there, partnering to help them run their Vacation Bible School program. I was the preacher.

After worship we were all treated to a bbq at the church. Because most of the riders wanted to catch a ferry back to the mainland at a decent hour, we decided on a bit of a storter afternoon ride. We went up Mount Washington (the Island's ski resort). Upon arrival at the top, we realised that this was the end destination of a major motorcycle rally. I'm sure there were at least 100 bikes up there. It was fun to look around and watch them take off. Of course, there was a Starbucks, so that was our mountian top stop. Sunday was a warmer, sunnier day.

The ride down the mountain is the most beautiful part, with the views of expansive land and sea. We parted ways at the bottom of the mountain - I stayed with the Cashmans for another night because I wanted to do some stuff on the Island on Monday; the rest of them headed back to Nanaimo to meet the ferry.

Half way through the ride, some were already asking what the plans are for next year. The main idea was to do the Duffey Lake road. This is from Vancouver to Whistler, Pemberton, Lillooet, and down the Fraser Canyon. We'll see, once the day gets closer.

Mennonite World Conference - Paraguay 2009

We had the most wonderful time for 2 1/2 weeks in Paraguay and Brazil. Our main purpose was to attend the Mennonite World Conference Assembly 15. Every day was a learning day. I would say that the greatest highlight of the assembly itself was just being together with 6000 Anabaptist/Mennonite people from around the world.

It was meeting friends from home and friends from other parts of the world that we had not seen for some time. It was the experience of not having English as the main language, but Spanish. We had to wear headphones in all the sessions in order to hear the translation into English. This helped us to understrand what is like for so many people who come to Canada and need help to understand anything. This brought to my mind an experience I had when I was pastor at the Sherbrooke Mennonite Church in Vancouver. I remember sitting so many times in the context of our Refugee Food Bank and hearing people speaking Spanish but not understanding it. For these people it was a relief to be able to be with people of their language. But, in the real world on the street, all these people would have to learn "my" language to function in "my" country.

Being present to hear stories of the activities of the global Anabaptist church over the past 6 years was a real privilege. We also heard representatives of many of the world communions of other churches. I was blest to hear the representative of the World Lutheran Federation speak of their preparations to officially acknowledge that their persecution of the early Anabaptists in the 16th century was wrong. The theme "Come together in the way of Jesus Christ" was addressed from many angles each day with sermons and stories from around the world.

I was particularly blest when I learned from friends in the Chaco (in the community of Loma Plata), that they watched the live stream of the conference sessions on their TV each evening of the conference.

It was meeting new people for another part of the world and hearing their story, such as the choir from Zimbabwe. Here in the picture, they were singing on the outdoor stage in the Global Village area behind the main convention centre. While they were waiting for their turn on the stage, Diane struck up a most interesting conversation with one of the choir members (English is the international language spoken in Zimbabwe).

Later, back in Canada, I found out from a Dutch friend in the Black Creek Mennonite Church on Vancouver Island, that the women of the Dutch Mennonite Church raised money for the last number of years in order to sponsor the choir from Zimbabwe to go the the Mennonite World Conference. When I showed this picture in my sharing in her congregation a couple of weeks ago, she was so blest.

The assembly itself was held in this amazing new church building. I say "new" because it wasn't even finished. It is a building that seats 10,000 people. One year ago, the leaders of the congregation that will worship here said that the building will not be ready for the Mennonite Conference. The organisers said that it must be ready, because we have no other venue. The Mennonites in Paraguay provided up to 200 workers to help them complete the building. While it was fully usable for our purposes, when one looked up in the expansive front entrance, the drywall on the 2nd floor was only taped and had not yet been painted. Also, in talking with one of the worship team members, he said that the speakers were being mounted in the sancturay while they were practicing underneath on the stage. He said that the first full sound check for the system was also the sound check for the world conference - only the day before the assembly began. Praise the Lord - it was ready just on time!!

We're off to Paraguay

On Friday, July 10th, Diane and I are off to the Mennonite World Conference gathering in Paraguay. For those of you who don't know, this happens about once every 6 years. It was last held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (2003), and previous to that in India (1997). The one previous to that is the only one Diane and I have ever attended - Winnipeg 1990.

We look forward to meeting many old and new friends; old friends from our connections across the Mennonite Church over the many years, and new friends as God gives opportunity to build relationships with some of the almost 6,000 people who will gather. I understand that there are 7 people going from my congregation alone (Sherbrooke Mennonite Church in Vancouver), although some of these have roots in Paraguay and are also taking opportunity to "go home".

I don't know what opportunities I will have to get on the internet, but if I do, I hope to send some updates as we go along. We are part of a tour group. We start in Iguazzu Falls, Brazil, arriving on July 11th. We will take a bus from there to Asuncion, Paraguay, visiting Mennonite colonies along the way (Apparently these folks have developed amazing dairy operations, and supply a good portion of the milk for the whole country). The conference is from July 14th to 19th. After that we will go to Menno Colony and stay in the community of Loma Plata. There are several friends who are formerly from Sherbrooke Church who live there, and we already have plans to meet them. On July 22nd we return to Asuncion, and on the 23rd, Diane I go our separate ways from the tour group.

We are making a 3-day visit to Brazil. Our main interest is to go to Curitiba, where friends from Sherbrooke Church have roots. We have already hooked up with a sister of one of our friends who is a travel agent there. She has set up our travel itinerary, and the bonus is that we get to also stay with her family.

We arrive home in Vancouver on July 27th.

Talk to you from out there.

The Ride to Saskatoon

I chose to do a kind of a ride of a lifetime for my travel to and from the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly in Saskatoon. I put just over 4,000 kms on my motorcycle on this 2-week trek. The reason the ride was special for me is that I was on roads that for-the-most-part I had been on before, only this time I would enjoy them from the open view of a motorcycle. It was amazing! The other special thing was seeing and staying with friends and family. Someone mentioned that it was something like the Apostle Paul's missionary journeys. I like that image. I took Highway No. 3 on the way to Saskatchewan. For my whole journey, I took the perspective that pictures could never do justice to the scenery around me - so I just rode and didn't take any pictures. I didn't count, but I'm sure I passed through at least four uniquely different mountain ranges. There were the mountains that start at Hope, then the desert-like mountains at Osoyoos. Once past Osoyoos, it doesn't take long to switch to a mountain that I have not really been able to describe - kind of a small and rugged type. They are not the majestic-rugged that the Rockies are. These are the mountains around Grand Forks.

Below you will see three pictures from my first night's stop. I stayed with friends that are formerly from Sherbrooke Mennonite Church in Vancouver, now at Grand Forks - Tony & Jen Boschmann and their boys, Lukas and Jakob. You will see their house, their front yard and them.

After spending and evening and a morning with Tony and Jen, there was the next day. I rode through the Kootenays. The Kootenay Pass is apparently the highest pass in Canada. The air temperature was okay, but I was way above the snow line - there was snow on the ground amongst the trees as far down as I could see on the side of the road away from the mountain. I stopped for lunch in Cranbrook at Werner and Sue Froese's - retired pastors that I know both from BC and Saskatchewan. It took a picture, but it wasn't good, so I'm not putting it in here.

Travelling through Fernie and on to the Crowsnest Pass gave me a peek at the Rockies, but I didn't really get into them. The Crowsnest opens the way out of the mountains and to the prairies. The first things that stood out on the southern Alberta landscape were the hundreds of wind turbines. These are massive fans that generate electricity, placed on ridges to catch the maximum amount of prairie wind. This took me to Lethbridge for night. I actually stayed in a hotel - the only one on the journey.

Seeing the green fields of sprouting crops provided its unique beauty. I think the prairie beauty also had something to do with the fact that I was going home - that is, the place of my growing up and where my family is. I spent a week with Diane's parents in Saskatoon while attending the assembly. It was pretty cold the whole time, but then I didn't have far to ride each day. Nak Sun Kim, the pastor of the Sherbrooke Korean Mennonite Fellowship, stayed there with me.

After the assembly I went to Outlook, an hour south of Saskatoon, and stayed a night and a morning with my brother and his wife (Howard and Lori). The next day was rainy, but not real cold. Howard and I spent the day riding, ending up at the Rosthern Mennonite Nursing Home - where our parents are now living.

I spent two nights with my Mom and Dad at Rosthern. They are really doing well, and it is so good to know that they are in good hands while we live 18 hours away. They posed with my bike all loaded again for the journey home.

When I hit the road, I went to Didsbury, Alberta to spend a night with Diane's brother and his family (Terry and Kim Falk). It was wonderful, including taking in their daughter Dynna's soccer game. The next day was my longest day, ending up at Clare & Bev Neufeld's in Kelowna (pastor of First Mennonite Church, and friend from Vancouver as well as Saskatchewan). On this ride is where I saw the Rockies in their fullest majesty!

Clare suggested I head for the Fraser Canyon for my trek home. So, I went through Merrit and on to Spence's Bridge. Just as I stopped at Spence's Bridge to look down at the Fraser River far below, it started to rain for pretty much the only time other than the one day in Saskatchewan. Low and behold, just ahead of me was a little restaurant that had a veranda for me to park my bike out of the rain while I had a bite to eat.

The end of my journey was at Camp Squeah where my congregation, Sherbrooke Mennonite Church was having their annual family camp. This is where I met Diane as she came by herself from home. It was a wonderful trip; it was wonderful to be together again. I officially ended back at home Sunday afternoon after the family camp.

I give thanks to God for safety and blessing.

Photos from Saskatoon 2009

Hanging out with people at the displays

Putting on Clothes of Christlikeness - based on Colossians 3:12

People - Actually, friends. It's cool that when you go to these assemblies over the years many people become both acquaintances and friends - I know a number of these people in this random photo taken by an MC Canada photographer.

Rudy Baergen of the MC Canada Faith and Life Committee presenting the introduction to prepare us for the discernment time on biblical interpretation. The "Living Inside Out" theme banner is behind him.

Discerning what God is saying and doing amongst his people.

Mennonite Church Canada Assembly - Saskatoon 2009

From my two lame photos of the building where the Assembly took place, you may be able to tell that I am a person who often forgets to get out the camera because I am busy connecting with friends and taking in the conference sessions.

Anyway, I would say it was a very good conference. I began by taking in a meeting of Conference Ministers and then taking in the Ministers' Conference. Actually, in Mennonite Church Canada language, conference ministers are now called Area Church Ministers. We met Wednesday afternoon (June 3rd) in the "Africa Room" at the MCC Saskatchewan offices. We spend more time catching up with each other and the stuff going on in our area churches across Canada (that is: BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Eastern Canada), than we spend on business. Our MC Canada denominational minister, Karen Martens-Zimmerly, leads us - as does a great job. We also have Anna Rehan, Mennonite Church Canada Youth Minister, joining us as her place of connecting. The price Anna had to pay for joining was to serve all of us dinner at her, and her husband Ed's, beautiful home on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River.

On Thursday was the Minsters' Conference - this is a special time for pastors and spouses to focus on a learning theme. Dan Epp-Tiessen spoke on "Nurturing a Vision for Engaged Congregations," based on 1 Corinthians 12. I particularly learned that it would be good to preach less about all the things we should be doing, and preach more of the good news of Jesus' love! I also had the privilege of discovering that our closing worship was to be led by Valerie Wiebe, a good friend from the congregation in Langham, SK where I used to serve.

The big event was the main assembly, and I would say that the highlight for me was the discernment that we had around tables on three topics: biblical interpretation, proclaiming peace in the public square, and being a healthy church. You can check out the details of these discussions and the assembly in general by checking out the Bridge City Bulletin and the photos at: www.mennonitechurch.ca/events/saskatoon2009/. Actually, I think I can snag a couple of photos from that website to give you some of my highlights. Check my next blog entry for this.

Also, check out a bit about my ride to the conference in another blog.

REACH - MCBC Joint Worship Service 2009

I would say that REACH went really well. Sorry, no photos - the photos that were sent to me were, for some reason, not uploadable. We had approximately 375 people gather together. We had hoped for many more, but it was a sunny summer-like afternoon and many of our congregations already had a morning worship service. Some of the highlights were: 6 very interesting interviews with people involved in various ministries, lots of visuals dipicting ministry among our 31 congregations, good worship singing, a song that was sung in 9 different languages (representing almost all of the languages in which our MCBC congregations worship), and good food afterward.

The interviews included: Billy Chiew (ministry in downtown Vancouver at Vancouver Chinese Mennonite Church), Kristina Toews, youth worker at Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church in Abbotsford (also Mennonite Church Canada's representative at the Mennonite World Conference Youth Summit), Rob Tiessen (talking about missional opportunity at Camp Squeah), Lee Dyck (talking about her and her husband Gerald's observations as they have been on a mission of visiting many of the MCBC congregations in the Lower Mainland), Nhien Pham (speaking of the Vietnamese church plant in Abbotsford), and Paul Heinrichs (representing the Karen ministry at Living Hope Christian Fellowship).

We are looking for good ideas as to what we could do next year to build our unity. It has been suggested to have a sports day and picnic. What do you think?

The 2009 Ride

It looks like the time of year to enjoy a good motorcycle ride is upon us again. Since last year's ride, I have been dreaming of taking a group of riders to Vancouver Island. We have one MCBC congregation on the Island, so what better connection than to work with them.  Thankfully they also have a few riders in their midst.  I have met with leadership in the church and with some of their riders, and the folks at the Black Creek United Mennonite Church are excited about being our host for this year's ride.  

The details are not all finalised, but here's a sketch of what we might do.  We are planning for the weekend of August 8-9.  We would take the ferry across to Nanaimo early Saturday morning and ride to the church (approximately 2 hours north - between Courtenay and Campbell River).  We would ride all day Saturday and folks from the Black Creek church would host us Saturday night.  

We would join them for worship on Sunday.  I am planning to preach, but we would welcome others from the crowd of riders to make a contribution to the worship.  Sunday afternoon we would ride again, ending up at Nanaimo to take the ferry home.

What do you think?  If you wanted to stretch it out a little more, you could go to the Island on Friday and find your own accommodations, joining the rest of the group on Saturday.

I am really looking forward to coming together with brothers and sisters from across Mennnonite Church BC in worship, learning, fellowship and food. I hope you are all planning to come.  

We will be led in our worship by Dan Loewen and the worship team from Level Ground Mennonite Church. We will hear interviews of a variety of people talking about missional activities that are happening through congregations across our church in BC. We will see photos and video of what God is doing in our midst. 

You will meet people who care about the church and God's mission. Come and see what the Lord is doing!

Come and be part of it!

Mothers' Day doesn't get better than this!

My Mom was able to fly out from Saskatchewan to be at Jill and Andrew's wedding. Remember that 15 months earlier, she had a massive brain aneurism.  Due to immediate surgery, much prayer, and time, Mom started getting significantly more alert and self-sufficient last fall.  It was in December that she first showed interest in coming to the wedding.  My brother Howard and his wife Lori accompanied Mom on the trip out to BC, but he said that she really didn't need any assistance.  What a miracle!  

All along, my Dad was the healthy one.  Yet, as the wedding day approached, he had this nagging cold that kept him down.  In the end, he was unable to come.   We always thought it would likely be the other way around.

What a great Mothers' Day gift - to have Mom back!

A Son-in-Law

Our daughter Jill was married to Andrew Goertzen on April 4th, 2009.  It was the most wonderful day.  I was able to just be the dad for the day.  Jill and Andrew's former youth pastor at Sherbrooke Mennonite Church, Rod Wiebe, did a marvellous job of working with Jill and Andrew in putting together the wedding ceremony.  Rod also presented a very good word to them in the wedding message.  

Diane and I couldn't be happier. Please pray for Jill and Andrew as they start their new life together.

The wedding took place at Sherbrooke Mennonite Church in Vancouver and the reception was at the Delta Town and Country Inn (near to our home). Jill and Andrew are living in an apartment in southeast Vancouver.

MCBC Annual Meeting - February 21, 2009

OLD COAT-NEW CLOTH: FASHIONING THE FUTURE FOR MCBC

(I have to give credit to Amy Dueckman, our MCBC writer for the Canadian Mennonite, for much of this article.  She gave me permission to use excerpts from her article in the MCBC News 'n Notes.  In fact, you could just go to the Jan./Feb./March 2009 News 'n Notes on the MCBC website for the full version of her article - and photos.)

I would say that we had one of our best Mennonite Church BC annual meetings in a while.  I would also say that a key reason for this is the new level of commitment and trust that our re-covenanting has given us.  While we are a diverse body of congregations, and we wouldn't all want to live completely in each other's skin, we are in a place where we prepared to be the church together and get on with the mission to which God is calling us.  

A feeling of unity and moving forward pervaded the MCBC annual meeting at Cedar Valley Mennonite Church on Feb. 21st.  Delegates witnessed Level Ground Mennonite Church signing the MCBC covenant.  This is the new congregation formed as a result of the coming together of the West Abbotsford Mennonite Church and Wellspring Christian Fellowship.  

Delegates also witnesed the appointment of Rob Tiessen as Executive Director of Camp Squeah, after having served as Interim Executive Director for the past two years.  Camp Squeah reported on the building project of two new buildings scheduled for completion later this spring. It was reported that $1.3 million has been raised with $600,000 left to be raised.  Delegates were challenged to engage their congregations with energy to raise what is left.

The delegates came through with an amazing affirmation of what it means to be in a covenant relationship with each other.  First Mennonite Church Burns Lake has gone through two rounds of difficulties that has caused the congregation significant loss of membership over the past years. They are now a small congregation, yet with a unity in purpose unseen for some time.  The delegates committed to assist the congregation with up to $27,000 annually for 3 years (as needed) in order for them to have a fulltime pastor who will lead them back to good health.

Young Adults in Focus

The MCBC LEAD Conference focused on learning about our young adults and their hopes for the future of the church.  In the photo, Rob Brown and Chris Dirkson are leading the worship singing (pastors at Eden Mennonite Church in Chilliwack).  The words of the song on the screen, "Jesus, all for Jesus" are rather fitting.  Sometimes our young adults have been frustrated by the church, but they do love Jesus. We had a movie made with interviews of a number of young adults who are, or have been, a part of our churches. The primary things I heard from these young people about what they would like to see in the future of the church are: openness to new ideas and to people who are different than ourselves, love, respect and relationships.  The LEAD Conference theme was "Old Coat, New Cloth," based on the Scripture, Matthew 9:16.  These are days when the usable cloth of the old coats that have made up the church is becoming the new cloth that is being used to shape the church.  The Word of God remains steady and unchanging.  It has been said that this generation of young adults are the most culturally engaged ever.  I think they also have amazing opportunities to shine the light of the gospel into the lives of their many pre-Christian friends.  Many in my generation don't have a lot of close non-Christian friends, so I commend our young adults for the connections they have.   Angelika Dawson told us about Columbia Bible College students working at the MCC warehouse in Abbotsford, redesigning old garments into new products that reflect their interests.  Gareth Brandt taught using jazz as the image to represent this generation of Christians.  The jazz image being one of improvization and one of a band working together to form new music as they go along.  The form of the faith of these young adult Christians has this kind of improvization, yet is also deeply authentic and real.  

More on the State of the Union

Here's a picture of the First Mennonite Church Burns Lake Covenant signing.

More Than Gold is is a unique opportunity for churches of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley to work together in service and ministry.  MCBC has signed up as a supporting denomination, but we have been unable to find a volunteer to coordinate our response.  We are now asking the BC Mennonite Brethren Conference if we can partner with them under their leadership.  Once we are organised, we will give opportunity for local congregations to register your support of Serving, Praying and Giving by saying YES to being involved.  There are so many opportunities and you can customize the ministries you want to be involved in to suit your gifts and capacity.  Stay tuned for more information as we receive it.

One more exciting thing.  We are proceding with a potential church plant in the Cloverdale area.  We are planning in partnership with Living Hope Christian Fellowship in Surrey.

State of the Union Address

We are looking forward to a wonderful time of celebrating the work of God's kingdom among us as we gather on the afternoon of May 24th to worship, fellowship and eat together.  I encourage your congregation to consider closing your regular worship service and making this the one to focus on.  We are also asking each congregation to either share a few words, send a video, or photos, showing some missional activity that you are involved with.  Let's  make it a blessed time.

This is a sneak preview of the state of the union address that I will give at the Mennonite Church BC annual meeting on Saturday, February 21st.  It's kind of like when someone's speech gets leaked to the media and snippits from it end up in the newspaper before it is given.  I thought I would pre-empt all the reporters that are lurking at my office door and pre-disclose it myself.

Our theme for our leadership conference (LEAD) and for the annual sessions is "Old Coat New Cloth: Fashioning the Future for MCBC" from Matthew 9:16.  May we be the new cloth that God wants to work with, especially new cloth that is fashioned from an old coat.

First Mennonite  Church Burns Lake has signed the Covenant.  Now they are seeking to know what covenant-living is really like.  Because of some tough years in the last decade, this congregation has lost many members, but they are now a unified, smaller congregation seeking the partnership that a covenanted people should provide.  May we come alongside  of them in faithfulness.

Abbotsford Mennonite Fellowship has also signed the covenant.  Let us find meaningful partnership with them too.

We are now 31 covenanted congregations.  May it be a healthy union of congregations that are definitely not all alike, but hold together in a covenant relationship.

Karen Martens is the new Denominational Minister and Director of Leadership Development for Mennonite Church Canada.  You will get to meet her this weekend at both the LEAD Conference and the annual meetings.  She and her husband Terry co-pastored the Grace Mennonite Church in Regina, Saskatchewan for around 15 years.  She began in this position in the fall of 2008.

 

We are going to be our Identity, Purpose and Vision statements as the statement of who we are. But out of who we are comes our commitments as to what we are going to do.  Just go back to the MCBC Home Page and and click on Our Vision Statement to see all this (or come to the annual meeting on Saturday, February 21st!)

 

We are going to celebrate the beginning of Level Ground Mennonite Church, yet at the same time to give recognition to the good ministry of its predecesors - West Abbotsford Mennonite Church and Wellspring Christian Fellowship.  I think we should commission someone to write a new history of Mennonite Church BC, especially since we are newly covenanted together.  The update would be from 1990 until now.

 

Columbia Bible College is seeking the wisdom of the Mennonite Church BC and BC Mennonite Brethren churches (the two bodies that own the school) by drawing me and my MB counterpart into a Leadership Development Task Force with the president and academic dean.  This is to help the school develop students whose competencies that align what the churches are looking for.  I think we are in a great place of strengthening the role of CBC as our school for our students, whether we are training up lay people in our church ministries or people for staff positions.  

An interesting conversation that we are having with CBC is regarding bursaries.  There is a sense among the MB leaders that the subsidy given by the conference should be developed into bursaries for students rather than general giving to the school's budget.  As MCBC leaders, we are okay with continuing to give to the general budget, but think it might be a good idea for the congregations to develop their own bursaries to give to their students.  Now, one radical step further would be for MCBC congregations with a bursary who don't have students in a certain year, to make their bursary available for students from other congregations that may not have sufficient bursary funds.  I think this would be a great expression of covenanting together.

Please pray for Mennonite Japanese Christian Fellowship in Surrey and their pastor, Gerald Neufeld.  Any time I have worshiped there, I have truly experienced blessed worship, but they struggle to keep up their support for their pastor.   Pray for God's wisdom and creativity.

A Sip of Scripture

Here's a little ad for any of you who are still wondering what you might do for your devotions this year. If you got this far into the MCBC website, then you will have passed by a tab on the homepage called Links. If you click on Links there's lots of good stuff, but go right to the bottom and you will find A Sip of Scripture. This is a daily Scripture reading. This year the Sip of Scripture is going through the book pictured above. If you are not familiar with this book, it is a collection of the primary Scripture texts that the early Anabaptists leaned on most heavily. You can buy the book from Pandora Press. But, you can also be challenged and blessed by going to the MCBC website every day and making this your daily Scripture reading. If you go to the source of this webpage, you will be at Thirdway Cafe. At Thirdway there is lots of good stuff about Anabaptists, but at Thirdway you can also get this daily devotional sent to your email address and have it pop up for you every morning! You can even go back to January 1st and get the full-meal-deal from the beginning of the book.  

And, a bonus - this is not just a Scripture reading, but a devotional. When you scroll down you will find a daily blog called A Simple Desire. Every day one of a number of people will write a reflection on the Scripture passage.  

One surprise - the early Anabaptists included the Apocrypha in their Scriptures, so you will find the occasional text that is not from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible that we carry. Blessings.

New Year's Day

The U2 song New Year's Day has been one of my favourites.  It probably has been a real frustration for those who want to start afresh and make all kinds of resolutions to live a better life.  Here are the words of the first verse and the chorus, 

"All is quiet on New Year's Day.  

A world in white gets underway.  

I want to be with you, be with you night and day.  

Nothing changes on New Year's Day.  

On New Year's Day. 

and then the chorus 

I... will be with you again."

This song has always struck me as encouraging.  Bono often intertwines the story of his relation with his wife, with God and the world.  It is heartening to know that we will spend another year together - through the good and the bad, the celebrations and the frustrations.  To celebrate that the first day of the new year is not miraculously different that the last day of the year before is encouraging.  God is with us and we will find him when we seek him.  

May 2009 be filled with the hope of the God who was, and is, and is to come.

Life in the Fast Lane

There have been a few people who have suggested that breaking my leg just before Christmas might be just what I needed to cause me to stop working and be with my family at Christmas. Some have suggested that it may have even been God's intervention.  I do not disagree.  I did cancel one speaking engagement due to my injury.  I also missed the celebration at Camp Squeah of Dan Friesen's 20 years of service there. Certainly, being unable to drive a car kept me at home much more.  I did slow down.  While it has caused me to reorganise my schedule to travel less and work more from my home, it has also been very frustrating.  But, it has caused much reflection on what life is like for those who do not have full mobility and for those who must rely on the assistance of others for some very basic activities. Trying to bring down the swelling in the lower leg and ankle has resulted in the possibility photos like the one above.  

I have deeply appreciated the assistance offered by my family and so many others.  I have also appreciated the privilege of being able to laugh at myself as others laugh at me.  I am thankful that my travel schedule took a break at this time.  I am thankful for every time that God speaks to me about having too much on my plate.  This has probably been the most obvious one.  But there have been others, such as physical signs of stress.  The one I like the most is when someone cancels an assignment to which I have said yes, and I have known all along that I should not have taken it on.  If I have ever felt freed up, it has been when one of these happens.  

I would welcome any of your stories about what God has done in your lives to help you to slow down or to show you a better pathway.

Blessings.