Thoughts on Thanksgiving

This morning I had the privilege of preaching at my home church - Sherbrooke Mennonite Church, Vancouver. The text was Psalm 105. The psalmist begins by calling the people of Israel to "Give praise to the LORD and make known among the nations what he has done." Then the psalmist proceeds with a recitation of the story of God's people from the promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham to their entrance into that land, ending with a statement of purpose for this story - "that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws."

When we celebrate God's goodness at Thanksgiving, we cannot be focused only on our own benefits. As with the people of Israel, we are called to make known among the nations what the LORD has done.

God's gift of grace is so generous, that often our only way of saying thankyou is to pass on another gift of kindness to someone else.

The Covenant

It gives me great pleasure to announce that First Mennonite Church, Burns Lake has voted to sign the MCBC Covenant.  

This has not been an easy journey for them and it will not be without pain and difficulties ahead.  But, MCBC is committed to walk with them.  They are in the process of searching for a pastor.  What I believe is needed is someone with strong Anabaptist belief and practice, someone who can help re-establish unity, and is able to nurture healing and new hope.

Dave Friesen (and Doris) is going to serve as interim pastor for a month, starting October 24th.  MCBC is helping to provide interim ministry as well as working with their search committee to find long-term pastoral leadership.

A Covenant-signing service is being planned for November 23rd, so if any of you are interested in going up to Burns Lake to celebrate with them, let me know.  We are hoping to take a 15-passenger van, driving up on the 22nd and returning on the 24th.

Election Primer

Remember to vote on October 14th!  Check out the Election Primer put out by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).  It has been added to the bottom of the Homepage of our MCBC website.  This article discusses issues on the Canadian scene that are important to Anabaptist Christians.  Take a look at it before going to the polls on Tuesday.  

There was also a very helpful comparison of the party positions on 15 important issues in Saturday's Vancouver Sun.  Check it out.

The Line Up This Fall

Many congregations are moving into new starts with leadership.  We have a number of installations; please come and celebrate God’s work in our various congregations (See list in the News ‘n Notes that will be in your mailboxes next week.  Your congregation will have also received an email with this information.)  

We continue to work with the congregations who did not sign the covenant with plans to be clear on our MCBC membership by the end of the year.  We also have another congregation that is considering joining MCBC. 

I am taking a Leadership course in Pennsylvania in the 3rd week of September.  I look forward to developing my abilities in being a good leader.

Thanks for your prayers!

Mennonite Church Canada Assembly and the People's Summit

The Mennonite Church Canada Assembly and the People's Summit was encouraging, challenging, informative. It was in Winnipeg - July 7-10. After the Canadian business meeting, a North American gathering for fellowship and learning took place. The major themes included "Care for God's Creation", and the unveiling of the results of "The Pastor Trends Survey".

There are 6 photos below that represent these priorities: worship, work, fellowship, fun, the future and teaching.

Next year the adult assembly will be in Saskatoon from June 5-7. The youth assembly will be in Caronport, SK from July 6-10. And remember the great opportunity to go to Paraguay for the Mennonite World Conference, July 14-19, 2009.

The Sunshine Coast Route

Okay, so this is the story of another motorcycle ride.

Diane and I took a short 4 - day vacation this past weekend (August 8-11). We went on our motorcycle to the Sunshine Coast, then crossed the ferry from Powell River to Comox, taking the Oceanside Route all the way down to Victoria. We actually have no motorcycle pictures, but I'm including the view of one of our B & B's and the view from another B & B.

I remember the winding road from Pender Harbour to the Earl's Cove ferry from a car trip some years ago. I got a headache; but I also said that this would be an amazing trip on a motorcycle, and so it was. The weather was great. I would encourage anyone to make this trek in mid-summer. Riding between the mountains and the ocean takes your breath away.

MCBC Motorcycle Ride

Wow!! What a great time. 20 bikes and 23 riders went on a tour around the backroads of the Lower Mainland on Saturday, July 26th. Seven bikes with eight riders left from the Peace Mennonite Church, Richmond, parking lot at 8:00 am. It was very cool to pull into the Columbia Bible College parking lot to see a row of 13 motorcycles awaiting our arrival.

After a word of prayer, we were on our way, riding down to Huntingdon Road and then following the back roads along the south side of the Fraser Valley. We went through Yarrow, and stopped at Cultus Lake for ice cream. After Cultus, we continued on backroads around the east side of Chilliwack and crossed over the #1 Highway on Annis Road. It was neat to come right up to the foot of the mountains on several occasions and then turn to continue our trek. We went through Rosedale and ended up at the Wildcat Cafe for lunch - just on the north side of Minter Garden (great food, by-the-way).

After lunch we went through Agassiz and up to Harrison Hot Springs. We skirted around the bottom of Harrison Lake and stopped up at Sasquatch Provincial Park to enjoy the beauty and cool off a bit.

Then we were led by Len and Cheryl Dyck, of Cedar Valley Mennonite Church in Mission, on some more amazing back roads - taking Sylvester Road and riding to their church from the north side. Cheryl had a snack prepared for us. The Vancouver riders said goodbye to the the Valley riders at Cedar Valley. We continued on back to Vancouver - for the most part on Dewdney Trunk Road - going up to Stave Lake and following the Barnet Highway around the north side of Burnaby Mountain. Our last leg of the journey included a view of Burrard Inlet. Once we hit Boundary Road, we stopped to bid farewell to each other and headed in our separate ways, returning to our homes around 5:30 pm.

It was a great time of meeting folks from a number of different MCBC congregations from around the Lower Mainland. We plan to do another ride next summer - maybe to the Island.