A White Vancouver Christmas

Okay, so we live in Ladner, but I just thought I would show you a photo of our picnic table on Boxing Day 2008.  It is apparently the most snow that Metro Vancouver has ever had at Christmas!  The snow is changing to rain, so please pray that our neighbourhoods would be spared serious flooding.  

It's Broken

I broke my leg playing hockey on Monday, December 15th.  That sounds pretty bad.  The fibula is the thinner bone in the lower leg.  It broke a couple of inches above the angle.  It didn't go out of place, so I just have one of these big plastic boots to walk around in.  My doctor said that the boot is not needed to hold it in place, but to protect it and allow me to get around without hurting myself.  I told my doctor that "God is good," because God gives us pain.  I'm telling you, if I accidentally put any weight on it (such as when a crutch slips on the smooth, polished floor in a mall - not because the floor has water on it, but because the crutch is still a little wet on the bottom from trudging through the snow outside), the shock of pain I get is an instant message of protection!  It's too bad its the right leg, because that keeps me from driving.  Yeah, I could use my left foot, but in our car, I can't get my right leg out of the way to do that.  

On the second day of my injury, I was walking the short distance from our townhouse to my doctor's office, which is in the mall just across the street.  I stopped six times to rest and catch my breath.  I was amazed that, not only at every stop, but as I was walking, almost everybody had a well-meaning comment.  I was just thinking, "Why?"  Why does everybody feel the impluse to talk with an able-bodied person who is temporarily disabled?  I wonder if people do that with a person who is obviously permanently disabled?  I wonder if it is because when a person is injured, yet otherwise healthy, that they are less intimidating?  This person is now no competition, even though normally they would be.   I don't know.  It is nice getting all the friendly, sympathetic conversation from people.

A few people have suggested that the broken leg might be a gift from God to slow me down a bit during the Christmas season.  I agree.  In my efforts at trying to worship with every congregation in Mennonite Church BC in my first year on the job, I ended up taking on preaching assignments on 3 of 4 Sundays in December.  The injury has caused me to cancel preaching at Vancouver Chinese Mennonite Church on December 28th.   This has actually been just the right break to let me settle into the celebration of the season!  

One commitment I did keep was to preach at Sherbrooke Mennonite Church this past Sunday, December 21st.  Along with preaching, I also had opportunity to do my last set of baptisms before Sherbrooke's new senior pastor starts on January 1st.  The couple that I baptised were attending Sherbrooke most of the years I was pastoring there, and committed their lives to following Jesus during this time.  They just arrived at the decision to go public with their faith in baptism during this past year.  

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Garry and Diane Janzen

Pastor/Spouse Retreat

It has been a long time since I have put something up on my blog.  Thank you, to all of you who stop by to check every once in awhile, for your patience.

We had a wonderful Mennonite Church BC Pastor/Spouse Retreat on October 6th to 8th.  We were at the Cedar Springs Christian Retreat just across the border from Abbotsford into Washington State.  It is beautifully snuggled into the base of a small mountain.  Take a look at the centre from the viewpoint on the mountain.

We had two special features this year.  One was that the speakers were our own brothers - two pastors from our MCBC congregations.   They spoke about important practices in their spiritual lives.  Tim Kuepfer, pastor at Peace Mennonite Church in Richmond, encouraged us to use The Daily Office for our devotional life - we practiced it in his sessions.  He also talked about his (together with his wife Sandra and their boys) discipline of Scripture memory.  Rob Brown, pastor at Eden Mennonite Church in Chilliwack was the other speaker.  He spoke on the importance of spiritual disciplines and some of his recent experiences.

The second thing that was special about this year's Pastor/Spouse Retreat was having our Pastoral Care Reps with us.  In the new structure of MCBC, the Executive Minister (that's me) gives attention to all the ministries of the conference.  This includes: the Faith and Life Committee, Evangelism and Church Development, Finances, Church Health and Camp Squeah.  Notice that I said "gives attention."  This means that every one of these ministries has its own leadership and a chairperson that sits on the MCBC Leadership Board, yet I attend most of their meetings in order to seek to hold it all together.  So, given this larger mandate, the Executive Minister can't be a pastor to the pastors as the former Conference Minister was.  The Conference Minister served, in essence, as a staff person for the Church Health committee.  Since I give attention to the whole, we need help in caring for the pastors - this is where the Pastoral Care Reps (PCRs) come in.  They are respected people in our conference who can take up no more than six of our pastors and care for them.  They are responsible to the Executive Minister.  Anyway, there were some good relationship building times for the PCRs and the pastors to whom they relate.

This is probably the last time we will cross the border for this event.  Hopefully the new retreat facilities will be ready by next fall - we are already booked for that weekend.

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!