Canadian Church Planting Congress
I just got back from the Canadian Church Planting Congress in Toronto.
Overall, the conference was pretty good. The first day was really slow leaving a few of scratching our heads as to what the planning team was thinking. As I understand it, whoever was leading worship at the congress backed out at the last minute which left them scrambling. It showed. Moreover, those who hosted the conference, while good hearted, were trying way too hard to "create a moment" with such things as water bottles and spatulas.
By far, the highlight of the conference was Joyce Heron. For those of you who don't know her she is the director of Jacob's Well, a ministry to the disadvantaged in the downtown eastside of Vancouver, Canada's poorest neighbourhood. She passionately challenged us to "remember the poor" in church planting. Many of the people I talked to were laid bare by her talk. I left with tears in my eyes and a new commitment to think about our church's role in reaching and ministering to widows, orphans and the urban poor.
Another highlight for me was Rick McKinley two talks on Wednesday and Thursday. Rick is senior pastor of Imago Dei church in Portland. Portland is a lot like Canada in relation to how it responds to the church and I loved his emphasis on "The Kingdom". This really confirmed where I'm trying to lead The River.
Erwin was Erwin--great speaker. However, I've heard him several times now and I felt he was really mailing it in. What he gave was essentially the same talk he gave at other venues (including illustrations). I would have to prefered to hear what God is doing in his life and the life of Mosaic Church lately. Moreover, as I was listening to him, I thought, "I wish the planning team had scoured Canada for a Canadian church leader (a la Joyce Heron) to lead these sessions." I know its not as sexy as bringing Erwin in, but unless we begin to raise up our own talent, we never will.
As always, I loved the networking and the laughter. I had a great time, especially with our little tribe of church planters in the Christian Reformed Church. Talking with them makes me very hopeful.
All in all, I definitely learned a few things as I'm returning to Edmonton challenged to change and to do some changing.
Overall, the conference was pretty good. The first day was really slow leaving a few of scratching our heads as to what the planning team was thinking. As I understand it, whoever was leading worship at the congress backed out at the last minute which left them scrambling. It showed. Moreover, those who hosted the conference, while good hearted, were trying way too hard to "create a moment" with such things as water bottles and spatulas.
By far, the highlight of the conference was Joyce Heron. For those of you who don't know her she is the director of Jacob's Well, a ministry to the disadvantaged in the downtown eastside of Vancouver, Canada's poorest neighbourhood. She passionately challenged us to "remember the poor" in church planting. Many of the people I talked to were laid bare by her talk. I left with tears in my eyes and a new commitment to think about our church's role in reaching and ministering to widows, orphans and the urban poor.
Another highlight for me was Rick McKinley two talks on Wednesday and Thursday. Rick is senior pastor of Imago Dei church in Portland. Portland is a lot like Canada in relation to how it responds to the church and I loved his emphasis on "The Kingdom". This really confirmed where I'm trying to lead The River.
Erwin was Erwin--great speaker. However, I've heard him several times now and I felt he was really mailing it in. What he gave was essentially the same talk he gave at other venues (including illustrations). I would have to prefered to hear what God is doing in his life and the life of Mosaic Church lately. Moreover, as I was listening to him, I thought, "I wish the planning team had scoured Canada for a Canadian church leader (a la Joyce Heron) to lead these sessions." I know its not as sexy as bringing Erwin in, but unless we begin to raise up our own talent, we never will.
As always, I loved the networking and the laughter. I had a great time, especially with our little tribe of church planters in the Christian Reformed Church. Talking with them makes me very hopeful.
All in all, I definitely learned a few things as I'm returning to Edmonton challenged to change and to do some changing.
posted by Pastor Bruce @ 9:54 AM
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