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Young Leaders in VMC Churches - May 2023 |
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Reflections: Thinking Shrewdly Conference 2023
VMC typically convenes an annual spring conference for pastors, church planters and other mission-minded leaders from across the VMC network called Thinking Shrewdly (TS). Out of a deep concern to encourage and inspire the next generation of leaders, a strategic decision was made to mostly limit attendance at TS2023 to young adults only. At the end of April, VMC gathered a select group of 60 young adults from across Canada who love Jesus and are passionate about his mission for the world to explore the kind of faith, mission and church that a new generation is longing for. Through a variety of presentations and interactive forums, the hope was to cultivate a fresh imagination for being a Jesus-centered, kingdom-oriented people, and to ask the question together, “What the Spirit is saying to the Church in Canada?” Here we have Holly, one of our conference participants, provide her take on what the Spirit seems to be stirring up as she reflects on her experiences and conversations from the weekend.
Hi! I’m Holly Alac – an avid adventurer and community builder from Guelph, Ontario. During the TS2023 weekend, there were a number of topics I noticed coming up in conversation repeatedly which I have been mulling over in deep ways ever since. What’s beautiful is that these topics are not unfamiliar to me – they’ve actually been growing on my mind in one way or another for a while now, long before this conference. But what I’ve newly learned, is that I’m not the only one thinking about these things. God is raising up young people from every corner of the country with fresh energy, vision and desire to see our world bloom a little more of God’s kingdom into it. These are my “Top 3 Stirrings” I believe the Spirit is drawing the church towards.
1. A call to personal holiness. The challenge was given that the church needs to take a strong turn away from comfort and towards courage. While in the past, we have numerically measured our vitals in terms of members and finances, now is the time to redefine what is truly important and to start measuring our health by metrics of obedience, love and faithfulness. The call to radical holiness necessitates the path of sharing in the sufferings of Christ, which is the opposite of comfortable, and is certainly not popular. Nevertheless, it is the path all followers of Jesus must embrace to discover the life that is truly life. Because of the unpopularity of this message, one pastor sharing on a panel facetiously referred to himself as a "church shrinker" as he shared his journey of pursuing strength for his church rather than size.
2. A hunger to engage in real life and real life issues. When issues such as poverty, oppression, homelessness, addictions, and loneliness came up, there was a noticeable energy in the room, and a ton of questions and conversations were sparked. These are issues we see and hear every day whether on the news or walking around downtown. Things just got REAL. A flurry of questions flew up like, "What can I do?", "How can I help?", "What could I implement in my community?" Answer: Do something. Anything! What resources do you have that you could use in a generous or creative way? Do you need to redirect or re-evaluate your budget? The way you use your church building? Or just your priorities in general? God has an uncanny knack for taking what we have, when we are willing to give it to him, and multiplying it into something awesome. So just start somewhere and watch the magic begin.
3. A craving for more... The story goes like this. A small handful of people sense there is something missing in their church and spiritual lives, and that they are just going through the motions. They get together to start praying, worshiping, and maybe even fasting. And voila, a new church is born! Those involved experience a fresh filling of the Spirit and a deep connectedness with one another. A sense of family is forged. Sound familiar? Probably because this is the recipe God has used for centuries to birth new life into His church. Oh yeah, and maybe it also happened somewhere in the book of Acts as well…
Many of us in our current cultural moment are at the very beginning of this story. We see the public failures of the church, or maybe have been personally hurt within the church. We battle to bridge the gap between Sunday morning worship and the rest of our daily lives. We're bored, or busy, or both. We feel a sense of loneliness, disengagement, exhaustion, but don't know how to fix it. But even if we did know how, we'd probably be too busy with other commitments or priorities anyways.
The truth is, we know what to do. It's the same tale as old as time. I wonder, will we have the courage to stop, reprioritize our lives, and jump with both feet into prayer, worship and fasting? Perhaps in doing so, we will jump with both feet into a world of infinitely more than we could have asked or imagined...
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What are young leaders hopeful about for the future of the church?
*That there seems to be an increased sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
*That there will be more and more opportunities for people to gather and create space for others.
*That fruitless cultural Christianity will be purged and people will be persistent, even though it won't be easy to be orthodox in today's culture.
*That it is God's church and its future will be dependent on Him.
*That people seem to have a real hunger for something better and that Jesus is that something better.
*That there are other people who care about the church.
*That the church will fully embrace Jesus' vision of the kingdom of God - which means a reversal of everything the world says.
*That God is really good at being God!
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What are young leaders worried about for the future of the church?
*That we will hold on too tightly to human tradition and miss out.
*That the effects of isolation and lack of engagement will make it hard for people to choose courage over comfort. That people will prefer their own little worlds, rather than community.
*That the freshness of what God is doing won't be able to fully flourish due to our pride and pursuit of power.
*That we will miss the heart of faith - the life giving, joyful, abundant life found in God.
*That the church will miss out.
*That social media will be the dominant voice for Christianity and misrepresent what the church is really all about.
*That we will be deceptively distracted by so many ministries and busyness and that we will settle for productivity rather than fruitfulness.
*That we will confuse the right or the left for the way of Jesus.
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The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity
by Philip Jenkins
In this new and substantially expanded Third Edition, Philip Jenkins continues to illuminate the remarkable expansion of Christianity in the global South - in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Drawing upon the extensive new scholarship that has appeared on this topic in recent years, he asks how the new Christianity is likely to affect the poor, among whom it finds its most devoted adherents. How should we interpret the enormous success of prosperity churches across the Global South? Politically, what will be the impact of new Christian movements? Will Christianity contribute to liberating the poor, to give voices to the previously silent, or does it threaten only to bring new kinds of division and conflict? Does Christianity liberate women, or introduce new scriptural bases for subjection? Acclaim for previous editions of The Next Christendom: Named one of the Top Religion Books of 2002 by USA Today Named One of the Top Ten Religion Books of the Year by Booklist (2002) Winner of the Christianity Today Book Award in the category of "Christianity and Culture" (2002)
(from amazon.ca)
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The Other Half of Church: Christian Community, Brain Science, and Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation
by Jim Wilder & Michel Hendricks
Could brain science be the key to spiritual formation?
Why does true Christian transformation seem fleeting? And why does church often feel lonely, Christian community shallow, and leaders untrustworthy? For many Christians, the delight of encountering Christ eventually dwindles―and disappointment sets in. Is lasting joy possible?
These are some of the questions Michel Hendricks has considered both in his experience as a spiritual formation pastor and in his lifetime as a Christian. He began to find answers when he met Jim Wilder―a neurotheologian. Using brain science, Wilder identified that there are two halves of the church: the rational half and the relational half. And when Christians only embrace the rational half, churches become unhealthy places where transformation doesn’t last and narcissistic leaders flourish.
In The Other Half of Church, join Michel and Jim's journey as they couple brain science with the Bible to identify how to overcome spiritual stagnation by living a full-brained faith. You'll also learn the four ingredients necessary to develop and maintain a vibrant transformational community where spiritual formation occurs, relationships flourish, and the toxic spread of narcissism is eradicated.
(from amazon.ca)
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VMC Indigenous Affinity Group with Ben Peltz |
Did you know that for the past couple of years, a group of Vision Ministries Canada leaders have been meeting regularly to support one another and share about what they've learned through their engagement with Canadian Indigenous people?
This affinity group meets online every couple of months. It varies in size depending on people's commitments, but for those who are present, it always seems to be a source of encouragement and growth.
If you're interested in participating in these conversations, please email Ben at benkpeltz@gmail.com and he'll send you information and add you to the email list.
This months' meeting, which will be taking place at 12:30 PM ET on Thursday, May 25th.
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IBCM8 Global Conference 2023
The International Brethren Conference on Mission takes place next June 19-24, 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. People from over 155 countries will be there to worship and learn and be strengthened for ministry. Ramez Atallah, former president of the Egyptian Bible Society, will be the keynote speaker. (Also, interesting to note, Ramez came to know the Lord at Rosemount Bible Chapel in Montreal while a student at McGill!)
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Every week, we share stories from across our network of churches that show how God is at work in and through His people.
Here are a few recent stories:
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Please join us as we gather and pray together online each month for our VMC churches and leaders.
The VMC prayer team gathers on the first Thursday of the month at the following times across the country: 1:00-2:00pm (Atlantic), Noon-1:00pm (Eastern), 11:00-Noon (Central), 10:00-11:00am (Mountain) and 9:00-10:00am (Pacific).
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519-725-1212 or toll-free 1-877-509-5060
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