BCYD Network News | March 2019

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/ MINISTRY ARTICLES

From our District and Ministry Leaders.

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MINISTRY INVESTORS GROUP

Information about our 2019 winter appeal in Surrey.

/ AROUND THE DISTRICT

Ministry Updates, Birth Announcements, Churches in Transition and Resources.

BC & YUKON DISTRICT OF THE PENTECOSTAL ASSEMBLIES OF CANADA

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UPCOMING EVENTS

District Events, Church Anniversaries and other resources.

2019

MARCH EDITION

Len DenBraber | Assistant Superintendent for Multiplication I am encouraged – and discouraged – by a comment I hear wherever I go lately: “Our church needs revitalization!”

Clearly, this sentiment shows that pastors and church leaders have a burning desire to see their churches experience a new season of health. But while I don’t dispute the stats my friend and colleague Phil Spoelstra has widely shared (74% of churches in the PAOC are plateaued or declining), does that mean that every church that has stalled or seen a recent

decline cannot pursue a multiplication strategy?

It seems to me that there are two common myths about multiplication: 1. Multiplication equals Church Planting.

Multiplication IS about church planting AND about so much more! It includes nurturing anything in your church where you want to focus more time, energy and resources to produce greater fruit.

This might be the youth ministry or your 1

administrative processes; it can include board development, empowering volunteers or clarifying your church’s discipleship path. If it needs to grow, it lands in the definition of multiplication.

2. Only “big” churches and those experiencing rapid growth can multiply.

Just as churches are complex “organisms” (1 Cor. 12:12ff), whether a church is ready to extend its reach is not just about size or an increase in Sunday >> CONT. PAGE TWO

>> CONT. FROM PAGE ONE

attendance. The health of the ministry is a major factor, as is the vision of the church. And sometimes the best strategy for a church that has slipped into maintenance mode is to focus its attention on reaching others.

more time, a bigger room or a larger budget? Is something creating “buzz” in the church or the community? This might be an opportunity to multiply the influence and reach of that ministry!

So, how do you know if your church needs revitalization or is ready to multiply? At the risk of being very Carey Nieuwhof-ish (whom I admire!) here is a list to consider:

Your church (or ministry) is in chaos.

The chaos I’m thinking of is not because of relational conflict, a staff mutiny, bad policy or a lack of planning. Life is messy and life-giving ministries can feel like they’re spinning out of control because they’ve stressed your infrastructure. Sometimes buildings weren’t designed to do ministry the way it’s done now (i.e. tiny Sunday School classrooms, but no common play space); or the Text2Give fees are twice what was budgeted; or your website crashes because it’s getting too much traffic; or every time you turn around a ministry group has broken something else in the kitchen. These might not be signs of bad management, but that you are ready to multiply!

The church is fundamentally healthy.

Let’s face it: no person or church is ever 100% healthy. Even if you need to drop a few pounds or your children’s ministry is exhibiting some signs of dysfunction – you can still be classified as healthy. It’s only when your condition or the condition of your church impedes your ability to thrive over a period of time that you are categorized as “sick.” A temporary setback, a thorny problem or a short-term concern doesn’t mean you can’t multiply. If the church is fundamentally healthy, you should be multiplying!

If you’re one of the few who has persevered and is still reading this, you’re probably asking, what do I do now? I’m so glad you asked!

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I recently found a great tool created by Tony Morgan (www.unstuckgroup.com) to help churches get a snapshot of whether they are growing, maintaining, in preservation mode, etc. called the Unstuck Church Assessment. Contact me and I’ll send you a link to the assessment tool – and I’ll help you get the most out of the information you’ll receive.

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Salvations, baptisms and guests are not distant memories.

I’ve written before about the value of certain metrics. But I think we can all agree that we want people to find Jesus, express their faith publicly through baptism and invite others to church. If you can name a handful of people who are now sitting in your seats on Sunday morning because they got saved this year (not last century); and you had at least one baptism service in the last 12 months; and you welcome a few in-town guests every Sunday – you’re already multiplying!

If you want to pursue a multiplication strategy, I’m happy to help wherever I can. For pastors or churches that really want to dig deep, I’ve developed a process whereby I help you assess your community, assist with a ministry inventory, identify multiplication opportunities and then coach you through implementation.

Just reach out to me and I’ll be happy to share more about this process with you.

One (or more) of your ministries is a “growing concern.”

This is not about parents complaining that the youth pastor did something they don’t approve of, or that the coffee was lousy on Sunday morning; no church would be ready to multiply if that was the case! But is there a ministry that is thriving and requires

In the meantime, I hope you are determined to be(come) a Great Commission church!

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PREVAIL 2019 DISTRICT CONFERENCE WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US.

Author and Founder of NewSmallChurch.com and Teaching Pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Orange County, California

National Director of Alpha Canada and Global Senior Vice-President for Alpha International in Vancouver, BC

Senior Pastor of Lighthouse in Wollongong, Australia and Australian Christian Churches New South Wales State President

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ROMANS 8:37

which is based on scripture from Romans 8:37b: “We are more than conquerors though Him who Loved Us.” While we may live and serve in some challenging times, prevailing leadership is the result of empowerment by God’s Holy Spirit and strategic mobilization of His supernatural resources. Please register early so we can make the appropriate preparations for your time with us. We are looking forward to seeing you at our district conference in Vancouver.

Ken Russell | District Superintendent “The best leaders are the best listeners.” – John Maxwell

Christ’s Great Commission does not end at age 65.

(Some Communicate, Few Connect)

Frankly, I find the state of the church today very sobering. I cannot escape the fact that is my generation bears a great responsibility for why this is the case. Of course, we could simply blame the ills of our society on predecessors, and claim that we inherited what we did, but in truth, my generation has been at the helm of leadership for the last 30 years. And for that reason, I believe we need to share the responsibility for what we are facing today in many of our churches.

It is no secret that we are facing challenging days in leading the Body of Christ in Canada. Recent ecclesiastical surveys would reveal that Evangelical and Pentecostal churches are struggling to accomplish the Great Commission with a measure of success, and this has sounded an alarm for some leaders.

There are so many layers in the conversation of church health and multiplication, and for that reason alone, I am grateful for the numerous opportunities to discuss our network’s focus on Church Revitalization and Multiplication. We cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand and believe that naïve optimism for an end-time revival will simply turn things around.

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When I started in ministry 33 years ago, the concept of mentorship was not frequently spoken about, much less practiced.

My early experience in pastoring taught me the value of good mentorship. I was responsible for anything and everything that the Senior Pastor either didn’t have time to accomplish or what he didn’t want to do. The deficiency of mentorship in my earlier years of ministry has never been a cause for grumbling. A lack of good mentorship simply unearths one of the sources for poor health in our local churches, and our inability to fulfil the great commission (which is all about making disciple-making disciples).

The church in Canada (which includes all tribes and denominations) is multi-generational and mutli-cultural.

Each demographic sub-group within our congregations worships Jesus in a unique way. Each group has its own expectations, preferences and style.

Statistically, we know that approximately 65% of our lead pastors are over the age of 50, and the vast majority are approaching retirement within the next few years. I find myself in this category of leaders, who are approaching retirement. That said, I am thoroughly convinced that my pastoral call to the fulfillment of

So where do we go from here? What might be a solution to reverse this shortfall? Perhaps a renewed focus on ‘reverse

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mentoring’ will connect the generations and cultures within our churches to those who have no religious or Christian experience.

ways to accomplish the great commission of Jesus Christ on earth.

“Reverse Mentorship” is not my term. I believe we first heard it from GE CEO Jack Welsh about ten years ago when he recognized that GE was very quickly going the way of the dinosaur and was losing its grasp how to meets the needs of their customers. In short, it involves listening to younger leaders… and younger leaders listening to seasoned leaders.

Effective mentorship is dialogical, not monological.

Mentors cannot lecture their protégés, both parties must learn from each other, so that their shared resources, core values, vision and mission can be accomplished collaboratively.

To our younger leaders who are holding out your hands to receive the baton from us, here is a posture that I would ask of you: continue to show respect for your elders. Senior leaders may not be perfect, but we have paid a price with our lives and families in serving the Church for many years. Continue to extend us grace. Many have struggled in how to adjust to the shifting sands of our culture, which is happening more rapidly in every generation. It has been hard, and many senior leaders are still staggered by the impact of it all.

Raise your voices and speak up. Speak the truth in love, but step up to the microphone and inspire us, inform us, educate us, correct us, encourage us, nudge us, provoke us, and ultimately, help us so that we might finish our years of leadership bearing spiritual fruit that pleases our Lord.

Wisdom would affirm traditional mentoring styles where young leaders sit at the feet of us older leaders, gleaning from their experiences, stories and insights in pastoring. I would strongly affirm that there is still great value in this while encouraging some of the older pastoral leaders to seek out some millennial leaders and receive mentorship in areas of social media, technology, pop -culture and image-driven preaching.

Hebrew 10:24 says this: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

I believe that if we continue to submit one to another, demonstrate teachable hearts of humility, and are committed to engaging the work of the Great Commission in a way that effectively reaches this generation in today’s culture, then our greatest days might yet be ahead of us, by the grace of God.

So how are we going to lead God’s church of five generations and remain effective? By listening to our young leaders and by receiving their fresh (often wild) ideas from unfettered imaginations. Then we must create a leadership dialogue (instead of a leadership lecture) that effectively develops new

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Edgar Lapeciros | Director of Cultural and Aboriginal Ministries Some thoughts about being a loving and healthy pastor/leader...

Jesus is The Good Shepherd. When confronted with insults, he trusted himself into the hands of The Good Father and placed confidence in the ultimate triumph of GOD. “When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate…” (1 Peter 2:23).

After almost four decades of ministry, I begin to ask myself, “am I a loving and healthy pastor/leader?”

Sometimes pastoral leadership becomes difficult. There are church people that I call “grace growers.” You need to extend lots of grace. Then I am always being brought back to the teaching about LOVE in 1 Corinthians 13:4,7. Love is patient.

Love perseveres. I always use this as an illustration during wedding ceremonies, but do I really practice and live this out in my life?

I think the compelling reason is Jesus love towards humanity.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

GOD is holy. His standard has never changed. He requires holiness from those who serve Him. James 3:1 says that “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with great strictness.”

Those are hard and strong words for me.

GOD is serious about his work. It should be done his way.

As Hudson Taylor once said, “God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

Pastors and leaders, we should not stop doing good and extending grace. 2 Thessalonians 3:13 says to “never tire of doing what is right.”

For 2019 I made a resolve, by GOD’s grace, to always live in purity. Try my best to be a man of integrity. Not to live a double life – one of sacredness in public but sinfulness in private.

So help me GOD.

Some comforting words come from prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 3:15: “And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

Wow, reminds me of my calling.

Please let us pray for our pastors and leaders.

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John Engels | Director of University Christian Ministries 235 students and campus ministry staff from 11 campuses attended our largest BC Emerge Weekend!

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The vision for the weekend was to "Emerge Spirit Empowered For Life." Student-led worship, excellent speakers, and body ministry marked the weekend. Students prayed with one another for Jesus to bring renewal into their lives. Many students who were spiritually dry were revived! Another confessed Jesus as Lord.

Students also heard sessions on reaching unreached people groups through their degrees and vocational discernment.

We ask you to continue praying with us for the mobilization of young adults into the marketplace, campuses, and the world.

Here are two wonderful testimonies:

>> LEARN MORE AT JOINUCM.ORG

Text “Give 20” or any other amount to 604-757-2609 Follow the prompts Register your credit or debit card (first time only)

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Phil Spoelstra | Assistant Superintendent for Revitalization Hockey playoffs are around the corner, so this story seems appropriate.

something that has stuck with me (other than a warning to stay away from a career in hockey that would require me to take painkillers on a daily basis): the fact that Canadian hockey teams don’t make money if they don’t make the playoffs. The dollar being what it was in 2004 was a matter of great concern for them at the time. It made sense to me, but admittedly, I’m not much of a numbers guy and probably don’t fully understand how profitable NHL teams work.

I’m guessing that it was in perhaps 2004 when the Kelowna Rockets won the Memorial Cup and I had my brush with greatness having golfed with my childhood hockey heroes: Craig McTavish and Kevin Lowe (I was a teenager in the ‘80s).

They were in town to scout but spent the days golfing.

It was a very quiet Monday morning, so quiet that the starter let me go out by myself to play. I dropped two balls (because who doesn’t like to play ‘best ball’ when golfing solo!) and headed out.

At around the fourth hole, I approached the tee box about to ask the twosome ahead of me if I could play through… until I saw who it was.

Since then, it has prompted another thought. Brace yourself Oilers fans. The Oilers have been terrible for most of the last 25 years and have only made the playoffs twice since then (yes, I googled it – twice). That means that the Oilers have not made a whole lot of money in the last 25 years. Which means that their owner (since 2008, it’s been Daryl Katz; had to google that too) must be incredibly rich and patient, because if it were any other business, he’d probably be out of business.

Trying to not act like a 13-year-old girl at a Taylor Swift concert, and trying even harder to act nonchalant, I walked up the steps, and they asked me if I wanted to join them for the remaining holes. I coolly shrugged and probably said something very forgettable and agreed, and spent the next 2-3 hours hanging out with guys I had posters of on my wall when I was a kid.

This line of thinking led me to consider this: if my understanding is correct, I have to conclude that Mr. Katz is not in it for the money. He’s in it for the trophy. That’s got to be the only explanation that makes sense, right?

It was crazy awesome. And they were great. But they did say

It’s not about the money. It’s about the trophy.

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Now, I’m sure someone more knowledgeable in the ways of running an NHL team is reading this and is wanting to correct me perhaps in my thinking, but humour me, because I think that even if I’m wrong, the thought is still good for us.

ministry helps us fulfill the mission of the Great Commission.

We don’t exist to preach, lead worship, run efficient board meetings, support missions and pay off our buildings any more than NHL hockey team owners exist to sell drinks, hotdogs, 50/50 draw tickets, jerseys and parking spaces.

The whole point of having an NHL team is to win the Stanley Cup. Sure, it’s a business, and sure there’s marketing and draft picks and there are financial bottom-lines and all of that.

But owners aren’t investing into NHL teams to sell drinks, hotdogs, 50/50 draw tickets, jerseys and parking spaces.

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They’re in it to win it.

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Pastor – are you? If there’s one book that has likely caught the attention of most of us this past year, it is Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why.” His TED talk is the third most watched video ever on YouTube in case you missed it (yes, I googled that as well.

I did a lot of googling for this article!).

Don’t let yourself get caught up with the wrong kind of ministry celebrations at the expense of the ultimate reward that comes with producing spiritual fruit – brand new disciples (Mark 11).

We’re in it to win it. And by “it,” I mean to faithfully present the Gospel to the unchurched, non-believers, the lost, those living in darkness and sin, far from God.

My synopsis is this: successful organizations make decisions from the inside out, starting with WHY, then HOW, and then WHAT. The clarity and strength of their mission drive the decisions that drive success. Unsuccessful organizations make decisions starting with the WHAT and sometimes delve into the HOW, but maybe only scratch the surface of their WHY because… well… they’ve gotten fuzzy with what their mission is.

Am I right?

I hope that still burns in your heart, pastor. I hope that the lumps and bumps of leading God’s people haven’t made you gun -shy and diminished your courage. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead still resides within you and is still able to empower you with a holy zeal and can re-ignite a new passion in your ministry to be laser-focused on effectively re-engaging your community with the Gospel.

This is an entirely appropriate reminder to us that our mission has been given to us by Jesus in Matthew 28. He kept it simple: we are to first go, and then make disciples. It’s not either/or.

It’s both/and. It’s not first to go and then having gone once, spend the rest of our ministry exclusively making disciples out of our already-discipled disciples. It is a circle: we go and make and go and make and go and make.

Let me urge you to remember that our mission is to remain relentlessly outward bound at all times. Baptizing new converts – that is our Stanley Cup.

We don’t exist to do the work of the ministry. The work of the

Go Canucks.

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Andy Gabruch | Director of Youth, Young Adults & Family Ministries

“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” – Jesus (Matthew 13:8, ESV)

discover new pathways to reach the next generation for Christ.

This is why a national research project was launched to find key themes of reaching the next generation for Christ in Canada. 4 On the next page is a snapshot of the research themes and trends in our context.5

Planting seeds. This is the reality of planting, investing, and being strategic, in areas of our churches where the outcomes far outweigh the investment. In business, they call this “growth engines.”

I encourage you to use this snapshot as a strategic conversation with your leadership team, next gen ministry, and congregation so that you can develop, build, and/or strengthen your Next Generation Ministries growth engine in your local context.

Growth engines are strategic outcomes (up to 30% or more) of what has been invested into it.

Feel free to contact me anytime as I am here to serve you and your church to make the next generation a growth engine in your reality.

This is the reality of Next Generation Ministries (NGM) throughout Canada. Why?  Because 80% of people come to know Christ before the age of 181

“Those who have ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying…” Jesus (to the Church in Revelation).

 Because 2/3 of all church leaders experience the call of God in their teen or young adult years2

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www.barna.com/research/evangelism-is-most-effective-among-kids/; also see www.churchleadership.org/apps/articles/default.asp? articleid=44963&columnid=4545

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www.faithformationlearningexchange.net/uploads/5/2/4/6/5246709/ spirit__culture_of_ym_essay.pdf

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Nelson, Alan E. How To Bring Out The Leader In Your Child (2nd Edition).

Lead Young Training Systems, Charlotte, SC, 2013, iv.

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This was in partnership with the EFC, YFC, Intervarsity, Truth Matters, and Power to Change called the Young Adult Transition Research (YATR) Project.

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For the full report, please feel free to download it here: www.p2c.com/ renegotiating-faith/

 Because 70% of people retain their discipleship foundations in their formative years, when discipleship strategies are healthy3 In other words, NGM is strategic for evangelism, leadership development, and the future of our fellowship. Not only that, healthy NGM influences communities, attracts younger families, and develops strategies for young people to thrive in their church family.

With that said, even though the next generation stats haven’t changed much throughout the history of our fellowship, Canadian culture has. It is imperative that we create, invest, and

>> READ MORE AT

ANDYGABRUCH.CA

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Tom Harbour | Marketplace Ministers & Chaplains Coordinator “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans...” from Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1939).

be the ones to do something about them,1 even if it interrupts our plans. We have come to realize that, for us, it is French Canada … wherever we may find it.

Our plans have been interrupted. In 2002, my wife Val and I were preparing to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We had a bit of money set aside, and initially thought about going to Europe; however, our kids were young, so we decided on the next best thing – Québec. It was strictly touristy: Montréal, Québec City, and the corridor in between. At some point during the trip, Val said something like, “this is great, but I’d love to get into the homes and lives of REAL Quebecers.” Soon after our return home, our lead pastor at the time announced that we had just formed a partnership with the PAOC church in Victoriaville, Québec. How exciting, we had just driven by Victoriaville a couple weeks earlier! I leaned over to Val and said “someday we’re going there.”

Why French Canada? Because the need is huge! According to the PAOC website:2  8+ million people. 3.95 million speak French only. 360,000 speak English only. 2.7 million speak both French and English.

This is Québec.  French-Canadian culture is more than 75% Catholic but less than 20% ever attend mass. Only 6% do so on a weekly basis.  Québec is working hard at being at the centre of "La Francophonie". Urbanization is a major factor. Five urban centres in Québec make up 60% of the population (5 million people). Religion permeates the culture. "Spirituality" is what interests people.  Over 1.8 million have NO Protestant Evangelical Church in their community.

Fast forward five years to an interruption – we took our kids and spent the entire summer with our ministry partners in Victoriaville. I preached for the first time in years, we helped around the church, led a short-term missions team, and helped organize “une geste d’amour Victoriaville,” much like “Love Abbotsford.” It was a rich summer, and we left with moderately improved French, having “lived” a Québec life.

Protestant Evangelicals (Baptist, Pentecostal, Mennonite, Salvation Army, other traditional Evangelical groups) make up 4% of the total population in Québec. Yet Sunday morning attendance in Protestant Evangelical churches is less than 1% of the Québec population.

Life intervened thereafter, and we were fairly convinced that our summer sojourn to Victoriaville had “scratched our Québec itch,” so to speak. We moved on, both returning to school to obtain our Counselling degrees. The year after Val finished her Master’s, I had the opportunity to attend General Conference in Montréal, where I discovered that FIT4M (French Intensive Training for Ministry, formerly FLITE) had been relaunched.

The itchiness reasserted itself.

What does this interruption look like for us? Currently, we are working hard on improving our French, both online and through our local French cultural centre. In August, we move to Montréal to attend university while volunteering in a local church to learn both the language and culture. The following June we return to BC to plant a francophone church, whatever that looks like, with and for the 3000 Francophones in Kelowna, and the further 3000 in the rest of the Okanagan Valley.

Six months later, a colleague asked about us possibly joining them in some sort of Québec initiative, completely out of the blue! Another "itchy" interruption? Four months later the director of the FIT4M program “just happened” to be at district conference and, in our very first conversation, gave permission to consider a new paradigm – training in Québec to do francophone ministry back at home. It seemed that we kept tapping on doors, and they came flying open!

Are you ready to be divinely interrupted? Start asking yourself if God may be asking you to be the answer to your own prayers.

Is there something that you just can’t shake? If that thing happens to be French Canada, and you would like more information about the FIT4M program, visit fit4m.ca.

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www.ericgeiger.com/2017/11/distinguishing-between-holy-and-unholydiscontent 2 www.paoc.org/family/annual-initiatives/transforming-canada-together/envision/ quebec-and-francophone-canada

Blogger Eric Geiger suggests that certain frustrations we can’t shake may, in fact, be implanted by God because he wants us to 12

ONE WEEKEND. TWO LOCATIONS. CHILLIWACK + NANAIMO May 24-26, 2019 | historymaker.ca | #HM19 13

New Life Assembly | Surrey, BC

Thank you for your generous response in our last appeal to help The Embassy Church in Kelowna. Together we were able to send $7,900 to help them with the much needed repairs and upgrades to their building. Thank you for your ministry. Our fall project is to assist New Life Assembly in Surrey, BC. Together we would like to help the congregation with replacing their fire protection system. The Lead Pastor, Martin Miles, shares with us:

The Ministry Investors Group is formerly known as the Minutemen/Women program. This program assists smaller and pioneer assemblies with the purchase of property and the construction or renovating of church buildings. It is a creative plan that allows us the privilege of investing and having a share in God’s work in many communities without actually living there.

Since 1957, we have raised over $1.4 million through the generosity of our churches and individuals donors. This generous support has enabled our churches to accomplish many necessary capital improvement projects. We invite you to participate with us in God’s Kingdom.

New Life has a rich and productive heritage with tremendous opportunities afforded to us by being located in the middle of a predominantly East Indian community. In November 2017, we had an inspection by our local fire department which generated an "order to comply." The building is currently served by a fire protection system which includes heat detectors throughout the building; the order to comply requires us to change all the heat detectors to smoke detectors and replace the control panel as the old panel would not support smoke detectors. This fire protection system upgrade requires city approval for electrical and building permits and our contractors are estimating the cost to be approximately $70,000, which includes full architect drawings.

3 times per year, an individual will be asked to give $10 or more.

These “small investments” go a long way in helping churches across our district.

That single investment, joined with similar investments, will raise thousands of dollars.

As a result of this permit application, the city became aware of some non-permitted alterations and upgrades to the building that had been made since 1994 when the last building permit application was made. We are now required to make new building, electrical and plumbing applications for work that has been previously completed.

As part of the Ministry Investors Group, three appeals per year are expressed with an explanation of the need and opportunity to give in response to the project (donations of $10 or greater are eligible to receive a tax receipt). Please consider joining today. Investing in God’s work on earth pays eternal dividends.

Be a wise investor!

The image is of the fire panel that needs to be replaced, although the replacement of this is only a small fraction of the whole fire protection upgrade. The areas marked in red on the site plan represent walls that have to be moved or removed altogether.

1: Text2Give: text “Give20” or any other amount to 604-757-2609 2: Make a donation online at bc.paoc.org/giving 3: Mail a cheque to our office with “MIG” in the memo

May God bless you as you consider to be a part of improving the Lord’s house in Surrey. Thank you immensely for your heart of generosity.

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LEADFORWARD.CA Resources + Podcast for Empowering Church Ministry Leaders 15

 Riley Berthaudin has been appointed as the Youth Pastor of Bethel Church in Penticton. He will begin in May.  Xander deWinter will be concluding his role as Youth and Children’s Pastor of Pender Harbour Community Church in Madeira Park. His final day will be March 31.  Courtney Hanson will be concluding her role as Children’s Ministry Assistant of Christian Life Assembly in Langley.

Her final day will be March 14.  Rachel Lefebvre has been appointed as the part-time Children’s Ministry Assistant of Christian Life Assembly in Langley. She began on March 10.

 Jack McNeil will be concluding his role as Lead Pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Princeton. He will finish at the end of April.  Krystle Oudit will be concluding her role as Next Generation Ministries Pastor of Bethel International Church in Vancouver. Her final day will be on March 31.  Dave Ryan has been called as Lead Pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Princeton. He will begin on May 1.  Jesse Skarra is transitioning from Youth Pastor of Chemainus Pentecostal Church at the end of March to Youth Pastor of New Life Assembly in Tumbler Ridge. He will begin at the end of April.

 Joel and Avin Reimer are excited to announce the birth of their son, Joshua Alan.

 Rev. Donald W. Osborne, born September 1, 1935, passed into the presence of his Lord on February 6, 2019. A memorial was held on February 15 at North Douglas Pentecostal Tabernacle in Victoria. To read his obituary, click here.

 Anahim Lake Chapel (Church Replant Opportunity)

 Kitimat Pentecostal Fellowship

 Bella Coola Pentecostal Assembly

 Hixon, Lighthouse Community Church

 Burnaby Christian Pentecostal Church (Cantonese)

 Port Alice, Oceanview Assembly (Bi-Vocational)

 Cherryville, Gospel Church (Bi-Vocational)

 Salt Spring Island (Church Replant Opportunity)

 Chilliwack, Central Pentecostal Assembly

 Vanderhoof, Glad Tidings Church

 Delta, Sunshine Hills Chinese Church

 Vernon Family Church

 Fernie, Show Valley Christian Fellowship

 Wood stacking chairs: Approximately 100 wood stacking chairs are available from Central Pentecostal Assembly in Chilliwack. Email Ron at getback2me@shaw.ca for more information.

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Celestial Fire: 365 Days with the Holy Spirit

by William R. Gibson Available on Amazon.ca

April 6-8 – TIMEOUT: Next Gen leaders retreat, Squamish April 8-10 – DISTRICT CONFERENCE, Vancouver April 26 – SUMMIT PACIFIC COLLEGE GRADUATION CEREMONY, Christian Life Assembly, Langley May 24-26 – HISTORYMAKER, Chilliwack & Nanaimo May 27-30 – CAMPUS SUMMIT: college and university campus leaders, Canmore June 21-23 – MOUNTAIN VIEW ASSEMBLY 40 TH ANNIVERSARY, Smithers July 15-19 – PASTOR’S CAMP, The Firs, Bellingham August 27-30 – 25th PENTECOSTAL WORLD CONFERENCE, Calgary September 20-21 – reGROUP, Castlegar

September 22 – ANCF (All Nations College Foundation) Graduation, Fort St. James September 23-26 – ABORIGINAL SUMMIT, Fort St. James September 27-28 – reGROUP, Prince George October 18-19 – reGROUP: West Kelowna October 25-26 – reGROUP, Nanaimo November 1-2 – reGROUP, Langley

To find other ev ents ha ppe ni ng a r ound our dis tr ic t a nd for mor e infor ma tion v is it bc .pa oc .or g /e v e nts

 Mountain View Assembly in Smithers will be celebrating their 40th anniversary on June 21-23, 2019. This will be a weekend celebration of the ongoing faithfulness of our God. They welcome all former pastors and leaders to attend, as well as everyone who has been a part of the life of the church.

Friday: open house with several displays highlighting the different decades of MVA as well as the history of the Telkwa and Smithers churches before they joined together to form MVA; Saturday: community BBQ and evening rally; Sunday: morning service with Ken Russell preaching and lunch following the service.

Reg is ter online a t bc .pa oc .or g /r e g r oup

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 Access special reports on church plants, ethnic and multiethnic congregations, rural congregations, and Catholic parishes in Canada (among other topics), with sufficient survey responses (and we request your help in this).

Dr. Joel Thiessen, the Director for the Flourishing Congregations Institute at Ambrose University, is launching the third phase of a national survey with Canadian congregations (Catholic, mainline, and conservative Protestant) – an initiative with over 2300 respondents across Canada to date. We would like you to consider partnering with them in this. They will provide your church all the resources you would need (Suggested Recruitment Strategies, Email Promo, Video Promo, Verbal Announcement Promo, PowerPoint Promo, Poster Promo, Bulletin Insert Promo, Social Media Promo, FAQ Information).

 Data-informed tools and resources – contribute to making the best and right resources available to Canadian churches, based on Canadian data.

Here are some free resources from our research that may be of interest:

Here are five reasons we think it would be advantageous to congregations in this study:

 Our recently published article, capturing how Canadian church and denominational leaders talk about what a flourishing congregation is.

 This survey is free – churches typically spend thousands of dollars for a survey like this.

 Video links to plenary and panel sessions from our national gathering in November 2018, including newly released data from our survey research to date.

 Any church can be involved – Canadian churches of any size, location, and theological tradition, whether you see your congregation as flourishing or not.  Receive your free church-specific report – a helpful catalyst for new or continued flourishing. We are hoping for 50% or more of your adult leaders and attenders to take roughly 20 minutes to complete the online survey. A sample report is available here.

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New! Online Option for Graduate Studies.

What if you could study master’s level courses in the convenience of your home and context of your ministry?

Summit Pacific College has invested in technology that offers a real-time online classroom experience for School of Graduate Studies students who cannot attend a class in person.

This delivery format is referred as a “hybrid” model. A student enrolls in the class like everyone else, engages with the learning material and assignments as others in the class, but is present in the class sessions via video conference.

In short, an online student misses very little of the dynamics of the classroom experience.

This platform delivers a learning experience The SUMMIT SCHOOL OF GRADUATE in which online students can engage in STUDIES currently offers two certificates, discussions with a professor and class, and each consisting of five courses. receive slides as well as “white board” presentations simultaneously with other students.

Summit School of Graduate Studies are offering several courses in this spring in the area of Bible and Theology, and Non-for-Profit Organizational Leadership.

You can enroll any of these courses for Master’s level credit or take them for a personal enrichment as an audit student.

These courses can be attended online as

THEO 504 Canadian Pentecostal History March 13-15 | Dr. Michael Wilkinson | BC/Yukon District Office BIBE 612 - Studies in Pauline Writings: Doctrine and Spirit for Today’s Church (Biblical Studies Pathway) April 11-13 | Dr. Dave Demchuk | Summit Pacific College

The Certificate in Studies in Pentecostal Theology explores the rich world of Pentecostal theology, and will enhance the student’s understanding of contemporary perspectives.

The Certificate in Non-Profit Organizational Leadership provides a strong foundation for future and current leaders in the nonprofit sector, with a focus on institutional leadership.

The courses are offered in modular format.

For more information about the program, courses, and study options contact the Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. Riku Tuppurainen at deanofgradstudies@summitpacific.ca. well. For more information about our programs, courses, fees and credit transfer opportunities go to grad.summitpacific.ca or contact us at gradstudies@summitpacific.ca.

NPOL 513 NPOL Human Resource Management March 19-23 | Kory Sorensen | Summit Pacific College NPOL 514 Business as Mission & Social Entrepreneurship June 4-8 | Dr. Kirk Kauffeldt | Summit Pacific College

THEO 503 Pentecostal Distinctives: Theology of Luke-Acts in Pentecostal Tradition May 6-9 | Dr. Martin Mittelstadt | Summit Pacific College >> FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT UPCOMING COURSES VISIT

GRAD.SUMMITPACIFIC.CA

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Listed in alphabetical order

Len DenBraber – Assistant Superintendent for Multiplication John Engels – Director of University Christian Ministries Andy Gabruch – Director of Youth, Young Adults and Family Ministries Edgar Lapeciros – Director of Cultural and Aboriginal Ministries Rachel McAlister – Director of Children, Preteen and Family Ministries Darwin Pichette – Assistant Superintendent for Operations Ken Russell – District Superintendent Phil Spoelstra – Assistant Superintendent for Revitalization

Tom Harbour – Marketplace Ministers and Chaplains Coordinator Dave Knudsen – Church Multiplication Coach Les & Pat Markham – Prayer Ministry Coordinator Marj Pettinger – Counselling Coordinator

Dave Demchuk, Len DenBraber, Hannah Dutko, Jeff Dyment, Derrick Hamre, Edgar Lapeciros, Darin Latham, Lucas Mitchell, Rebeca Monzo, Andy Moore, Darwin Pichette, Ken Russell, Doug Smith, Phil Spoelstra

Kirsten Anonby – University Christian Ministries Assistant Director Kailei Chang – University Christian Ministries Ministry Support Specialist Carol McPhail – Bookkeeper Laura O’Reilly – Admin for Events Cynthia Oldendorf – Admin for Ministry Operations Janet Rana – Admin for District Conference and Seminars Devan Sylvester – Admin for Communications Val VanderMeulen – Admin for Church and Clergy Records

Jeff Beck (Delta/Surrey/New West), Jaz Ghag (Vancouver), Lorrie Anne MacLeod (Kootenay), Gary Maaser (Far North; interim), Joe Martinsen (Cariboo/Prince George), Mike McIntyre (Northwest), Dan Starlund (Aboriginal), Michael Stone (Thompson-Shuswap), Cliff Siebert (Okanagan), Darcy Siggelkow (North Island)

Dave Funk (Okanagan), Monte Harrop (Cariboo), Rex Ng (Vancouver), Dave Postal (North Island), Mauricio Rabino (Thompson-Shuswap), Shaun Romano (Kootenay), Danny Stebeck (Delta/Surrey/New West), Matthew Westergard (Northwest)

CONTACT US

20411 DOUGLAS CRESCENT, LANGLEY BC V3A 4B6 BC.PAOC.ORG | INFO@BC.PAOC.ORG T: 604-533-2232 | F: 604 -533-5405 BCYNPAOC 20

BCYDIST