The Messenger Fall 2014
Loving your Neighbour
Content: Mark your Calendars & Transitions Loving Your Neighbour-The Next Door Kind By Julia Sandstrom From Jeff’s Desk Israel/Palestine Trip details Interview with the Keeners CovKids Congo Trellis Foundation Loving your Neighbour Well By Joel Braun Who is my Neighbour? By Myrna Zinkiew Annual Appeal Letter
p. 2 p.3 p.4 p.5 p.6-7 p.7 p. 8 p. 10-11 p. 12-13 p. 14-15
Mark your calendars:
Recent Transitions:
2015
Chris Wiens from Interim Pastor, Nelson ECC
January 26-30 ~ MidWinter, Denver, CO
Blair Lewis to Nelson ECC as Youth Pastor
Feb. 24-March 6 ~ Ecuador Mission Trip March 1 ~ Feedback Deadline Trellis Grants March 15 ~ Trellis Grants Deadline May 28-31 ~ 111th AGM, Strathmore, AB June 1-13 ~ Israel/Palestine Study Tour July 12-17 ~ CHIC, Knoxville, TN
Upcoming Transitions: Julia Sandstrom from ECCC staff to maternity leave. February 2015
Loving your Neighbour—The Next Door Kind By: Julia Sandstrom “Good fences make good neighbours” - or so goes the often quoted line from Robert Frost’s poem, Mending Walls. When my husband and I moved into our first house two years ago we decided to get a couple of dogs to share our little home. Living in the city meant we had no real backyard and the front yard had no fence. Bryan got to work building a great fence to keep our little puppies safe from wandering out onto the street. Unfortunately this project rather upset our neighbour who thought the placement of one fence post might kill off her tree. This led to some difficult exchanges that eventually died down as we all could see over time that the tree was going to be fine. The particular fence situation challenged our call to love our neighbour—the kind that is actually, physically next door. All kinds of things challenge our abilities to love our neighbours. There is a couple across the street who will not look up at us when they go to get in their car which is parked in front of our house. We try to say hi and engage them, but they don’t seem interested. There are two other couples we have started friendships with, but those friendships seem to go into hibernation over the cold winter months. In this edition of The Messenger you will read about what it looks like to love your neighbour in the context of church planting (page 7), a church merger (page 10-11), and community (page 12-13). You will also read about how the ECCC has loved our global neighbours in Congo (page 8) and an opportunity to learn from our global neighbours in Israel and Palestine (page 5). Love of neighbour is central to the message Christ brings. Remember the commandment that comes after love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength? It’s love your neighbour as yourself (Mark 12:31). I’m grateful that many in our conference are living into that call. I have personally found the call to love my neighbours-the right next door kind-to be a particular challenge. It’s something we talk a lot about at Holy Community Covenant Church. Bryan and I have spent the past two years getting to know some neighbours, both the kind that we like to spend time with and those that are more challenging (fence-lady). After a recent sermon series on the Book of Jonah, I have felt God prompting me to move beyond the friendly stage and into a stage that actually invites our neighbours to church. The trepidation that I am filled with in writing that previous sentence is not one I’m very proud of. I’m a pastor after all! Isn’t it part of my job to invite people to church? I am convinced that if we take Jesus’ command to love our neighbours as ourselves seriously, this means we share with them what we find most meaningful in our lives. If the Gospel has had a real impact on me and the way I see the world and I don’t share that with those Jesus has put me in closest contact with, what impact has there really been? If I only love my neighbour in ways that are easy for me, what growth will there be in my Christian journey? These are questions that challenge me. In these pages you will find stories that I hope challenge you. I hope these articles and stories challenge you to love your neighbour—the right next door kind—and the kind down the street, on the other side of town, in another province, or perhaps on the other side of the world. Julia Sandstrom is the Director of Ministry Support for the ECCC and Editor of The Messenger. She is also a pastor in residence at Holy Community Covenant Church in Winnipeg, MB. Image: Wooden Fence Photo, © Zestmarina |Dreamstime.com
From Jeff’s Desk Superintendent The focus of this edition of The Messenger is the call to love your neighbour. One key to this call is the question: “Who is my neighbour?” It’s a question that we see in the Luke 10 account of the Good Samaritan. But there is a more basic issue to us in our society today, time. Darlene and I moved from our home of over 20 years into a small community outside of Winnipeg. On our cul du sac in the city we knew basically all of our neighbours. It was a neighbourly street with the annual Christmas gathering and lots of waves as you drove out to the main road. Now we find ourselves in a new place with fewer homes and no familiar faces. Before I even thought about loving my neighbour it struck me that I needed to decide whether or not I was ready to make the time commitment to figure out who my new neighbours were. What are their names would be a good place to start. It takes time. Hosting a community gathering and clearing our calendar to make sure we could attend a neighbourhood BBQ took time. We probably haven’t invested as much as we could or should but some of the same dynamics of our Winnipeg street are starting to happen; now we can really think more about what it means to love our neighbours!
Israel/Palestine Study Tour ~ www.covchurch.ca ~ office@covchurch.ca June 1-13, 2015 |
$2,000 plus airfare/person
|
$300 off with $300 deposit by Dec. 31
OUR EXPERIENCE IS BASED AROUND 2 THINGS: 1. The "sacred stones"-the geography, architecture and sacred spaces that gives us a new take on the biblical story 2. The "living stones" - these are our brothers and sisters in Christ who will invite us into sharing their story. The story of the Palestinian Christians is difficult, moving and motivating. This is a unique aspect of our experience that you will not find on almost any other tour. WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO FEEL AND SEE: The Sea of Galilee and its gorgeous country side, wilderness, waterfalls and everything in between. You will feel the buzz of old city Jerusalem and the emotion that can come from the significant sites marking the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus! WHOM YOU WILL MEET: Our greatest hope is that you will meet again with the person of Jesus as he continues to live amongst his people. This is not a trip to a grace site but an opportunity to experience Jesus who lives! We will also meet with numerous Palestinian Christian leaders who are indigenous to the area and are a vibrant remnant in the land we call holy.
The newest ECCC church project is in Montreal, QC. The Messenger asked Tim and Di Keener, Montreal missionaries, to answer a few questions about this new venture. Messenger: What about Montreal excites you for this project? Tim and Di: Probably the most exciting part of ministering in Montreal has been redeeming our use of French for ministry. Building relationships with Francophones has been such a big part of our ministry since 2004 when we first moved to France. In 2012, we returned to the US and took a two-year hiatus of using French regularly. Now we are back in an environment where we can use it nearly every day. Our four boys are either in full French immersion or bi-lingual programs and have taken wonderfully to new schools here. It is a joy to hear them re-learning and using the language. Di has already made a number of friends in our community and Tim teaches and preaches in French twice a month at a local partner church. With access to English speaking churches being nearly ten times greater than access to French churches, we feel we are ministering in a very under-reached language category in North America. There are approximately six million Francophones in Quebec and another one million plus outside of Quebec (for example in New Brunswick where Acadian French is spoken quite frequently). That means that nearly a quarter of Canadians speak French at home and although many of them can also speak English, overall 70% of Canadians cannot speak French to converse with them in their heart-language.
Messenger: What challenges do you see in Montreal in regards to loving your neighbour? Tim and Di: Attitudes toward religion, particularly organized churches, range from disinterested to very negative in Montreal. Rapid secularization following the “Quiet Revolution” in Quebec, left a large distrust of the religious establishment. Sometimes what often starts as a warm and friendly conversation changes tone when people find out that we work with the church. Ministry, and church-planting in particular, is very slow here. Several new church plants have attested to very difficult journeys. Many have not focused on reaching Francophones at all. Although we are functionally fluent, we recognize that our own French is still foreign (i.e. our second language) and non-native (we are new to Quebec and Canada overall). That said, our efforts to speak French here and learn the communal history and values seem greatly appreciated by our neighbours.
Messenger: What stories could you share with us about loving your neighbour have already occurred in your short time there? Tim and Di: Ironically, some of our first friends have been French families (from France) who also recently arrived in Montreal. We have had an opportunity to be their neighbour by journeying with these families and especially helping them with English (which is one of their main goals). We also have a dear friend who is the director of an outreach called Partageons l’Espoir or Share the Warmth in English. This ministry is in a very socio-economically challenged neighbourhood five minutes east of us. Whether it is helping with their food bank or organizing donated clothes, Di has been able to offer her presence nearly every week there. Overall, Montreal has many of the difficulties of any large city and yet many churches are small and underresourced. Elsewhere in Quebec many moderately large cities have even fewer churches to share Christ with their neighbours. Pray that we would have wisdom and insight in how the Evangelical Covenant Church might contribute to building the Kingdom in this unique area of Canada. Tim and Di Keener minister in Montreal on behalf of the Kingdom of God and the ECCC. If you would like to help financially support this growing ministry, please visit www.covchurch.ca/giving and click on the CanadaHelps logo.
Image: Montreal City, © Isabel Poulin | Dreamstime.com
ECCC Meets CovKids Congo Goal! In 2012 the Evangelical Covenant Church launched Covenant Kids Congo, Powered by World Vision. The unprecedented need of the Congo, combined with the unprecedented partnership between World Vision and an entire denomination was huge. In Canada, we were not sure if this was a project we could participate in due to the regulations of the Canada Revenue Agency. It was a long process that saw several organizations come together to make Covenant Kids Congo a reality in Canada. The ECCC Leadership Board made a goal of 200 sponsorships and the ECCC constituency responded! The ECCC has sponsored over 200 kids through Covenant Kids Congo. 80% of our churches hosted a Hope Sunday event to help kids find sponsors. We are grateful for the response of so many ECCC churches and congregants. You can still sponsor a child by contacting the ECCC office.
ECCC CHIC Liaison: Corinne Stoter corinne.stoter@covenantevents.org
2014 Granting Completed The Trellis Foundation board met in early November to disperse the final $12,250 in grant money available in 2014. The board had to make many difficult decisions as the total amount requested from 8 different applications was $33,186. After much discussion and prayer the following grants were approved: ECCC Scholarship Funding : $5,000 was allocated to the ongoing CBC scholarship fund. This fund is owned by Trellis Foundation, but is administered by the ECCC. Kensington Commons : $1,500 to provide the first two months of support for a part time children’s ministry director. The new church merger has seen a rapid influx of people including children. The children’s ministry staff member will help coordinate volunteers and make sure the kids of Kensington Commons are growing in their walk with Jesus. Two additional grants were approved totaling the remaining $5,750. We will report on these grants in the ECCC Annual Report as the funding is dependent on the ministries meeting certain registration and budget goals.
2015 Grant Information
The board set two deadlines for the next cycle of grant applications. The first deadline is a “feedback” deadline. We have found that grant applications sometimes miss an important component. In order to help applicants put the best grant proposal forward we offer feedback for those who turn in the grant application by the Feedback Deadline of March 1, 2015. We highly recommend taking advantage of the Feedback Deadline as grants are highly competitive. The second deadline is a Final Deadline. Any application turned in after March 1 will be considered a final application and will not receive feedback. The Final Deadline is March 15, 2015. Feedback Deadline: March 1, 2015 Final Deadline: March 15, 2015 Trellisfoundation.ca
Loving your Neighbour Well By Joel Braun
Kensington Commons launched in September 2014 as a merger between a church adoption called Unedited Spirituality and Kensington Road Covenant Church. The journey of bringing two churches together has led this new church to consider how do you love your neighbour well? How do you love your neighbour well? For Kensington Commons, it comes from allowing ourselves to be a representation of Christ’s heart for others. Christ’s heart is to reveal the true nature of the Father; every decision, story, miracle and interaction that Christ had on earth was to that end. We exist to tell the story of God, and in doing so, our outcomes, with accountability and intentionality, should reflect us loving our neighbours. As a Christian community that strives to live, play and help in the urban neighbourhoods of Calgary, we have chosen the name Commons Church to indicate our commitment to making the Kingdom of God tangible in our space. We believe God is invested in the renewal of all things therefore we want to live the "Good News" by being part of the rhythms of our city as good neighbours, good friends, and good citizens in the common life of our neighbourhood. We believe our start as a new church might tell God’s story in a way - we were two churches, each with strengths and each with weaknesses, who happened upon some redeeming work that God was doing, and allowed ourselves to be actively involved in that redemption, setting aside pride and control, and giving in to the work that we believe God was hoping for in this neighbourhood. One new church was formed, and we are excited to share in the ongoing work of the Kingdom. Kensington Commons a shared space for the community - we don’t lie about or make excuses as to why we are here (we are a church) but we also open our doors to the community (AA, Fitness Classes, Art & Music events, health & wellness, hosting conversations on serious issues) to truly become a common space where God continues to work and redeem through all things. We are fortunate to be a part of that redemption - it requires
attention to God’s voice and awareness of the needs around us. Rather than growing and becoming larger and larger in our one location, we hope to grow and plant Commons “Parishes” throughout the neighbourhoods surrounding the downtown core of Calgary. This parish model allows us to expand into other neighbourhoods to exist elsewhere in the same ways as we do now, with one location. The strategy and conversation is ongoing, but once we reach capacity for a sustainable amount of time, we would seek to move to the next highest represented neighbourhood that our attendance makes up, and continue to seek God and serve our neighbours in that location. We recognize a need to rediscover the beautiful, dangerous, compelling idea that a group of people surrendered to Christ as Lord, and living in community together, really can transform society. God does not want to save us from the world, but rather calls us into his world where the lonely are invited into family and the isolated brought into community. If we want to do those things well, we must take the same approach: our first goal should be to reveal the true nature of the Father, and all of our actions should flow out of that. So, then, everything we do every hospitable act, every conversation, every kindness we show, every good thing we hope to be a part of - flows not out of an attempt to gain notoriety for ourselves, or even to be a great church - but happens for the sake of our part in revealing the Father to those neighbours that would seek an encounter with Him. Joel Braun is the Community and Care Pastor at Kensington Commons Church. Joel has served in various capacities as a pastor in the ECCC for over 15 years. Image: Calgary At Night, © Imeagecom | Dreamstime.com
Who is my neighbour ? A reflection by Myrna Zinkiew According to the dictionary a neighbour is a fellow human being, one to be friendly with, or a person who is near by. When I consider the question: Who is my neighbour, the first thought that comes to mind is lending a helping hand to one in need. When I was growing up, my family lived near three neighbouring families. Each family was very considerate of the other. If one family was going to town they would take the grocery order and do the shopping and pick up the mail and deliver it for the other families. Town was eight miles away so there were no unnecessary trips. Loving your neighbour is being sensitive to his or her feelings. A phone call, a compliment a friendly visit, food, baby sitting, car pooling, or just accepting him as he is regardless of culture, race, or faith. Loving your neighbour means no criticizing, envying, or gossip.
It is very easy for some to be a giving neighbour. It is also hard for some to be a gracious receiving neighbour. Until one has walked in another's shoes, be it depression, financial struggles, marital issues, sickness, loneliness, or fear, it is not fair to say I know how you feel. This is not encouraging to the hurting person. The best example of loving your neighbour is found in Luke 10:30-37.The Parable of the Good Samaritan tells of the one who had mercy on a man who had fallen into the hands of robbers. The loving neighbour not only bandaged the injured man’s wounds, but let him ride on his donkey while he walked. Besides that he paid the inn keeper for the man’s room and board. There was no prejudice shown. We can also be like the little boy who shared his five loaves and two fish. We also have a five and a two to share with our neighbours. Two hands to be helpful and two feet to run errands. Little things that we may view as meaningless could be the most uplifting acts of love to the one in need. I have experienced myself the fulfilling gratitude of a good friend and neighbour. For four months I needed the use of a wheelchair and walker. That really was an experience of relying on assistance. A neighbour and friend called up saying “I am coming over with lunch.” She came in with a suitcase and upon opening it proceeded to show me how to bake a pie in the microwave for ten minutes and then in the oven to brown for another ten minutes, and presto fresh apple pie. She quickly did several other chores and was gone. I was very touched by the fact she would minister to me. Another time I had eye lid surgery which prevented several movements. Various times the door bell rang and in came food, fresh homemade soup, chicken pie dessert, flowers, and visits. This all was very touching. In our church a young couple had a medical problem with their small child. This meant a trip four hours one way for several weeks to get treatment. Our church stepped in with some financial help. and the community put on a brunch and an afternoon program. Approximately 500 people attended, and $11,000.00 was raised. It was great to see church and community pull together to help. Just recently a young man from our church had his house burn down; he lost everything. There of course will be a special event for him as well. Who is my neighbour? Anyone who needs love and support.
Myrna Zinkiew attends Valley Evangelical Covenant Church in Durban, MB. Painting: The Good Samaritan by Paula Modersohn-Becker, 1907, public domain, wikiart.org.
The Lenten Reader will be out again in time for Ash Wednesday. If you or your church would like copies, please send your request to office@covchurch.ca.
The ECCC Annual Appeal Letter is reprinted for The Messenger
because it contains great updates on the mission and ministry of the Canada Covenant Church. Donations for the Annual Appeal may be sent to PO Box 23117, RPO McGillivray, Winnipeg, MB R3T5S3 or can be made online at www.covchurch.ca/giving/
Oh how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, And from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, And he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation, to all who fear him. Luke 1:45b-50 Advent 2014 As we approach the season of Advent it has struck me again that God often chooses to use the small to accomplish His big purposes. Mary had a clear awareness that she was but a “lowly servant girl” who because she joined with God’s purposes will be called “blessed” by all generations. Phenomenal! The ECCC, like Mary is small and frankly lowly by the standards of many of our sister church communities. We too, like Mary, have been given a call to join in the Kingdom purposes of the Lord. We have organized our ministries around the following: Starting and Strengthening Church Making and Deepening Disciples Engaging Globally
Develop Leaders Love Mercy and Do Justice
You can find more information on our website (www.covchurch.ca) but I want to give you a thumbnail sketch of how we are pursuing these priorities. Starting Churches: We are in a season of God’s mercy toward us and as such we are seeing doors of opportunity open that have previously not been a possibility for us. Along with the three congregations on a Covenant Funding and Support Agreement (Avenue, Toronto, ON; Lake Ridge, Chestermere, AB; Holy Community, Winnipeg, MB) we now have a missional presence in Montreal (Tim and Di Keener and Family) and our church in Calgary (Kensington Commons) has returned to a church plant format following a merger with a predominately young adult congregation whose goal is to have a second plant in the Calgary area within the next 24 months! Glenn Peterson is providing solid leadership to this ministry area. Strengthening Churches: This is a time of recalibration. We were led well by Gerald Froese but with his move to the Lead Pastor position in Sarnia he needed to be released from his responsibilities. In the past year six congregations were assisted in one way or another with specific resources related to their journey to deeper health. The ECCC Leadership Board has just approved a one-year Task Force charged with re-envisioning Congregational Vitality in the ECCC. Develop Leaders: Most of the focus has been on developing pastoral leadership. We have provided funding for re-
quired coursework and developed a partnership with Providence Seminary to host a core course required of pastors without permanent credentials. The goal of the board is to balance out the development of leaders by offering courses and networking to lay leadership within our community of churches. We are planning to gather church chairs in the next year for a two-day time of resourcing and fellowship. Make and Deepen Disciples: The past year saw a number of event-based opportunities offered to various ages within the constituency. Whether it was Adventures in Leadership for High School Youth or ALIVE for adults of all ages, these events scored high in terms of feedback by participants. One addition this year is a new partnership with Christian Stewardship Services. This partnership will allow us to provide individuals and congregations with resources related to generosity and stewardship. Beyond this, tools such as the Lenten Reader (written by ECCC members) encourage individuals in their daily walk with Jesus. Julia Sandstrom has given good leadership to this ministry focus along with other responsibilities of her multi-faceted position. Love Mercy and Do Justice: The centre-point of this has been Kernels of Hope, led not by a staff person but by Ray (the Grain Guy) Baloun who is a member of the Minnedosa Covenant Church. Each year, after adding in matching funding, this program that links rural farmers with “virtual farmers” gathers in some $400,000 in aid that is targeted at under resourced regions in our world. We also continue to provide resourcing to AVA (Advocates for Victims of Abuse) and other ministries that deal with social issues that directly affect our communities. Engage Globally: This past year saw new hope in renewing a long-time partnership with Haiti as we have supported a local feeding program (for the elderly) in partnership with the Baptist Church in Haut Limbe, another feeding program (for children) in partnership with Food For The Poor Canada, and diabetic care for the region around Limbe. We are receiving good reports on each of these and are encouraged by the accountability of each of these partners. Our engagement with Christians in Israel and Palestine continues to be focused on partnerships with the Arab/Israeli Bible Society, World Vision and Galilee and Bethlehem Bible College. Educational scholarships, support for local women’s shelter and direct development work in areas of financial need have happened during 2014. This particular partnership has benefitted as individuals have gone on the Israel/Palestine Study tour. The next tour is taking place June 1-13, 2015; scholarships are available and information is on the website. In this past year we continued to engage with Congo through our partnership with World Vision Canada and World Hope. Much has happened in the past year to provide development assistance to local communities in the Northeast region of Congo. Finally, we are excited about a new partnership just signed between the ECCC and the Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador. We will be contributing $30,000 over the next three years toward the health care needs of a group of children who are living in orphanages overseen by the Ecuadorian church and Kim and Joel Delp, ECC missionaries to Ecuador. Groups that come from the ECCC will also have the opportunity to develop ongoing relationships with churches in the region where Joel and Kim are serving. Engagement globally is not merely sending money; it is providing direct opportunities for relationships with churches and members of the ECCC. Yes, the ECCC is a really small group but ours is an amazingly big God and He has provided opportunities we would not have seen coming without eyes of faith. This year-end letter is written for two reasons. First, we want you to celebrate with us what God has been up to in this last year. Second, I want to invite you to contribute toward our end of year appeal. Many of the funds we receive are for targeted ministries. This appeal goes to our general fund and allows us to have the people and structures in place to help these ministries move forward. I realize that you will have many opportunities to give at this time of the year and I ask that you include the ECCC in the outworking of generosity that we are called to as followers of Christ. Thank you for your time and attention to this letter! Sincerely,
Jeffrey Anderson Superintendent/President jeff@covchurch.ca
PO BOX 23117 RPO McGillivray WINNIPEG, MB R3T 5S3 Ph: 204-269-3437 Fx: 204-269-3584 office@covchurch.ca www.covchurch.ca
The Messenger is a publication of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada. Editor: Julia Sandstrom
Staff: Jeff Anderson, Superintendent/President Julia Sandstrom, Director of Ministry Support Glenn Peterson, Director of Church Planting Sally Carlson, Financial Officer Monica Doerksen, Bookkeeper
Cover Image: Stained Glass Village, Š Dawn Hudson | Dreamstime.com