Fall 2008

The Free Methodist Church in Canada |Fall 2008 – Volume 5 Issue 4

Reflecting the diversity of ministry expression within the Free Methodist family.

Cover If only we could franchise Christ’s Church

by Bishop Keith Elford

page 2 Editor’s Desk Giving Streams current financial report

page 3 Church Multiplication: Back to school

by Kim Henderson

page 4-5 Church Multiplication: Releasing your hidden resources

by Jared Siebert

page 6 Passages Stewardship Ministries: Is there a connection between growth and giving?

Joanne Bell

page 7 Student Ministries: Go and Tell

by Jan MacPhail

Page 8 Only one house for me?

by Amy Robertson

HAVE YOU SUBSCRIBED TO THE WEEKLY BISHOP’S NOTES?

Every week Bishop Keith Elford provides an overview of the past week’s events. You can receive this weekly correspondence by visiting the website and subscribing: http://fmc-canada.org/who/bishop_ notes.html Please note: Pastors are automatically subscribed

DID YOU KNOW?

The MOSAIC is produced using environmentally responsible processes. The paper is acid-free, contains 10% post-consumer waste material, and is treated with a non-chlorine whitening process.

Vegetable-based inks were used throughout the publication and it is 100% recyclable.

MOSAIC

is a publication of The Free Methodist Church in Canada 4315 Village Centre Court Mississauga, Ontario L4Z 1S2 T. 905.848.2600 F. 905.848.2603 E. mosaic@fmc-canada.org www.fmc-canada.org For submissions: mosaic@fmc-canada.org Dan Sheffield, Editor-in-Chief Lisa Howden, Managing Editor

and Production Mailed under publication agreement: #40008369 Return postage guaranteed

O

n the face of it, one could say that the vision of The Free Methodist Church in Canada “to see a healthy congregation within the reach of all people in Canada and beyond” sounds like a franchising plan to put cookie cutter congregations in every part of Canada and scattered around the world – something like Tim Hortons or McDonalds would do. In other words, everywhere you encountered a Free Methodist congregation you would be guaranteed the same experience.

In this edition we are discussing the theme of multiplication of congregations – a theme that flows out of the heart of the vision that God has given to the FMCiC. As I look at what the Lord is doing in our movement, if setting up franchise units is what He desires, we are either an abysmal failure or He has something else in mind. It’s the latter.

When our vision statement uses the words “within the reach” we are not talking about replicating cloned congregations in geographical areas. We’re talking about understanding the cultural context of communities and responding to what the Holy Spirit is doing in their neighborhoods to bring about transformation in people’s lives. Before we even begin to think about partnering with others in other parts of the world, we recognize that there are many different sub-cultures within Canada alone, especially in light of the arrival of folks from other parts of the world.

It’s naïve to think that “one size fits all”. Instead we’re seeing that different contexts require congregations in a whole variety of formats. It’s complicated, and some times when we think we have things all systematized, God (not Satan, but God) disrupts our plans. For example, we presently worship weekly in the following languages: English, French, Creole, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Urdu, Tamil, Arabic, Amharic, Assyrian, and Persian. Add in the diversity of regional cultural values, generational preferences, 24-7 work schedules, the availability of meeting space, etc., and it’s clear that “one size” won’t fit all.

I like what missiologist Craig Van Gelder says when he observes the activity of the Holy Spirit in all of this. 1He writes: “…two patterns are evident in the book of Acts. There is intentional, planned activity that leads to growth—a strategy as illustrated in the work of the apostles and Paul’s mission team. But there is also the Spirit’s leading of the church in or through conflict, disruption, interruption, and surprise into new and unanticipated directions that resulted in growth. When considering the ministry of the Spritled church, it is essential to utilize wisdom and planning to develop a strategy, but it is also essential to consistently exercise faith and discernment in the midst of unexpected change. A congregation experiences the leading of the Spirit through both processes.”

So if we are seeking to be a Spirit-led movement rather than mechanical franchisers of religion, where do we look for guidance to inform our vision? I personally get help from Jesus’ agricultural parables. He talks about sowing the seed, the mystery of germination, the unpredictable factors at play while the crop is maturing and the anticipation (when it’s good) or the angst (when it’s disappointing) of the harvest.

1. The Ministry of the Missional Church. Baker Books, p.61 v i s i t

o u r

w e b i s t e

@

Of course, the classic is the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) where Jesus said: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.

It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Sometimes we are not immediately clear about the meaning of Jesus’ parables, but in this case He gives the disciples an explanation.

He starts with “the seed”. Every seed is created to reproduce itself and many of us have seen vast bare prairie fields transformed into flowing fields of grain. It’s because the seeds took root – many of them.

“

It’s naïve to think that “one size fits all”. Instead we’re seeing that different contexts require congregations in a whole variety of formats.

”

But as Jesus explains, sowing the seed of the gospel and seeing a kingdom harvest also have the elements of risk and failure. (My view is that everything that He says about the planting of the seed of the gospel in individual hearts applies to the planting of congregations in neighbourhoods.)

There’s the risk of impenetrable spiritual resistance from demonic oppression.

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

There is the carelessness of inadequate discipleship where people do not cultivate depth in their relationship with the Lord.

The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

There is the ever present discouragement and distraction that comes from worldliness.

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

In spite of all these realities, we’ll keep trying anyway and we’ll stay realistic that though the level of response will vary from ministry to ministry, there is a harvest!!

But the one who received the seed that fell on continued on the bottom of page 2

< < w w w . f mc - c a n a d a . o r g > >

MOSAIC

2

It’s all about building authentic friendships

I

barely had time to sit down before my friends started asking me a series of questions – “Lisa,

where did you say that you worked?” I’ve been taking

Giving Streams Current financial Report

some courses for some time at a local community college – which is where I met my new friends. Many of them come straight to class right after work and so I’ve made it a habit to arrive thirty to forty minutes before class begins so that we can chat. A few of my closer friends and I meet for coffee on a regular basis – it’s always a highlight for me.

To be honest, I’d been hoping to avoid any in-

depth questions about my present occupation. Not because I’m ashamed or embarrassed, but because of the assumptions that are immediately made the moment you tell anyone that you work for a church.

People tend to look at you a little differently, and in my opinion, become a little more guarded when they know you work for a religious organization.

to hear about Jesus when you work for a Christian organization!

I normally tell anyone who asks that I work for a

non-profit organization – but unfortunately this was not enough to satisfy my friends. “Which non-profit organization do you work for?”

establishing real friendships that it would not matter.

I really believe that you have to earn the right to

speak into someone’s life. They have to know that you care about them, that you are interested in their struggles, pain, joys . . . in short – that you are their friend. I think something very powerful can happen when you love and accept people in whatever state you find them without trying to change them.

CHURCH DEVELOPMENT

2008 Goal: $100,000 as of October 2008: $84,765 Developing new healthy churches in communities across Canada is a priority. Donations to the Church Development Stream make funds available to help with the start-up of new church plants across the country.

QUEBEC MINISTRIES

2008 Goal: $60,000 as of October 2008: $42,257 The province of Quebec, with over six million people is the most unevangelized region in North America. The people of Quebec need to be a priority for vibrant Christian witness. Donations to this Stream fund our Ministry Development Facilitator for Quebec who focuses on developing leaders and nurturing new church plants through providing resources, training programs, and mentoring in the French language.

I wish I could tell you that I’ve always thought

this way . . . many of my “attempts” at reaching out to those around me ended abruptly because of my “here’s what God thinks about what you are doing” attitude. There was nothing gracious or loving in my approach in those early years . . . it was forceful, cutting and often impatient. I was not interested in making friends – I just wanted to tell them they needed to change.

2008 Goal: $19,000 as of October 2008: $10,382 Developing gifted and passionate Christian leaders for ministry in the Free Methodist Church is a priority.

Donations to this Stream fund students preparing for ministry in The Free Methodist Church in Canada as well pastor’s conferences and other leadership training programs.

So the gig was up and my cover was blown – but

I was pretty confident that I’d spent enough time

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

It’s always a bit of a challenge to form

meaningful friendships with co-workers who need

GIVING STREAMS participation helps to support a number of ministry areas that maximize our impact beyond our local churches. Each church, at the local level, decides what contributions will be made and where those funds will be directed. These “together” ministries allow our influence to expand throughout Canada and beyond. Your monthly Remittance Form has headings for each of these Streams; the national office staff follow your instruction as found on this form.

I’m still learning that it’s not up to me to win

GLOBAL MINISTRIES

2008 Goal: $380,000 as of October 2008: $272,782 Free Methodists want to be involved in touching our world. Donations to the Global Ministries Giving Stream enables support for our Canadians missionaries, provides training for indigenous leaders, allows us to reach into unreached parts of the world, and to share our resources with the poor and disenfranchised.

anyone to Christ – that’s the Holy Spirit’s job. My job is simply to demonstrate the love of Christ in practical and tangible ways.

I’ve had some great opportunities to share with

my friends over the past months. None of them have made any decisions about Jesus yet. They still have a lot of questions and that’s okay with me. They are my friends, so I’ll be there as long as it takes.

Lisa Howden Managing Editor

{Continued from cover . . .}

good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

But let’s keep in mind something called the “all by itself ” mystery that we read about in the parable of the growing seed in Mark 4 where Jesus says: “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then

3

W

MOSAIC

hen I see or hear the word ‘multiplication’ it takes me back to school days – as both student and teacher. I’m one of those who liked math and science – particularly biology. I still like them. I suppose they feed my inner geek!

work against that possibility and so without multiplication, we would not be alive. Yet I’ve always been intrigued that a cell that ended up with the short end of the stick in terms of cell bits can still fulfill its function as long as the DNA has been duplicated.

I can remember the ‘times-tables’ drills, especially from grade three with Mrs. Walker, but of course we didn’t start there. We began with addition, then worked our way to subtraction, then multiplication and then division. All of these processes appear in church multiplication as well. First, believers are added and numbers increase, presenting an opportunity and need to multiply. As a group from that church is blessed and sent out, numbers decrease, so there’s subtraction. The result is two churches, so multiplication has happened yet the process involved is division. The book of Acts gives us insight and examples of how this unfolds.

and division are linked – not “Multiplication just in math, but also at the fundamental unit

Multiplication and division are linked – not just in math, but also at the fundamental unit of life, the cell. This happens in our bodies all the time – literally - and usually we’re totally unaware of it. Our cells multiply for health, growth and repair and the process of cell multiplication actually occurs by division. I’m going to put on my biology teacher hat for a moment here, for an overview of the process.

of life, the cell. This happens in our bodies all the time – literally – and usually we’re totally unaware of it. Our cells multiply for health, growth and repair and the process of cell multiplication actually occurs by division.

”

This life process happens in the church too. That shouldn’t surprise us – the church is people, after all. As I read Acts in particular, the desire and need of the believers to share the Good News and bring about church multiplication is evident. It was in their DNA. The church at Antioch provides an example. The church was new yet Luke records that multiplication was about to happen at the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Whatever the size of that church, we know it was growing and by conversion growth, not transfer! Luke tells us that there were at least five leaders there. Two of those leaders, Saul and Barnabas, were blessed and sent off – church multiplication in action! I see that as a rather uneven division, though – just like the cell division process. Antioch retained leadership and all of the ‘other bits’. Saul and Barnabas are more like the cell without all the bits, yet we know new churches were established in Cyprus and Galatia because of them. Saul and Barnabas had what they needed, and in cell life, they were the nucleus with intact DNA. In church life, I believe that’s representative of leadership.

Cells divide to make more cells. That’s what they do because the DNA inside them directs the process. When conditions are right and necessary for more cells, the DNA that contains all the information the cell requires for healthy function starts a series of steps that takes one cell and turns it into two.

The first step is the exact duplication of the DNA itself. The DNA is packaged into chromosomes and the chromosomes are contained in a structure inside the cell called a nucleus. At the end of this stage, there’s one cell with two nuclei that are identical.

Then the outside of the cell starts to pinch in and continues until the cell splits – so there are two cells, each with a nucleus. Yet these two cells may not be identical at this point, because there is more inside a cell than a nucleus. There are lots of other smaller bits. When the outside of the cell pinches in to make two cells, the division of all those smaller bits is arbitrary so one cell may have more bits than the other. All of the bits are important and both cells need them. Without those bits the cell will die because it can’t function properly. Yet that doesn’t happen. Do you want to know why?

It’s all due to the DNA. The cell that is missing important bits has an intact nucleus with the DNA that has all of the information the cell needs to thrive. The DNA directs the cell to make whatever bits it needs, so it does that first.

Multiplication through division. It’s a life process in us and without it each of us would simply be one giant cell…if that were possible. There are too many factors that

the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

It is evident that though human effort is required to see the good news of shalom (wholeness that comes from God) planted in human hearts and neighbourhoods and communities, the Holy Spirit is active before, during, and in the culmination of the harvest.

In The Free Methodist Church in Canada as we have been seeking to be faithful to this vision, we have been risking and investing in planting churches. Not all of our church plants have made it, but many have. At General Conference we learned that 72 % of the 47 attempts to plant new congregations since 1995 are surviving. When

In the rest of Acts, Luke refers to Saul as Paul – and Paul with others continues to multiply the church, raising up local leaders along the way. Paul didn’t remain in those churches, but they remained. Someone had to be there to receive Paul’s letters to teach and read them to the people! All of those ‘someones’ were leaders.

There are other analogies I could make, but the connection between church multiplication and leadership development remains and I believe both are still part of our DNA as Christ-followers but perhaps that DNA needs to be reactivated. There are ways to do that in cell life and there is in church life too – He’s called the Holy Spirit!

As I read Acts 13, Saul & Barnabas didn’t have it all planned out. They said ‘yes’ and went where the Spirit directed. They show for us again how faithful God is, in that He will equip those He calls.

To multiply churches we also need to multiply leadership. The analogy of cell life has its weak points – for example, much of cell division results in exact duplication and church multiplication is not a cookie-cutter process. However, there is a process called cell specialization that also has parallels to church life….but that’s a lesson for another day.

Rev. Kim Henderson is the Director of Personnel with The Free Methodist Church in Canada

I use the term surviving, this does not mean that they are thriving nor can we predict that they will become strong, established ministries. We’ll know that in about 25 years.

But, as God raises up teams of disciplined, spirit-led planters and as the resources are provided, the FMCiC is committed to the multiplication of congregations. It’s the only way to obey the vision “to see healthy churches within the reach of all people in Canada and beyond”.

Rev. Keith Elford is Bishop of The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

MOSAIC

4

Church Multiplication releasing your hidden resources

W

hat most often comes to mind when we think about Church Multiplication is church planting or some new vision or strategy. This article isn’t about any of that. What this article IS about could radically multiply the effect your church has on its local community. It could enable your church transformative access to the heart of your community, to the places of power and influence where the major decisions are made. It could give your church direct access to hundreds even thousands of Canadians from all walks of life. What would it take to achieve all of this? All it takes is an adjustment of priorities and a serious commitment to equipping Christian presence in the place we find ourselves every day… at work.

Our life at work is an oft forgotten area for the people in our congregations. Rarely have we had a class or small group about work. Rarely have we been at a retreat to explain it. Rarely if ever do we even hear a sermon about it. And yet work is unrivalled in terms of time, commitment and energy in the lives of most Canadians. What would happen to our church if our congregation woke up to the kingdom effect that their working lives could have on the broader world? What if we armed our congregation with the knowledge that their work matters to God, that the way they work matters to God, that their work could constitute the frontlines of God’s mission to our world?

Well quite simply there is no church multiplication strategy in existence that could match the power of Christians, acting like Jesus, at work.

What follows here are a few ideas to help, if one were so inclined, to take the cork off this hidden Church growth resource buried in all of our churches.

So, in what ways does all of this happen? Well this tends to happen in two ways: in what we resist, and in what we nurture and grow. God can bless a workplace when we resist and defend others against evil. Christians at work can actively resist evil by avoiding temptations like cutting corners, trying to get something for nothing, concealing the truth, gossiping, indulging laziness, or remaining silent when we see something unjust or unsafe. God can bless a workplace when we nurture and grow godly attitudes and spiritual fruit. Our bosses, co-workers, and customers count on us to conduct our working lives with integrity, honesty, sincerity, and in good faith. At work we can develop proficiency in love, patience, kindness, self-control and approximately 100 million other similar spiritual fruit and gifts. Our God-shaped lives can and do have a positive and sustaining effect on the places we work.

So why doesn’t all of this positive and sustaining stuff happen very often? Well because we treat our lives outside the church as being “secular” or separate from our “sacred” or spiritual lives at church. This way of thinking is often called “Functional Atheism” because it removes the possibility and power of God from all areas of life outside the church. A Functional Atheist does not need God’s help, power or presence in 90% of their day to day life. God’s help, power and presence are confined to a single hour on Sunday morning. Church Multiplication can begin by simply erasing those lines and seeing all of life as “sacred” and spiritual.

Work as creative.

Work as the primary spiritual arena.

There is an old joke that goes “How can you tell when a used car salesman is lying?

When his lips are moving!” That little joke is an insight into the current state of the working world. The inability to tell the truth, to properly represent the facts, is a widespread problem not only in the world of used cars but in business in general.

In fact most experts consider lying to be the spark that caused the fire in the global economy. Mortgage applicants lied about how much they made and the value of their assets. They accepted a debt they couldn’t pay. Mortgage providers rewrote the rules and ignored the truth. They gave money to people they knew couldn’t pay. Traders bought and traded the mortgages to world markets. They put pressure on mortgage providers to stretch the rules to find more mortgages. All parties, from Main Street to Wall Street, suppressed what they knew was wrong and sent the world careening off a cliff.

Now more than ever we need to see work, not the church, as THE primary spiritual arena in which to practice the Christian life. Work can be a proving ground for faith.

Work can test the depths of our character. Work can be where the spiritual rubber hits the road. Work can be where we experience the true joy of worshipping God by unreservedly serving others. Ultimately, through who we are at work and the way that we work, God can bring about His shalom: the complete peace of God in security, contentment, sound health, prosperity, friendship, peace of mind and heart.

Another way to release the kingdom effect of your church in the workplace is to reacquaint them with the creative aspects found in all work. The Bible says that we were created in God’s image. One way to plainly see the remnants of that image is in human creativity. God is creator. He is creative. He created the world out of nothing.

Without Him nothing was made. We express that same impulse, that same God image whenever we create. Whether it is creating a work of art or a fitting for an industrial pipe – to create is to participate in the divine. This can be harder to see in some jobs more than others. However the fact still remains that to create is divine. When our creating is coupled with a love and concern for the world we become even more like God. After all he created the world out of a deep love for the people that inhabit the world. He created for our enjoyment. He created for our pleasure. He created so that we could join Him in saying “This is Good!”

It then follows that whenever human beings create with their hands, create through their ideas, or create through their words they are reflecting God’s image. When we, as Christians, do this out of a love and concern for the world — God can bring about shalom. The things that we create at work can make the world safer, better fed, happier, more beautiful, or even more productive (just to name a few). We can take great pride in even the most boring jobs or seemingly insignificant jobs when we recognize that we are co-labourers with God. God can knit together a better world out of the things that we make.

5

MOSAIC

of sleeping work is “ Outside the place that occupies most

of our adult lives. Because of this, work puts us into constant, almost daily, contact with the people God loves.

”

Work as sustained presence.

sustained and sustaining presence of Christ; when we are present with them through thick and thin and when we actively take their concerns to God. As the effects of the global economic crisis begin to be felt in all areas of society God is calling us to live Christian lives at the heart of that crisis. He is calling his church to be ready. Ready and willing to serve and help. Ready to go the extra mile. Ready to give the shirt off our back. Ready to clothe the naked. Ready to feed the hungry. Ready to visit the lonely and imprisoned. This call will not necessarily send us boldly out to some far flung place – it could send us to where we already are: in the board rooms, class rooms, wheat fields, garage floors and factory floors.

Work takes up unparalleled amounts of time: A depressing thought for some; a unique opportunity for anyone with the eyes to see it. Outside of sleeping work is the place that occupies most of our adult lives. Because of this, work puts us into constant, almost daily, contact with the people God loves. God can, once again, do amazing things through us if we take our duty to be salt and light at work seriously. Sustained contact with people creates an environment where it is almost unavoidable to become enmeshed in the lives others. Work mixes our lives with the lives of the people in our local community, people often outside the reach of our church. Work provides us with a constant opportunity, as the Bible says, to rejoice with those who rejoice (births, life milestones, personal victories, etc…), and mourn with those who mourn (the loss of a loved one, disappointment over a promotion, break up of relationships, etc…). Being salt and light at work can mean being a support, an encouragement and a help to the people around us as they walk through life. Through us, Canadians can experience the

While I certainly believe in church planting and in churches having healthy conversations about where they are headed - neither can match the kingdom potential of Christians at work. Why? Because most church growth strategies are designed to attract people out from the world and into the church. That forces us to compete for the world’s attention - our Strawberry Socials up against Prime Time TV. What I am suggesting is the opposite: attract Christians out of the church and into the world they know – the world of work.

Rev. Jared Siebert is the Director of Growth Ministries with The Free Methodist Church in Canada.

<<www.jaredsiebert.com>>

{podcast}

For further reflection A Theology of Laity Hendrik Kraemer

Earth Crammed with Heaven: A Spirituality of Everyday Life Elizabeth Dreyer

Joy at Work Dennis Bakke

Lecture by Dennis Bakke, http://www.wrf.ca/mp3/WRF. think.13.podcast.mp3

MOSAIC

6

PASSAGES APPOINTMENTS David Barbour, Lead Pastor, Lakeview FMC, Saskatoon, SK, effective January 1, 2009 Garry Castle, Pastor, Next Church, Kingston, ON, effective October 24, 2008 Paul Griffin, Pastor, Prince Edward County FMC, Picton, ON, effective September 21, 2008 Darrin Lindsay, Associate Pastor, Kingsview FMC, Toronto, effective September 7, 2008 Fred Merritt, Pastor, Dunnville [ON] FMC, effective November 11, 2008 Jeffrey Nault, Pastor at Verona Free Methodist Church, Verona [ON] effective November 2, 2008 Approved as Ministerial Candidates Paul Carew [The FreeWay, Oshawa, ON] Garry Castle [Next Church, Kingston, ON} Kathy Doornekamp [Westport FMC, ON] Christine Li [Richmond Hill FMC] Darrin Lindsay [Kingsview FMC, Toronto, ON] ORDAINED MINISTER RECEIVED BY TRANSFER Larry Hart (Welland, ON) from Wesleyan Church of Canada – Central Canada District Network Leader & Mentor Changes Hilkka Aavasalmi (replaces Cliff Fletcher), effective October 10, 2008 Cliff Fletcher as Network Mentor (replaces Gary Walsh), effective October 1, 2008 Gary Landers resigned, effective July 31, 2008 Vic Stonehouse (replaces Lloyd Eyre), effective October 1, 2008 Change of Status Floyd Babcock – Leave of Absence – Secular Employment, effective August 18, 2008 John Foley – Leave of Absence – Personal Reasons, effective August 18, 2008 Darren Friesen – Located at Lakeview, Saskatoon, SK Mike Hogeboom – Denominational Ministry—Interim Executive Director, Wesley Acres Inc, effective October 14, 2008.

Gary Landers – Denominational Ministry—Executive Director, Maple Grove Camp, Thamesford [ON] effective October 1, 2008.

Joseph Moreau – Leave of Absence – Personal Reasons, effective July 31, 2008 Bob Snider – Withdrawn, effective October 20, 2008.

Gary Walsh - “Denominational Ministry – Senior Vice President of Northeastern Seminary and Roberts Wesleyan College” effective October 1, 2008.

C

hurch multiplication and generosity – is there a connection here? Absolutely. I believe churches that have a culture of generosity view church multiplication as an opportunity and are much more likely to multiply.

Generous churches are born of generous people – people who exhibit a readiness to give above and beyond what is necessary or expected. They show kindness to others and a willingness to limit themselves to provide for the needs of others.

Generous churches have an outward perspective. They understand that God is up to something and they seek to partner with Him in their community, their region, their country and around the world. This is not to say that their members don’t look after each other – they do. Their self-care is done for the purpose of being healthy to continue their mission rather than for the purposes of self-preservation.

Generous churches have an abundance mentality rather than a scarcity mentality. They believe that because God is in control, He created everything and owns everything, and that He can provide them with the people and resources to fulfill their mission. They believe this even in the midst of church multiplication where people, money and talents begin to flow in another direction.

Generous churches collaborate rather than compete. They are not threatened by churches within close proximity. They are pleased to see other churches growing. They understand that God has uniquely gifted their church. They willingly share their knowledge and resources with other churches. They seek to build partnerships that are interdependent rather than act independently.

Generous churches care about kingdom growth not church growth. They understand that bigger isn’t always better.

When discipling people and developing leaders, these churches realize they are not doing so solely to build up their own church body. Instead, they understand that God may call people to lead and serve somewhere else.

Generous churches bless those who move on. They are excited to see people obeying the call of God on their lives even when it means serving somewhere else.

new core value

At General Conference this year, we added generosity as an eighth core value. We believe that: w

God is generous to all. Becoming more like Him, we extend God’s love through generosity to others.

w

Generosity is grace-enabled as we trust God in all circumstances.

w

Generosity is a source of joy and blessing as we join God in His ministry.

w

Generosity glorifies God.

Will this remain simply words on a page for your church? Or will you choose to use the core value of generosity to affirm and guide who you are as a church and how you serve both God and man? Will you become a generous church that seeks opportunities to multiply?

Joanne Bell is the Stewardship Development Director for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Only one house for Me? [continued from page 8] opened.

Harpell and other members of the Missions Committee wept openly as dozens of members of the congregation responded to the simplest of invitations, dropping bill after bill, cheque after cheque, pledge after pledge into the basket at the front, which was overflowing within a matter of minutes. Even visitors who had never been to First Free Methodist Church before seemed to realize that God was saying something, and they, too, contributed. “It was overwhelming,” says Harpell.

At the service’s end, the committee all but ran to the back office where the offering was being counted. In just a few minutes, the church had raised almost $14,000—over and above the $5000 they already had in hand.

Contributions and pledges continued to pour in for a week and a half from others in the church, from the teens, and from people Fitzpatrick didn’t even know. When all was said and done, Sunday’s total had more than doubled. [left] Hillside tea plantation in Sri Lanka

7

MOSAIC

Student Ministries

Go & Tell W

hen I heard that the theme of this month’s issue of the Mosaic was “Church Multiplication” my mind started spinning (it does that often) about how could I possibly contribute anything of value? I must admit that I have only been involved in a church plant once in my Christian walk but then my mind went (way) back to youth camp where I heard a message about how important it is that we share our faith. The message was that if one wins one, then there are two and if two win two, then they are four and …. You get the picture.

I guess what really challenges me is why are we so apathetic as believers that we are not in the business of winning souls to Jesus? As someone who has been in youth ministry for a long time, I have witnessed the hunger and desire from both youth and their families to have a tangible faith to hold on to. The world is hungry, we have the food but because of fear of rejection, we are unwilling to share it.

The one thing I love about working with youth is their enthusiasm and their lack of being jaded by the “outside” world. They believe that they can do it and they do. When we have “Friendship Nights” or outreach events, they ask their friends and acquaintances to come. It is a risk for them but so many are willing to take it. Many times as adults we become so fearful of the “outside world’s” rejection that we are unwilling to take the risk of inviting those who are lost to be introduced to our Jesus, who is in the business of helping people find their way. We are trying so hard, sometimes, to be so insulated from the world that that becomes are focus.

Why is it that we are so intimidated? Why do we hold back on the most important information we have? I remember hearing that after 9-11, that the conversions to Islam skyrocketed! When asked why, people responded that `they wanted a faith worth dying for`. That statement shook me from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. My faith is not only worth dying for, it`s worth LIVING for! The sad thing is that because it is pretty easy (currently) to be a believer in our culture, it is easy to be complacent about sharing our faith.

passionate about evangelism. That is probably because I was not raised in a Christian home and I remember well what it was to be lost and then found. Finding my faith gave me direction and purpose…it gave me confidence and the knowledge that God DOES have a plan and therefore I want others to know that faith as well.

Sharing our faith is an integral part of what we are about as believers. It is about living such an authentic life that those observing us see what we believe maybe before they hear what we believe.

“

The one thing I love about working with youth is their enthusiasm and their lack of being jaded by the “outside” world. They believe that they can do it and they do.

”

I have found that so many are hungry to hear the truth of Jesus and so many of us are too afraid to share. Can you imagine the explosion of growth in our churches, if everyone won just one individual to Christ? Can you imagine the encouragement to our church leadership to see genuine conversions to our faith?

As a believer, I am never more encouraged than when I have had an opportunity to lead people to Christ. When we allow the Spirit of God to lead us in our conversations and our lives, He opens the door to so many opportunities to share of His grace and mercy. We have to remember that we are now in a world that doesn’t know the gospel of Jesus. They do not know about creation or the virgin birth…BUT the good news is that they want to know. I have found now, personally, that so many are hungry to hear the truth of God but are too intimidated to go through our church doors to find out.

That is why we must “go and tell”.

One observation that I have made about our church today (may I clarify that I do not mean ALL churches, but some) is that we are sometimes so inwardly focused that we do not go and tell. There are always study groups and conferences and speakers who try to share the best way to evangelize but so often we are so caught up in the training that we do not implement what we have learned.

So, what do I have to contribute to “Church Multiplication”? We believers need to get serious about meeting one on one with individuals to share the life changing faith that Jesus gives. There are no secrets or formulas but just sharing honestly that we are imperfect people living in an imperfect world who have been rescued by a perfect Saviour who is waiting to rescue them. There is no greater privilege than to introduce people to Jesus and then to see them ushered into His fold. This miraculous healing gift of Jesus is worth sharing. I must admit, I am pretty hooked on it and I pray you will be too!

In Mark 16:15 it states “And then he told them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.’” (NLT)

Let’s watch our churches grow not for the sake of growing but for the sake of souls transformed!!

Sharing our faith is not a spiritual gift, nor does it require special training, it is sharing your story to people whom God has prepared to hear. I must admit that I am

Jan MacPhail is a Ministerial Candidate with The Free Methodist Church in Canada

development on the eastern coast. What they didn’t expect was a brand-new, thriving church that was meeting near the housing development. One of the Sri Lankan pastors who had travelled with Fitzpatrick’s group, Pastor Jey, had hired a local Bible college student to live in the development as its caretaker.

But even more was going on—according to Fitzpatrick, the young man has the gift of evangelism. A vibrant congregation of 60 was meeting inside (and outside) an equipment shed, and during Fitzpatrick’s visit alone, they baptized eight people in a lagoon off of the Indian Ocean.

Fitzpatrick was inspired by what the Lord had done at the housing development and in churches around Sri Lanka. “The churches we connected with were full of poor people, and they have a natural spirituality—it isn’t cluttered like ours is. They don’t have enough stuff to get cluttered. They just have God. And they’re happy,” he says.

“God is deeply in love with the hurting and needy of the world….and he wants us to help.”

New church plant at Batticaloa near tsunami housing project.

So when Sheffield suggested that the church “follow their money” to the FMCiC’s housing project in Sri Lanka, it seemed only natural. “We were looking for a field to get connected to,” says Fitzpatrick, “and every time we turned around, Sri Lanka came up.

And when you have a response of $45,000, you’re tempted to think that that may be a God-thing.”

So in August 2008, Fitzpatrick, along with Guenther, Sheffield, Bishop Elford, and the two Sri Lankan pastors, journeyed to Sri Lanka to see what God had been doing.

They expected to encourage the Sri Lankan pastors, participate in the dedication of a new Free Methodist ministry centre in the city of Colombo, and visit the housing

The Sri Lanka project has inspired a renewed commitment to missions within the members of First Free Methodist Church. The board has put the churchowned house up for sale, and they’ve committed to using 20 percent of the proceeds (upwards of $40,000) for missions—another “Godthing” waiting to happen, as far as they’re concerned.

And it all began with a committee who started with a small project to “get their feet wet.”

Amy E. Robertson is the Copywriter Editor for Briercrest College and Seminary

Only one house for Me? T

o the untrained eye, the beach near Batticaloa looks like a tropical paradise. The sun shines hot, but not too hot. It’s humid, but bearably so, not unlike the picturesque resorts in Cancun and Jamaica we dream about while caught in the throes of the Great Canadian Winter.

The water is a warm turquoise that most Canadians have only imagined dipping their feet into. (The Atlantic Ocean’s near-zero temperatures and untouched ruggedness are a far, far cry from this.) Palm trees sway gently in a warm breeze...barely mindful of the disaster that befell them just a few short years ago.

Ten houses, to which Moose Jaw’s not-very-wealthy-or-extraordinary congregation of perhaps 150 has donated upwards of $45,000—nearly half of the construction costs.

It wasn’t the product of a year of fundraising or a mass campaign. It wasn’t even something that Fitzpatrick had thought of a year ago. Rather, it began as a brand-new missions committee’s pilot project just before Christmas of 2007. They eventually wanted to partner with a church somewhere, but this was just “a small project to get our feet wet,” according to Heather Harpell, who led the missions committee at the time. Their original goal was to raise $6,000 CAD—enough for one house.

It began simply. The committee printed Christmas cards featuring a photo of one of the houses being built for tsunami survivors, and church-goers were asked to donate.

Dan Sheffield was scheduled to visit First Free Methodist Church in January to discuss options for the global partnership the committee hoped to begin(though with whom, they had no idea). Harpell smiled as she told the gathered committee in November, “We’d love to be able to hand Dan a cheque for $6,000 when he comes!”

As the weeks passed, Harpell and the rest of the committee were excited and encouraged by the church’s generosity. More than $5,000 in just a few weeks—they’d been afraid to expect that kind of generosity. And then, one week in January, everything changed.

Fitzpatrick had been working through a series on the book of James, and he had prepared a sermon for the following Sunday as usual. But when he went to bed that night, he heard a voice: “Only one house for Me?”

Beach scene on east cost of Sri Lanka impacted by tsunami.

The sand is littered with seaweed, shells, and other collector’s memorabilia. The occasional sandal washes up on shore, and these are the prizes that the young children, their brown skin glistening with moisture, scramble to collect. Not because they’ve lost them, but because they might be a source of income—these worn, colourful plastic sandals that were ripped from the feet of tsunami victims at the end of 2004. In many cases, these sandals are all that is left of the thousands of lives that were lost that day.

Wade Fitzpatrick of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan’s First Free Methodist Church is sober as he tells me this story. “It was difficult standing on the beach where the waves came in, imagining the terror of that moment,” he says. “I picked up a flip flop off that beach where people died. I brought one home to remind myself that when I’m having a bad day...

I’m not.” He smiles wryly.

He made the trip to Sri Lanka from the Canadian Prairies with Alan Guenther, a member of First Free Methodist Church’s missions committee, Dan Sheffield of the FMCiC’s National Leadership Team, Bishop Keith Elford, and Benedict Gomez and Sritharan Jeyarajah, both pastors who were born in Sri Lanka.

They went to worship with the church in Sri Lanka, to encourage the leadership, and to witness the construction of ten houses that will be given to the neediest of those who are without homes even four years after they were destroyed.

Ten houses that will be rays of hope for the ten families—mostly widows—who will move in.

“It really startled me,” says Fitzpatrick. He spent much of the night lying awake, thinking about his own extraordinary wealth and the wealth around him—kitchens with stoves, refrigerators and freezers full of food, electric heat and lights, nice cars, garages, closets full to bursting with clothes, savings accounts…

“

The churches we connected with were full of poor people, and they have a natural spirituality—it isn’t cluttered like ours is. They don’t have enough stuff to get cluttered. They just have God. And they’re happy.

”

He couldn’t forget the voice: “Only one house for Me?”

Sunday morning brought a far different message than he had planned. Toward the end of the service, after all the songs had been sung, after the regular offering had been given, and just when everyone thought the service was about over, Fitzpatrick began to share his story of what the Lord had said to him that Wednesday.

It wasn’t patronizing or reproachful, just truthful and sincere. Putting a small basket on the table in front of him, Fitzpatrick said to his congregation in Moose Jaw, “I think we can build more than one house for God, and [my wife] Marilyn and I are going to give the first thousand.” As the congregation looked on, wide-eyed, he pulled a cheque out of his pocket and dropped it in the basket. Then he sat back…and the floodgates continued bottom of page 6

[above] Pastor Wade Fitzpatrick with tsunami house recipients. [left] Renovated Ministry Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka