Summer 2009

Page 1

The Free Methodist Church in Canada | Summer 2009 – Volume 6 Issue 3

Some

Cover Some Great News About Some Great Connections by Bishop Keith Elford

great news

page 2

about some

Editor’s Desk

great connections

page 3 It Takes A Village by Kim Henderson

pages 4-9 I Know What We Believe In But What Are We Doing? One church’s journey out of the land of ideas by Darryl Dozlaw

page 10 Passages Celebrating Generosity by Joanne Bell

page 11 International Child Care Ministries - Direction by Doug Dawson International Child Care Ministries - Direction by Anna Lakatos World Relief Canada Ministry Opportunity Upcoming Events including Foundational courses Ministers Conference Dates Prayer Guide

Page 12

An Eternal National Of Many Cultures by Dan Sheffield

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

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

I

have to be honest with you. I love living in Canada because I enjoy lots of things about each of our four seasons. But when the leaves start to turn colour and the air is a little more crisp, we know that football season is upon us. While I don’t claim to know the strategies of the game inside and out, and I only watch sporadically until the schedule begins to close in on Grey Cup weekend, I do love football. [BTW, although we have lived in the greater Toronto area now for 12 years, Donna and I are still devoted fans of the team that won the 2008 Grey Cup!] One doesn’t have to be a football fanatic to understand that there is something powerful in the dynamic of the game. On the one side of the line, there is a group of mighty, muscled men who are pulling together to advance the football down the field. On the other side of the line, you have the defensive squad that is doing everything to stand firm and resist the progress of the opposition. It is in its working together that a team wins touchdowns and in its standing together that a team resists giving ground. If the CFL Salmon Arm, B.C. – Over a decade ago, the Crossroads Free Methodist Church had it in their hearts to plant a new congregation. Just recently, that new congregation (Lakeside Community Church) moved out of sharing meeting space with Crossroads and into a neighborhood school so that it could more effectively reach another part of the community. They have also set up an office and meeting space in downtown Salmon Arm and their youth ministry, led by Dustin Laird, is based in the community centre, where non-churched teens are regularly being impacted with the gospel.

had been around in New Testament days, I wonder whether the Apostle Paul might have looked to the gridiron for a metaphor that represents the Church in its mission of advancing the kingdom of God and resisting the kingdom of darkness. This edition of the Mosaic is focused on telling some good news stories of what is happening in the life of the FMCiC across this great nation. When we stretch out our offensive and defensive lines from Vancouver in the west to Quebec City in the east, we are spread across a great distance, but even so, there are some interesting connections at work – some of them inter-provincial, and some of them international – that demonstrate that God is able to accomplish His work when people are united in purpose. Here goes for a few stories that come to mind, though there are many others that also need to be told, some of which are stellar because of their innovation and others that are stellar because of their steadiness. Winnipeg – Barrie – Ghana: The Crestview Park Free Methodist Church in Winnipeg had some wonderful days and some tough days. More recently, under the leadership of Joseph Seidu (originally from Ghana) the Crestview congregation has come alive with new vigor and growth. One might suspect that with a large contingent of Ghanaians the growth in this congregation would be from among African immigrants. Not so. Crestview Park is seeing people come to Christ from a wide multi-cultural spectrum.

Meanwhile, back at Crossroads, under George Fleming’s Outside Lakeside Community leadership, the congregation, Church with Sheldon Carlson made up mainly of retired people, [left] and Dustin Laird [right] continues to reach out with its weekly soup kitchen, a ministry that has been in place for many years. The new development is that in recent months, community people who have been dropping into the soup kitchen on weekdays are now also finding spiritual nourishment at the Sunday morning service. Pine Grove - Mississippi, ON: If you stand in the church yard of the Pine Grove FMC, other than the parsonage, not another house is in sight. Yet this rural congregation led by Jack Bradley has a vision for ministry. There is a Saturday evening service for shift workers and others who are not available on Sunday; there is a vibrant Sunday morning service; and on Sunday nights, Pine Grove people travel to the little hamlet of Mississippi to participate in a lively evening service.

Crestview Park FMC, Winnipeg

But what is the connection to Barrie? The Barrie Free Methodist Church has developed a heart for the country of Ghana and has sent teams, funded projects and supported John-Mark and Loreli Cockram during their short-term ministry in Accra. It’s primarily because of the strong connection between Barrie and Accra, Ghana, that the Free Methodist Church in Ghana requested to become a Mission District of The Free Methodist Church in Canada. This past summer Joseph was in Ghana to minister in several places and to build relationships with the Free Methodist leaders. “Great Connections” ... continued on page 2

Mississippi FMC

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