Winter 2014

Reflecting the diversity of ministry expression within the Free Methodist family

The Free Methodist Church in Canada | Winter 2014 | Volume 11, Issue 1

CONTENT COVER Thinking things through as Wesleyans

by Bishop Keith Elford PAGE 2 Editor’s Desk Forming a Desire for Holiness Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

by Jared Siebert PAGE 3 Understanding Communication

by Kim Henderson Healthy Church Talk

by Marc McAlister PAGE 4 Disciple-making as “Intervention”

by Dan Sheffield Journey toward wholeness in Jesus A framework for intentional disciple-making PAGE 6 Passages Steps to Financial Health What shape are you in?

by Sandy Crozier PAGE 7 OUR HISTORY: Impact of Early Women Church Planters First Installment

by Dan Sheffield Does More Technology Mean Less Communication?

by Alison McKinnon General Conference News From our Conference Coodinator

by Chris Lewis PAGE 8 Three Whitby Youth learn about their internal and external lives

by Rev. Wesley Wood 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.

THINKING THINGS THROUGH AS WESLEYANS | BISHOP KEITH ELFORD

W

hat do we believe as a movement … what difference does it make? My goal in this article is to whet your appetite with some select quotes from this year’s presenters at the 2013 Ministers Conferences. These presentations speak to our heads, hearts, hands and feet.

John Vlainic on Wesleyan Distinctives: …

In his “The Character of a Methodist,” Wesley makes it clear that the distinguishing marks of a Methodist are not doctrines or practices, though orthodoxy (right doctrine) and orthopraxy (right practice) are assumed …

Wesley would want to hear about a pervasive Christ-like heart for God and for neighbour … about people who are using the Means of Grace that all serious Christians employ to become more like Jesus … in any place and at any time!

Dale Harris on Justification by Faith: “The gift,” Paul says, “is nothing like the trespass.

Because where the trespass of one man brought death to many”—God has reversed the trespass—“God’s grace,” Paul says, “the grace that is ours in Jesus Christ, God’s grace is overflowing from the one to the many. ...

Judgement followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many sins and brought justification.” Did you grasp that? Where sin had touched us all and condemned us all and implicated us all, God offers us all instead, his grace, his life, his “Clean Slate.” … it’s about experiencing a reversal of sin in our own lives that’s so deep and so transformative, that it leaves us passionate about sharing it with others. It’s about grasping it so deeply “in here” …

Jay Mowchenko on Justification by Faith: …

I assume you have been justified by faith …

But do we live it? FEEL it? Is it part of our daily present awareness?

The pendulum swing that shows me how much justification by faith I live in goes from wretched self-hatred to smug selfrighteousness. Living the doctrine of justification by faith centres me in a place of humble gratitude as measured by: •

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MOSAIC

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How willing am I to encourage instead of criticise? … to give and receive forgiveness When it comes to evangelism, is my relationship with God – good news?

How much of it is me, … how much is dependent on the Holy Spirit?

The pendulum swings in the healthy zone when I cease from working harder at being justified by faith and let God love me…

Greg Pulham on Sanctification … The evangelical tradition tends to talk about salvation primarily in terms of conversion …

What is clear from Romans is that salvation has a broader meaning – justification, sanctification, and glorification … something that has already come, that we are continuing to work out, and that we are still waiting for.

John Wesley open air preaching in Cornwall from 1880 journal

This diagram is a simplified version of what Wesley called “The Scripture Way of Salvation.” …the protestant reformers called for a renewed understanding of how salvation begins … By believing that God has done everything necessary to restore us to right relationship with him through Christ, … it is like acquiring our ticket for admittance into heaven, eternal life at the end of the journey.

Let me represent this close connection by removing the middle part of our diagram. … this is the message that evangelicalism has made primary … “Believe in Jesus so you can go to heaven when you die.” … it prompts me to ask, “Where has holiness gone?”

Can you see what this kind of simplifying the gospel to justification and glorification has done? When we link the beginning so closely to the end of the journey, we remove the crucial middle part!

Amy Caswell Bratton on Christian Perfection: Christian Perfection is not about moralism; it is about encountering the living God. Moralism sets up rules and boundaries for the sake of identifying who is in, and who is out … Christian Perfection is about encountering the living God … [and] making choices that are complex … that involve saying no to many things that are not in themselves sinful, but would be unhelpful for us to indulge in.

Perfection, as Wesley described, is being freed from what he called the “inbred sin” that plagues our lives … After outward obedience to God’s law begins to shape our lives, a new layer of our brokenness tends to emerge. We struggle with selfishness, with pride and other inward attitudes that pull us away from God, despite our best efforts to the contrary …

Vern Frudd’s challenge on Sanctification: •

Experiencing sanctification is more important than knowing great theology.

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We need a fresh anointing ourselves – to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

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We cannot tell people to grow into spiritual areas that we are not experiencing as pastors.

You can see the presentations in written, audio and video form at: http://fmcic.ca/index. php/en/fmcic-events/ministers-conference/ministers-conference-2013.

Rev. Keith Elford is the Bishop of The Free Methodist Church in Canada | info@fmcic.ca

MOSAIC 2

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK JARED SIEBERT rch Planting Director of Churc

Lisa Howden Managing Editor

Broken Telephone

H

ave you ever played broken telephone?

The first time I ever played was with a group of kids that were much older than me.

There was a four year gap between me and most of the other players and I was perhaps still a bit too young to understand the point of the game. Someone explained that all I had to do was listen to the sentence that the person on the left spoke into my ear and then whisper it to the person on the right . . . easy enough. Of course, you know what happened, the words that I heard made no sense to me - it wasn’t even a sentence!

I dutifully passed it on to the player on my right and by the time we got to the end and the last person was asked to repeat what they had heard not one word was the same. Everyone laughed, but I was baffled - wondering what had happened. How had the chain of communication broken down?

Canada, at its longest distance east to west is 5,514 kilometres - we currently have just under 150 churches spread across those kilometres, some in cities, others in towns and still some in villages. So the challenge has always been to find the best modes of communication within our movement to reach as many of our leaders as possible.

Here are some of the questions that constantly run through my head when I consider “communications and our denomination” . . . How many leaders are reading listserv messages from the Ministry Centre? (The Pastors Listserv, which all members of conference should be receiving, is our primary, front-line communication tool.) How many will visit the website to find the resources that have been developed in-house? If we spend the money to create a video, how many will actually see it - how many will use it? What about our Facebook page, are people engaging with others to lessen the effects of that 5,514 km gap and keep us connected (Connection is one of our eight core values.) How many people will actually read this article?

FORMING A DESIRE FOR HOLINESS Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

I

was reminded of James K.A. Smith’s book “Desiring the Kingdom” several times during our 2013 Pastor’s Conferences. In his book he warns us that marketers “get it”. They know that in order to change a person’s behaviour you must first capture and then aim the heart.

In other words, marketers know that we become what we love. By playing with the basic components of how we imagine the good life, by offering us sacramental new products which point the way to the good life and by establishing a liturgy that maintains our desire for more (your life is not complete – imagine if it was like this! – you’re inadequate – can you see your need? – your salvation is at hand – just buy this) marketers are able to shape what we love and then ultimately change what we do.

Smith suggests that the church’s imagination of the good life, practices, and life together can be equally powerful.

We too can become what we love. The challenge for many churches, however, is that we have begun to imagine discipleship only as information. Smith describes our current problem in the church as trying to put out the consumer fire in our hearts by running a bucket brigade to our heads. We seem to think that right thinking leads to right living. Smith asks us to re-evaluate that approach.

Instead, he suggested that we re-imagine the good life, that we re-think the power of the sacraments, and that we re-construct our liturgies. His hope is that through all of this we can re-establish contact with our hearts and re-discover a Christian discipleship that shapes and aims our hearts toward God’s kingdom and ultimately changes what we do.

The stories that we hear from you continue to inspire and encourage us to share them with the rest of the body in order to strengthen that sense of community and connectivity.

So, let’s stay engaged and do what we can to foster communication in our circles of influence.

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The Free Methodist Church in Canada Our Facebook page is a great way to connect to the larger Free Methodist body. Read and post encouraging stories, local FM church events. We also link to articles on the FMCIC website - so you’ll always be in the know!

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Following twitter.com/fmcic is a great way to stay in the loop!

what emerged. There is a growing sense of seriousness and determination – and that is exciting. You’ll be hearing more about that over the coming months – and you’ll have the opportunity to continue the conversation at our upcoming General Conference.

How is it that a movement that once led the way in its dedication to and success in discipleship is now struggling so deeply with discipling?

So what exactly happened during our Pastor’s Conferences? Well, we took three days together and reminded ourselves of the unique values that shaped the early Methodists and asked how these same values could help us with the big questions of today. For many, this recent reminder of our heritage was not simply a rehearsing of our collective story but the fuel we needed to re-ignite our imaginations. Coming from these conferences is a growing desire among us to recommit ourselves not only to preaching and teaching holiness but to experiencing it for ourselves. For many, the picture we had of the “good life” has needed some serious revision. We also took time to reflect on how God’s work, through the practices and liturgies of historic Methodism, helped them not only re-imagine the “good life” – but also to experience it first hand.

Speaking quite personally, there have been some real take aways for me from the Pastor’s Conference this time around. Amy Caswell warned us that Methodist pastors have often been good teachers and preachers of holiness but have frequently been in danger of missing out on the very thing they teach and preach about. John Vlainic said something that also really stuck with me. He suggested that 1 Corinthians 13 is actually the goal of Christian life.

I’ve never though of it quite like that before! In response, I have been very seriously reflecting on 1 Corinthians 13. Not just as a beautiful piece of poetry or powerful sermon material but a blueprint for my life. I want what it describes to become my picture of the good life. I have really sensed that my own desire for holiness has been strengthened through these Conferences.

Now I recognize that a lot of this could seem like wishful thinking. It also might be too soon to tell if anything will come of it. But if Smith is right this is at least where it all starts. I hope he’s right.

1 Corinthians 13

Over the past number of years the FMCiC leadership community (Bishop, National Leadership Team, Network Leaders, Board of Administration, Pastors and Local Church Leaders) have been noting a growing unease with the results of Free Methodist discipleship. Here are some symptoms we’ve noticed so far. Low levels of spiritual passion. Lack of interest and engagement in church life. Fighting like those discipled by the world when we disagree with one another. Abandoning each other when hard times hit. And worst of all, disinterest in or an inability to share our faith. Imagine a church that hasn’t introduced anyone to Jesus in years! Even worse imagine a church that hasn’t and doesn’t seem to mind! All of these have led us as a leadership community to ask what is going on with discipleship in our churches? How is it that a movement that once led the way in its dedication to and success in discipleship is now struggling so deeply with discipling? We’ve had to do some serious soul searching. Pastors and thought leaders in our movement have done some reflecting at our Regional Gatherings and at our recent Pastor’s Conferences. We were excited by

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Jared Siebert is the Director of Church Development for The Free Methodist Church in Canada | jared.siebert@ fmcic.ca

3 MOSAIC

MARC MCALISTER Director of Church Health

UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION

C

ommunication is one of those words.

It’s a skill that is crucial – both written and verbal. It’s a competency that’s desired: ‘effective communication skills’ is often seen as a requirement in job postings. Yet the word itself is loaded with the potential for confusion because communication means different things to different people!

The end goal of communication is to have your message received and understood in the way that you intend. Here are a few things I have learned to make communication effective toward reaching that goal.

One of the most helpful things I’ve learned is that if I know how the other person prefers to communicate I do my best to adjust my own style accordingly. Having taken training to be a certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator consultant, I am even more aware of people’s preference for introversion (I) and extraversion (E) and what that looks like. There are many aspects to a person’s personality, so I am simplifying this quite a bit by focusing on just one aspect, yet when we observe people the introvert/extravert dynamic can be easier to see. Some people prefer introversion - that is, they need time to reflect on information and organize their thoughts before they speak. So I give them time but I need to make sure I follow up so that the issue isn’t ignored or dropped.

Often, but not always, introverts prefer written communication, so email works well. In a group setting, introverts tend to be quiet and after they have had time to listen and reflect on the conversation, I ask them to share. It also helps a lot when they have received information in advance of a meeting.

Some people prefer extraversion – that is, they think out loud. They do their processing of information as they go. They need to talk it out and so a phone or skype call works best. In a meeting setting, extraverts talk easily so it’s necessary to include those who aren’t readily sharing. This leads me to a statement I learned in my training that I try to always remember: ‘If you don’t know what an extravert is thinking, you haven’t been listening and if you don’t know what an introvert is thinking, you haven’t asked’.

There are times when someone who prefers introversion also wants to talk but usually those phone calls are shorter!!

There are other practices that I have also found helpful for effective communication.

When I need to have a conversation with someone, I use email to set a time for it rather than playing telephone tag. I try to respond in a timely manner for both voice mails and emails. On those occasions when I know it will take a little longer to return a voice mail, I send an email to let the person know I received the message and establish a time that will work best for me to return the call.

Depending on my schedule, I make good use of the ‘out of office’ setting for email and change the voice mail prompt accordingly.

This way when people contact me they aren’t completely frustrated, and if it’s an emergency, they know to move onto ‘plan b’.

When I receive an email, I read it thoroughly and address every comment and question in

KIM HENDERSON Director of Personnel

it. I usually do this by responding directly in the body of the email using a different colour.

Active listening is hugely important. This isn’t listening silently but taking notes, stopping to paraphrase what I’ve heard, and asking clarifying questions so that all parties are on the same page. Whether it’s skype, phone or face to face, active listening is crucial. An important follow up after the conversation is to send an email detailing the main points, checking for accuracy and completeness. This also provides a written record of the conversation and a paper trail, which is necessary in some situations.

The end goal of communication is to have your message received and understood in the way that you intend.

I maintain regular updates with team members. Susan (my amazing administrative assistant) and I communicate through email and skype calls. On my behalf, Susan sends out an update to the members of national MEGaP (ministerial educational guidance and placement committee) three times a year. The NLT (National Leadership Team) meets once a month, face to face and we set those meeting times early in the year.

Yet even with what I know there are times when miscommunication still happens.

Apart from technological glitches and the occasional email that remains floating in cyberspace, it’s usually because I haven’t done what I know I should do. There are times when I rely too much on email (yes, I am an introvert!) and email does not convey tone or body language no matter how many emoticons we use. Email works well for information but there are times when the best choice is to pick up the phone.

When we don’t practice active listening, we get into trouble. I’ve seen this happen a number of times and I’m sure you have too.

We’re in a meeting, we’ve all heard the same information and conversations and nobody paraphrases or asks clarifying questions because we all think we have understood everything. Why ask a question when we get it? The problem comes a few days later when we realize that the people around the table in that meeting understood the same conversation and information differently and we experience the consequences of not pausing to ask even one clarifying questions.

Does that situation sound familiar?

Effective communication is important and one would think that with all of the communication tools available to us to enhance our communication, we would be consistently better at it! I have found that understanding and appreciating differing communication styles helps - especially in teams. If you would like to explore this with your board, pastoral staff or ministry teams, then please invite me to come for a Myers Briggs workshop. We’ll laugh a lot, learn to appreciate the diversity in a team, and learn tools and practices that will help teams communicate more effectively.

Rev. Kim Henderson is the Director of Personnel for The Free Methodist Church in Canada | kim.henderson@fmcic.ca

HEALTHY CHURCH TALK

IF

we wanted to tackle the issue of what good communication looks like in a healthy church, there would certainly be a number of interesting topics we could land on. For example, a good deal of time could be spent on the lines of communication in the overall structure of the church and questions like – “How do things get decided?”

“How do I find the answer to my question?” or “How do I discover what is going on around here?” (These topics and more would certainly land in the Functional Structures part of the NCD church health discussion).

Or we could talk about how the church can engage social media (or if they should). And there certainly would be value in looking at how we communicate the Jesus story, the mission of God and the path to Christian maturity (which would include but not be limited to talking about how we handle the preaching and teaching ministries of the church).

For the purposes of this space, I would like to narrow the focus and examine how we talk to each other as the church (the people of God). Again, I realize this could send us off in a number of helpful directions. We could (and probably should someday) have conversations about how we are to disagree with one another, about forgiving one another, about handling the truth in love, about spurring each other on and about holding each other accountable ... to name a few. Indeed, there is a lot to talk about and a lot to work on when it comes to our conversations with each other.

But for now I would like us to think about and be challenged by this question – When we gather together (outside of the corporate worship setting) how do we talk about what God is up to in our midst? Do we talk about what God is up to at all? We should.

Allow me to press in with a few more questions along these lines. When we get together, do we express what we are thankful for? Do we praise God around each other?

Do we share with each other where we have seen God at work in our lives and then think through together how He might be inviting us to respond to what He is doing?

Do we talk about what God is revealing to us as we pursue deep relationship with Him and then help each other wrestle through the implications for our lives? Wouldn’t those kinds of conversations be helpful?

Wouldn’t these kinds of conversations foster healthy relationships and a healthy church?

These are important pieces of communication that I fear are all too frequently missing from our times together, in both formal and informal settings. Don’t get me wrong, I like coffee and cookies and laughing as much as the next person.

I just think there needs to be more to our conversations if our desire is to be about our Father’s business. (Just so you know, as a pastor who often forgot to pray with church

members I was visiting, I am feeling more then a little convicted about this.)

Sharing what God is up to, listening to the stories of others, reflecting together on what God is saying and inviting us into and adjusting our lives accordingly – this is the challenge for all of us.

The Bible gets at this a lot. I won’t list them all, but there are all kinds of “one another’s” in the New Testament that point us to these types of deeper conversations being a necessary component to our doing life together as Christ followers. We need to be having these conversations.

John Wesley included these types of conversations as one of the Means of Grace, those wonderful practices that serve as channels for God’s transformative grace to flow into our lives. Wesley encouraged Christian conferring, where groups of Christ followers would pause together and reflect together on what God was saying or doing in their midst and then adjusting their lives in response to God. It would serve us well to be having these conversations. (By the way, if you want to explore the Means of Grace, check out the God’s Grace Channels resource on the FMCIC website. It will help you start to have these types of important conversations with a few good friends.)

I believe as we engage together in these vital conversations, we will become healthier together. And we will be filled with awe and wonder at who God is and all that He does as we share and respond to His story together. This is vital to our mission. Let me explain: I recently read an article on why people are not sharing their faith by Eric Geiger. In the article Geiger cited the work Contagious by Jonathan Berger, which deals with the topic of how thinking and social influence spreads. Berger referred to a study done on why some online articles are shared more than others. One of the findings was that articles that awakened a “sense of awe” in readers were thirty times more likely to be shared. Geiger, reflecting on all of this, concluded that people may not be sharing their faith with others because they have lost a sense of awe and wonder regarding God. If that is true, the kinds of conversations I have been encouraging us towards are vital so that our sense of awe and wonder towards God and the things of God is constantly being stirred as we share what He is saying and doing in our midst.

A large part of communication in a healthy church involves us conferring together, as Wesley would say. Sharing what God is up to, listening to the stories of others, reflecting together on what God is saying and inviting us into and adjusting our lives accordingly – this is the challenge for all of us. This starts with you and me the next time we get together with other Christ followers. Let’s not hold back. Let’s dive in to these meaningful, inspiring, challenging, worshipful, vital conversations. And let’s be filled with wonder and awe together.

Rev. Marc McAlister is the Director of Church Health for The Free Methodist Church in Canada | marc.mcalister@fmcic.ca

MOSAIC 4

Disciple-mak

“Interve F

or decades I have lived with the motto of my high school (in Napanee, Ontario) running as a script in the back of my mind. Along with “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Silly Little Love Songs” pulsing from the jukebox was this quote painted on the cafeteria wall: “Habits Crystallize into Character.” The motto likely comes from a popular, late 19th century treatise on “education” that may have appealed to an early principal when the high school was started. But it also hearkens back to notions expressed by Greek philosopher Aristotle, and the Hebrew author of Deuteronomy. Jesus, Paul and John Wesley also had points to make in regard to habits and character as well!

As a teenager sitting in that cafeteria I was already aware of habits of mind, spirit and body that were forming my character – for good and ill. This reflection was part of my journey to Christian faith. By which habits will I be shaped? What kind of character will emerge in my life?

My reaching out to Jesus as a senior teen was largely a call to be cleansed, transformed and filled with the goodness/ righteousness of God, of which the Christian testimony speaks. I had a distinct sense of offering myself to God in the manner of Romans 12:1 – to be available for whatever God might ask of me (sacrifice), and desiring to be holy and pleasing to God. Subsequently, my faith journey has been an exercise in dealing with the following verse (12:2) – “do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Do not be conformed, be transformed…

From childhood we are all being conformed to the patterns of this world – the habits, practices, beliefs, and values that shape our families of origin, as well as the wider impact of neighbours, teachers, schools, friends, and social organizations that form the cultural environment that we inhabit. (Note the word, “inhabit.”)

It is our encounter with Jesus as Saviour/Healer and Lord/Master that initiates a process of transformation or metamorphosis. All those beliefs, habits, values, and practices that have shaped our lives to that point begin a process of dissembling. In the chrysalis everything about the caterpillar turns to ‘goo’ and then the butterfly begins to be constructed, all while still wrapped in a protective cocoon.

intensive and sustained process of detoxification. That’s what disciple-making is, a spiritual ‘intervention’ that deconstructs our formation as consumers and reconstructs us through a new, rival formation, around a God-loving, others-oriented, way of thinking, practicing and living.

Go and Make disciples…

When Jesus concluded his earthly ministry by telling the apostles to “go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you” he pointed to the core functions of Christian community. He followed that with the affirmation that “you will be my witnesses.” Since that time the people of God have sought to carry out these tasks, and live as faithful witnesses, with varying degrees of success.

One of the great struggles has been to move from merely making “believers” to making “disciples” -- to move beyond inclusion to re-orientation. To achieve these goals we must situate the disciple-making function of Christian community at the heart of the mission of the people of God – the Church.

Jesus told his disciples to “go,” to move, to take this good news to people who have not heard it. Jesus was always “in motion.” He calls his followers to be the same. But as we “go,” we are to “make disciples.” Make is a formative word; effort is required to make something, like a potter shaping a new pot. Disciple particularly refers to a person more like an “apprentice” in a carpentry shop, than a student in a classroom. An apprentice practices what the master shows him to do; rather than merely absorbing knowledge as in the traditional image of a student.

Disciple-making, then, is literally a reconstruction process centered around the beliefs, values, habits, attitudes, and practices of the Kingdom of God. Our question at the moment is – “How are we doing at this business of making disciples?” Does this happen just by osmosis – come to church and you will become a disciple, automatically, over time? There is definite truth in that perspective – just gathering together with the people of God does make a difference. In fact, when Western society was supportive of the notion of God, in general, or at worst ambivalent, churches could “just do their thing” and new believers would have an idea of what it meant to grow up in Christ.

Most of us, through the experience of our own struggle, recognize the difference between the metamorphosis of the caterpillar to the butterfly as automatic (all by itself ) and that of mind/spirit/body metamorphosis, as followers of Jesus, as not automatic (effort is required).

Paul knows this – “do not be conformed – be transformed by” – these are action phrases. He repeats this thought in Philippians 2 – “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Salvation – forgiveness, healing – is a gracious act of God. Now, Paul says, reorient your life (habits, practices, values, beliefs) around that gracious act.

Today however, we live in a ministry context in which Canadian society, in general, finds the church meaningless to their everyday lives, or at worst, is openly antagonistic to the God of Christian Scriptures. A passive approach (Christian osmosis), will not do justice to “make disciples” – an intentionally organized and planned action. Paul’s urgings in Romans 12 and Philippians 2 also indicate planning and effort.

Conversion is not primarily a matter of deciding in favour of certain beliefs or having certain experiences. It is rather a change of worlds, participation in a new worship, and journeying toward a new city. (Bryan Stone, Evangelism After Christendom)

•

In both Romans 12 and Philippians 2, Paul follows directly upon these statements by pointing to appropriate habit/ practice reorientation – “do not think of yourself more highly than you ought; love must be sincere; hate what is evil, cling to what is good; do everything without grumbling or arguing.”

Alan Hirsch, suggests that “there is every reason to believe that this re-orientation process will require an

The accompanying diagram suggests the core functions of the ekklesia – the called out people of God – the church.

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We are called to gather together to worship God – this is the “work of the people” (leitourgia) – to worship God in mind, spirit, and body. This gathering is a practice that sets us apart from those who worship other “gods” or sit at home drinking coffee and reading the Sunday paper. It is also a time of transformative encounter with God, who always shows up when his people gather, whether we acknowledge it or not.

We are called to live in a different manner with our brothers and sisters in Jesus – typified by compassionate, inter-connected relationships (koinonia). With graciousness, not judgment. With love, not indifference. With listening hearts. With

practical care and concern.

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We are called to love our neighbours in the same way that we pay attention to our own needs. Jesus’ life, ministry and death embodied what this kind of service (diakonia) looks life: healing, compassionate action, generosity, grace and mercy, as well as sacrifice beyond expectation.

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We are also called, by Jesus, to make disciples (the imperative form of manthano/to learn by practice), as a core expectation. This includes baptism and teaching obedient responses to the good news of Jesus (like “love one another”). The early church practiced disciple-making with intentionality – core beliefs were taught (kerygma) – and sung; habits of an alternative orientation were taught and practiced day by day, week by week.

We might suggest that this whole set of functions of the local church (worship, community, disciple-making, service) is required for ongoing disciple-ship – that is, all of these are required for maintaining our daily walk as a disciple of Jesus.

Back to our question – “How are we doing at this business of making disciples?” Have believers in our congregations acquired habits and practices that distinguish them from their neighbours who do not follow Jesus? Do we have processes in place in our local churches for organizing our worship gatherings, planning times of fellowship, and providing outreach/service opportunities? Yes, usually we do. Do we have processes in place for making disciples?

You will be my witnesses…

Earlier I suggested that disciple-making is at the heart of the mission of the church. Jesus said to the Twelve: “They will know you are my disciples by the love you have for one another.”

The testimony about Jesus would be recognized, first of all, by the manner in which his disciples (people who followed his teachings and practices) lived toward one another – their relational practices as a community. Not a belief statement or doctrinal proposition, but love, demonstrated by practical, tangible means. Then, as I Peter suggests, they would have an opportunity to tell the story about why their lives are different.

This love that the disciples practiced toward one another becomes an ongoing, generation-to-generation demonstration of the incarnation, which is the heart of the Mission of God – the Son living out the Father’s heart of love, grace, compassion, and sacrifice – the call toward the restoration of all that God intended for humankind.

In this view, bearing faithful witness is not some kind of evangelism activity or marketing exercise, it is really the sum total of these core functions of local Christian community – worship, koinonia, disciple-making and service.

New Life, New Habits After God broke into my life as a young adult I had the fortunate experience to live as part of a small Christian community on the West Coast of Vancouver Island for almost one year. There, habits of life and devotion were encouraged that built upon Christian attitudes and practices that were taught and modeled by my parents and Christian camping mentors. Over the next several years I had a number of profoundly transformative experiences of living and functioning in Christian community with godly, disciplined colleagues and mentors. Re-orientation of beliefs, values, habits and practices was ongoing.

5 MOSAIC

king

as

ention” Over the intervening 30, or so, years those habits and practices (disciplines) have been the bedrock of my journey toward wholeness in Jesus. Every time those habits and practices became sporadic, the habits and practices of our culture (whether materialism, self-centred me-ism, or distorted sexuality) would seep in, seeking to re-conform me to the patterns of this world.

These days I am glad to be a part of a Christian community where we are close enough, relationally, to one another to hold each other accountable when its seems like one or another of us is drifting away from Kingdom values and practices. We encourage one another weekly through corporate worship, compassionate care, accountable habits & practices (prayer, Scripture reading, Lord’s Supper), and service to those in our spheres of influence. It is this consistent testimony as a community that is giving us favour with friends, neighbours and work colleagues who ask – “Who are you people?”

This statement from NT Wright’s After You Believe, summarizes neatly this connection between the development of disciplined habits (disciple-making), living in Christian community, and bearing faithful witness: The fundamental habits of this new, strange, upside-down “kingdom life” are therefore becoming clear -- and they are the very things which Jesus and Paul were urging. They are the virtues, hard initially but second nature after long practice, which generate communities in whose life the lordship of Jesus is apparent. A life which by its very nature doesn’t stay as a hidden property within those communities but of necessity spills out into the world around as people see human life lived in a radically different, and often compellingly attractive, way. (p230) Helpful Resources for Disciple-making • Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline • Thomas H Groome, Will There Be Faith? A New Vision for Educating and Growing Disciples • G Hawkins & C Parkinson, Move: What 1000 Churches Reveal about Spiritual Growth • Michael Henderson, A Model for Making Disciples: John Wesley’s Class Meeting • Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Church • Robert Mulholland Jr., Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation • Greg Ogden, Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time • Bryan Stone, Evangelism After Christendom: Theology and Practice of Christian Witness • N T Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters To view the disciple making materials available on our website please visit: www.fmcic.ca >> Resources >> Disciple Making Resources From there you can search through the different mileposts to find resources like, Following Jesus (milepost 1); God’s Grace Channels (milepost 2); The Partnership Material - membership (milepost 3) Rev. Dan Sheffield is the Director of Global and Intercultural Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada | dan.sheffield@fmcic.ca

The Journey Toward Wholeness in Jesus A Framework for Intentional Disciple-making This outline, or framework, for thinking about the process of intentional disciplemaking is built from historic Christian practices, Wesleyan methods, and contemporary applied approaches.

The beginning point for these journey mileposts assumes that Spirit-empowered, relationship-based, faithful witness that has led these persons to consider Christian faith and community.

Each of these mileposts has a brief description, several proven factors for Christian development, and a couple of options for resources that have been found helpful in the making of disciples. These mileposts are not ‘graduation’ markers, but more like signboards indicating the way forward – “now that you have got this far, these are some of the things you will find ahead of you.”

Milepost #1 Exploring relationship with Jesus – I’m a seeker This describes someone who in the course of their spiritual journey has entered into some dimension of relationship with a Christian congregation. They ‘get’ the God stuff, but are wondering about everything else, including Jesus as The Way and whether Christian community is a safe place.

Milepost #2 Growing in relationship with Jesus – I’m a Jesus follower This describes a person who has entered into relationship with Jesus Christ. They understand and believe in Jesus as the Son of God and what his sacrifice means for forgiveness and cleansing in their lives. They are beginning to live out what it means to follow Jesus – to know him, to love him and to live with self-giving love towards one’s neighbour (family, friends, and strangers).

Milepost #3 A close relationship with Jesus – I’m an active disciple This person is deeply in relationship with Jesus Christ. They speak of Jesus as an active confidante in their everyday lives, depending upon him for guidance and support. They are entering deeper into life with Jesus who, by the Holy Spirit, is bringing to maturity their love for God and their loving service with their neighbours.

Milepost #4 Jesus is the central relationship in my life – I’m a Jesus-centred, othersoriented disciple This describes a disciple whose life has been surrendered over to God for renovation and empowerment – they are willing to risk everything. God’s priorities, values and the practices of kingdom living are becoming second nature. The fullness of God’s intentions (shalom) are becoming real in both inner and outer life desires, choices and lifestyle.

MOSAIC 6

PASSAGES APPOINTMENTS Cathleen Getchell – Lead Pastor – Kingscourt FMC, Kingston, ON, effective August 18, 2013

Sandy Crozier Stewardship Development Director

Kevin Kay – Transition Pastor – Crestview Park FMC, Winnipeg, MB, effective January 1, 2014 Will Keller – Lead Pastor – Marmora FMC, Marmora, ON, effective December 1, 2013 David Moriarity – Associate Pastor (Small Groups) – The FreeWay FMC, Oshawa, ON, effective September 17, 2013 David Schuchardt – Lead Pastor – Northview Community Church, Regina, SK, effective January 6, 2014 Wesley Wood – Lead Pastor – Sault Ste Marie FMC, Sault Ste Marie, ON, effective January 3, 2014

NETWORK LEADER APPROVED Kathy Stephenson – Quinte Network, effective September 1, 2013

ORDINATIONS APPROVED & SERVICE SCHEDULED Darryl Dozlaw – (Church Planter, Saskatoon) – October 27 Joseph Jobin (Pastor, Church-on-the-Hill, Orillia, ON) – November 24 Andrew Klinger (Associate Pastor, Arlington Woods FMC, Ottawa) – December 1 Philippe Reichenbach (Pastor, St Henri FMC, Montreal) – November 16

MINISTERIAL CANDIDATES APPROVED Michael Gingerich – (staff at Lakeview FMC) – effective August 6, 2013 David Schuchardt – (attends Whitby FMC, Whitby, ON) – effective October 21, 2013

TRANSFER APPROVED TO FMCUSA Howard Olver – The Acts 12:24 Churches Annual Conference (Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference) of the Free Methodist Church-USA, effective September 1, 2013

Churches in transition Cornerstone Community Church, Almonte, ON Église Méthodiste Libre de Gatineau–La Lumière, Gatineau, QC Kingsview FMC, Toronto, ON Malvern Methodist Church, Toronto, ON New Horizons Community Church, Sarnia, ON Surrey FMC, Surrey, BC The Next Church, Kingston, ON theStory, Sarnia, ON

FMCIC Calendar This calendar is meant to provide highlights and is not exhaustive

Foundational Courses Wesleyan Theology • Ontario – May 2-4, 2014 (location TBA) • Ontario - November 7-9, 2014 (location TBA) • Western Canada – November 7-9, 2014 (location TBA)

Heart of Canadian Free Methodism • Ontario – May 2-4, 2014 (location TBA) • Ontario – November 7-9, 2014 (location TBA) • Western Canada – May 2-4, 2014 (location TBA) Personal and Church Stewardship • *NEW* - Online course - 8 weeks - starting February 3, 2014

General Conference DATE:

May 16-19, 2014 Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel

LOCATION:

Please visit the website to register for General Conference www.fmcic.ca

STEPS TO FINANCIAL HEALTH - WHAT SHAPE ARE YOU IN? Having lots of muscles does not necessarily make you physically healthy. In the same way, having lots of money does not make your finances healthy. Nor does having very little money make you financially unhealthy. Your mind is created to control your muscles. Your muscles shouldn’t control your mind. Health in finances - like health in body - comes from looking after what you’ve been given, and not letting the lack of money or the abundance control you.

And just as in physical health, there are things you can do now to help make you financially fit. Financial health involves making choices. Deciding to live differently. It may mean giving up what makes us unhealthy - like debt and overconsumption - and choosing to live free from debt and start being grateful for what you have. Because from gratitude, generosity flows. And that is taking hold of life that is truly life (1 Tim 6:19).

So what are these steps to financial health? Put down those credit cards and follow me to the financial fitness centre...

Step 1: Know where you are (Go to the Mirror)

You need to know where you are starting from. Do you owe more than you own? Are you living above or below what you make and by how much.

Step 2: Know where it’s going (Go to the Scales)

Health can slip away when we are not paying attention. Many have no idea what is consuming their money every month. And just like counting calories, you need to start counting where every penny is going. It’s the little things we spend that nibble away at our financial health. Start recording every cash, debt and credit card transaction. Keep this up for a whole month. This is a critical step in understanding what needs to change.

payment to the next smallest debt on the list. Keep rolling these payments onto the next debt until all the debt is paid.

This will take some time - but no where near as long as if you just stuck to the minimum payments.

Step 5: Balance the Budget (Strength Training)

Now it is heavy lifting time. Balancing the budget. For some, this might mean getting more income. For most, it means cutting out all the extras that are consuming money you don’t have. Make sure you are also setting aside some money for your initial emergency savings and giving.

Savings so that you can break free from debt. Giving so that you can break the hold debt has on your heart.

Step 6: Fully Fund your Emergency Savings (Endurance Training)

Once your consumer debt is completely paid off, take this monthly amount and add it to your emergency savings until it is fully funded (3 months expenses). At this point you are considered ‘Financially Stable’.

Step 7: Financially Fit (Welcome to Health!)

Once your emergency savings is fully funded, you can start using that money to accelerate your mortgage and long term savings. Continue to live free from consumer debt and live simply below your means.

Choose to be content, and grateful.

Choose to live generously.

If you are interested in learning more about becoming debt free and financially fit, we have resources online that can help - Spending Plans (Budget), Net Equity Forms, Debt Calculators, and more. You can find them under Stewardship Resources under the Resources menu.

Step 3: Initial Emergency Savings (Go to the Stair Climber)

Now here is where most people want to dive into an aggressive training program by diving into balancing the budget. Before you can do that, however, you must start an initial savings plan of one month’s expenses in order to break the cycle of always turning to debt.

Step 4: Snowball your Debt Repayment Plan (Stick to the Weight Loss Plan)

No pain, no gain. In order to break free from debt you must first commit to no new debt. Then fix all your minimum debt payments. Once the smallest debt is paid shift the

If you are interested in hosting a Debt Free and Financially Fit seminar at your church – or becoming a coach to help others get financially fit – give me a call! I love helping people find freedom from debt and discovering the joy that comes from giving from a blessed heart.

Sandy Crozier is the Stewardship Ministries Director for The Free Methodist Church in Canada sandy.crozier@fmcic.ca

Three - continued from page 8 met in Puerto Rico, I wanted to walk in a room and leave people with a little more love for God. I also wanted this to exist in Canada.

I wish I could say that I’ve arrived. I wish I could say Puerto Rico gave me some crazy revelation, or some big moment and ‘poof ’ I had what I was searching for.

I didn’t come back after ten days in Puerto Rico with my life completely figured out. That’s just not the case.

I did however have a new pursuit, one greater than any of my career, academic, or relationship pursuits. I just wanted to know God in an unbelievably, intimately and profound way. This seeking has shaped the direction in which I am heading, because it has focused my perspective on what is important in life and how much more there is outside of our worldly goals. I decided I wanted to pursue a relationship with the Lord that was so much bigger than a ‘help me please’ every few days or weeks. I wanted a faith that truly was on fire, one that

captured attention for the sole reason that that is what Christ did – He captured my attention in Puerto Rico.

He has set me on a path to the greatest pursuit of all – intimacy with Christ.”

Leighanne’s comments do not lessen the sadness I feel when I think about the three. Leighanne’s comments do however encourage me knowing that if we give students the opportunities to get involved in God’s mission to our local and global communities, their internalized faith will grow by leaps and bounds as they externally love others. Local and global mission trips are helping our students see that church is not something you add to a calendar of events or a place you show up on Sunday, but instead something you become, something you cannot leave behind.

Rev. Wesley Wood is currently lead pastor at Sault Ste Marie FMC in ON | c.wesley.wood@gmail.com

7 MOSAIC

IMPACT OF EARLY WOMEN CHURCH PLANTERS

General Conference News May 16-19, 2014 LOCATION: Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel DATE:

“We Have Everything We Need?! With the General Conference just a few short months away the anticipation is growing for the time we will gather together as a movement and encourage one another, pray together and get prepared to discren together the direction God is calling us.

As General Conference approaches delegates (both clergy and lay) are encouraged to make travel arrangements as soon as possible. To book your hotel room at the preferred rate of $119/night please visit the following website: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/ FREEMETHODISTCHURCH The reservation link is also located inside the General Conference portion of fmcic.ca. It is likely that our block of rooms will sell out so you will want to book your room as soon as possible to avoid last minute searches for a nearby hotel. To book your room over the phone please call 1 855 823 6348.

Deadlines to keep in mind • The cut off date for the hotel preferred rate of $119 is April 25, 2014.

•

From time to time we hear information about historic anniversaries of some of our Free Methodist churches.

100 years! 110 years! 120 years! It is interesting to note as you dig down into the early history of some of those oldest continuing congregations, that they were initiated by female church planters. For instance, Armadale Free Methodist Church in northeast Toronto was birthed in 1879-80 by evangelist/church planters Valtina Brown and Arlette Eddy. 80 people came to Christ during that first year of their ministry.

In 1898 (twenty-two years after FMC beginnings in Canada), James Craig, a leader in the movement wrote: “One of the most prominent facts in connection with this work is that much of it has been raised up by the labours of female preachers. These female preachers do not have a very conspicuous place in the records of the church, but their record is on high and their work of faith and labour of love is alike creditable to themselves and the church.”

Charles Sage, the original American church-planter sent to Canada in 1876 by the Free Methodists in Michigan gave some basic instructions to these young women. When persuading “the sisters” to enter into church planting work, he told them not to worry about trying to be “preachers.” Instead Sage said, “I told them to take their Bibles and read a chapter and explain it as best they could, and then call on the people to pray with them…

If I had set them to preaching first thing, they would have made a failure… They went out into the streets and lanes and prayed with people and urged them to come to Christ.”

Along the same lines please note that the General Conference registration fee is $225 per delegate (attending) and the deadline is February 28, 2014.

The registration process has been streamlined and improved - if you prefer, you will now be able to use a credit card for online payment, as always cheques can be sent to the Ministry Centre.

February 28 GC Registration payment deadline.

February 28 Reports from affiliate ministires are due.

April 25 Hotel reservation deadline.

Chris Lewis is our General Conference Conference Coordinator info@storyboardsolutions.com

Does more technology mean less communication?

A quick Google search provides links to an endless number of articles and research papers analyzing this very question. In my search I found a little gem from UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian known as the 7%38%-55% rule. This rule suggests that when dealing with feelings or attitudes 55 percent of communication is through body language, 38 percent through vocal tone/pitch/emphasis and 7 percent through content of the message.

This question of technology and communication is on my mind because I have considered pitching my cell phone and laptop a few times over the past couple of months. And why you ask? Because seemingly small things like forgetting the “” at the end of a text or sending a quickly written, poorly worded email can become incredibly big things. And is it any wonder given the fact that we are only using 7 percent of our communication potential when choosing text or email.

Sadly even our cozy little house church is not immune to these things. We have engaged in email exchanges that have gone awry because we couldn’t see the other person and pickup those subtle cues that come with face to face conversation. “J” have been forgotten and email wounds have been inflicted but we survive these techy pitfalls because our band of Jesus followers knows that God wants us in relationship so we work hard at maintaining good communication with each other (and all those other people we bump into in the world.)

As a community we have safe guards in place to ensure we have the opportunity to hang out face to face and talk. To talk: Speak in order to give information or express ideas or feelings; converse or communicate by spoken words. Thought I would throw that definition in just in case it has been a while for some of you .

Some of the stuff our house church does in the name of good communication: • • • •

Finally, we are also looking for a few key individuals and corporate partners to come alongside the event, so if you are interested please contact me directly and we can discuss how your generosity can best be utilized to ensure the success of General Conference.

If you have any comments, questions or concerns about the planning of General Conference please don’t hesitate to contact me. I can be reached by emailing info@ storyboardsolutions.com or by phone at 519 381 7975.

DOES MORE TECHNOLOGY MEAN LESS COMMUNICATION?

Mary Craig, James’ wife, herself one of those female preachers, said, “most of those employed have been women of very moderate native ability and with few educational advantages. Their labours as preachers of the gospel have been signally successful, notwithstanding a great deal of aversion to and prejudice against them as labourers in this capacity…”

Matilda Sipprell met some of that “aversion” while doing outreach meetings in Norfolk County, Ontario. When visiting home to home in a particular community she asked a Mr. West if she could come in and pray for his family. He refused but said she could pray on his front porch; when she bowed her head he spit tobacco juice down her dress. Interestingly, Mr. West is later listed among the first new believers as a result of her ministry in that village.

At the Canada Conference in 1882, B.T. Roberts appointed at least 10 women as preacher/evangelists – what we would call “church-planters.” The rationale was: “the young men whom God has called to the work generally refuse to go, and so he has to send out the young women.”

[First Installment] Much of this article was gleaned from The Battle Was the Lord’s (1960) by John W Sigsworth.

Share a meal together once a month.

Evaluation/discernment meeting each year.

Planning meetings twice a year.

Field trips together whenever our schedules jive.

Online communication like Facebook group and weekly email with Sunday outline - but strictly for sharing information and photos because otherwise it goes badly as we have experienced firsthand!

And when it does go badly we talk. And talk and talk and talk. The extroverts are thrilled and the introverts are exhausted but we talk none the less. Sometimes there are hugs at the end. Sometimes the hug arrives a couple of days later in the form of one of these . At times we agree to disagree. At times one person submits to another. And we do this because we are a community of Jesus followers. We do this because of Him. I have decided to hang onto my cellphone and laptop a little while longer but thanks professor Mehrabian for reminding me that nothing beats a good old fashioned chin wag Alison McKinnon is the Social Media Journalist for The Free Methodist Church in Canada. If you have a local church story that needs to be shared you can contact her at |alison.fmcic@gmail.com

PAST STORIES . . .

For Sale – A brief history of Freedom Christian Community’s 125 year history will help in the understanding of the for sale sign.

Ordination Fact Finding Mission – Over the last few weeks I have Facebook posted a bevy of ordination announcements, dates, photos and congratulations which got me wondering what ordination is all about so I went on a fact finding mission . . .

Upwords – First Free Methodist Church paper launched in 2001 . . .

To read the rest of these stories and many others, please visit the website at www.fmcic.ca

MOSAIC 8

Global Ministries thinking globally, working locally

Dan Sheffield Director of Global and Intercultural Ministries

THREE - WHITBY YOUTH LEARN ABOUT THEIR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL LIVES | BY WESLEY WOOD

T

hree ... the “Goldie Locks” of numbers for my ministry. Not too little, not too much. Over all acceptable? Maybe over all just right? Others led me to believe as a young pastor that it would only get worse. “I would dream to have only three,” one friend told me.

If you’ve taken the time to read books like, “You Lost Me” or the statistics provided by the Barna Group you are not shocked by their findings. All the books and statistics tell us what we have already seen, what sadly many of us have already experienced.

Three.

In the first few years of my ministry as a Youth Pastor three students graduated from high school and the church. I say these students graduated from church because as I met to talk with each of them about their

I made an animated announcement at youth that, “Next year things are going to be different!” And deep down in my heart I knew that something needed to be, but what? decision to leave they said they now needed to focus on “mature things.” There seemed to be this idea that church was for children and an adult life required something more. One student even said “I’m working and need to focus my time on what’s important for my future. Youth group was fun but I’m an adult now.”

For three years I spent a significant amount of time with each of these students, as they were heavily involved in every youth event, small group, bible study and retreat we offered. And yet each of them said in one way or another that it was time to “move on.”

In the spring of 2009 “three” was turning my stomach. I tried my best to choke down the idea that three was not too little and not too much – that in the grand scheme of ministry someday three would be “just right.” But three never really agreed with me and so I made an animated announcement at youth that, “Next year things are going to be different!” And deep down in my heart I knew that something needed to be, but what?

As I considered the three and their comments in light of how I was leading our ministry it became clear to me that we were doing our best to help students internalize and externalize their faith. I was driven to create a ministry that would give students ample opportunities to have a relationship with Jesus Christ that would affect their internal thoughts, emotions, and reasoning. We did this with the hope that this internalized faith would become externalized as they lived their lives. But then it hit me.

We talked a lot about the “externalized life” a student could have as their faith becomes stronger. We talked a lot about premarital sex, drinking, drugs, language and other things teens struggle with – but is Christianity just this? Is our internalized faith only needed so that specific external things would stop happening? If you attended our youth group up until 2009 you might say yes.

But my personal story tells me something different about Jesus Christ. Jesus has helped me stop doing specific harmful things to my relationship with Him, others and myself. But Jesus did not free me from those things in order that I might be able list off a bunch of things that I no longer do. People hear that story a lot and it sounds

PUERTO RICO: Whitby Youth serving at a school for the Deaf near San Juan – Wesley Wood (pictured top right)

pretty boring and legalistic doesn’t it? Jesus set me free from sinful things that imprisoned me in order that I would begin living the life that He created me to live.

A life defined by the fruits of the spirit, a life defined by loving the “least of these – Jesus’ brothers and sisters.”

An internalized and personal relationship with Jesus Christ will free us to become more actively involved in the relationships we share with others in our local and global communities.

Our youth group was a great place to come experience Christ and His power to stop sin in students’ lives but our youth group was not a place where students could start experiencing what life looks like as active participants in God’s mission to the world. Our youth group had no mission outside of our own walls – that’s what needed to be different. So all summer long we worked as a team and made the shift to create an environment where our youth ministry would help students internalize their faith in Jesus Christ in hand with externally becoming actively involved in local and global missions. We would no longer only be about what needs to stop but what we, in Christ, can now start doing. We would become active participants in our relationship with God, one another, and our local and global communities.

Student local and global missions has become a foundational aspect of who the youth group is at the Whitby Free Methodist Church. Due to the solid base of volunteers in Durham we have had to be creative in our approach to local missions. Our students have served by helping: the Pregnancy Help Centre in Oshawa, Cornerstone Men’s Hostel, create a Loose Change for Change Campaign for Sick Kids, manage the Durham ¼ Marathon for the Refuge, leading Sunday school, and taking part in Sunday morning adult and youth worship teams. More and more of our youth are asking and looking for ways they can serve people in our local communities.

Our youth group is also globally involved in missions.

Bi-annually our youth group, with the help of Grant Sigsworth organizes a mission trip to Puerto Rico. A team of twelve faithful, available, reliable and teachable students (F.A.R.T.S) journey to the Evangelical School for the Deaf just outside of San Juan to spend ten days doing general maintenance and updates to the grounds and facilities but more importantly loving the children.

Our first trip was in 2010 and was “sparked” by Leighanne Rathwell’s interest in becoming more involved in God’s mission to the world before the end of high school.

Almost four years later Leighanne had this to say about her involvement in the mission trip: “Through careful thought, begging prayers, and a very intensely growing adventurous spirit, I decided to go to Puerto Rico on my first missions trip. I have

since been on two more, but I hail Puerto Rico as the spark in my spirit. By far, our journey there changed me far more than any impact we had on those we served. The overwhelming theme for that mission was people. I learned that people can radiate Jesus’ love as though Jesus were standing there Himself.

And in fact, He was, actively pursuing our fellow brothers and sisters in ways unimaginable. This is probably the greatest part that hit home: the love of Christ I saw in these others was possible for me as well. It was that first glimpse of His great wonder in the people of Puerto Rico that I will remember forever.

PUERTO RICO: Whitby youth painting with school children

But this was a disheartening experience simultaneously. I had experienced this unbelievable surge of faith in this foreign place but I had to return home where experiences like the one I had were not as common. Canada (North America in general) is so often lost and out of touch with passion. We are people who busy ourselves with the things of this world and seek to fulfill spiritual dissatisfaction with fleshly things that leave us wanting more. We have no physical needs, so we seem to think we have no reason to need God. He’s not our fairy godmother, granting wishes as we ask... He’s our Father, friend, Lord, Saviour, all of which beckons us to enter into deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him. And this is what the incredible people I was privileged to travel with, and the people on the ground that we met, understood. They got it. They see that a life in close, surrendered, unashamed relationship with Christ is far more satisfying. This is where I was challenged. I wanted (likely needed) to pursue this great unabashed love with the Lord, and I wanted my life to reflect it. Like those I had Continued on page 6 - Three Visit Dan’s blog Culture and the Mission sheffield.typepad.com