Gospel Proclamation

NOTE FROM REV. AARON ROBERTS

“Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words” – St. Francis

I hate to break this to you, but St Francis of Assisi never actually said this. Not only did he not say it – it’s not biblical.

By all accounts, Francis was a very handy preacher - more like Billy Graham or Jonathan Edwards than we would likely imagine. Despite this quote (erroneously attributed to him), St Francis used ‘words’ a lot in his ministry. To cite one biographer, “sometimes preaching in up to five villages a day, often outdoors. In the country, Francis often spoke from a bale of straw or a granary doorway. In town, he would climb on a box or up steps in a public building. He preached to . . . any who gathered to hear the strange but fiery little preacher from Assisi. He was sometimes so animated and passionate in his delivery that his feet moved as if he were dancing.”

Why am I telling you all this? To remind you that proclaiming the gospel is an inherently verbal activity. And, to let you know that despite Covid, this last year, the gospel was proclaimed by more people in more places than ever before at St John’s. Don’t believe me? Read the short entries on this page. We heard the gospel preached this year from the lips of clergy, from apprentices and from the laity. It was heard in church (when allowed!), in parks, in backyards and over zoom. It was proclaimed to non-believers at Granville Island, at shopping centres and at the beach. It was proclaimed in English and Mandarin. And, the gospel was proclaimed each weekday morning and night, as well as Sundays.

So, has it been a tough year for the church? Of course it has. But, surprisingly, the gospel went forth, perhaps more any other year. Praise God!

WHAT DID WE PREACH IN 2020?

MORNING PRAYER & COMPLINE

We started 2020 preaching through the last few chapters of Matthew. In a series called ‘The Great Wisdom of God’, we learnt about the upside-down life of discipleship as we followed Jesus’ journey to the cross, his resurrection and ascension. Finishing Matthew’s gospel (which we started in 2018!) we jumped back many hundreds of years to look at a story of another journey ending.

In Deuteronomy, the people of God had finished their desert wandering. But before entering the promised land, Moses spoke to them. He told them they are about to enter a land filled with idols. Moses calls them to be loyal to The Lord in this new place - to choose life and not death. A call we must respond to today.

As an unprecedented few months became the new normal, we spent 6 weeks in summer looking at a Christian response to Covid. We heard from doctors, talked about anxiety and thought through the challenge of hospitality. We also learnt how to lament, grieve and suffer well.

When Covid hit, we had to start thinking very creatively about how we gather with one another. Out of these conversations came our weekday Morning Prayer and Compline services. There are around 50 regulars and they have become a very real and committed community. Below, Suzie Thomas reflects on what these services have meant to her.

AARON ROBERTS

A REFLECTION BY SUZIE THOMAS

Have you ever longed for someone to come alongside you each day, read the Bible with you and explain it so the words become real? Have you ever wished to be part of a prayer group that truly listens to people’s cries or thanksgivings and then offer them up as prayers to God? Well,I can tell you both of those things were longings of my heart.

Then the pandemic hit and my world closed in, became very quiet and a bit scary... but God said “no way”. Our church quickly stretched its muscles and opened their arms wide and the virtual Morning Prayer and Up next were our family services which focused in on some brilliant stories from the book of Acts. The series was called ‘No Other Name’ and we were shown that only Jesus brings freedom, life and real change. This is of course such an important truth in our current age with it’s ‘pick your own salvation’ mentality.

Heading into the new term in September, we worked through Colossians. In this letter, Paul writes to a church he has never visited, but wanted to encourage. Colossians contains some of the most soaring words about Christ! It was wonderful to hear in detail, about how amazing Jesus is and how completely sufficient our salvation is.

Our 2020 preaching series ended with an advent series on HOPE. It was very encouraging to hear again, why, despite what we see around us, we can be people of hope.

Compline services were started. Now each morning my longings are heard. We are wisely lead through the studying of books of the Bible verse by verse. We pray together to our God who binds us by His love and each morning I am SO thankful. We have become a family and we are here waiting for you to come, study and pray with us. I promise it has changed my life and my heart.

Come join us and let God speak to you too.

AARON ROBERTS

ANDREW BUCHANAN – ON STAFF EVANGELIST

LEO ON EVENING SERVICE MUSIC

Evangelism has to do with proclaiming the Good Message: the Gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected; the Promise of Redemption for all those who put their trust in Him. As the evangelist, my role is to share this news. To tell God’s great story. To share my enthusiasm for the wonders of this mystery. To share my hope in Jesus’ return and the righting of every wrong. I do this by getting into conversations, some at UBC, Jericho, or Granville Island, but mainly at Kits Beach. Even before I say a word, a smile and a nod – or maybe a wave invites folks into relationship. “Isn’t this a beautiful day?” I ask for and spell their names. I show them respect. I ask of their hopes and dreams, even their grievances. “How can I pray for you?” or “Can I be of assistance? Let me buy you a cup of tea. I’d love to hear your story.”

Friendships have been built, and I’ve been talking about Jesus right from the get go. About the joy of following Him together. Many have traveled on their ways never to be seen again, but with the memory of at least that one guy that seemed real happy about the Bible. And

In 2020, Evening Service Music focused on managing and navigating change driven by COVID-19. Along with the rest of SJV programming, moving online required a reduction of on-site volunteers, introduction of new technology and a number of administrative amendments.

A large part of Evening Service Music team members, 5 of 7, became unavailable due to work, family and other life factors. For example, Isaac and Merial Bull were heavily involved in the music team which enabled us to have A and B band lineups. Since they have taken roles at SJV, they are not available to continue serving this way. Likewise, Andrew Baylis, one of our key guitarists and backup leaders has dropped his involvement to focus on his new family and work. Emma, who has led the music ministry for 3 years, is on maternity leave while Leo has taken the interim role. We are pleased that so many of our servants are enjoying new seasons of life. We are tremendously thankful for their service. there have been others, happy handfuls of those who want to know more, that are cautiously optimistic about some of the Promises.

And, quite encouragingly, there have been those I wouldn’t have even expected from our own congregation that have joined in this wonderful venture. It’s not easy to calculate the fruit of this work, but I’ve been so blessed by our Father as He’s increased in me Christ’s own love for everyone I see. The Spirit has been moving.

In our Gospel Mondays gathering we’ve had a lovely mix of those that know Him, and those who want to. Willie Shain prayed for us last night. He asked for sunshine, and I’m warmed by it’s rays as I write this.

Glory be to God. Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me.

ANDREW BUCHANAN

to arrangements and instrumentation. On the upside, Nathan and Rachel Kwon became more involved as more time was given to writing string arrangements; instrumentation more favorable to small spaces and online reception. By God’s grace, music has continued to translate well to the congregation through online channels. More recently, we have purchased gear that aids in the reintroduction of larger arrangements and instrumentation online; a very exciting development for us.

Evening Service Music administration has also developed dramatically. As a whole, the SJV office has had to amend processes to be more coordinated and cooperative in their approach to function well. These developments are occasioned by the current circumstances but will likely benefit the church and its operations well into the future.

Altogether, 2020 is a year to be thankful for. Join us with the Psalmist in singing, “I will bless The Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

BACKYARD COMMUNION

Back yards are normally associated with BBQs in the summer. This year the back yards of our members were the location of a different kind of heaven come down to earth kind of meal – namely the Lord’s Supper.

In biblical faith there are two ways the gospel is proclaimed: 1) God’s word verbal in the pure preaching of the bible and 2) God’s word visual in the sacrament duly ministered. From the start of our physical distancing and abstinence of meeting together, preaching of God’s word continued in some way like never before.

However, sharing in Holy Communion ceased which made our hearts long even more for this form of the gospel proclaimed. Therefore, beginning in the summer our members’s backyards became the setting of not only feasting on the mere morsels of bread and wine to commune with our Lord but also to enjoy fellowship with one another as we practiced the biblical discipline of Acts 2:42 which states, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” And so St John’s Vancouver did this summer - 30 times.

JAMES WAGNER

DAVID POON ON MORNING SERVICE MUSIC

Ps 96:9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

What is worship without beauty? The global pandemic stripped down our worship last spring from a packed church with choir, organ, brass, and congregation, filling the air with praise and jubilation; to a couple of singers crammed into a recording studio, trying to manufacture joy for an invisible church. One of the greatest things that corporate worship provides is a feedback loop—being amidst fellow Christians all professing the same love and trust in the same God and experiencing his beauty among us—but that was now gone.

What was the point of music when we can’t worship together? We were discouraged, trying to sustain some vestige of Sunday morning music in our Zoom services, but failing to live up to the expectations we had built up over the years. We started to sing “virtually”—each chorister singing and recording alone to a rehearsal track—but it was a far cry from making beautiful music together in the praise of God.

Yet out of that restriction came blessing. The choir seemed to be even more dedicated during COVID, both to the church and to each other. In order that the congregation had something to sing on Sunday morning, choristers spent countless hours struggling with technology and recording the sound of their own voice (many know how harrowing this is). Meanwhile, they made time for rehearsal and practice, and reached out to each other for prayer and support; news of job losses, anxiety increases, sudden deaths, and blessed births reached all of us; and the choir, like a microcosm of the church, took care of each other.

We also discovered how much the rest of the congregation craved worship—it was even more important now that we couldn’t meet in-person. People expressed joy at seeing the faces of the choir during hymns, delight at being able to sing along at home, and thanks for helping to make their Sunday morning service just a little bit more normal. Many even joined us for our 50-person congregational choir at Christmas, where we were able to see more people singing together than we had in nine months.

Beauty in worship involves offering our firstfruits to the Lord—whatever they may be, in whatever situation we are in. But knowing that others are worshipping in like ways with us—though our songs have taken on different shape—means we can continue to encounter God’s beauty through poetry and music. And while our ultimate hope is in Jesus, we should look forward to in-person worship as a foretaste of heaven; when we encounter that great joy of worshipping together again, we should savour it and guard it jealously; and having experienced that, may we contemplate even how much greater than that our joy in heaven will be.

Ps 96:1 O sing to the Lord a new song!