Gospel Formation

NOTE FROM REV. DANIEL GIFFORD

The Formation Pillar consists of ministries that seek to help one another at St. John’s mature and grow in Jesus. Much of this work described below in brief reports happens through small and medium sized groups that meet together week by week with God and His word at the centre of these gatherings. Many in our church have felt that these groups have been a lifeline in this year that has been dominated by the pandemic. Through them, people have cared for and served each other in deeper ways than we have before the crisis, we have a newfound appreciation and love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and in the midst of our hardships we have encouraged each other to trust and treasure God much more deeply. In a time of social distancing, they have been the key to drawing us closer to one another as we have drawn closer to Jesus. They have also been instrumental in strengthening each of us to serve, not only one another, but also our neighbours, friends and strangers who are outside our church. It has been amazing to see that despite the deep disappointments and inconveniences of often not meeting in person, a number of our discipleship ministries and small groups have also grown in numbers during this past COVID year. Far from being a year to forget, 2020 has been a year filled with vitality and growth in Christ, because we have been helping each other in our small groups to learn what it means to humbly and completely depend on Jesus and set him above our greatest hopes and joys.

In 2021 we will seek to encourage many more people in our church to join small groups at St. John’s. God has also shown us new ways to connect with one another for growth in Christ that we will use to reach more of our church family. Finally, in our small groups we will cultivate the vitality in relationships with each other and the commitment to serving Jesus in our world that God has given through this most unusual time.

DANIEL GIFFORD

SMALL GROUPS - HOW DID GOD SURPRISE US WITH HIS GOODNESS?

CATECHISM

In the spring of 2020, most of our community groups shifted over to online meetings, since meeting in person was not a safe option for the majority of them. One of my greatest concerns was that as people got tired of all the time they spent in front of screens, participation in community groups would start to taper off, and members of our congregation would begin to get more isolated. Not only have groups continued to faithfully meet throughout the year, but they have done so cheerfully and thankfully. Responding to the ever-changing circumstances, groups have creatively and persistently found ways to continue to meet, and to walk with each other in Christ.

Another significant blessing for many of our groups in 2020 was the celebration of backyard communion services. Hosts graciously opened up their backyards, or found other suitable outdoor venues, and welcomed

When in-person gatherings were curtailed in March, we shuttered our weekly Catechism courses for the Spring. The focus of catechism is the formation of disciples, and I just couldn’t see how it would work over Zoom. Fast forward ten months later, and catechism is thriving. I very happily and regularly tell the staff and catechists, “I was wrong!”

After restarting on Zoom in Fall 2020, our team of catechists were pleasantly surprised to find that people were excited to participate, and now have more people regularly joining us than ever before. Things like break-out rooms, the chat function, share screen, and other tools have made digital catechism enjoyable and fruitful for those participating. And yes, people are growing in those in their area to a communion service, presided over by one of the clergy. For the summer, and the first few weeks of the fall, groups were able to gather in person and be nourished in both word and sacrament. We also continued to see new people getting connected to our groups, for which I am so thankful. In my conversations with group leaders in particular, I have been thoroughly blessed and humbled to hear how God has been encouraging and nourishing groups through Scripture, prayer, and fellowship; and to hear how our groups are caring for each other as they strive to live their faith out in the ministries which God has given them. It has not been an easy year, but the strength, the joy, the peace, and the unity found in the Holy Spirit is so clearly evident that I can only say: thanks be to God!

JOEL STRECKER

Christ and being formed as disciples even though we miss seeing each other face-to-face. Some in our community, who have had time conflicts in the past, have been able to join us for the first time which has widened our reach. We also have a contingent of Americans that join us weekly, and others scattered across Canada as well.

Many of these hope to build catechesis ministries in their own church communities, but had never been able to see a model. In this way, God has opened doors both within and beyond St. John’s for many to grow deeper in Christ.

MEN’S MINISTRY

Over the past year, as in many areas of our church, we have seen God’s blessings evident in our Men’s Ministry despite the challenges experienced due to restrictions on gatherings related to COVID-19. All of those involved in the ministry are extremely grateful for God’s presence with us and how he has taught us more about his mercy and grace in these turbulent times. At present, there are at least 6 small group bible studies involving at least 60 participants who meet weekly as part of the St. John’s Vancouver Men’s Ministry. These gatherings take place on Tuesday evenings, Wednesday mornings and other times during the week.

The goal of our men’s Ministry at SJV is to promote and experience maturity in Christ through a deepening knowledge of God’s Word. We do this in fellowship with men who have a common desire to grow in the knowledge of God and respond to his desire for us to actively serve him in his church. This past year we have been deeply encouraged in our faith through the weekly bible studies in Deuteronomy, Colossians and Eccle-

Women’s small groups started 2020 strong, with over 100 women meeting in-person for weekly Bible study, under the leadership of Kimberley Graham. In early February, many of us headed to Cedar Springs for a retreat weekend to rest, refresh and enjoy time together and with God, and to hear from God’s word. Connally Gilliam joined us again as the speaker, reminding us of how God’s eternal goodness is present in the circumstances of our daily lives. What a timely message for what lay before us as the reality of Covid-19 hit in March!

In March, Kimberley stepped down from the Women’s ministry staff position, and women’s small groups continued under the leadership of the Women@10 Board (a small group of lay leaders within W@10). Our new reality became meeting on Zoom for weekly Bible study. We had a bit of a slow ‘buy-in’ from some concerning meeting online in the Spring, but all groups did continue to meet and to pray together. We celebrated the end of our Spring term with an all-group online gathering for Welcome to Worship. siastes among others. On a weekly basis we hear men sharing their love for God’s word and in many cases testimonies that speak of God’s goodness and faithfulness, even in these difficult times.

We are actively praying that the ministry will reach out to men who are not currently involved in a community group, whether they are newcomers to the Christian faith or long-time followers of Jesus. We will be continuing our bible study program online and in person as regulations permit. In early March we will be hosting an online Men’s Ministry Breakfast event with Brian McConaghy as the speaker.

Please join us in thanking God for his immeasurable goodness and for his continuing guidance as we seek to serve the men of St. John’s Vancouver by providing a welcoming place to study and respond to God’s word.

WOMEN’S MINISTRY

EWAN WILDING

Groups continued to gather safely over the summer in backyards or parks for fellowship and prayer. Many groups were able to celebrate Holy Communion together outdoors.

By the time the Fall term started in September we had all gotten more comfortable with using zoom (or were at least willing to give it a good try). It has been a joy to see some of our most senior women stepping up to the challenge of using this new medium as a way of meeting together. We found that our registration for Women@10 had retained the same number of women, well over 100. For the first time, we held to meeting in the same small groups as the year before, which has proved to be very helpful in terms of strengthened relationships and support for each other.

We praise God and give thanks for our many small group leaders who have remained steadfast and faithful in their leadership week by week. Their commitment to the Lord and our women has kept this ministry moving steadily forward.

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

2020 was a challenging year for the Children’s Ministry. That likely doesn’t come as a surprise. This year has brought changes and challenges for all of us. We have missed being able to gather with the children each Sunday to hear God’s Word, to pray, to sing, to ask big questions, and to engage our hearts, hands, and minds in creatively responding to what God is teaching about himself and the good news of the gospel.

That being said, we know that God is at work and we are grateful for his constant presence and love. We are especially thankful for how God has spoken to people in our wider Church family through our weekly Bible Play videos. Since we started including them in our online services, brothers and sisters of all ages have commented on how these simple visual representations of Bible stories have helped them engage with God’s Word in a new way. This has been a wonderful surprise! We began making the Bible Play videos with the hope that they would help families engage in gospel-cen-

Youth Ministry is always full of surprises, but 2020 threw us a few extra curve balls!

When Covid-19 caused us to suspend in-person ministry, Leo and Emma Song-Carillo responded with online Friday bible studies and Sunday Youth continuing as smoothly as possible. But the Spring brought grieving as well, as we were forced to cancel the annual AllIn retreat, Nepal Missions Trip and unable to celebrate graduation with many of our high school and university friends.

Leo and Emma welcomed baby Amelia in August and said goodbye to their role as directors. Steven McDougal was hired as the new Youth Minister.

March required a hard pivot in how we deploy and train ministry apprentices in Artizo. Even so, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the way the changes and restrictions have actually allowed for more ministry practice and participation from our apprentices than usual. Things like weekly leading and preaching for the daily offices, leading services and liturgy on Sundays, and recording sermons from home are all ways God has allowed their training and ministry to continue fruitfultered discipleship at home. The fact that others in the Church have found encouragement in them is evidence that we can never quite be sure how God will use our efforts to bless others.

The first few weeks of our Zoom Sunday School classes have also been fantastic. It has been wonderful to reconnect with the children and to begin re-establishing the rich community that exists in and among our families at St. John’s.

We would welcome your prayers for the Children’s Ministry Team (Janelle, Heather, and Will) and for all the children and families at St. John’s. Please ask that God would give us the grace to know him more fully and love him and one another more deeply in this season.

YOUTH

WILL GRAY

Of course, Covid wasn’t finished surprising us yet. Visa complications due to the pandemic delayed Steven’s arrival in Canada and opened the door for Jeremy Graham and Kathy Shain-Ross to stumble into an adventure in Youth Ministry!

Through it all, we’ve had two great constants: the unwavering love and favour of our Heavenly Father, and the unfaltering support and leadership of our amazing team of Youth leader volunteers. We praise the Lord for their partnership in the gospel and value your ongoing prayer for the year ahead.

JEREMY GRAHAM

ARTIZO

ly. I think the congregation is probably more familiar with our apprentices than ever before, as many of these opportunities span folks from across all congregations. We are thankful for St. John’s generous support and the commitment to being a training church, and to God for raising up the next generation of Gospel workers to send into the harvest.

EKKLESIA MINISTRY

In Ekklesia, we have been surprised by God’s goodness in 2020 in many ways.

On the one hand, COVID has brought a difficulty of not being able to meet in-person and share meals as is our common practice. We obviously feel this massive challenge to fostering community across Ekklesia.

On the other hand, we’ve seen a remarkable consistency in our student ministry. In September, we made the decision to keep the same small groups as the previous year. This has led to greater depth and connection between our group members; people have been generally more willing to share prayer requests to minister to one another in a deeper way, even in spite of the return to Zoom meetings in November. We’ve also had a large number of our first year students continue to join us in Ekklesia on a weekly basis, something we’ve seen far more this year than in years past. Since summer, we’ve known that we would lose some long-time strong leaders (Noah & Juhee) and God has provided leaders (Alex Strohschein, and more recently, Noah & Juhee returning early). Also since summer, we have been praying for God to bring more women to Ekklesia and, as he did in 2019-20, God has answered. Recently, we have had several women join Ekklesia (previous attenders, first year SJVers, and UBC grads with no prior connection to SJV), for which we are very thankful.

DAVID LEWIS & DAN GLOVER

LEARNER’S EXCHANGE

As with other ministries at St. John’s, Learner’s Exchange wound down very quickly in response to the pandemic. This year we faced tremendous challenges, losing our dear founder and chair Dr. J I Packer. He is missed terribly. However, even in difficulty there is hope. We began looking at options for providing Learners Exchange via zoom. Our first session hosted by Ed Norman focusing on Advent music was a huge success. We had a hundred attendees and a list of others waiting to log on. Hosting the session online enabled us to not only increase our numbers, but also allow participants from Canada and abroad. It has given us an opportunity to reach out to regular members, guests, and St John’s alumni who have moved away. Given the outstanding success of our first zoom session, we are planning more online sessions. If not for the pandemic, we would never imagined the possibility of Learner’s Exchange being an online outreach.

ALEXANDRA RICHMOND

ESL MINISTRY AT ST. JOHN’S

ESL Outreach has been happening at St. John’s for many years. But this year, like many other groups, we started meeting on Zoom.

Lloyd and Sandy Harmel continue their work with friends and neighbours.

On Wednesday evenings a group of men and women meet under the leadership of Manya Egerton and Nancy Li. This group follows along with the sermon series, discussing the Bible passage, often in Mandarin. They also enjoy fellowship and pray together. On Sundays, this same group gathers to discuss the sermon that has just been preached, taking advantage of the sermon notes provided by the clergy, strengthening each other in understanding and living out the truths being taught.

Alongside Women@10, one small group is dedicated to loving and assisting those who have English as a second language. It also follows along in the bible study series and nurtures ties with other women from the congregation.

God has brought newcomers to all these groups who are hungry to know Christ, several have become Christians and started their journey in following Christ with the help of the support found in these groups.

Here are some testimonies from the Wednesday evening group.

If Sandy’s ESL Group before was a primary class set up by the church for non-native speakers, the group set up by Manya’s sisters is an intermediate class, which is perfectly connected and upgraded. Everything is so naturally and smoothly formed. God’s work seems to be quiet, but it is also so visible and sound. We also share our lives in Chinese after the bible study. (Sometimes others in church are invited to join.) Margaret’s (Wilson) sharing her faith inspired me a lot and reminds me of the verse from John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”.

Testimonies on Wednesday evenings, which helps to grow my faith while developing fellowship.

We are able to be knit together and deepen our faith. We can share and encourage each other.

Junzi, a member of the team, also takes the initiative to work for the synchronized subtitle of the conference notes. It has bilingual display in English and Chinese, which is very helpful!

I told him (a Chinese Christian) about the sermon notes and he was deeply touched. He said he didn’t expect St. John’s is so good and did so much to help us. I feel so blessed and beloved that in this new country, our faith can begin or continue to grow by understanding the sermon in another language, and by witnessing what the mature Christians …do for us.

Let us keep searching and find real peace and joy in God’s world. I appreciate everything among us and our team. God blesses us!

(The group)…was arranged by God, so that our non-native English speaking ethnic groups could further understand the preaching content of God’s Word.

MANYA EGERTON