Between the November ‘25 Summit (Kitchener), and the October ‘26 Summit (Edmonton), lies not so much a valley, but a plateau. Here, punctuated by meetings (like in St. Albert, Jan. 17), affirmations (like churches choosing to become Catalysts or Observers) and a Board/church retreat (like the one in southern Ontario in June ‘26), conversations are flowing like streams. Questions are being asked between the Summits: what do you see Toward Canada (TC) becoming? How soon will you have….? Where do you see the extent of the local church council’s integrity? Can you tell me more?
Churches are asking; TC is researching and answering. One area is leadership. The June retreat (or, as I’d rather say, advance) will see a growth in the board to include representatives for several churches, to make the leadership broader.
Another question on the plateau: how do you see the Confessions? The draft that was written during the November Summit says this:
“We do not consider [these] confessions as boundary markers which include some and exclude others, but rather as means of giving expression to the vital core of our confessions, the attractive, invitational hope found in the gospel of Jesus the Christ; elaborating, educating, but never obscuring the beating heart of God’s redeeming love for God’s creation.”
In short: the Confessions are the (to belabour the analogy just a bit more) ponds into which, and more to the point, out of which life-giving water flows, attracting hearers to the beauty of redemption.
Right now, several Canadian churches are considering becoming catalyst churches; churches that will enlarge the board and continue defining what this new entity will be. Several churches have already signed up to be catalysts; their names will be announced soon. Same with observer churches. Some have signed up, some are considering.
Plans are being made to hold online conversations and online learning opportunities.
There is more than just simple interest in what the Board of TC is doing. There is a genuine desire to build something new, something wherein churches can support each other in being welcoming, in living in and sharing the majesty and mystery of God, in being congregations of love and grace.
It’s a new day.
Many Blessings,Peter Bulthuis
