An Update on the Western Canadian Gathering

An Update on the Western Gathering, St Albert, AB, January 17

(TC Western Canadian Gathering FAQs (pdf document)) Over 90 people in attendance; over 25 folks online; over 25 churches represented! The Gathering was organized by folks in western Canada in response to increasing interest in what Toward Canada (TC) was doing. Long story short: the folks who were there came away from the event having experienced community, understanding, and hope.   This was the first major meeting after the November Summit in Kitchener, ON. Because awareness of TC is rising across the country, because disaffiliating churches continue to consider their ministry future, and because there seems to be a desire for some form of ecclesiastical community, several people involved with the board of TC called a meeting in St. Albert (the town “above Edmonton”). It was a time of sharing information and looking forward.   The folks who were there heard the summarized core tenets of TC, which have been derived from many conversations with Canadian churches:

• to do ministry and mission in the Canadian political, social, and cultural context, with the background of Reformed theology
• to ensure that local church councils have the independence to allow the Holy Spirit to guide council governance decisions,
• to ensure that the network is built on (in the words of one of the churches in attendance) boundless welcome.

  These very broad parametres continue to be guideposts for this nascent group and continue to attract interest as being foundational to the kind of network into which churches are willing to invest time. (Please check out the 16-page draft of the foundations developed at the Summit on our website.)   Attendees at the Western Canadian Gathering heard stories from representatives of three disaffiliated churches in Edmonton. They spoke of the need for leadership to be prayerfully of one mind in the process, of the pain that is inherent in any disruption, and at the end of the day, of the joy of being able to focus on ministry. (You can watch the 2.5h recording here.)   The impact and outcome of the meeting: there was a sense of not being alone; a sense that whereas disaffiliation is a difficult conversation to work through, it can be a step toward greater excitement in ministry and fellowship; a sense that the Holy Spirit is doing a great work among so many congregations across Canada.   Equally important, TC laid out some of the steps for the near future (the next 6-8 months):

• have more invitational community zoom calls to specify in greater detail these next steps.
• TC will carefully shepherd the foundational draft documents. The current and the future transitional board will review these drafts and update them, with a view to creating an integrated, overall view.
• an invitation has been extended to churches to become either catalyst (to help lead the development as parts of the transitional board) or observer (to watch and learn) churches over the next several months.
• there will be Leadership Retreat in Ontario in late spring for current board members and catalyst churches, and a full Summit in the fall in the Edmonton area.

  Thanks to all those who attended in person and virtually. Thanks to all those who continue to pray for the church. God is doing great things. It’s a new day.   Many Blessings, Peter Bulthuis