On a recent episode of CBC Radio’s “Tapestry,” reporter Kevin Sylvester explored ‘the silencing of the bells.’ He discovered that his own local Catholic church’s bell-tower did not have any bells in it. Then he proceeded to ask about bells across the city of Toronto. Knox Presbyterian Church has bells, but stopped using them because their ringing was affecting the structural integrity of the bell-tower. They have used electronic, recorded bells for almost 40 years, despite the fact that the structure was restored a decade ago. But more than a year ago the wires up to bell-tower loudspeakers were burnt out and never replaced, so even the artificial bells are silenced.

A pastor at Walmer Road Baptist Church said that bells had never been installed in their belfry and couldn’t imagine why they would want to ring them now anyway. Yorkminster Baptist Church, however, located on deafening Yonge Street, rings their new bells everyday. Passers-by thank the church for contributing a natural sound to the metallic cacophony of the street.

Perhaps the most telling interview was with the priest from a Catholic church in Saskatoon that has been ringing its bells for decades. They have had to stop ringing their bells for the past three years, because of complaints from neighbours about being woken up on Sunday mornings. Police have warned that these neighbours are prepared to lay charges if they hear them again.

When Sylvester asked three senior leaders from Knox Presbyterian if his church could buy their unused bells, he sparked a chorus of nervous laughter – ‘oh no, that would never happen!’ They mentioned committees that would have to be involved and history that would be considered; the bells were given by the Lieutenant-Governor, a parishioner, in 1908. The bells were symbols of ‘something’ because the leaders knew the heart of their congregation would be stirred if they even brought up the idea of removing the bells.

This exploration of a cultural symbol left over from Christendom may trigger a whole variety of responses from Free Methodist believers. Very few, if any, of our church buildings ever had bells, or ever desired bells. But we have lots of other cultural symbols.

Cultural symbols are visible, physical manifestations of a culture, organization – or congregation – and serve as indicators of our cultural values. Symbols are things that can be experienced with the senses and are used by a congregation to make, and communicate, meaning. Symbols are experienced as real, and their impact has significant consequences for our congregations.

A symbol at the core of the Christian faith is the serving of the Communion meal – or is it The Lord’s Supper, or The Eucharist? Even with this symbol of bread and wine and ancient phrases, we may take different meanings depending on how our understanding (theology and values) was shaped and constructed in our early Christian formation.

When we talk about culture we often are led to think about “other cultures” – like Portuguese, or Indian, or Nigerian. And some of us examine and seek to understand those cultures to add to our picture of the world. When we talk about those ‘other cultures’ we often refer to behaviours, foods, values – the web of common agreements held by a particular group of people.

Sometimes we talk about “Canadian culture” or “post-modern culture.” Since we live in these cultures it is not quite as easy to study them and make sense of them – the cultural symbols of our own society just seem like “the way everybody does things.” It’s others who are ‘different,’ not us!

We also have to understand that our local congregations develop a culture – a way of doing things complete with symbols, behaviours, ways of organizing, values and beliefs. Throughout the history of Christianity we have learned that wherever the gospel is preached it is preached in a human language, in the language of a particular culture; wherever a Christian community tries to live out the gospel, it emerges in the shape of a particular human culture. Some of that shape is rooted in biblical theology and some of it is just “the way we do things around here” – that is, it’s part of the culture of our congregation.

At General Conference 2008, MEGAP introduced a new Foundational Course required of all FMC pastors – Culture and the Missional Church. The purpose of this new Foundational Course is to provide content that is distinctive to our Free Methodist movement – material that for the most part isn’t available in the bible colleges or seminaries where our Ministerial Candidates do their training. As our movement leaders became increasingly concerned about the gap between the culture of our churches and the cultures around us, the need for a course to help bridge the gap became apparent.

A local church engaging in mission in its own   neighbourhood needs to think like, and use the skills often associated with ‘missionaries.’ In this course participants are introduced to basic issues in understanding culture in our wider society and our organizations, principles for research and analysis of local church culture(s), processes for leading congregations through the “renewal cycle,” as well as a number of leadership practices for the missional church. The course uses two of the core books of the missional church orientation: The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch and The Ministry of the Missional Church by Craig Van Gelder. Students are introduced to the seminal work of Lesslie Newbigin as well as examining the unique legacy of renewal and cultural engagement we have in John Wesley.

Church bells may not be a cultural symbol in our Free Methodist churches, but there are surely other issues, practices or behaviours, that are peripheral (shallow-water concerns) to vital Christianity which form barriers to connecting with our neighbours who still need to meet Jesus. The intention of the Culture and Missional Church course is to help us develop a set of common principles regarding our missional orientation across our movement. In the course we discuss this quote by Dee Hock:

Purpose and principle, clearly understood and articulated, and commonly shared, are the genetic code of any healthy organization. To the degree that you hold purpose and principles in common among you, you can dispense with command and control. People will know how to behave in accordance with them, and they’ll do it in thousands of unimaginable, creative ways. The organization will become a vital, living set of beliefs.

Some of these stories of leaders who have taken the course will give you a glimpse of how far along we are as a movement.

Rev. Dan Sheffield is the Director of Global and Intercultural Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Life is about balance. So is leadership as we hold to the truth that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and navigate in a world that changes at an ever increasing pace. All of the ministry approaches and techniques that worked in 1980 quite likely won’t work today. If we keep on doing what we’ve always been doing, we’ll keep on getting what we’ve always been getting. If what we’re getting is more and better disciples of Jesus – that’s wonderful. But if that’s not what we’re getting, then it’s time to refocus. We need to always keep God’s mission at the forefront and be open to how to continue to introduce people to Jesus Christ in whatever context we find ourselves.

What will that take? Qualities, characteristics, virtues that are indispensable. They’re found all over the New Testament. Some of these qualities are found in the character lists of Paul’s letters (1 Tim 3; Titus, 2 Tim 3:10-11). Others are in the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-232. Yet others are portrayed in the life and parables of Jesus. More appear as the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12). These ‘indispensables’ are qualities that are evident in our lives and they also develop through exercise, through our submission and obedience to God and our dependence on the Holy Spirit: But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:11-12 The Message)

Paul wrote to Timothy, but the words are for us as well, so as we read it, let’s substitute our names for Timothy’s.

These qualities are developed as we embody them, make them a part of us as we are empowered by the Spirit to do so. As Paul reminds Timothy, it is possible to miss out: But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions.(1 Timothy 1:6 NLT)

As I’ve been reading and reflecting lately, here are a few thoughts on some of the qualities that we need to keep on practicing in the Spirit.

Faith (Hebrews 11:1): We walk by faith. When all is going well, it’s easier. When certain things don’t happen we need to be able to pray through it, giving it over to God, trusting that He is at work for His good purposes and in His timing.

Courage is also needed, as faith is spelled RISK.  Where Christ is leading and what He’s asking is often counter cultural. It takes courage to step out and go against everything our instincts are telling us. Yet we take that step in faith because we are convinced that God is in the outcome, and we’d rather be in that outcome with Him than anywhere else without Him.

Forgiveness (1 John 1:9): We have two powerful tools we can use any time that allow us to experience freedom in our relationship with God and others. They are confession and forgiveness. Forgiveness can also require courage – the courage to ask for it and the courage to give it.

Teachable spirit: this is the opposite of what Paul warns against as self-willed in Titus 1:7 (NASB). If we’re inflexible in our beliefs, traditions or living habits, how can we learn and adapt to a new context and model that for our people?

I heard a story a long time ago that helped me understand the role that traditions and habits can play. There are 3 generations of women in this account: a grandmother, a mother and a daughter. The daughter was interested in learning how to cook and approached her mom for lessons. One of the first meals they worked on together was a roast. The daughter watched carefully as the mom worked and noticed that the mom cut off both ends of the roast before putting it in the pan. The daughter was taking notes and asked why the ends had been cut off. The mom paused for a bit and then said she’d always prepared the roast this way because that’s the way she had been taught by her mother. The next time the daughter was speaking with her grandmother, she asked her the purpose behind cutting the ends off the roast, thinking that it was related to meat juices and flavour. Her grandmother looked at her and said ‘Oh that – I cut the ends off because I liked to do a big roast and my roasting pan was always too small.’

The daughter had her answer, even though it was very different from what she’d been expecting.

The story reminds us that we need to stop and ask questions. Do we know why we do things the way we do them? When we have the answer, then we need to explore if the reasons and conditions still exist. If they don’t, then we need to be willing to learn what we have to, to explore and lead in a new direction.

Discernment (Rom. 12: 1-2): This is the ability to observe people and circumstances and ask ‘what is God doing’ and then engage others in ‘how do we respond?’ It’s operating with ‘What is God asking of us today?’ knowing that this might change in just a short time. Discernment comes from a place of prayer and surrender.

Patience (Gal. 5:22; Eph. 4:2): Patience is what makes discernment and waiting on God possible. Most of us need to practice patience and when we ask God for help, He will – quite often by sending someone our way! Forgiveness also plays an important part in our development of patience. If we cannot (or will not) forgive people, if we cannot push on with failings, we won’t be capable of patience.

Presence (Eph. 4:1-2): This is the way we embody peace, gentleness and integrity. It’s an unspoken certain message that communicates “I’m here, willing to do what God asks of me”. It’s difficult to describe yet it’s something we recognize when we’re with someone who has that ‘presence’. It’s peaceful and comforting and attractive. This presence is the fruit of a deep relationship with God.

Humility (Phil 2): We lead by depending on the Spirit to do His work. After all, there is no vacancy on the Trinity and even if there were, none of us would be qualified. We serve, share wisdom and speak the truth in love. We are called to live out the kind of humility Christ modeled for us as written in Philippians 2.

The list certainly isn’t complete. Some may think I’ve left out the most important quality: love. I haven’t. It is the greatest. I believe that when our primary motivation is love for God (and all who He loves) there is a more natural flow as we continue to develop the other qualities we need to lead. God has a mission and the church is His instrument of choice for accomplishing that mission. We are God’s Plan A. As I read Scripture, I have yet to find a Plan B.

These qualities are all needed, yet we go through seasons when we need to practice some of them more than others. They are
timeless – after all, there’s nothing new under the sun.

Rev. Kim Henderson is the Director of Personnel for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

When it comes to the church it is important to be orderly.  To be even clearer it’s important to get things in the right order.  The proper order seems to be along these lines Trinity ->  Mission -> Church.¹ This means several things. The Trinity, being an eternal community, created us with a capacity to participate in that eternal community in some way. We rebelled and left. God has been on a mission to reconnect and reconcile with us.  As part of His mission he created the church. 

As I’ve mentioned orderliness is important.  But why? Because the church is the most temporary of all three. The Trinity is eternal and Their mission has been around at lot longer than the church. The mission goes back to the garden. 

Here is often what this looks like when we start with the church before the others. We wind up looking for a mission that supports our church and a God that fits us. When we look around our sanctuaries on Sunday morning and see gaps in attendance and empty pews we can often be tempted to think “What’s it gonna take to get people in here?”  Our mission then becomes finding ways to get people to attend our church.

Contrast this with how Christ looks at the people in your community. He sees fields that are ripe and ready for harvest and his problem is low attendance in the worker department. He is wondering how he is going to get the workers in your church outside the building and working in His fields. If the church’s energy is primarily to draw in instead of push out we will wind up in a tug of war with God.  Struggle long enough and He might let go of the rope. If He lets go of the rope the church collapses in on itself. Having conversations with itself. About itself. Coming up with answers to questions no one outside it is asking. A church outside the mission is no church at all. Emil Brunner says it like this “The church exists by mission as fire does in burning.”  Have you ever seen a fire that doesn’t burn? Then you have never seen a church that is not on the mission. It may be labeled a church. But it is not a church. 

The Mission of God is the single greatest health factor in church life. It is what keeps churches feeling young, healthy and strong.  When you allow the Mission of God to have control very powerful things begin to happen.  First and foremost the Mission of God aligns your heart with His heart. You love what he loves and hate what he hates. There is unlimited energy and vitality in that. 

Second by giving ourselves fully to the Mission of God we have God as a partner in our efforts. As with hearts, when energy and efforts align with God it can make for some light lifting. Third, the Mission of God creates its own energy. The Mission of God has the transforming power to change former enemies into friends of God. These new friends of God, once part of your church, will bring new energy, fresh thinking, and excitement to your lives together.  Ever notice how much fun it is to have a new Christian in a Bible study? The same thing happens – it’s just that it can happen church-wide. Ever notice that new Christians can be the best evangelists?  If you enjoy the new energy they bring imagine what would happen if they brought their friends? 

Finally, the Mission of God makes things grow. Yes it’s true that churches on the mission of God see growth.  The early church saw people added daily. Of course we can’t enter the mission for the purpose of growing the church. As soon as we do we have the order wrong again and are right back where we started. In fact, if you enter the mission because of any of the benefits described above you are in danger of being disorderly. However, it is evidence of a truly great God that He makes His orders such a pleasure to follow!

1 From the book The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. They state that Christology informs our missiology which informs our ecclesiology.  In other words Christ D Mission D Church.

Rev. Jared Siebert is the Director of Church Development for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Join the 100 Church Challenge!
As a movement we are putting out a call to 100 churches to support church planting across our country by giving $3700/year to the Church Development Giving Stream.  Can we count you in? Call the Ministry Centre for details.

Queen Street in Brampton, despite formerly being the “main drag” through downtown, has now become a hard to navigate road. With just under a half million people in Brampton – making it the eleventh largest city in Canada – there always seems to be a construction crew busily pulling up some section of Queen Street and an inordinate amount of people “out and about” just as I am trying to make my way up the strip.

I was idly looking around on just such an occasion – stopped at an intersection waiting for a police officer who was directing traffic to waive me through – when I noticed the restaurant’s sign: “Pizza, Rice: Sri Lanka and Indian Foods.” Hmmm, interesting  . . .  I discovered, after a little research, that it was once just a pizza place and branched out some years back. It’s not really a very traditional food combination, is it? With Brampton’s large South Asian population they no doubt felt this change would better meet the needs of their community.

By adapting their menu choices they are able to engage the interest of a greater number of people. They will, by necessity, have to re-examine their approach in the years to come and continue to adapt to the changing needs of their environment in order to remain effective.

I had a few thoughts cross my mind, as it relates to the Church, that I have thought about since I first saw this restaurant sign.

The story remains the same
In our Christian context, adapting to our communities does not mean compromise. We can best follow Jesus, both individually and corporately, by being Christ-like to the people around us and thinking in new ways to meet people where they are. The gospel story doesn’t change – but how we present it will – depending on our different and changing contexts.

One size does not fit all
It is both responsible and faithful for individuals and churches to discern what God is saying and adapt – so that the way the message is communicated is effective and their ministry relevant within that specific context. These adaptations will be expressed and look differently in each individual life or congregational life.

I wonder how well this restaurant would do if it were located in a different community? In a context without the huge South Asian influence, would it have the same relevance?

The bottom line
In order for us to be effective in sharing Jesus, we must continue to practically and faithfully adapt to our changing settings. This is not a new concept for the Church, as it has adapted in each new age and setting.

This issue of the MOSAIC focuses on Culture and the Missional Church. There are great stories of individuals and churches working within their contexts to share the love of Christ in faithful and successful ways.

Lisa Howden
Managing Editor

Every day when I come into the Ministry Centre, I walk past a print of a short, elderly man standing on a wharf talking earnestly to a man who is about to be rowed out, with others, to a sea-going ship. It’s clear from the artist’s interpretation that the conversation is serious and indeed it was!

What we have hanging on the wall is a print of Kenneth Wyatt’s rendering of John Wesley saying final farewells to Thomas Coke, as he sends Coke off from Bristol, England to America to ordain Francis Asbury. Wyatt entitled the painting, “Offer them Christ.”

It’s a good picture to have hanging in a prominent place in the national Ministry Centre of a movement that is intentionally seeking to recover its missional passion and orientation. It’s a picture of people committed to God’s mission. It’s a picture about being “sent out.” It’s a picture that implies risk and challenges associated with engaging the culture of a new frontier. And I love the title. It says what they (and we) are to be doing, “Offer them Christ”!

When you think about it, it is quite a remarkable thing that God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) would invite us to be involved in His mission to bring wholeness to the world’s brokenness.

In this edition of the Mosaic, we are reporting on and reflecting on the importance—no, let me push it a little bit further, the necessity of the church understanding issues related to culture as we seek to offer Christ. It’s a big topic, but let me offer several essentials for every movement (and person) who seeks to be missional.

First, the mission is to be done in partnership with God and in the power of His Holy Spirit.  In John 15, Jesus explained it to the disciples (and through John’s writing, to us) that just as a branch broken off from a grapevine cannot produce grapes, we cannot do anything apart from Him. We need to receive the Spirit’s presence in our lives to assure us that we are indeed adopted into Christ (Romans 8:16).  But we need to understand from the get-go that we are spiritually reborn to participate in God’s mission in the world.

In addition to the vine and branch analogy, I hear this clearly in the intimate, locked room conversation that Jesus shared with the disciples as they were still scrambling to comprehend that he had indeed risen from the dead.  He showed them his hands and his side and said to them, “Peace be with you!  As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ….and “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:21-22)

In that moment, they received the witness of the Holy Spirit to assure them of their relationship with the Lord Jesus, but also because they were being sent to participate in God’s redemptive mission to bring wholeness (shalom) to all of His creation.

In the second place, Jesus makes clear on one occasion that His followers must be motivated by love – love alone!  Someone wanted Him to outline a list of the things one should do (or not do) to prove their spirituality and devotion to God.  Jesus took the Old Testament laws and narrowed them down to what we know as the Great Commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the law and commandments hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

Jesus’ questioner was trying to embarrass him on another occasion when he asked, “And who is my neighbour?”  In reply, Jesus told a story that is popularly known as “The Good Samaritan.” If you read it wearing cultural lenses, you will see that God’s intention is to demonstrate His love to all people – even people who very foolishly travel alone on a dangerous road regularly inhabited by thieves. In Jesus’ story, the abused and beat up Jewish victim is bypassed by representatives of the religious culture, and to his Jewish audience’s surprise, it is a person that they regarded as cultural scum who cares for him. Clearly, God is serious when He says He loves “the whole world”.  And surprisingly, it seems that He will involve anyone in His mission – even a despised Samaritan.

Not very many verses after Jesus quotes the Great Commandment, He describes the lives of those whose hearts have been transformed by God’s love to see the world as He sees it. He fast forwards to His second return and explains the He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  Those that He puts on His right hand, He will commend with abundant blessing because, motivated by love, they fed the hungry, gave a drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed those who were in rags, and visited the sick and imprisoned.  (Matt. 25:31-46)

A third aspect of the mission of God is to see Christ formed within people so that they represent Him well in the world.  Just before He ascended, Jesus said to the disciples, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you; and surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20).  There it is again!  In this mission to which He commissions all disciples, He promises His presence and implies a partnership with Him. 

In the language of the New Testament, the focus of the above verses is on making disciples.  And they are to come from all nations! In our going, we are to make disciples. In our baptizing, we are to make disciples. And in our teaching, we are to make disciples. In other words, we are to continue to “offer them Christ” until they grow into the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). 

It’s a great mission to which we have been commissioned, but let me break it down into a simple (but not simplistic) understanding by telling you a true story that I have been observing for about 40 years.  Being missional is fundamentally about ever expanding redemptive relationships

When I was about 17 years old, I became good friends with another teen who shared my interest in cross-country running and gymnastics. We were both on the high school team. Eventually, I summoned my courage and invited him to come to youth group. As I remember it now, there wasn’t a lot of “sizzle” to our youth group; we were pretty human and very normal teenagers. 

One night as we drove home after youth group, I asked him if he had ever thought about opening his life to the Lord Jesus. It was a conversation that went on for several hours (my parents later told me they wondered whether I had been in a car accident), but in the early morning hours, we prayed together and he received Christ. Today, he is still a growing Christian and part of a Free Methodist congregation. 

But that’s not the end of the story. He came from a large family and several of his brothers came to know Christ. Today, they are solid, committed Christians; and one of his nephews is presently a ministerial candidate.

From living inside this story, I would like to make a couple of observations. First, if someone (me or someone else) had not offered him Christ in some way, he would not be a Christ-follower today. Secondly, my friend and his brothers and their families all continue to walk with the Lord these days because they were introduced into a community of faith that continues to offer them Christ and encourages them to continue to grow in Him.

God is on a God-sized mission in the world. He offers a relationship with Himself so that He can send us out to participate in His mission. He releases the power of His Spirit.  He reminds us—no, He clearly commands us to let nothing other than love be the motivation for what we are doing. And, He reminds us that in our going, He continues to transform us and mature us even as we participate with Him in His mission to others.

Rev. Keith Elford is the Bishop of The Free Methodist Church in Canada

I have four sisters, and although we were all raised by the same parents, we are all quite different. Most of the differences arise primarily from the things that motivate us and capture our attention.

As we were growing up, these differences in our personalities were the things that we celebrated in each other – we were different and yet part of the same family.

Thankfully my parents, much to their credit, never compared us to one another and although we were always encouraged to do our very best our “uniqueness” was respected. There was about as much chance of my winning a drawing competition as there was of my sister coming in first in a sing-off!

I think there are some great parallels we can draw when we consider the different kinds of congregations that exist within our denomination.

Same family
Quite simply, we have the same “family DNA” in common. Whether you are a small church plant in BC or a larger church in Quebec – we are all part of The Free Methodist Church in Canada and share the same core values.

Same purpose
There are other things that anchor us and bind us together as a movement as well. Our vision to see healthy churches within the reach of all people in Canada and beyond.

Our mission also defines us:

• To find, befriend and introduce seeking people to Jesus Christ and the fellowship of his people.
• Mature those who desire to grow in Christlikeness.
• Commission prepared people to purposeful service.
• Interpret life theologically.
• Invest resources strategically.
• Celebrate that God’s presence and power makes all things possible.

Different Dynamics
So, we know who we are and what are goal is but how do we accomplish it? This is where a congregations “personality” come into play. It is a creative combination of individual gifts surrendered and offered up in service with others that add to the outward expression of God’s heart working within a community context. How that expression manifests within the community will be different in every church. An idea that one body is passionate about, may not work in another. The important thing is that we are all working together, using our different skills and talents, moving forward towards the same objective.

Perhaps some of the stories that you will read in this issue would never work in your environment – that’s fine, our desire is not that you replicate an experience. Communities and people are searching for authenticity, both inside and outside the church.

Our different expressions and gifts need to be celebrated within the larger Free Methodist family – possibly, hearing these stories will spark an idea that will inspire your congregation to think of creative ways that they can use their gifts within their own community settings.

Lisa Howden
Managing Editor

Quote
Recently, Dan Sheffield posted a quote on his blog from Elton Trueblood’s novel, The Incendiary Fellowship:

“It is possible for the Church to exist, with a show of success, and still fail in its essential function. It is always failing when it becomes an institution which is bent on saving itself.”

In Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan the First Free Methodist Church puts together a monthly luncheon geared to serve individuals and families in their community. In return, this Community Lunch small group chooses to collect a small offering and donate these funds to purchase animals (goats and chickens) in support of ICCM children and their families. Though the cost of these animals is not much, it brings immediate improvement to the living conditions of families by providing not only food, but also additional income through the sales of eggs and milk.

Gail Stevens, of First Free Methodist church, shares how this story came about. “Our ministry group started this lunch about nine years ago to provide lunch for the poor and underprivileged.  The group consists of between 60-80 persons who come once a month to receive a free lunch (hot or cold).

“One of the men who had been coming regularily became very ill and had to be hospitalized. When he was feeling better he returned to the group and shared that during his recovery he had been thinking how blessed he felt because he had so much (remember these people are poor, on minimum wage, many with health, mental and relational issues, etc.) and how much he appreciated the food that was always served. He approached me and wondered if we could take up a collection so that it could be given to a family who was in greater need than they themselves.

“I brought this request to our planning meeting and we decided that we could give it to an organization, I was glad to see the special funds that ICCM offered and knew it would work perfectly for our group. So we decided to buy some goats! We now have a map on the wall and paste a new goat up on the country where it has been
purchased and donated. It brings great joy to know that together, as a group
they can help those less fortunate than themselves. ”

I hope you have been encouraged and inspired by this story. Let us know how we can help you make an impact in the world around you.

Contact us at 905.848.2600

Paula Moriarity, International Child Care Ministries Director

“This seems like the beginning of a new partnership with our FM family in Canada,” Bishop Nixon Dingili of Kenya announced to our small team.

In September this year, myself and ICCM-Canada Director Paula Moriarity along with Rev. Kim Henderson (FMCiC Director of Personnel), Carolyn Deyo, and Wannett Reynolds, spent eight days in Kenya. Canadian missionary Rev. Debbie Hogeboom was our host and cultural guide for this visit along with Bishop Nixon.

The original intention for this visit was twofold: for me to spend some time getting to understand Debbie’s ministry context and job description, and to conduct a three day consultation on urban ministry with a group of pastors in Nairobi.

At the beginning of 2009, Debbie moved from oversight by the US FMC missions office to our Canadian model of global ministry partnerships. This means her ministry job description in Kenya is worked about between the FMCiC, the Kenya Provisional General Conference, and Debbie herself. It also means her support salary and ministry expenses are directly overseen by the Global Ministries Committee of our national Board of Administration. And all of this is only possible because of the group of committed supporting churches, mostly in eastern Ontario, that have stood by Debbie’s ministry, in some cases, for decades.

The FMC in Kenya was birthed in the late 1980s and early 1990s when FM believers from countries like Rwanda and Burundi were living and working in Nairobi. They did the natural thing, and gathered themselves together into a few churches. When a whole group of missionaries had to leave Rwanda and Burundi in 1994, they ended up in Nairobi – they naturally connected with these fledgling congregations. Then the Burundi General Conference took responsibility for developing a Mission District and then an Annual Conference in Kenya. Today there are 140 FM churches in Kenya, mostly in the central and western parts of the country.

Since she moved to Kenya in 1994, Debbie has been involved in leadership development and mentoring church planters. For eleven years she taught at Kenya Highlands Bible College, an interdenominational, Wesleyan-oriented college, in Kericho, a city of about 40,000. Today there is a thriving FM congregation and school in Kericho that Debbie was involved with since its inception.

During her years at Kenya Highlands, Debbie was also working with national leaders to develop a modular pastoral training program for many of the pastors who work bi-vocationally and who may not have the academic qualifications for a formal college program. Several years ago Debbie moved to the city of Eldoret (250,000) with the goal of helping plant a new church and developing a small campus for this modular training program. Canadian FM churches who support Debbie’s ministry have been instrumental in purchasing a three acre plot of land for the college campus and site of the new church in Eldoret. Our team had the pleasure of worshipping with the small congregation that presently gathers on the side of a hill under some shade trees!

At the present time, the majority of the FM churches are located in rural areas, which is entirely appropriate because the majority of Kenyans (70% of 36 million people) live in rural areas. But the group of pastors and conference leaders who met for the Urban Ministry Consultation in Nairobi, know that is the not the future of their country – rural people are moving to the cities. The challenge is that many of the pastors who are appointed to serve the urban churches come from rural pastorates, and they struggle with how to conduct ministry and encourage the spiritual growth of their parishioners in the city. Kim Henderson and I, along with Debbie and Bishop Nixon, were able to initiate a whole new conversation on this subject with the group of 25 pastors who were invited to the consultation. Canadian FM churches substantially underwrote the costs of organizing this three day training program.

A sub-plot to this visit developed when newly hired ICCM-Canada Director Paula Moriarity was eager to come and have her first on-site visit to meet ChildCare sponsored children and the FM schools they attend. And Paula wanted to bring along some Canadian sponsors as well – thus Carolyn Deyo (attends Harrowsmith FMC) and Wannett Reynolds (Wesley Acres staff)! And did I mention Kim Henderson sponsors a child in Kenya as well?

So the first part of our trip included a lot of driving on good – and bad – roads in central and western Kenya. We were continually stimulated by the beauty of Kenya’s physical environment – the Rift Valley, the Kenya Highlands, zebras, rhinos and flamingoes and tea plantations. We travelled to Kericho and Eldoret, where Debbie has lived and invested herself over the past fifteen years. We spent a morning with school children in Kericho and made a special ICCM presentation of soccer balls and skipping ropes.

We visited Superintendent Martin in the rainy, hill country at Shiru – and spent four hours driving 40 kms! We travelled through the ‘breadbasket’ of Kenya and wondered that we saw no signs of the drought that was all over the news. In Nairobi, Paula, Carolyn, Wannett and Kim visited FM schools and in the simple, pieced-together, homes of sponsored children in the slums of Kibera, Kawangare and Mathare.

On our last day it was a bit of a surprise when Bishop Nixon said “this seems like a beginning…” I recounted to him the ways in which Canadians have contributed to ministry in Kenya – for many years (look back at the highlighted spots in this article). Then Debbie reminded me, “this is the first time, in at least a decade, that a Canadian team has come to visit me in my place of ministry, just to spend time with me and find out about the ministry here in Kenya.”

Then it hit me again, anew – the money and the projects-aided are ‘nice,’ but we don’t have partnership without relationship. Now we all, mutually, have faces, friendships, connections, trust, common ground. Now we have a partnership. And the Athens FMC [one of Debbie’s supporting churches and contributors to the property purchase in Eldoret], will be sending the first substantial Canadian workteam to Kenya next spring to help with that campus development in Eldoret. They will carry on the development of this ‘new’ partnership.

Dan Sheffield is the Director of Global and Intercultural Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

When I found out the focus of this edition of the Mosaic, my mind immediately went to a book I read awhile back called “Justice In The Burbs” by Will and Lisa Samson. This book caught my interest since I have always lived in the “suburbs” and much of what I read about living missionally was focused on moving into inner city and poverty-stricken neighbourhoods.

In their book the Samsons focus on encouraging Christians, living in the suburbs, toward a lifestyle of justice – living a life for others in radical ways. Differing from many other books on the subject, the Samsons employ three writing styles in which they effectively get their point across. The first element is narrative. In each chapter, Lisa Samson, tells us the story of a fictional family as they seek to understand how God would have them live. The storytelling is engaging and I was able to identify with both the joys and the challenges of this family.

The second element is discourse. Building on elements from the narrative, Will Samson digs deeper into a discussion of related topics and helps the reader identify specific issues that may need further reflection and consideration in choosing to live a lifestyle of justice. The final element is meditation. The Samsons believe strongly that living a missional life is tied directly to immersing ourselves in scripture, meditating on it and responding to its call on our lives. To this end they have included meditations by various authors including Brian McLaren, Christine Pohl, Leonard Sweet and Luci Shaw among others.

For many of us living in middle class suburbia we experience an ongoing tension caused by having more than we need to live and the desire to live justly. The Samsons do not shy away from addressing this conflict. In fact, the first sentence of the book is a confession that they themselves have failed. And yet their failure in and of itself, gives them a unique vantage point to help us navigate our own journey. They recognize that being part of middle class suburbia provides them with a position of privilege.  “As we think about issues of justice, a key concept is privilege. Many, if not most, of the people reading this book can choose whether we join with justice. This is itself a statement of our privilege.”

The Samsons take us on a journey through the reasons why many suburbanites do not engage in living justly — all those usual reasons like not enough time, family first, church commitments – and then they switch gears to remind us why we should. Why should we care? Because it matters to our world… it matters to God.

In encouraging a lifestyle of justice, the Samsons remind us that it will not be easy and it requires long-term commitment. It’s not about doing an act of justice here or there. It is about transforming our lives, including what food we purchase, how it is grown, who grows it, the clothes we buy, the home we live in, the cars we drive, the work we do, our relationships with our family, our church family, our neighbours, how we spend our leisure time and of course, the ways we serve God and serve others.

Digging deeper into the issue of serving others, there were two key points that spoke to me in this book. The first is what Will Samson calls theology of place. Samson says. “The theology of place states that God has placed us where we are for a reason. We believe there are not wasted resources in God’s economy…. God is a being of great economy. He works before you even realize it and before you sign on, and he’s placed you where you are today for a reason. If you find yourself in the suburbs, welcome to your mission field.”

This concept of theology of place resonates with me. Rather than looking at other neighbourhoods as the place to “bring God” and act justly (which as I write it sounds quite arrogant to this suburbanite) I should see my own neighbourhood as the best place for me to live missionally. The family across the street from me is going through separation and divorce; a neighbour two houses down recently lost her husband; the son of another neighbour was diagnosed with schizophrenia; and another neighbour lost his job and is struggling to pay the bills for his family. And these are just some of the things I know about.

Thinking about Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” The word “go” could best be translated “as you are going.” It’s kind of that “bloom where you are planted” idea. Jesus called his disciples toward missional living wherever they were. Today we often want to leave the missions work to the professionals – the missionaries. But that wasn’t what Jesus had in mind. Samson states, “Of all the miracles Jesus performed, only one – the cursing of the fig tree – was not an act of restoration. As he was going, he was restoring. Therefore, if we are following the model of Christ, “going” means participating in God’s work of restoration. This implies a very personal involvement for what it means to make and to be disciples of Jesus.”

The second key point that captured my attention was the idea of joining in rather than creating something new.  It seems that often when Christians decide to do something it ends up being something new. We feel the need to start a new ministry, charity, parachurch organization to accomplish the new thing.

If you go to the Canada Revenue Agency’s website and do a search for charities you will find there are 113,392 charities listed, 40,795 of which are categorized as religious. I don’t want to get into a conversation about the merit of all these organizations, but the numbers do lead me to believe that perhaps there is already an organization doing what I am called to be doing.

What affected me when I read Samson’s point about “joining in” is this: that God is already at work in the acts of justice of churches, parachurch organizations and other charities. Perhaps, before we create the new thing, we need to look at where God is already working and join in. And it might not be with an organization whose building has a cross on the roof.

I began to put this into practice this year. I contacted the local social service agency in my area to find out how I could volunteer. They have a financial aid program that provides some emergency funds for people who are unable to pay their rent, oil bill, etc. Each recipient is asked if they would consider participating in financial counseling but unfortunately the agency has not had anyone able to provide this service. That’s where I’ve stepped in. God has provided me with an opportunity to serve my community through workshops, seminars and one-on-one counseling on financial management. I believe God will also provide me with opportunities to bring Him into the conversation as I develop relationships.

The Samsons devote a chapter of the book to very practical ways we each can join in living a lifestyle of justice. The book concludes with a couple chapters on how this kind of life will benefit both the world in which we live and each of us as individuals. “But the greatest reward for doing this work is to join with Jesus. Jesus never wrote a book. He never painted a great work of art. He did not leave us a symphony or the plans to a beautiful building. What Jesus left us was a series of relationships. By joining with justice, we are claiming to be a part of two thousand years of interconnection with God incarnate, the people he ministered to, and the people they in turn ministered to, down through the generations. Our lineage of faith relationships literally goes back to the Lord himself.”

I encourage you to live out the theology of place, viewing your community as your mission field and joining in with justice where God is already at work.

Samson, Will and Lisa, Justice In The Burbs – Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2007.

Joanne Bell is the Stewardship Development Director for The Free Methodist Church in Canada

Answering the Cries of our Community

Every morning that I park my truck in front of our church office space I’m reminded of at least two things: First, we rent on a street where folks in desperate situations like to hang out.  This is a reality that you can see, smell, hear, touch and if you really wanted to...you could taste it in our parking lot (this is not recommended).  From the lot to the door, looking through the office windows generates the second realization; for as many as 90 people, our space (due to the work of several) has turned into a place where these folks choose to begin their day and on several different levels call their home base.     

You can imagine the host of questions and doubts that come with work among a population where obvious change is hard-earned over long periods of time. On the flip side imagine the thrill of seeing transformation that begins at such an extreme low and the inherent potential of this diverse community. How does a person whose belief has turned into a dedicated following of Jesus play out when presented with this kind of opportunity? 

Ann and Shelagh represent what I am discerning as the answer to that query. Their commitment is to staff our space six mornings per week, delivering on a promise to provide a space where the anxiety of personal needs is replaced with a different taste of community, coffee and toast depending on who is making up each. Coupled with their morning efforts, teams from New Heights host meals on Saturday and Sunday evening with an agenda of filling stomachs, engaging in conversation and fielding prayer requests. After several years of this kind of action, with a few huge success stories, and countless disappointments, questions in my mind clash with the rhythm of our heartbeat for this community. Welcome to the inner regions of my mind...no doubt a scary place!!!

With a friend at the last General Conference, a tough criteria surfaced.  “Is a ministry that doesn’t effectively move many people toward interacting with the gospel in their own right still viable”? Or, “when does serving folks morph into enabling folks?” These are good questions to ask when a commitment to be in the lives of very complicated people goes long term. On one hand, we hear Jesus’ words “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” So, maybe our hands can ignore each other, but the relationship between our brains and hands is one of a different kind.  Is it fair to substitute ‘impact’ for ‘debit’ and ‘enabling’ for ‘liability’ and see whether or not our budget sheet lands in the red or the black?

On the other hand (which a hand can ignore but a mind cannot) it is clear that the impact of a work that is observed by the community at large accomplishes more than just what happens in the food line.  Weigh the risk of occasional enabling and usury with the WIN-COMBO that touches the servants, the served, the community at large, the partnerships with other ministries and municipal efforts, and the incredible feeling of seeing a client turn servant.  The balance tips toward the combo. 

Add to that the experiment of using “partnership in service” as a venue for evangelism for the servant herself.  Not only does this work touch the lives of those who are clients but what about those who come eager to be involved.  Our invitation is, “Come and experience our motivation for a common passion of philanthropy; be warned that you might be moved by what has turned our philanthropy into a mission of worshipping God with hands and hearts”.

I hope this article isn’t printed in black and white because I certainly see the content coming out in color or grayscale at the very least.   An emerging principle to chew on:  When our believing community endeavors to partner or model things in our wider community we must be prepared to weigh questions where our answers leave us less than completely satisfied.  But, what we are experiencing is what I’ve come to expect when our efforts move outside of the walls of our church; a tension caused by the differences we have with those we encounter rather than our similarities.  Maybe in praxis we can adopt what every intro-apologetics class seems to teach in terms of debating faith.  Begin by gaining a hearing through the celebration of similarities and earn the ear of those who want to agree with you, but naturally don’t jive with your Lord’s supernatural instincts.    At the end of the day, rubbing shoulders in service with the community and for the community accomplishes more in fostering relationship than anything else that I’ve ever been part of.  

As I mature and learn leadership lessons I am discovering a principle that fits into our belief that God is at work in the world and is inviting us to join him.  The ministries that He seems to sustain and bless often accomplish much “more than what meets the eye” (to borrow from Hollywood’s transformers).  As agents of change and transformation we have to allow for the undercurrent transformations that happen just because we are faithfully and consistently walking in simple acts of obedience and trust that as much as being a group that is active in the community comes with complication and cost, the combination of wins are worth the endeavor.  Be encouraged church, that our communities haven’t closed the door on us yet;  they might not be knocking, asking for our advice, but when we extend ourselves in partnership...our efforts have great rewards.  Who is waiting for the opportunity to partner with you in your community?

Rev. Greg Elford is the Pastor of New Heights Community Church in Mission, BC

Empty plates? . . . Great idea!

The Ottawa Mission, a homeless shelter located in the heart of the Nation’s Capital served 2,679 Thanksgiving meals this year and 1100 meals a day over the Thanksgiving season. Arlington Woods Free Methodist Church raised $930 toward the cost of providing them.  We are not only grateful for their support, but also amazed by their creativity!

I decided to contribute a newsletter submission for three reasons : to say thank-you to Arlington Woods for their extraordinary support, to tell you about the unique event they coordinated for the homeless in our community, and to offer your church some ways that they can get more involved with a charity like ours.

A Loaves And Fishes Story – Without The Loaves and Fishes
On Sunday October 4, after hearing an inspiring sermon about gratitude, the whole Arlington Woods congregation was invited to retreat to the church hall. A look of puzzlement crossed many faces as they exited the sanctuary. No one realized that this service was going to be different.

As the congregation filed into the hall, they were invited to a meal. Round tables were covered with tablecloths and decked out for Thanksgiving. There were plates, cutlery and cups. People were invited to sit down for dinner.

Then Cheryl Burford, the director of children’s ministries and administrator of “Church In Motion,” an outreach initiative, explained the “dinner.” She told the congregation that there wasn’t going to be any food at this dinner and reminded them that many people in our community didn’t have the resources to put food on their plates. “This Thanksgiving,” she said “many people will face empty plates like the ones you have in front of you.”

Prior to the dinner, Cheryl had asked Michael, a graduate of The Ottawa Mission’s LifeHouse program to tell his story at the event.  LifeHouse is a five-month, residential addiction treatment program run by The Ottawa Mission. Mike told the group how The Ottawa Mission had changed his life. “Hi, I’m Mike,” he began. “And I’m an alcoholic.” As if on cue, the congregation responded “Hi, Mike.” Mike continued to tell the congregation how alcoholism cost him his wife and children and that he had relied on The Ottawa Mission’s food services while he was in treatment. It was obvious that his honesty and openness really affected those listening to him.

After hearing Michael’s story and learning more about The Ottawa Mission in general, Cheryl asked her congregation to consider filling up someone’s empty plate this Thanksgiving by filling out the Thanksgiving Dinner donation cards that The Ottawa Mission had provided. “Consider what you are able to give…any amount will be appreciated,” she said.

Amazingly, $930 was donated, the equivalent of 409 meals! What a blessing to us and to the homeless men, women and children we serve!

A Free Methodist “Church In Motion”
Arlington Woods  Free Methodist Church is truly a church in motion. In fact, one third of Cheryl Burford’s full-time portfolio is devoted to administering “Church In Motion,” a congregational outreach initiative. “Our church believes that the community is important. Church In Motion is about finding organizations in the community and partnering with them in order to serve the world around us,” says Burford. Burford volunteered at The Ottawa Mission for last Thanksgiving’s dinner when she was considering who to partner with for Thanksgiving, she thought about The Ottawa Mission. The idea of empty plates sprung to mind immediately. “I just thought, without this Thanksgiving meal, people would have an empty plate,” says Burford. “The idea took off from there, but I think that the visual is important and decided to invite someone The Ottawa Mission had helped so that I could put a personal face on The Mission. One of our members is on the Board at The Mission and he helped me contact Michael.”

The Ottawa Mission isn’t alone in benefitting from the Church In Motion initiative. Partnering with various organizations in the community, Church In Motion takes on four service projects a year. They have partnered with a local grocery store to do a food drive, volunteered at a special Olympics basketball tournament, did yard work for seniors in the community and opened their doors to 1st Place Pregnancy Centre. “I try to find ways that the whole church can get involved, no matter their ages” says Burford.

How Your Church Can Partner With A Non-Profit In Your Community
Non-profit ministries like The Ottawa Mission rely on church support. The Ottawa Mission couldn’t serve 1100 meals a day, offer over 230 people shelter each night and operate an addiction treatment centre, hospice, housing programs or learning centre without strong church partnerships.

Here are some ways that your church can get involved with ministries like ours:

Volunteer On And Off-Site
Ottawa Mission volunteers more than double our capacity to serve clients. At The Ottawa Mission, volunteer groups do everything from serving and preparing meals to folding clothes, sorting donations, painting, and planting; there is no shortage of ways to help.  One of our volunteer groups brings in baked goods that they make off-site which is a special treat for our clients. Others knit toques and blankets to keep the homeless warm or make and donate quilts for our second stage housing initiatives. Contact the non-profit that your church is interested in partnering with and I’m sure that they will be happy to provide you with volunteer opportunities.

Host A Fundraiser
You can raise the kind of awareness and funding that will change lives forever by hosting an event to benefit a ministry in your community. You can host a dinner (spaghetti dinners are popular among youth groups), a bake sale, or auction your congregation member’s talents. Coordinating a winter boot and coat drive or a sock drive is an invaluable way to give to the homeless.  Don’t forget to contact the charity prior to your event as they may be able to send along brochures or even a speaker so that your church understands more deeply how important its gifts are.

Provide Prayerful Support
Prayer is vitally important. Some organizations keep a regularly-updated, publicly accessible prayer request list. The chaplain at The Ottawa Mission, for example, regularly updates prayer requests on our website (www.ottawamission.com) so that church prayer groups can learn more about the needs of those we serve and include them in their prayer life. Directing prayer groups to prayer requests posted on-line or printing them in the church bulletin not only helps those in need but also helps the congregation understand and feel more connected to the ministry.

Distribute Newsletters
Non-profits want your congregation members to learn more about them. Most publish newsletters or annual reports and would be more than happy to provide you with them either in print or in an electronic format. Make their newsletters available on your bulletin boards and information tables or e-mail it to members.

Invite A Speaker
Stories are powerful! Contact a charity that you want to get involved with or have already partnered with and invite a spokesperson to a Sunday service or a special anniversary service to share stories about how their ministry changes lives. Most would be more than happy to come to your church, thank you for your support and tell your members how they have made a difference.

Take A Tour
One of the best ways to understand what an organization actually does and how your dollars are being put to work is to see it first-hand. Call an organization you are supporting and ask them if they offer tours to groups. Provided that privacy isn’t an issue, most will be delighted to show you around.

Inquire About Educational Initiatives

Some non-profits have a public education aspect of their ministry. At The Ottawa Mission, for example, we invite youth groups and social justice committees to The Mission for educational sessions where we discuss issues of social justice, poverty and faith. Our Bible studies are eye-opening and heart-enlarging experiences. If you are supporting a Christian charity, they may be able to offer groups within your church a Christian-education session.

Rev. Trisha Elliott is a freelance writer and communications officer at The Ottawa Mission.