21 November 2006
Details On Church Plants, Pastor Fraternals, et al.
Church Plant
On Sunday evening, my wife and I went to a home located in a new development of the old military base. In the living room belonging to Steve and Julia, we were joined by Peter and Anna (whom I had met at Paul Martin's church in Toronto), Bernie, Wayne and finally, Nivelin. Everyone had been a previous acquaintance of Steve's except for Nivelin who had made contact through the website, www.calvaryreformed.com.
After opening in prayer we sang a number of wonderful songs to guitar accompaniment. They were hymn texts set to different tunes and came largely from the work of Indelible Grace. After that I spoke on 1 Cor. 3 noting the roots of factionalism in the church and the necessity of Jesus Christ being the foundation. I confess that it was merely a workman-like exposition, but by God's grace, it appeared to help everyone. Afterward everyone had tea and butter-tarts combined with godly conversation as we got to know one another.
The gathering is in its infancy. Although there is no 'mother church' sponsoring it there is hope of having some voluntary accountability to a like-minded Calvinistic Baptist church. In all, the ethos is Christ-ward rather than Calvin-ward per se. However the doctrines of grace will mark all that is done.
That is a small summary of a wonderful evening. I look forward to our next meeting!
Pastor Fraternal
It has long been my desire to see the like-minded Calvinistic Baptist pastors in Alberta come together to support each other, to share resources and to learn from one another. In this course, a gathering of men is planned for the first Monday of December in Red Deer, the practical mid-point of the province.
My hope is that such a fraternal could be a means of connecting seminary grads with churches, as interns, pastors, other staff, etc. Down the road, we would possibly look at establishing a regular conference with invited speakers and a theme.
These are a few irons in the fire. May God grant us quickening by the Spirit and fidelity to his word!
On Sunday evening, my wife and I went to a home located in a new development of the old military base. In the living room belonging to Steve and Julia, we were joined by Peter and Anna (whom I had met at Paul Martin's church in Toronto), Bernie, Wayne and finally, Nivelin. Everyone had been a previous acquaintance of Steve's except for Nivelin who had made contact through the website, www.calvaryreformed.com.
After opening in prayer we sang a number of wonderful songs to guitar accompaniment. They were hymn texts set to different tunes and came largely from the work of Indelible Grace. After that I spoke on 1 Cor. 3 noting the roots of factionalism in the church and the necessity of Jesus Christ being the foundation. I confess that it was merely a workman-like exposition, but by God's grace, it appeared to help everyone. Afterward everyone had tea and butter-tarts combined with godly conversation as we got to know one another.
The gathering is in its infancy. Although there is no 'mother church' sponsoring it there is hope of having some voluntary accountability to a like-minded Calvinistic Baptist church. In all, the ethos is Christ-ward rather than Calvin-ward per se. However the doctrines of grace will mark all that is done.
That is a small summary of a wonderful evening. I look forward to our next meeting!
Pastor Fraternal
It has long been my desire to see the like-minded Calvinistic Baptist pastors in Alberta come together to support each other, to share resources and to learn from one another. In this course, a gathering of men is planned for the first Monday of December in Red Deer, the practical mid-point of the province.
My hope is that such a fraternal could be a means of connecting seminary grads with churches, as interns, pastors, other staff, etc. Down the road, we would possibly look at establishing a regular conference with invited speakers and a theme.
These are a few irons in the fire. May God grant us quickening by the Spirit and fidelity to his word!
// posted by Unknown @ 21.11.06 
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