Sri Lanka trip August 2005:
Teen, Family, and Kids Camp
Pastor Jey from Mississauga Tamil lead a team for the first Teen Camp. 49 teens attended this camp the weekend before family camp. The family camp saw 15 families. This totaled about 50 teens and adults. The Women’s Ministries of Eastern Ontario donated $4000 for the Family Camp. Colleen Zavrel, of Whitby FMC (, Ontario ) lead the children’s program for about 13 kids. Ruby Gomez and Sylvia Galloway from Wesley Chapel, ( Toronto , one of the partner churches in Sri Lanka ) worked tirelessly together to provide a great program.
Repairs:
Eustice Galloway from Wesley Chapel repaired the very leaky roof at the ministry centre in Colombo . He taught some quick learning and skilled local laborers how to do it and they finished it themselves.
New Partners:
Darryl Dozlaw, from Northview , ( Regina , Sask ) taught discipleship at the family camp and surveyed the early attempts at rebuilding Batticoloa (eastern shore, where the Tsunami hit the hardest.) Northview Community church is becoming a partner in Sri Lanka . Darryl, Pastor Jey and Supt Lazarus from Colombo talked for some time with a local man (see picture links) who had escaped the Tsunami. He was discouraged by the empty promises made by well meaning people in the early days after the tragedy.
BOA and Mission District Meeting, plus God surprises.
Surprise 1: Pastor Ben Gomez of Wesley Chapel and Pastor Jey, did some excellent conflict resolution work before the start of the BOA meetings. This put off the BOA nearly half a day from starting but was crucial to harmony prevailing in the meeting. Praise be to God.
Surprise 2: The BOA didn’t get started on time. So, I had time on my hands to sit and wait in the 30+C heat. Not bad if you are sitting still. God turned this into a surprise gift of conversation with some Sri Lankan brothers. Language barriers only slowed the conversation, not prevented it. The pastor said, “I have to climb up the mountain of the tea plantation to see some of my people. It takes a long lime to get there. Hard walk…up. I witness …they…no Bible…can’t read. I read to them … we talk about it…. It takes time.”
I realized one reason why planting churches in Sri Lanka (SL) is a different challenge: Many times the people are illiterate. Maybe this is a future ministry in SL, overcoming illiteracy.
The Growth Report at Mission District: Last year at the 2004 Mission District meeting we had 8 pastors who were ordained in or transferred their credentials to the FMC SL. One pastor is gone. We anticipated this, regretfully. (Money was more important than resourcing and fellowship.)
At this 2005 Mission District meeting we had 9 pastors, by ordaining two more this year. There were 5 invited guests, pastors who will have their first interview with the BOA/MEG of the FMC SL in February 2006.
This Mission District Meeting 2005 hit me only after the gathering was over. God is doing a great thing! Each pastor reported his/her churches, new plants, and the assistant pastors (AP) working in church plants with them. AP’s are with the pastors daily, without pay or bi-vocational.
The FMC in Sri Lanka as of August, 2005
9 pastors in the FMC Sri Lanka
5 assistant pastors (AP) work with these 9 pastors
4 of the 5 APs are Ministerial Candidates (MC)
These 9 pastors and 5 APs account for 23 churches and church plants
Largest single church attendance: 150
Smallest single church plant is 6
The hostile environment in Sri Lanka to Christianity will keep many churches small, though numerous
The FMC in Sri Lanka potentially in 2006, who attended the Family Camp
5 new pastors
8 new APs working under these 5 new pastors
These 5 pastors and 8 APs account for 16 churches and church plants
Largest church 125 (peak attendance was 175)
Smallest church plant is two families (6-10) with children
The potential by the end of 2007 could be:
More than 39 Churches and plants
More than 15 ordained pastors
More than 13 assistant pastors tracking for ordination
The BOA has set a vision for the FMC of Sri Lanka
The Lord being our helper, we will work toward these faith goals until our Mission District meeting in August 2006:
That 50 new churches will be added to our fellowship
That 50 new pastors will be added to our fellowship
That each church will gain 10 new families
Pray that God blesses their difficult work beyond their wildest dreams
Alan Retzman is Director of Personnel for The Free Methodist Church in Canada.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
The Connectionalism Cure
I had a great time at the Small and Rural Church workshop at General Conference. It was great to hear about all the great things God is doing in our rural churches. The rural context can be tough, but I thank God there are men and women who have courage enough to face those tough challenges. Churches are still being planted. Churches are still refocusing their energy and redeploying into their communities.
What are the barriers, as a group, we are going to have to push through to see what God has started continue? From what I heard at the workshop one barrier is isolation. This is not a simple problem to overcome. We live in a big country. We have a relatively low population density. Our relative geographic isolation promotes extreme forms of regionalism. As a result our Canadian social fabric strains under the weight of all of this. So what is God's plan? How will he call us out of this darkness and into his marvelous light?
God's plan for us is unity: the sharing of resources, and mutual support. As Methodists we express this part of God's plan in the core value we call Connectionalism (Check it out! It's in The Manual and everything!) Here's part of what it says,
One of our pastors has written, "Methodists are connectional. They do not believe that any one local church has the range of gifts and training to establish doctrine, ordination standards, and other constitutional matters. Instead Methodists do these things collectively, freeing local churches for the work of ministry. They are accountable to their conference for character and conduct and work side-by-side with local church leaders. Independent churches and pastors are not truly Methodist."
If we want to see God-things continue among us, we need to remain connected to one another. Here is some of what we are doing so far to remain connected. I'm sure, together, we can come up with even better ideas!
Our pastors meet in networks to share their personal struggles and triumphs. We have a broad variety of networks to suit all kinds of needs. Some meet according to region, some meet according to life stage, and some meet according to shared goals. Whatever the reason, most pastors find these networks a great way to stay connected.
We meet in General Conferences. These Conferences are where the church meets as a nation, to settle its future and direction together, to see each other face to face, and to hear all the great things God is up to through us.
We meet in Camps. Hanging around Wesley Acres or Arlington Beach is not only a way to get in some good porch time, or take a rip around the lake; it is also a chance to maintain connections and maybe make some new ones.
You're holding it in your hand. Yes, even this award-winning newsletter, we call the "MOSAIC", is designed to keep us all together. We keep you connected with the broader family through stories and write-ups like this one.
We stay in email contact on the pastors and delegates listservs. Read the Bishop's Notes…
Ordination services. Now this one might not seem obvious but if you've ever been to one you'd know what I'm talking about - pastors and lay people all gathered together in one room to celebrate God's call to ministry. It can really be powerful. Don't believe me? Come and see for yourself. I'm being ordained at the Next Church , Sunday, August 14th. If you are not completely satisfied, see me afterward for a full refund.
Connectionalism is vital, but like anything else you only get out of it what you put into it. If you aren't taking advantage of what is already offered… you need to! If you have any ideas on other ways to connect with each other, you should start it! If you are worried that connectionalism may not be a real English word, give us a break. You may have spent too much time in English class!
Jared Siebert is Director of Growth Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada.
What are the barriers, as a group, we are going to have to push through to see what God has started continue? From what I heard at the workshop one barrier is isolation. This is not a simple problem to overcome. We live in a big country. We have a relatively low population density. Our relative geographic isolation promotes extreme forms of regionalism. As a result our Canadian social fabric strains under the weight of all of this. So what is God's plan? How will he call us out of this darkness and into his marvelous light?
God's plan for us is unity: the sharing of resources, and mutual support. As Methodists we express this part of God's plan in the core value we call Connectionalism (Check it out! It's in The Manual and everything!) Here's part of what it says,
One of our pastors has written, "Methodists are connectional. They do not believe that any one local church has the range of gifts and training to establish doctrine, ordination standards, and other constitutional matters. Instead Methodists do these things collectively, freeing local churches for the work of ministry. They are accountable to their conference for character and conduct and work side-by-side with local church leaders. Independent churches and pastors are not truly Methodist."
If we want to see God-things continue among us, we need to remain connected to one another. Here is some of what we are doing so far to remain connected. I'm sure, together, we can come up with even better ideas!
Our pastors meet in networks to share their personal struggles and triumphs. We have a broad variety of networks to suit all kinds of needs. Some meet according to region, some meet according to life stage, and some meet according to shared goals. Whatever the reason, most pastors find these networks a great way to stay connected.
We meet in General Conferences. These Conferences are where the church meets as a nation, to settle its future and direction together, to see each other face to face, and to hear all the great things God is up to through us.
We meet in Camps. Hanging around Wesley Acres or Arlington Beach is not only a way to get in some good porch time, or take a rip around the lake; it is also a chance to maintain connections and maybe make some new ones.
You're holding it in your hand. Yes, even this award-winning newsletter, we call the "MOSAIC", is designed to keep us all together. We keep you connected with the broader family through stories and write-ups like this one.
We stay in email contact on the pastors and delegates listservs. Read the Bishop's Notes…
Ordination services. Now this one might not seem obvious but if you've ever been to one you'd know what I'm talking about - pastors and lay people all gathered together in one room to celebrate God's call to ministry. It can really be powerful. Don't believe me? Come and see for yourself. I'm being ordained at the Next Church , Sunday, August 14th. If you are not completely satisfied, see me afterward for a full refund.
Connectionalism is vital, but like anything else you only get out of it what you put into it. If you aren't taking advantage of what is already offered… you need to! If you have any ideas on other ways to connect with each other, you should start it! If you are worried that connectionalism may not be a real English word, give us a break. You may have spent too much time in English class!
Jared Siebert is Director of Growth Ministries for The Free Methodist Church in Canada.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
