Way Down South (Alberta, That Is)

Church for the unchurched - what makes our guests feel welcome?

My latest trip was a fast blast through Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Calgary, in that order. I had a lunch appointment with Pastor John Albiston of the Victory Church in Lethbridge, so I was up at 5:30 and out of the house by 6:30. I dialed the church address in to my Garmin and it told me I should be there by 11:39. However, because I take some liberties with the speed limit, I was able to make up about 40 minutes on the trip. Victory Lethbridge is, to my mind, a wonderful success story and an example, perhaps, from which many other churches might take at least some lessons. They are very intentional in everything they do. They examine every aspect of their church, every area of their building and every portion of their Sunday services, asking themselves, "Will this be an attraction to new people, or will it put them off?" They even went so far as to replace all the tiles in their building with carpet to make it seem warmer and more inviting. Four years ago they averaged 200 people on a Sunday; now they have 1100.

From lunch with Pastor John I visited Westside Community Church and Park Meadows Baptist; both of whom are running, have run or are planning to run Alpha as a program in their churches.

From there it was a visit to Third Day Worship Centre to line up a future interview session on Hope TV for myself and Shaila Visser, Alpha's National Director. If everything falls into place, this interview should be recorded in late January and air sometime in March, 2016.

After my afternoon appointments in Lethbridge it was off to Medicine Hat for the night and several appointments next day. I was looking forward to my meetings in, "The Hat" because  I discovered that two pastors from Alpha churches in other cities have moved there. One, Pastor Lyle Berg from Lloydminster and about whom I previously blogged here, is now at First Assembly in Medicine Hat. His church is running two Alpha's, and he is very enthusiastic to take a leadership position in the local church community in the upcoming Global Media Campaign featuring Bear Grylls. I even recruited him as a coach for the area.

From there it was a first-time meeting with Dave Maneschyn Lead Pastor at Bridge Church, a young, growing and pretty hip church being mentored, in a sense, by the above mentioned Pastor John at Victory Lethbridge. Very encouraging... and they are running Alpha.

The other pastor now in Medicine Hat is Jamie McDonald, formerly of Sylvan Lake, now at Hillcrest Church, one of the largest in the city. Lunch with Pastor Jamie at Tim's.

Next was a meeting at St Barnabas, an Anglican parish established in 1884. Formerly pastored by the somewhat famous Gene Packwood, their new Rector, Dustin Resch, I learned, is having to leave and head back to Saskatchewan after only a few months.

One more stop, in Calgary at McKenzie Towne Church in Calgary with Pastor Brad Moffat. (Have I ever told you how I wince when people add an 'e' to the end of a neighbourhood word like 'towne' or 'pointe'? Well, in this case I can't blame the church - it was the city who named the area.)

I had hoped to meet the Anglican Bishop of Calgary, Bp Greg Kerr-Wilson, but then, as in all my tries, have been unable to connect with him.

So... back to the Edmonton area, drop off my rental car (a pretty quick Dodge Charger, by the way), pick up my own beater, and in to the city to help set up church for a memorial service. When I say whirlwind, I mean whirlwind.

Blessings,

John

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