Canadian Evangelism

Okay, so I know it sounds like the title of a honkytonk country song, and you may wonder what these old high school yearbook pictures have to do with anything, but I'll get to that. I was invited to speak on Sunday at First Baptist Church in Smoky Lake  Alberta. I have posted before on this church, and we did indeed meet in their new facility, even though it is still a work in progress and there was no heat. It was a bit cool but that did not dampen the worship within. Smoky Lake Baptist has been a strong Alpha church for many years, ever since a couple of key Alpha people arrived there from Fort McMurray - Ross and Val Whitelaw. My message was the text of a breakout I hope to present at next year's Break Forth ; "Communicating the Relevance of the Gospel in a Changing Culture." The talk went well and was well received. The only glitch was the uni-directional mic I used. As I turned my head to various sides of the room the sound would become louder or softer. Eva sai...

This was my trip today; from home to Morinville, to Gibbons, to Fort Saskatchewan and back to home again. I know the map says an hour and forty five minutes but it actually took me longer than that because, you see, I stopped at a few churches on the way. My day started when I arrived on the dot of ten, their opening time, at The Father's House in Morinville.   Whenever I walk through a church door and people don't know who I am, I have a sense they might feel like I might upon seeing some kind of salesperson approaching my own front door. Not exactly a trusting look - somewhat skeptical perhaps. I don't want to single out The Father's House because it happens many times. In any case, I was greeted cordially, and introduced myself as being with Alpha Canada. Genuine smiles broke out instantly. "This is a very timely visit," said the Associate Pastor who greeted me. He went on to say they were just discussing what to do with some of their small groups this fall...

I posted this picture on my facebook page yesterday, along with this commentary; With Sam Nikkel and Eva (who took the pic) at McKernan Baptist at 'Meet our Missionary.' Yes I am counted as one of their missionaries and today I was, 'Missionary du Jour. ' McKernan has a wonderful brand new facility , in an established neighbourhood in Edmonton, and I think many might attribute at least some of their growth to their relationship with Alpha for over a decade. Sam has been a long-time Alpha enthusiast and supporter. Thanks Sam and McKernan. I really value our relationship. Blessings, John

From time to time I get discouraged. Doesn't everybody - from time to time that is? Often I get frustrated at how many people don't return my calls or respond to my e-mails. Sometimes I think it might be better not to try to make appointments, but just to drop in unexpectedly. I've actually had success using this tactic, and one of my favourite things to do is to go to a particular community and just walk in through church doors. In 5 years I've only had one what I would consider negative response. I even forget where, exactly, but it was a rather fundamentalist church who wanted nothing to do with Alpha because Catholics used it too. I resisted the temptation to come back with the snappy rejoinder, "Catholics also use the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation. Do you reject it as well?" But I digress. A couple of weeks ago I telephoned a church in Edmonton hoping to speak with the Pastor. He was on holidays; could I call back the following week? No problem...

"What's going on?" you ask (as also did Marvin Gaye ). "What's coming up? What's in the works?" Well I thought it was time I wrote another post, so let me tell you about a couple of things. I've been working on a few things. A couple of churches have been really encouraging to me. Yesterday I met with St Albert Alliance . They are planning a pretty major fall Alpha campaign, as a church as a whole, in small groups and in Seniors' homes. South Calgary Chinese Evangelical Free Church (SCCEFC - Chinese Churches seem to like initials; see Westside Calgary Chinese Alliance Church  [WCCAC], SEAC [ South Edmonton Alliance Church ], ECCC [ Ed monton Christian Community Church ] etc., but enough of that - they are all good Alpha churches) are planning 2 Alpha's this fall. Christcity , my favourite Sunday evening church, (I tell people I'm an Anglican Sunday mornings and a Pentecostal Sunday nights) is planning to give Alpha a higher profile thi...