Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We are all thankful for many things, but I think one of the greatest is the joy of knowing and working with so many people whose zeal, dedication and love of Christ is a daily inspiration. Thanks so much to all of you for everything you do in his service, and may your Thanksgiving celebration be joyful and blessed!
CAD Renewal Conferences
This year, Church Administration and Development conducted Renewal Church Conferences in Glendora, California; Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; and Columbus, Ohio. At each conference, Dr. Dan Rogers led a study in the book of Acts, recounting how the Holy Spirit led the early church in mission with God. Short video excerpts of Dan’s presentations are posted on the It Looks Like This website at http://gci-usa.blogspot.com/p/church-multiplication-study-in-book-of.html.
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Twenty-five pastors and other GCI congregational leaders attended the Renewal Church Conference in Columbus on November 9-11 (see pictures). Dan noted that Acts is descriptive rather than prescriptive. Rather than mimicking the acts of the early church, we find principles that help us understand what the Holy Spirit is now doing to lead the church.
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Canada
From Gary Moore:
I’m in Toronto attending the annual meeting of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC). I have been pleasantly surprised to find that the EFC is strongly promoting Trinitarian theology and is framing the understanding of mission from a Trinitarian perspective. It is very encouraging to see that other Christian leaders are seeing the great value and scriptural soundness of this theological perspective. I want to strongly encourage you as leaders to take the time to keep up with the interviews with Trinitarian theologians on our denominational website (www.gci.org).
Toronto East hosted another regional volleyball tournament last weekend. Below is Alvaro Palacio’s report of the event, some pictures of the weekend.
Young (and not so young) participants from our Quebec and Ontario churches met in Toronto November 13-14 for our traditional Volleyball Weekend, a yearly festivity organized by the Montreal and Toronto East congregations. It started with an inspiring worship service on Saturday afternoon with traditional and contemporary worship music. Inspiring, spiritual messages were given by Judith Lawrence and Rob Brockman followed by a communion service. After services all enjoyed a wonderful fellowship time with pizza, snacks, video and board games.
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The well organized volleyball tournament started early on Sunday. Teams from Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and other participants from the neighbouring areas joined in friendly competition for most of the day. Big Bang from Ottawa won first place, followed very closely by Toronto’s team, Cornerstone. Toronto East was third. It was a well fought competition, in which all the participants gave their best.
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“It was evident that Christ was playing among our young people,” commented one of the observers after seeing the sportsmanship and Christian love showed by all the participants. This was also a great opportunity for the Toronto East congregation to share their hospitality with dozens of visitors and to renew old friendships in Christ. At the end of the tournament, players, organizers and helpers were tired but joyfully thanking God and one another; knowing that once more the love of God was put into action for the mutual edification of our Lord’s body.
Prayer Requests and Updates
Thanks from James and Shirley Henderson
James and Shirley thank everyone for their prayers and concerns following the attack by a Cape Buffalo on the 17th November. They have both had operations for trauma injuries and are responding well to treatment. Miraculously no vital organs were affected. Your continued prayers for a speedy recovery are appreciated.
Cards may be sent to:
Worldwide Church of God
Attention: James & Shirley Henderson
P O Box 7703
Market Harborough, LE16 7ZG
United Kingdom
Remember that prayer is the battleground where we fight the good fight of faith. Let’s encourage everyone to join together in prayer, for we belong to Christ, and by the Spirit it is in Christ that we pray. Prayer and other spiritual activities help keep our hearts in tune with God and remind us of who we are in Christ. He is our all in all, and in him we are eternally beloved of the Father and blessed to share his good news with others.
Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach
