Are you healthy? Is your church healthy? How would you know? Five Minutes on Friday with the LPD.

Please remember,

Fort Langley Evangelical Free Church

– our LPD Church of the Week.

Thanks to Anna (Ben) Crumback at Sointula Community Church for producing the Church of the Week!

God’s blessings to you and your church at this Thanksgiving Season. Karen and I thank God for each one of you, and for the churches you represent.

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (1 Thess. 1:4-6)

Are you healthy? Is your church healthy? How do you know?

Nine years ago, my younger brother was fighting a life-threatening illness, a battle he would lose in 2010. I was running back and forth to St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver to visit him and to care for his family. It was a very rich, yet also very draining year. As I visited him, I was thankful for my health and that I had the strength and energy to minister to him.

During that year, I visited my family doctor, believing that I was in fine health, but for a small sebaceous cyst that I had self-diagnosed. Having me in his office, my doctor thought he should give me a physical, and to my surprise, he found that I had developed quite high blood pressure. I had no idea!

I am thankful for this diagnosis and that I have been able to address this. I watch my diet, get exercise, and have also purchased a blood pressure monitor to record and track my readings – which are thankfully very good.

While I had felt fine and considered myself healthy, perhaps relative to my brother, there were measures and characteristics of health that I was not aware of and was not measuring up to. This can be true of both people. It can also be true of churches.

Dr. Sam Reimer recently studied evangelical churches in Canada, seeking to determine factors for Church Health and Congregational Vitality.

He found ten, and these, while not a “formula” for health, are descriptors of healthy evangelical churches. Here is what he found.

TEN SIGNS OF CONGREGATIONAL VITALITY

If the pastor views his/her church as missional, this has the greatest positive effect on vitality of any item in our survey. Churches that are focused on their community and world are more vital according to the vitality scale.
The Mission Statement shapes current priorities and goals. The key question is not whether the church has a mission statement, but whether the mission statement is currently shaping the priorities and direction of the congregation.
Percentage who give regularly. Obviously, a committed laity is key to congregational vitality, and financial giving is part of that commitment.
A priority on building volunteer leadership.Churches that are vital focus on lay development and discipleship, not only getting people in the pews.
Priority of a worship service that is oriented toward visitors. Worship that is comfortable for visitors is positively related to vitality.
Percentage over age 65. An aging congregation decreases vitality, even if having some seniors is good for a church.
A time for laity to share testimony and prayer requests. This item predicts vitality, possibly because testimony encourages the congregation, and praying for individual needs helps people connect and feel cared for.
Percentage college educated. Having college educated laity is related to vitality, possibly because of their volunteerism and leadership capabilities (or capital).
Percentage aged 18-29. As noted in #6 above, keeping and engaging young adults is important to vital congregations;
An evangelical identity is a positive connection to vitality, possibly because churches that were described as “evangelical” were evangelistic.

Please read and download the entire article and survey at: Congregational-Vitality-among-Evangelical-Churches

If you are interested in a health check up for your church, please contact me – we have some resources for this purpose that we will be glad to share with you.
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Thanksgiving in a Ugandan Refugee Camp

In recent weeks, I have been updating you on the ministry of Pastor Sammy Kabyemera, who is on a two-month visit and ministry to the Kyaka Refugee Camp in Uganda. Please pray for him and for the brothers and sisters in Christ who are in poverty. Please see the attached letter and photos from Sammy, and also how you can support these dear people.
ALL GIFTS ARE APPRECIATED and can me made by cheque or e-transfer or through Jesus Grace International Church in Vancouver. Would you and your church consider giving to these brothers and sisters who are refugees? Ugandan_Refugee_Mission_2018.pd
UPCOMING EVENTS:

“Pastoral Approaches: The Church & Same-Sex Attraction.” Pastoral_Approaches_to_Same_Sex_Attraction_Oct._20_RCEFC.pdf

Saturday, October 20 at Richmond Chinese EFC, 8040 No. 5 Road, Richmond, 9AM – 4PM. This is a follow up and further resourcing of our LPD Conference presentation. All pastors and lay-leaders are welcome! Don’t let the “pastoral approaches” title limit who comes with you – all leaders are welcome. Cost: $10.00 per registrant. Here is some info:

Please register online at our LPD Website: https://www.lpd-efcc.ca/
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Journeying w/ our Kids in a Sexualized & Digital World

Monday, October 15 7PM-9PM at Johnston Heights Church
with Sid Koop

for details, please check out the following Facebook Event Link:
https://m.facebook.com/events/2069642376684086?ref=104&__tn__=%2Cg

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LPD Pastor and Staff Cruise
Wednesday, November 7th.

Please mark Wednesday, November 7 on your calendar for the Fall “Pastors and Staff Cruise,” and watch for details in the weeks ahead! You can now register online at our district website https://www.lpd-efcc.ca/
under the “vent

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Seniors Ministry

Johanna Campbell, of Abbotsford EFC is available to speak to seniors’ groups in our churches on the the topics of aging, care giving and preparing for our heavenly home, based on her experience with caring for her husband for eight years before he passed into glory. She has written a meditation/devotional on Psalm 71, a psalm of David during his last years and will be integrating this psalm into her presentations. Please contact the LPD Office if you wish to arrange for a presentation.

Johanna has been a professor at Trinity Western University, and is a regular speaker to seniors and on the subject of Christian Marriage.

Please pray for:

Please pray specifically with me for Quadra Island Bible Church and Christ Community Church (Ucluelet) in their pastoral searches. Both are in need of Pioneer, Bi-Vocational pastors.
Carl Lindstrom, a faithful member and volunteer at New Westminster EFC, who has been recently diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer.
LPD Board. Board members are Randy Lemke (Allana) – Chair, Patrick Chan (Sarah) – Property and Finance, Ben Crumback (Anna) – Island Liaison, Charles Labun (Carolyn) – Church Board Liaison, Rob Stewart (Karen) – DS, Tim Stewart (Emily) – Innovative Ministries, Kenneth Tsang (Mabel) – Chinese Church Liaison; Paul Yang (Jin) – Korean Church Liaison; Phil Yung (Grace) – Church Planting and Josephine Papp, LPD Office Administrator – Recording Secretary.
North Delta EFC, in their search for an Associate Pastor for youth.
Grace EFC, in their search for a part-time youth pastor.
White Rock Community Church, in their search for a youth pastor.
FLEFC, as they seek the Lord for his future plan for their church.
For Jorge and Emily Lin, new LPD Church Planting Missionaries.They are in a residency program at New West EFC, in preparation for planting a church to reach all nations.
The Steveston Project Team – Allen and Hannah Chang and Daniel and Joyce Wong.
Steve (Gillian) Sharpe, in his ministry as LPD Missionary of Church Planting Development, serving both our LPD Missionaries and Church Plants and church planting in the EFCC.