LPD Annual Meeting – virtual…
“Advancing the Gospel in Pandemic Times“
Saturday, March 6, 2021 – 10AM – 12noon.
We invite you to attend this important meeting of our Lower Pacific District.
Registration is open – and is free!
https://www.lpd-efcc.ca/event/annual-agm-zoom/
Please consider gifting your registration fees to:
LPD Ministry Care Fund
As we are meeting online this year, the AGM is free. Registration fees for conference are typically $75.00 per delegate for the weekend ($65.00 for “Islanders”). As many churches have already budgeted for conference, we invite to donate your conference registration fee to a fund that we are establishing to invest in ministry personnel, the LPD Ministry Care Fund. We are establishing this fund to provide ministry retreats for pastors and spouses, to assist ministry personnel in times of special need, and to invest in the ministry and welfare of those who serve. If you are able, please consider donating conference registration fees toward this ministry to those who serve. Donations can be made by e-transfer office@lpd-efcc.ca, cheque, or paypal https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id%3D7JTC99H5NCDBU&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1612483441277000&usg=AFQjCNFKqLK3rmBX0_SHnHiff7pUQtB1kg. Please designate in the memo that the funds are for the LPD Ministry Care Fund.
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Christ, Churches and COVID
I, like many to you am tired of COVID. I find myself changing stations on the radio as the topic of COVID is obsessively talked about, speculated about and statistics are endlessly repeated and reviewed.
Also, like many of you, I am disappointed by the self-serving actions of both our provincial and federal governments. While we have been compliant and followed regulations, our provincial government called an unnecessary election. In doing so, the government failed to provide leadership to the COVID pandemic in our province for several weeks. We lost ground during this time, and we are all paying the price.
Our federal government has also let us down. They have been self-serving and have lacked integrity. Never has a government spent so much and accomplished so little! The delay in vaccinations has prolonged the need for restrictions and has led to further discouragement. While other nations map out their plans for “opening-up,” we live under threat of further restrictions and enforcement. My brothers in the USA have had their vaccinations (as have 20% of the US population), and are living much less restricted lives. It is hard not to feel let down by our leaders.
To add to all this, those we lead and serve are also unhappy. It has been more than a year! Some restrictions placed upon churches might seem rather arbitrary and unfair….
This week, I was sent a link to a summary of a survey of and discussion between pastors and faith leaders in BC. It is titled, “BC Christian Leaders Survey on the BC Government’s Response to COVID.”
I found this insightful and it perhaps represents what you are experiencing and feeling, both personally and among those you lead. The survey finds:
“Two key responses that reveal the loss of government support are that while 64% of these churches and ministries will continue to follow the closure orders only 36% of them support the government’s handling of churches and ministries during this crisis. That is a lot of passive aggressive compliance that could explode into opposition.”
Here is a link to the entire article:
bc-christian-leaders-survey-covid-2021
Writer Shannon Stange concludes, “He (Health minister Adrian Dix) seems to be saying that the government will continue it’s adversarial stance with communities of faith. He was not willing to acknowledge that these communities are pushing back because of the inequity of the BC government shutting down faith gatherings when they could easily allow those gatherings with reasonable safety protocols as they do for businesses. “
Reading this article, I believe that it speaks to what you/we might be feeling.
While all that the study finds may be true, and we have been somewhat “let down” by our governments, how do we as Christians and as Christ’s Church respond? While we cannot “do church,” as we have known it, what does it mean to “be the church” today?
As I have been reflecting on our current situation, I believe that our focus has often been on the limitations to ministry as we have known it, rather than seizing the opportunities that we have to serve, to witness and to be the Church locally.
As you are aware, some churches have chosen to defy the current government restrictions. Their case is before the courts. While they may have a valid case, their actions have done nothing to further the cause of or the reputation of our faith.
I recently read something by Warren Wiersbe that has stuck with me. In his commentary on the Book of Job, he states,“Often, when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, we ask, “How do I get out of this?” when we should really ask, “What should I get out of this?” I believe that in this time of pandemic, this should be our desire and prayer. “Lord, what do you desire us to hear, to learn and to change? “
As one of our pastors put it this week, perhaps going through COVID can be likened to the journey of the Israelites to the to the Promised Land. The closer they came to their destination and faced challenges, the more they longed to go back to Egypt – a life of slavery, hardship, rationed food and poverty. Fact is, life had not been good in Egypt and what lay ahead was far, far better.
Similarly, perhaps “the church” was not all it should have been a year ago, and while the journey to the new is challenging, perhaps our destination to a renewed church will make it all worthwhile – what is God up to in this time of pandemic? Or, in the words of Wiersbe, “What should we get out of this?”
Let’s not long to go backward – back to our “church Egypt,” but continue to listen and look to God for all that He has for us in the future. Just as God used the Exodus to ready His people for the Promised Land, so He is preparing us for the post-pandemic church. We have been all learning to minister in new and creative ways, and have been challenged to “be the church,” not simply “do church.” Let’s be attentive to our Lord and together ask, “Lord, what do you desire us to hear, to learn and to change?“
As we come to our district conference/meeting on March 6, our theme is, “Advancing the Gospel in Pandemic Times.“ While our meeting will be much shorter than “normal,” we will take time to share some stories of what God is doing in our lives and churches. Two of our pastors have recovered from COVID. Churches are finding new and creative ways to reach their congregations and neighbours. Several churches have grown. People have been saved, baptized, and many have attended church virtually who might never attend in person.
Please plan to join us as we meet together, share stories of God’s work, and plan for the future leadership and ministry of our shared mission as the Lower Pacific District of the EFCC.
As our board has prayerfully prepared for conference this year, the scripture on our hearts has been Jeremiah 17:5-8, which reads:
Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7,8
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I was encouraged at the devotional by Oswald Chambers Thursday morning. It is titled the “Destitution of Service,” and speaks of servant leadership and perspective.
https://utmost.org/the-destitution-of-service/
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Need a B-r-e-a-k?
Matt Castle, a former youth pastor at Fort Langley EFC is now Executive Director of Camp Luther on Hatzic Lake in Mission.
As camp programs are suspended due to COVID, they are offering the use of their cabins for pastors and families – free of charge. Bring your own food dishes and cooking appliances, but you are welcome to stay for free and use the canoes and waterfront.
http://campluther.ca/
Spring break is March 15-26 – perhaps a few families can enjoy Camp Luther over this time (social distancing and all…). The camp would prefer for us to “book” a block of time for our district, and then they can also share the camp with others.
for more information.Please please contact Rob at the LPD Office
