(Over the next 7 months we will be journeying through these reflections on the Lord’s Prayer, used with permission, by Carolyn Arends. If you missed the introduction, you can find it in the February issue of Making Connections.  

The Lord’s Prayer will be the theme of our Assembly in May, and we invite you to use these monthly reflections in preparation. For more info and to register for Assembly, click here) 

The Universe in 57 Words—Part Two

By Carolyn Arends

THE INVOCATION 

Our Father which art in heaven . . . 

The first thing Jesus teaches us is an invocation—pointing us toward the right address, in multiple senses of the word. 

Whom are we addressing? Our Father. 

Where is His address? In heaven. 

Dallas Willard argues that “addressing God is what distinguishes prayer from worrying out loud.” As soon as I speak or even think the opening words of the Lord’s Prayer, I’m pulled out of my internal echo chamber and into a two-way conversation. 

Jesus could have taught us to address THE GREAT I AM or THE LORD MOST HIGH. Instead, He invites us to use highly– relational, parental language. If God is Our Father, then we are His children. Fathers—good ones, anyway—are accessible to their kids, and delight in giving them good things.  

It’s worth pausing here to reflect on how our earthly dads color the canvas of our picture of God as Father. Especially for those with father wounds, the image is easily distorted. Thankfully, Jesus shows us the heavenly Father in His person and in His parables.  

Picture the father in the parable of the prodigal son. There is nothing a wayward child can do to “unfather” that father; it’s impossible to change his character or out-sin his love. This, Jesus tells us, is the kind of Father to whom we pray. 

Do you see the beautiful efficiency of the Lord’s Prayer so far? It takes Jesus only two words to reveal something seismic about the heart of God and His desire to act for our good. And with those same two words, He gives us our own identity in the equation. We’re not needy, anonymous blips in an indifferent universe. Rather, we are needy, beloved children of a God who takes Fatherly delight in caring for us. 

Addressing God as Our Father gives us the basis for all the petitions to follow, because it assures us that God has the desire to act on our behalf. But how do we know that God also has the power to act? This is where the second part of the address comes in. 

“The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,” writes the psalmist in Psalm 103:19, “and His kingdom rules over all.” By teaching us to pray to “Our Father in heaven,” Jesus is reminding us that the God we are addressing is on His throne and in charge of the universe. 

Yet even as God’s heavenly address reminds us of His sovereignty and transcendence, it also assures us of His proximity and immanence. The biblical writers pictured the heavens not as a remote location but as the dimension where God reigns—the invisible realm that extends far beyond the farthest galaxy but is also as near as the atmosphere surrounding our bodies. 

‘Our Father which art in heaven’. With this brief address, Jesus gives us “the configuration of the reality from within which we pray.”  

 THREE IMPLICATIONS OF THE INVOCATION 

We need to recapture a bit of the shock that Jesus’ first students would have experienced when they heard this address. They were likely startled on at least three fronts. 

Intimacy 

First, Jesus signals an astonishing level of access to God. We know Jesus addressed God as Abba—an Aramaic word that carries perhaps a touch more respect than the English term daddy, but no less tenderness. In teaching us to pray Our Father, Jesus is inviting us into that same sort of intimacy with the God of the universe. 

For Jesus’ first listeners—Jews who had been taught all sorts of prohibitions related to addressing God with the proper reverence—the invitation to address Him as “Father” or “Abba” must have been mind-boggling. Something about the way humans are able to relate to God has shifted dramatically, and it has everything to do with Jesus. 

Theologian Baxter Kruger tells a story that cracks open a bit of the miracle on offer. Baxter was in his office one Saturday afternoon when his young son and a playmate appeared, decked out in camouflage, evidently embroiled in a game of Army. “My son peers around the corner of the door and looks at me,” Kruger remembers, “and the next thing I know, he comes flying through the air and jumps on me. We start wrestling and horsing around and we end up on the floor. Then his buddy flies into us and all three of us are just like a wad of laughter.” 

In the middle of their play, Kruger felt the Lord prompting him to pay attention. He realized he’d never met his son’s friend before. “I re-wound the story and thought about what would have happened if this little boy would have walked into my den alone. . . . Would he fly through the air and engage me in play? . . . Of course not. That is the last thing that would have happened.” 

“Within himself,” Kruger continues, “that little boy had no freedom to have a relationship with me. We were strangers. . . . The miracle that happened was that my son’s knowledge of my acceptance and delight, and my son’s freedom for fellowship with me, rubbed off onto that other little boy. . . . He participated in my son’s life and communion with me.” 

When Jesus invites us to call His Father our Father, he is offering us intimate participation in the life of the Trinity. 

Community 

In the invocation, Jesus teaches that our connection to God is very personal, yet it is also not private. The address, after all, is not My Father, but Our Father. And all the personal pronouns that follow in the prayer are plural. 

From the first word of the prayer forward, Jesus invites us to begin to understand our story within the context of a much bigger story. To pray this prayer is to find our individual lives situated within the body of Christ, within humanity, and within all of creation. 

Vocation 

There is a third, rather cosmic dimension of the invocation that is easy to overlook unless we receive Jesus’ teaching in the context of Israel’s backstory. N. T. Wright points out that the first occurrence of the idea of God as “Father” comes during the dramatic scene, captured in Exodus 4, when Moses thunders to Pharaoh on the Lord’s behalf: “Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son. . . . Let my son go that he may worship me” (Exodus 4:22–23). 

From that iconic confrontation forward, to refer to God as “Father” is associated in the Jewish mind with the promise of liberation—freedom from slavery and oppression. By the time King David comes along, God is explaining that eventually there will be a new king, a Messiah, descended from David’s family—and the God-as-Father motif continues. “I will be a father to him,” He says of the promised Messiah, “and he shall be a son to me” (2 Samuel 7:14). 

When Jesus arrives on the scene, Israel has been waiting for this Davidic Messiah, the hope of Israel, for a very long time. They’ve suffered under the oppression of one regime after another, longing for the day when their Lord, Yahweh, will enact a new exodus and finally set His people free. When Jesus starts referring to God as His “Father,” it’s a signal, loud and clear, that He is claiming to be the long-awaited emancipator. 

And then, do you see what He does? It would be one thing if He taught His followers to pray to His Father. But instead, He teaches us to pray to our Father—which is to include ourselves in the mission. 

Right here, in the invocation, Jesus is inviting all who will pray this prayer to self-identify as participants in the Father’s great project of setting every captive free and overcoming evil with good in every corner of the universe. To pray to “our Father” is to find our life’s ultimate vocation. It is to sign up for the revolution. 

And our participation in this revolution means that we are invited to embody God’s kingdom everywhere we go—at home, at work, at church, shopping for groceries, posting on social media, interacting with our neighbors. We’re invited to live aware and expectant—growing in our capacity to detect all the subtle and overt ways the people around us experience oppression and learning to pray and act for their liberation. 

When I look back on my church upbringing, I’m grateful there was a strong emphasis on the possibility of a personal, intimate relationship with God. But I must confess that I somehow missed the communal, cosmic, revolutionary side of the beautiful coin Jesus offers us. 

“Spiritual depth and renewal come, as and when they come, as part of the larger package,” observes N. T. Wright. “But that package itself is about being delivered from evil; about God’s kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven.” 

Whom are we addressing? Our Father 

Where is His address? In heaven. 

Where is OUR address? Intimately centered in the life of the Trinity, communally situated within the body of Christ and all of creation and thrillingly placed on the frontlines of the revolution. 

 Suggested song: “Who You Are”  Renovare.org/universesongs 

To download the full resource: https://renovare.org/books/the-universe-in-57-words 

Excerpts used with permission from a book entitled 

the universe
in 57 words
SEVEN DAYS INSIDE THE LORD’S PRAYER 

By Carolyn Arends 

 This resource has been influenced by more authors, preachers, teachers, and fellow pray-ers than I can credit or even remember. But I am particularly indebted to the following works: Fifty-Seven Words That Change the World, by Darrell Johnson; The Lord and His Prayer, by N. T. Wright; The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard; Prayer, by Richard Foster; and Eugene Peterson’s “Jesus and Prayer” lectures for SPIR 604 at Regent College.

New Ministers Orientation: The Art of Reciprocal Relationship

By Louanne Haugan

This month, the Calgary Head Office will (once again) open its doors for three days to welcome the 2025 class of pastors new to the CBWC. We call this time together New Ministers Orientation (NMO), and it is a wonderful opportunity to meet the staff, make new friends, and learn not only what it means to be Baptist—but also what sets us apart as Canadian Baptists of Western Canada.  

One of the ‘serendipity exercises’ we engage in is going around the room to identify what church tradition we come from. It is always incredibly varied; most pastors are not born and raised in CBWC churches. These Christian men and women bring with them rich faith narratives and a willingness to learn and grow together as a larger body—all while ministering in the context of their individual home churches and communities. It is beautiful to hear their stories as we get to know each other better! 

Besides learning about the various ministries that Executive Staff are responsible for, some of the topics covered during NMO are Baptist History, Leading Through Change and Conflict, Spiritual Ethics and Boundaries, Ordination, Longevity in Ministry, Governance, and Clergy Resources.  

It was during one of the sessions last year that a participant commented, “I wish my Board were here to listen to this, too. Is there a way for you to get this information to them?” That comment was impetus to creating our Board Development Essentials Video Series!  

Over the next several months, we had various staff write and record 5-minute informational videos on topics such as writing a good employment contract to creating a Church Rental Policy. Our hope is that pastors will include these short videos as an educational piece during monthly Board meetings. We intend to add relevant content each year. The Board Development Essentials Video Series can be found on our website under Church Tools.  

We say that attending NMO is a bit like drinking from a firehose—lots of information over a brief period of time. But this information does not only flow in one direction. You can be assured that our staff are always listening for feedback on how to provide better resources for those serving as CBWC pastors and lay leaders.  

We have 20 pastors attending New Ministers Orientation this year from March 10-12th. Please pray for CBWC staff as they prepare to welcome and encourage our pastors making the journey to Calgary to attend. May long-lasting friendships be made, and ministries strengthened. 

Partner Spotlight—CBWC Foundation

Announcing the CBWC Kingdom Builders Fund

The CBWC is pleased to announce the launch of the Kingdom Builders Fund. It’s a way for CBWC churches and ministries to loan funds to the CBWC Foundation, earn market competitive interest and increase our ability to loan to churches and ministries who are building or refurbishing ministry spaces in the CBWC.  

• Currently you can receive 2.75% annual interest for funds that are accessible throughout the year with a ten-day redemption period.  

• For funds locked in for a year, the rate is currently 3.75%. Two years is 3.50%. 

• The fund can only accept funds from CBWC churches and ministries and not individuals at this time.  

To join the fund, please email Chris Reid  creid@cbwcfoundation.ca or call her at 403-930-7004. You can also read more information on our website.  

A Little History:  

Many of you will recall that in years past the CBWC had a very successful program that most simply knew as the ‘Deposit Fund’. 

With the Deposit Fund, CBWC Churches and individuals could deposit funds with the CBWC Foundation, earn a competitive return and the CBWC would then use the funds to loan to CBWC Churches and Ministries. The fund enabled a lot of good work in the CBWC over many years. A small portion also supported the ministry of the CBWC. It was a win-win-win situation! 

In 2018, changes at the Alberta Securities Commission tightened rules for non-profit investment funds and the Foundation Board was concerned that the Deposit Fund was potentially non-compliant with the new rules. We sent back all the money to both churches and individuals. 

After working closely with the Alberta Securities Commission for the past three years, we have received an Exemption that allows us to once again offer the program to our community in a modified form that fully meets all requirements. As well, BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have all joined the Exemption under their passport agreement. 

For the exemption, ASC asked that we call it a loan program rather than a deposit program to make it clear that the fund is not analogous to a bank saving account. Also, as with all investment vehicles, they require more documentation with the application to provide clarity for all involved. We will be limited with these funds to loans to CBWC churches and CBWC Ministries. Finally, we will report annually to the ASC our audited financial statements. 

We, at the Foundation, are grateful for the chance to once again partner with you in this way, and we look forward to what God will do with these funds that ultimately all belong to Him.  

Submitted by Bob Webber 

The CBWC Foundation is hiring! Learn more at cbwc.ca/careers.

A Story of Two Churches Becoming One

A story of 2 churches sharing a building who chose to become one congregation, by Hannah Hamm in consultation with Tyler Graftaas and Nahri Hong.  

Consider a Baptist church in the city of Calgary that’s been there for over a hundred years. Now consider a modern-day church, predominantly 2nd generation Asian, planted in the same building, only 17 years ago. Would these two very different congregations co-exist well? Time would tell that they would more than co-exist. In fact, they were destined to become one.  

In the Fall of 2024, I sat down with pastors Nahri Hong and Tyler Graftaas, in Banff, to hear the story.  

First, a little history. Crescent Heights Baptist Church began in 1907 as a Sunday School in the Crescent Heights real estate office of A.J. McArthur, with young pastor Archie Gordon. The church building followed in 1909.  Fast forward to the mid-1990s when a teenage 

Tyler Graftaas began attending. By 2016 that same young man would become part of the pastoral team.  

In 2007, a congregation planted by the Calgary Korean Baptist Church and blessed by the CBWC would move into the building. ‘GoodTree Christian Fellowship’ enters the stage. (It’s worth noting that two other congregations also meet at Crescent, a Chinese fellowship called Blessed Christian Church and a Filipino congregation called Greenhills Christian Fellowship. This place has a history of sharing and making space for the diverse Kingdom of Jesus).

In March, John Huh, founding pastor of GoodTree Christian Fellowship had concluded his pastoral ministry to go full-time with the Canadian Armed Forces as a Chaplain Major in Borden, ON. As such, GoodTree Christian Fellowship was in a pastoral search under the direction of Ken Nettleton, who was the interim senior pastor at the time alongside pastor Nahri, who was a part of the original GoodTree Christian Fellowship plant in 2007. Nahri  joined the pastoral staff team in 2019 after serving as a lay leader in various capacities over the years. Later that summer Tyler, who had served pastorally in both congregations over the years, began chatting with a couple of the leaders at GoodTree Christian Fellowship.  In one conversation someone said, ‘maybe you could be our pastor!’ In early 2023 the search committee interviewed Tyler simply to see if the two visions could align, but Tyler wasn’t planning to leave Crescent. GoodTree Christian Fellowship interviewed a few candidates, but none seemed the right fit. Everyone knew Tyler and that he was uniquely gifted with what they were looking for, but the fact that he came with a whole other congregation made things complicated.  

As 2023 continued the leadership at GoodTree Christian Fellowship began praying for discernment about the potential of merging with Crescent Heights considering that their vision for the church included diversity and discipleship. After much prayer and discussion, the team felt that the time was right to consider emerging from their comfort zone and moving toward a more multi-ethnic and multi-generational context that better reflected the diverse Kingdom of God.  

In the meantime, the leadership team at Crescent Heights had discerned that this could be a really good next step and were giving GoodTree Christian Fellowship the time to discern.  

In May of 2023 GoodTree CF held a town hall meeting about the potential merge. Many contentious issues arose and were worked through. Addressing previously undisclosed concerns and having leadership respond effectively was a very positive experience. Nonetheless, the concept of the merge was challenging for some of the congregation. 

Nahri describes this time of discernment well: 

“After our recent leadership retreat, we felt that God was calling us to diversity and the importance of discipleship. This was a difficult shift because the foundation of the church was built on our identity as a second-generation Asian context. We had to redefine; maybe God was calling us into a new season; and maybe this new direction was more Kingdom like?  

There was a strong emotional response. We had to push out of our familiar comfort zone. Yet everyone agreed that there was already a wonderful working relationship with Crescent, and we all loved pastor Tyler. We wondered if we were ready to let go of what we were.” 

(Tyler interjected that there was some fear of a ‘takeover’ by Crescent, which was curiously flipped on its head later, but that’s for a few paragraphs from now. Back to Nahri’s reflection.) 

“We were a small congregation; all genuinely friends. We wondered what it would be like with a whole other congregation in the mix. How would we do life together? I also don’t think we could remove the racial component of it. A lot of people feared being the minority. They had experienced hurt in this area and the church had been a place where their kids could feel safe. Pastor Ken had been doing some teaching on the question ‘What is the church?’ Is the church there to serve your needs? To make you feel comfortable? Frankly, GoodTree was a safe space where the people didn’t have to worry about things they dealt with in the outside world.” 

Ironically, it was Crescent Heights, the older and predominantly Caucasian congregation who’d been together for over a hundred years, who were up for the challenge comes with change.  

In June, members of leadership and staff of both churches gathered together. Both groups were more excited and convinced it was worth exploring the idea of merging the churches, and by early September of 2023, the leadership of GoodTree Christian Fellowship would gather and feel unanimous in moving forward together. 

Both churches held a vote at the end of November and the count ‘in favour’ was nearly unanimous! The two churches gathered together for worship throughout December, and in January 2024, both congregations held their final individual services to mark the transition. After this, except for some legalities, everything merged.  

Was it all smooth sailing right away? Not quite.  Several more ‘town hall’ meetings ensued during that first year, and this time, it was mostly Crescent congregants who were struggling. The term ‘takeover’ was in the air again, only this time from a different perspective. The original GoodTree folks had already done the hard work of discussing potential difficulties and addressing concerns and were fully on board.  

 One innocent but unfortunate circumstance that brought about concerns was that Crescent’s main worship leader went on a month’s long trip right at the time of the merge. As a result, the musical worship appeared to be predominantly in the GoodTree Christian Fellowship style and form – though musicians from both churches were involved. As time progressed, everyone has learned to love and appreciate ‘new’ music styles, although the conversation is not over. 

 Choosing a name for the newly merged congregation was another necessary adaptation. Here’s what Tyler had to say about that decision.  

 “The whole naming process was good but bore no fruit. No strong new name emerged (a few things no one wanted!) When it came down to it, I had always loved the GoodTree name. Something alive, bearing good fruit, straight out of Jesus’ description of what it means to follow him. GoodTree, in its very name, is representative of planting churches which is a huge part of our vision.  Officially the name is becoming GoodTree Church. We hope in the long term the working name for this location will be GoodTree @ Crescent Heights and that many more GoodTrees will be planted around the city.” 

Hear these encouraging final thoughts from Tyler and Nahri. 

‘God has been really confirming that His Hand was in this. Since the merge we have been experiencing, on both sides, the goodness and the fruit of following His path. Children being in the mix has brought life to the Crescent congregation. GoodTree folks have been commenting on how good it is to worship together in a more diverse way.’ 

‘God is blessing the process and it has been beautiful to watch. It’s all been very intentional, for everyone, to merge together. We’ve seen surprising growth in both the children’s ministry and through regular newcomers (and new believers) joining the church each Sunday. New discipleship life groups are gaining traction as the congregation is learning and practicing how to love one another in intentional ways. We are thankful.’ 

Tyler writes that ‘with the help of a lawyer, by November 2024 new Bylaws and an Amalgamation Document was drawn up. It was presented to the church with a final vote on the Amalgamation document at the end of that month to another unanimous vote in favour. Paperwork has been filed with the government and at the time of this newsletter coming out we are waiting on everything becoming official/legal.’ 

I hope you’ve been encouraged by this story of two churches who listened to the prompting of God, pushed through discomfort, and have found goodness and blessing together. May this be an example to us all as we seek to hear His voice, follow His lead, and bear good fruit. 

Active in Mission: What Next?

For the past two years, we as CBWC churches and Staff have been invited to join Canadian Baptists across the country in a simple, practical initiative to address the food security issues in our country and around the world. CBM quarterbacks Active in Mission, or AiM, where individuals, churches, and youth groups raise money by committing to an activity of their choice: running, paddleboarding, volleyball, and more! 

Once the money is raised, it is distributed partly to food security programs taking place within Canadian Baptist denominations, and partly to CBM’s projects around the world that address hunger through farming, food distribution, meal programs or income-generating projects. We are happy to announce that the CBWC grant recipients for the funds raised in 2024 have been selected: 

• Calgary Chinese Baptist Church‘s Steppingstones Food Club takes an innovative approach to addressing the material and social needs of low-income families by providing healthy, fresh food within the context of a supportive community. All members of the food club, alongside church members, are expected to actively participate in the sharing of food that is purchased in bulk from a local grocery store partner. Each member also receives the privilege that comes with knowing that they contributed to the program and to helping their own neighbours. 

• Calvary Baptist Church’s Jubilee Community Garden began over a decade ago as a tangible way for the church to bless the local community of Gibsons, BC. Rooted in the biblical concept of Jubilee, the garden reflects the values of community, abundance, and blessing. The grant will enable Calvary to transform a currently unused strip of land, covered in weeds and brambles, into a productive extension of the Jubilee Garden via soil enrichment, landscaping, irrigation and fencing. 

• Dauphin First Baptist’s Community Meal supplies 200 hot, nutritious meals every two weeks to families accessing the Food Bank, operating alongside, but independent of, the Good Bank. Coming out of COVID, the congregation decided that they needed to a) spend more time together and b) engage more deeply in the neighbourhood. When a neighbouring church who had started the Community Meal around 15 years ago needed to step down from the ministry, it seemed like a perfect chance for the folks at FBC to step up and meet their objectives at the same time!  

• Faith Community Baptist’s Grocery Gift Card Ministry addresses a direct need in Claresholm. Folks come to the church facility asking for help feeding their families, and the church is able to give them an IGA gift card for groceries. Sometimes, this interaction can lead to prayer or spiritual conversations. 

• First Baptist Church Saskatoon’s Food Pantry is a way that the church can reach out to their neighbours with a message of God’s love, while filling a real need. They stock a selection of non-perishable food items, frozen bread/buns, cheese, and lunch meat. Neighbours can come and select the items that they need for themselves and their family.  

• Trinity Baptist Church, Sherwood Park runs a community garden and is developing a community orchard. It is a neighborhood garden, where garden plots are rented to community members who don’t have their own gardening space. The garden has become an integral part of Trinity’s commitment to enhancing their welcome, giving back to the community and providing a space for service. One quarter of the garden is reserved for providing produce to the local food bank, women’s shelter and refugee families that the church sponsors. 

• Trinity Baptist Church, Winnipeg’s Food Bank runs biweekly, providing a chance to connect with 30 families, many of whom are Ukrainian immigrants. Some food is provided by Harvest Manitoba, but the Active in Mission Grant will help add bread and meat to the offering. 

How inspiring to know that these and many more food security initiatives are happening in our churches across the CBWC! If you didn’t get a chance to participate in fundraising for Active in Mission last year, worry not. AiM 2025 is just around the corner. The fundraising website will go live on May 1, so start brainstorming with your crew how you’ll get active in mission!