Altadore Church in Calgary kindly hosted leaders from Calgary churches and Union staff in a morning of re-capturing and sharing together what we feel God is leading is leading is in the year ahead.
The Calgary churches who shared written comments or who attended included; Altadore, First Baptist, Northmount, People’s Church, Bowness and Westview.
The time went like this:
Listening and Commitment:
Calgary/Edmonton Fall 2006
These readings are adapted from a “Shalom Liturgy” courtesy of Mustard Seed Associates; www.msainfo.org
Opening Prayer
Blessed Lord Jesus you give us the gift of your kingdom
The promise of wholeness and completeness is ours
The peace of shalom you leave with us, Alleluia!
(Silence)
God you set us free to love you with all our hearts and souls and minds
You set us free to love our neighbours as we do ourselves
God you call us to the freedom of your shalom kingdom today
Free us from our self-centeredness and indifference and greed
Free us to share generously of your bounty so others will not hunger or lack provision
God you call us to the freedom of your shalom kingdom today
Free us to live in love and compassion and mutual care
May we accept your gift and enter the wholeness of your kingdom today
God may we enter the wholeness of your shalom kingdom today
Venite (Ps. 95:1-7)
Lord, bringer of freedom, have mercy upon us
Christ, Prince of Peace, have mercy upon us
Lord, giver of wholeness, have mercy upon us
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. AMEN
Spirtus Sanctus Prayer
As the sun is full of light, the ocean full of water,
Heaven full of glory, so may my heart be full of thee.
Vain are all divine purposes of love
And the redemption wrought by Jesus
Except thou work within,
Regenerating by thy power,
Giving me eyes to see Jesus
Showing me the realities of the unseen world.
Give me thyself without measure
As an unimpaired fountain,
As inexhaustible riches
I bewail my coldness, poverty, emptiness, imperfect vision, languid service,
Prayerless prayers, praiseless; praise
Suffer me not to grieve or resist thee.
Come as power,
To expel every rebel lust, to reign supreme and keep me thine;
Come as teacher,
Leading me into all truth, filling me with all understanding;
Come as love,
That I may adore the Father, and love him as my all.
Come as joy,
To dwell in me, move in me, animate me.
Come as light,
Illuminating the Scripture, moulding me in its laws
Come as sanctifier,
Body, soul and spirit wholly thine;
Come as helper,
With strength to bless and keep, directing my every chaos.
Come as beautifier,
Bringing order out of confusion, loveliness out of chaos
Magnify to me thy glory by being magnified in me,
And make me redolent in thy fragrance.
A Closing Prayer:
Let us accept the gift of God’s kingdom
May we be instruments of God’s peace today
Where there is despair may we bring hope
May we be instruments of God’s wholeness today
Where there is war may we bring glimpses of peace
May we be instruments of God’s shalom today
Where there is sickness may we do acts of healing
May we be instruments of God’s peace today
Where there is oppression may we bring the promise of freedom
May we be instruments of God’s wholeness today
Where there is hunger may we share from our bounty
May we be instruments of God’s shalom today
Through our words and actions may we be representatives of God’s shalom kingdom
Lord may we love our neighbours as we do ourselves
Go into the world knowing you are touched by the triune God
Let your life shine with the holiness of God
Let your heart be transformed by the peace of Christ
Let your ways be filled with the joy of the spirit
The peace of Christ protect you
The goodness of the saints inspire you
The grace of God go with you and keep you always
Amen
COMMITMENT STATEMENT
Church Representative _______________________:
Given the call of God upon our church community, the leaders of ______________ Church are asking the Baptist Union to help us:
Sam Breakey, Alberta Area Minister
As representatives of the Baptist Union we commit ourselves to support and serve _______________ Church by drawing from our available resources, and establishing new and necessary resources, all in dependence on God.
Church Representative________________________:
The leaders of _______________Church will continue to dialogue, support and work cooperatively with the representatives of the Baptist Union as you partner with us in the ministries God has called us to do.
You’ll remember that the questions were the following:
What does God ask of you?
What resources has God provided?
What remaining resources do you still need?
How can we (in the churches of the Union) support your call of God this year?
Of the 61 churches in the Alberta Area so far 16 have attended the listening sessions and 10 of these have entered into a covenant with the Union to encourage, minister and resource God’s call to us this next year.
I have asked Sam Breakey to mention who spoke on behalf of the churches, to comment on what was shared and to reflect on how he felt about the time together.
Calgary
- First Baptist – Evan Patterson – covenant goal > to initiate networking with other Baptist Churches
- Altadore – Marilyn Kaiser – goal > resource sharing, urban camping, church planting prospect
- Northmount – Laura Taylor – goal > assistance with becoming Christ centered, governance change, & vision
I was encouraged for three reasons
- Congregations were listening to and identifying with the vision and challenge of their neighbours in Christ
- The BUWC was challenged to be deliberately provide tailored resources and support according to specific requests
- My BUWC colleagues experienced first hand the passion and hunger of our local congregations
I would like to thank John Prociuk for organizing us and creating the worshipful place to listen to God and to each other. Faye Reynolds lead women (Women in Focus), Ryan Sato (with Faye) lead worship. Also in attendance were Jack Borchert and Rose-Marie Goodwin from the BUDF, Brian Stelck from the Carey cluster of ministries, Bill Mains, David Holten, Dan Watt, and Sam Breakey.
Please read some sample church documents to give you an awesome taste of some of the places God is leading us this year.
Warmly,
In Christ
Jeremy Bell