Presence-Centered Preaching
Ashwin Ramani, Associate Teaching Pastor, Centre Street Church, Calgary
Check out this short 5-minute video, the next in our video series on
Presence-Centered Preaching.
Recommended Resource
On July 8, 1741, Jonathan Edwards started a sermon that he would not finish. The fires of Great Awakening revival were burning brilliantly throughout New England. As Jonathan Edwards put it in a letter to Thomas Prince, a pastor in Boston, “It was a very frequent thing to see a house full of outcries, faintings, convulsions and such like, both with distress and also with admiration and joy.” This background to the famous preaching of the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is important to grasp.
Save the Date!
We are excited to announce that we have an upcoming Flourishing Congregations Institute event called "The Stories We Tell" featuring four new case studies, taking place at Tyndale University and online. This event is in partnership with the Tyndale Intercultural Ministries Centre.
Further information will be shared in future newsletters, but please mark your calendars and join us on Saturday, January 13, 2024 from 10 - 11:30 am Eastern time.
Upcoming Events
Heart for Mission but Still Structured for Maintenance
November 14, 2023 | 1 PM Eastern
Virtual | Free
Parishes want to fully embrace their missionary identity in order to thrive, but there can be a bottleneck of every decision or change being approved by one person. This can hold people back from stepping forward and fully embracing their unique missionary identity. Learn how parish leaders can create clear and effective structures that empower missional leadership within their community. Become empowered, confident, and structured to thrive in mission.
Share the Light Conference
November 18, 2023 | 1 - 4 pm Eastern
Virtual | Cost: $39-150 CAD
Join this national, inter-denominational, and digital conference designed to equip churches to engage in reaching newcomers to Canada. This year's topics focuses on welcoming refugees and welcoming senior newcomers. Attend for the practical workshops and stay for the national cooperation that brings together shared wisdom and experience across Canada and across the spectrum of Christian denominations. Accessible pricing is provided so churches can attend.
Integration: Christ in the Everyday
November 20, 2023 | 12 - 2 pm Eastern OR
November 23, 2023 | 8 - 10 pm Eastern
Virtual | Cost: $45 CAD
Join a 2-hour workshop which will present a framework for bringing multi-dimensional human experiences into formal theological reflection. Broadly speaking, integration is the practice of bringing different parts into a peaceful relationship with one another, allowing difference and distinction to co-exist and dialogue together within a greater whole. An integrative approach to theology navigates the conflict and uncertainty that arise between our pre-existing or inherited theological commitments and the new perspectives and experiences we encounter. Select the session that best works for you.
Intentional Invitation: From Good Experiences to Life-Changing Encounter
November 21, 2023 | 2 pm Central
Virtual | Free
We all want our parish to be an inviting place where people encounter Jesus in a life-changing way. But the reality is, there's an art to invitation that is lost in most of our parishes — and with it the opportunities to invite people to know and follow our Lord. If invitation matters as a stepping stone into faith and ongoing conversion, how do we create these experiences intentionally? Join Heather Khym, Fr. Stephen Langridge, and Katie Bak as they answers these questions.
Understanding Generation Alpha
November 22, 2023 | 4 - 5 pm Pacific
Virtual | Free
Research is beginning to emerge on Generation Alpha, those born between 2010 and 2024. They are expected to be the most global, tech-savvy, educated generation in human history and will soon outnumber baby boomers globally. Join Mark McCrindle as he shares his findings on the next generation. Mark is a futurist and social demographer whose passions lie in tracking social trends, communicating insights and generational analysis. In addition to being the author of five books, Mark coined the term Generation Alpha.
What It Means for Us to Participate in the Work of Reconciliation
November 23, 2023 | 6:30 - 7:45 pm Mountain
Virtual | Free
Dr. Singh’s teaching and research interests derive from over fifteen years of involvement in international development work. Join Dr. Singh in this lecture as she is interested in how the voices of marginalized and vulnerable populations are represented and incorporated into effective strategies to fight against social injustices. Critical to this is the capacity of faith communities to hear these voices and be mobilized into preventative and responsive strategies that honour and work alongside the voiceless.
Creed and Confessions: What is the Role of a Statement of Faith?
November 28, 2023 | 1:00 pm Mountain
Virtual | Free
Join us in hearing from Sherri Guenther Trautwein, Lead Pastor of Lendrum Mennonite Church, Edmonton, AB. She is currently completing her PhD at the University of Toronto and recently wrote an article in Direction Journal called "The MB Confession of Faith as Product or Process: Which Is It?" Jon Coutts will also be speaking; pastoring in the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination before completing a PhD in Aberdeen, he now teaches systematic and pastoral theology at Ambrose University. He will be sharing a chapter of a forthcoming book published by New Leaf Press.