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Sparks Fly at Maritime Gathering
By: Karla Winham For over 10 years, a day of encouragement and equipping has been held in the Maritimes. This fall, on Nov. 8 and 9, members and leaders gathered for a time of learning, encouragement, and inspiration at John Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Truro, N.S. Participants worshipped together, heard presentations, attended workshops, enjoyed…
Read MoreDoing Ministry…One Cup of Coffee at a Time
How does a national organization engage, support, and equip its members in a hands-on, relevant, and meaningful way? Here at Diaconal Ministries Canada we do this through our incredible network of Diaconal Coaches (formerly known as Diaconal Ministry Developers, or DMDs for short). Our trained coaches are available to connect and meet with deacons and…
Read MoreThe Four “F” Words of Classis & Synod; Part 1 – FOREIGN
By Guest Author: Al Postma, Classis Renewal When it comes to Deacons at Classis and Synod (C&S), what is your immediate reaction? It’s been a few years since the Diakonia Remixed Report came out and Synod made the decision to include Deacons as delegates to these denominational meetings. In our many discussions with Deacons (and…
Read MoreSurviving Recruitment Time
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!!” Yes, yes, we know Christmas is long gone. It’s Recruitment Time! I am sure by now your Church Council has worked long and hard to craft a witty and concise bulletin announcement and that it’s been published the last 3 weeks, with a deadline that is fast-approaching.…
Read MorePrayer/Good Meetings: Praying with Expectation
Psalm 5:3: “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” In September, we spent some time learning about prayer and devotions as part of your “regular” Agenda at a Deacons’ Meeting. In our post “A Diaconate that Prays Together, Stays Together,”…
Read MoreA Diaconate that PRAYS Together, Stays Together
When you read the title above, it likely rang a bell with most of you. You may have heard the above phrase before, but perhaps instead of “diaconate”, it read “family”, “couple”, or even “church”. It’s safe to assume that most of us have heard about the ‘reasons to pray’ since we first became a…
Read MoreENGAGING WITH YOUR COMMUNITY, Part 1 – Why Bacon & Monorails May Not Be Working
Before any church can truly begin to engage with their surrounding community, it’s important to take time to listen and get to know who they are! While this may sound like a no-brainer, I think if we’re honest we can all tell a story from our own personal lives of a time when we didn’t…
Read MoreEquipping Leaders through Encouragement and Learning
(Pictured above: A panel discussing the day’s theme, left to right: Aaron Helleman, on the future in technology; Jonathan Maracle, on reconciliation between indigenous people and the church; Sid Ypma, on the future of the church.) A Day of Encouragement (DOE) is an event held in many regions across Canada. Participants worship together, share ministry stories…
Read MoreListening to Our Communities
As mentioned in our previous blog post, New Month… Same Theme!, we’ll continue looking at listening this month, and in particular, listening to our COMMUNITIES. But perhaps we need to first name what we envision when we hear those words. What does listening to our community LOOK like? Sitting in the mall food court and…
Read MoreDoes #GivingTuesday bring #GivingFatigue?!
Truth be told, this article actually began back in late September. While listening to talk radio as I drove into work, the topic of discussion was Disaster Fatigue. The talk show host was asking his listeners if they had ever heard of this and/or if they had ever ‘suffered’ from this. What he was referring to…
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