Attentive to God, Open to Transformation This last year as we have worked through the Book of Acts and the disruptive story of the beginning of the early church and how they “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). We traced how the first Christ followers, attentive to and empowered by the Holy Spirit, bore witness to the gospel of Jesus from Jerusalem to the ends of the (then known) earth. We — like the first disciples — are also invited to join God on his mission to reconcile the world to himself through bearing witness to and living out his sacrificial, self-giving love in the world. At ..read more

All Christians agree that God is — in some sense — in control of the world. This is what we refer to as the doctrine of providence. We confess that God not only created the heavens and the earth, but is also actively and personally sustaining the world and governing creation. Moreover, all Christians believe that in God’s own way and in God’s timing, God will bring about his purposes. In the end, God’s ultimate objectives for the world, including humans, will be achieved. But, Christians begin to disagree on exactly how God governs the world. As Christ followers we can’t help but to ask t ..read more

I don’t think it is an overstatement to say our world is more divided than ever. Over the last year and a bit, the focus of the division has shifted from the pandemic to vaccines. The impact of this division has been felt in our country, province, city, families — and even in the church. This last year we worked our way through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. The church in Corinth was experiencing divisions over many things and Paul’s strategy to help heal the divisions was to remind them of some of the key elements of their faith. He called them to renew the centre of their faith; to ..read more

Congregational Update for the Third Quarter 2021 Renewing the Centre There are so many issues that are divisive in our world today — the pandemic probably topping the list, though partisan politics would also be near the top. But sadly, it is not just the world that it divided, but it’s also the church. This fall we started our sermon series on 1Corinthians where Paul is addressing a church that was also divided. The main point of his letter is found in the first chapter: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in wha ..read more

I’m tired of the pandemic! We began the new year online, then moved to in-person on January 17th, and then back to online on April 11th. The pandemic has forced us all to be flexible with our plans; something which James also reminds us of (see James 4:13-15). This pandemic is tiring and stressful for all, and for many, much worse. We do well to remind ourselves why we are taking this pandemic seriously: to demonstrate neighbour love by doing our part to keep those most at risk safe. The call to love is central to Christianity. God demonstrated his love for the world in sending his Son. His So ..read more

I interviewed Kristin Gitzel (BSW) as part of our "Connecting during COVID" series. We were able to hire Kristin as our Neighbourhood Engagement Coordinator, through the funds provided by the Alberta government Social Services Support for COVID-19 grant. Kristin will be coordinating our "Neighbourhood Care Network" on behalf of Greenfield Community Church. This work will be done in collaboration with Enjoy Life Church and Dayspring Presbyterian Church, as well as other neighbourhood groups. This will help us lean in to our mission to love our neighbours. Take a listen and g ..read more

You may have seen (or heard of) the YouTube series, SNG: Some Good News with John Krasinski. In this wildly popular web series – produced in his home office – The Office star John Krasinski highlights some good news around the world. Well, we received some good news this week at Greenfield! We had applied for a couple government grants that would help us engage and support one another and our neighbours. I heard this week that both grants have been approved. The first one is a Canada Summer Jobs grant to fund hiring a summer student church worker to help with children and youth mini ..read more

In this latest “Connecting during COVID” video interview, we have a quarterly update in the form of an interview.  Fred Rowson, our board chair, and Sheldon Gitzel, our Treasurer, joined me on ZOOM and we talked about how things are going at Greenfield.  Spoiler alert: Sheldon had a joke! If you don't want to watch the interview, you can continue reading below (or download the update here). Greenfield Quarterly Update – Congregational Update for the First Quarter 2020 ..read more

As part of our "Connecting during COVID" series, I had the privilege to interview Corrine Schalm, the Executive Director of Continuing Care for Alberta Health. Corrine has been part of the Greenfield family since its beginning (her parents were charter members). Over the years she has used her leadership gifts in many different ways, including serving as Ministry Council chair, a member of the Vision Advance team that led to the merger between Greenfield Baptist and Renaissance Community Church, and was even chair of the search committee when I was called to Greenfield some seve ..read more

Last week I had the opportunity to touch base with our missionaries in Brazil, Lyndell Campbell-Réquia and Paulo André Réquia (and their dog Stella). Lyndell teaches at the Seminário Teológico Batista do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, while Paulo is involved in church planting, chaplaincy and discipleship.  ..read more