Good Friday morning from the LPD!

This is the week of Kick-offs, launches and even a baptism (at New West). We are praying for you and for your church family as you enter this new season of opportunities, challenges and fruitfulness. May God’s work be evident, both in us and through us.

As we enter this season, what will be our focus as leaders? How will we invest our time?

While there are seasons in ministry within a church, if we are not cautious and proactive, we might find ourselves becoming g more of a chaplain than a servant-leader. In such a case, we will find ourselves mired in the day to day, rather than looking forward to what and where God is leading. In a recent article, “Ten Signs a Pastor Is Becoming a Chaplain,” Tom Rainer suggests evidences that a pastor’s ministry is shifting from leadership to chaplaincy. While chaplains are needed, so are “generals.” Are you leading or simply bandaging the wounded. Church Chairmen and other leaders, how might we share in the pastoral ministry our church and free our pastor to prayerfully lead? I invite you to have a discussion with your pastor about this.

Please check out the new LPD website. We have recently redone this, and there are resources for you and your church, information on sister churches and LPD Churches of the Week. We also have introduced the PayPal option for giving to the ministry of our Lower Pacific District.

Please also see the attached Five Minutes on Friday, with news and prayer items from the LPD, and also see info on Burnaby Chinese Evangelical Free Church, our LPD Church of the Week.

Please note the following dates:

Wednesday, October 28 – LPD Pastors and Staff Cruise! Pastors and church staff – please plan to join us for this day of fellowship and learning together.

November 7, 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM- Holy Sexuality Conference. with Dr. Christopher Yuan . Hosted by Fort Langley EFC, this workshop will be both insightful and helpful in equipping people towards a biblical understanding of current issues and also towards more effectively ministering to our neighbours.

Here are some topics to be covered:

What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
How can the church talk well about the issue?
How do we lovingly engage with the LGBT community?
What is a healthy biblical theology of singleness?
What role does the gospel play in our understanding of these issues and our response to them?

Dr Christopher Yuan teaches the Bible at Moody Bible Institute and speaks around the globe on faith and sexuality. He speaks at conferences (such as InterVarsity’s Urbana, as well as the Moody Pastors’ Conferences and Men’s Conference), on college campuses and in churches (such as Saddleback Church and Willow Creek Community Church). He is featured in the award-winning documentary “HOPE Positive: Surviving the Sentence of AIDS,” and has co-authored a memoir with his mother – Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son’s Journey to God, A Broken Mother’s Search for Hope. Christopher graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 2005, Wheaton College Graduate School in 2007 with a Master of Arts in Biblical Exegesis, and Bethel Seminary with a doctorate of ministry in 2014.

Please see this link for all the info and a brochure with instructions for registration.

Please note Islanders: We are planning to provide a simulcast at a central Island location. Please watch for details in the weeks ahead!

March 4,5 – 2016 – LPD Conference on the theme Coaching and Mentoring.

May God bless and keep you as you look to the Lord, trust him for his good work through the week ahead.

In Jesus,

Rob

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This year, as our Lower Pacific District assists in the birth and revitalization of churches, we also step out in faith with local churches through providing financial support and seed money. To this end, we appreciate the gifts of many district churches and also of individuals. You can participate through both cheques and online through PayPal at our website. See LPD website for more info.