Family Days!!

Just a quick update to say that there should be some nice picture posts coming up in the next day or two.  We've been chilling out as a family for a couple of days and today we're heading to Niagra Falls for the day.  Wooohooo!!  So keep checking back and I'll post as soon as I can.

Wet Wednesday

After such a lovely hot day yesterday, today has been a kind of all seasons day. With the exception of snow, we've seen it all from a cool start, to rain and thunder, clouds and high humidity, to sun and blue skys, then back to wind and rain. And it's only mid afternoon!!

Having had the Evangelism survey approved at the staff meeting yesterday, I spent this morning tidying up a final draft, and also preparing an online version with the aid of software which is linked to the church's email provider. We met a newcomer to church for lunch today and also had a good meeting with them and great discussion around their personal testimony and life since converting from another religion to Christianity.

We're just thinking about heading home soon and I think that means the prospect of desert at DQ's later, unless the plans have changed. So hopefully I'll be tucking into a blizzard before the nightes out!! Although, the way the weather has been today, I hope it isn't a wintery one.

Monday &Tuesday

No pictures to post for these days, well workwise anyway! We spent Monday out of the office and on the road meeting people, whilst yesterday was a busy office day. The day in the office included me working on updating the Baptism Records folowing the service on Sunday, and then working on the Evangelism Survey in preparation for the Staff Meeting in the afternoon.

Summit has almost doubled in congregation size over the last three years and their current situation doesn't present any accommodation problems as the school is more than big enough. However, there are significant challenges around running a church and caring for a growing congregation, which Summit are preparing to deal with. As part of Gerry's teaching portion of the Staff Meeting, he led us through the first part of a very interesting session on Decentraliation of the Ministry.

I think this is the kind of thing that CofS will be dealing with over the coming years as they begin to devolve ministry from a small number of paid staff, to a larger number of lay members. Some may disagree with the monitvation for this at home (i.e. cut backs), but in the long-term, I see this as a positive move and more in line with New Testament teaching about how the church should function.

Baptism Sunday

This Sunday was a special one at Summit as the annual Baptisms were taking place at the church property after the service. To clarify, the church owns a farm where they have their offices and a large piece of land with some outbuildings too, where one day the church building will be built, but they currently meet in a nearby high school for worship. One of the main features of the property is the pond on the front lawn where the Baptisms take place. Before that though we had our five minutes of fame as we were invited on stage to be introduced to the congregation and prayed for during our time in Canada, and once again made to feel extremely welcome and at home. Gerry continued the preaching series on Ephesians, which focussed today on helping and encouraging the community, and particularly praying when things are going well, not just when they aren’t.

So straight after the servise, we head up to the church property for the Baptisms and everyone gathers round the pond to watch the full immersions. Each candidate steps up to the mic and shares their testimony before going into the water. I knew most of these stories as I had been involved earlier in the week in reading them, whilst helping the candidates prepare. They are guided round a structure of life before Christ, what Christ has done/meant to them , life since knowing Christ and why they are presenting themselves for Baptism. It was a great encouragement to hear these testimonies and watch the baptisms take place with various pastors on the staff baptising various candidates. As they come out of the water, each person is wrapped in a towel baring the church’s name , to keep as a memory of the occasion. There were also some candidates who just couldn’t work around the timing, so there will be another baptism day in the autumn (or I suppose I should say the fall).

Following the baptisms, there was, yes you guessed it, a BBQ and fellowship. After which we came home via Wal-Mart for some essentials, and the gas station to fill up for the first time (much cheaper than home, equivalent of about 70p/litre = VERY HAPPY MIKE!!!). We spent the afternoon in garden and even ate outside, before putting two very tired children to bed. Then after some dishes, I retreated back to the garden with the laptop and a beer to write some post for the blog and my placement diary. Check out my glass, I suppose this is what they mean by having a "couple o jars" I could get used to this lifestyle!!

A Day of Rest (Should've been Friday's post)

For Matt and I, Friday was and is our Sabbath, so no work with the church that day. We didn’t really do much at all on Friday except go for some shopping in the morning and baking in the afternoon. Laura baked a cake in the kitchen, while I baked myself in the sun. I was gearing up for a high pressure event. BBQing in Canada seems only second to OZ and I was to be king of the grill as we hosted one for Chris, Sarah and the boys, as well as our landlords Steve & Janelle with their children Jacob and Carter. Chris was complimentary on my efforts, which was good (I think) and it was nice just to hang out as they say here a lot. The earlier said cake was served up for desert which was a delicious chocolate cake with fresh strawberries n cream inside, all covered in melted chocolate. As you can see, Joe is quite chilled when he's in the trolley!!

T.A.C (Summit Day 5)

Now this was the contrast I mentioned, but by no means any less rewarding an experience. T.A.C stands for Toronto Alliance Church, a sister church of Summit in the downtown area of Toronto. Aptly named the upper room, T.A.C caters for the poorer and less fortunate people of the city, including the homeless and some immigrants, along with several others who just don’t have much or are hurting in some way. I say aptly named because of this and in terms of it’s upstairs location. I admit to feeling more than a little nervous as we (the team from Summit) drove into the downtown area as there is much more of a busy feel to it and I always get a bit anxious in that kind of unfamiliar situation. As we were unloading there was some commotion on the street and then a small spat broke out between two of the guests upstairs, which added to my anxiety. It soon faded though as we got set up and ready to serve the meal, which consisted of soup, sandwiches, fruit and some cookies etc. There’s also a male and female clothing room with clothes having been donated by churches, a food bank room, prayer room and basic healthcare room for the guests to use.

My first job was to welcome people at the street entrance, where I got to see more of how multicultural Toronto is with almost every race you could think of being represented on the street. Many of the folks just hanging around on the street obviously know what goes on upstairs and kindly help lug all the heavy boxes of food and clothes upstairs. I had a nice conversation with a man who just had his motorbike run into by a parking car. Well it was more a case of he ranted and I listened and nodded in agreement. Someone else had told him he didn’t need to get upset about it, but I would be mad too if it happened to me (and without an apology I may add, just a dirty look from the culprit), so I was happy to be his sounding board. My next job was to wait on one of the tables with another helper. They purposely table serve, to avoid a jostling queue, but more importantly to give something special to the guests as an act of service to them. For a good solid hour, we were just running back and forth, getting more sandwiches, soup and drinks, and then later the fruit and goodies too. It’s obviously instinctive for someone who may not know where their next meal is coming from to eat as much as they can and stock up their back for later too. I noticed the average would be three or four full sandwiches and two bowls of soup with a couple of sandwiches for the bag and the same with the fruit too. There’s no limit to what they can eat or take with them and the food just continues until it’s finished, no leftovers. Our table was like little Italy with 7 men and one woman mostly of Italian descent. We tried to learn their names and chat to them as we went along. It’s striking how there was no barrier or atmosphere, no patronisation on our part and no distrust and standoffishness from the guests, everything seemed natural and comfortable. I was joking with one man who wanted to know that England v USA score, to which I said I hoped USA would win as England’s media will be insufferable if they win. He knew where I was coming from as he was originally Irish.

After the meal, there is a light hearted time of worship with a band and fairly short, but interactive sermon too. Understandably, many are only there for the food and there are less people who stay, but still a good number. The praise was lively and engaging, as was the prayer and the sermon. It’s the first time I’ve heard the Christmas story preached in June. But where else would it be appropriate? In church we use it to celebrate the birth of Christ and reflect on both his first coming and the next. However, the context couldn’t be more appropriate for these people to hear of the circumstances of his birth. The stigma of a young teenage pregnancy out-with marriage, birth in a stable as good as outside in the open air in a stinking animal trough, the revelation to peasant shepherds the most unreliable of witnesses in the world of the time’s eyes, the threat of persecution from a rich and jealous king, and so on. The message also focussed a bit on the kind of people the adult Jesus associated with, namely those whom the world wanted to reject, and then the treatment and hatred he endured which no doubt related to feelings some of these guest had about their own experiences. The relaxed atmosphere allowed for people to ask questions and tell stories during the sermon, which really enriched it I think. Before closing, the preacher, who was also the leader of the evening shared his own testimony, assuring the guests that there was real sincerity and love behind the service provided there and that he was there because someone had invited him in off the street when he was homeless many years ago.

All that remained was some cleaning up and setup for the Sunday service before heading back north into the suburbs. I thoroughly enjoyed serving at T.A.C and am only sorry that we won’t be here long enough for me to go the next time Summit serves on a Saturday evening, although it is in the schedule for Matt and I to visit some of the other activities that T.A.C are involved in at some point. To sum up, such an experience leaves you with a strange sensation. I went there to serve and help others, but left feeling very strongly that they had blessed me in being able to share in their lives for a short time.

Saturday Outlet Shopping

This was a real day of contrasts which began with the experience of some of the indulgences of western life, and ended in sharing the experience of those at the opposite end of the social spectrum, who have little or nothing. We went to the ROOTS outlet store and spent a considerable amount on some tshirts and sweatshirts for all of us, including the fulfilment of an order for Chris Watt. I got you XXXL shirts Chris, Is that right? We then went on to one of my favourite places from my time in Arizona, COSTCO. We have them in the UK now, but it’s just not quite the same. We bought some of the famed giant muffins and cookies as well as some other provisions, but the highlight had to be the super value for money lunch we had. I had their pizza which is $2 dollars a slice. I said I should maybe take two slices in case one wouldn’t be enough, but boy I forgot just how massive the slices are, so big that they even cut one slice into two, so I ended up with almost a whole 16” Pizza. I couldn’t get through it all and fortunately Chris was on hand to lend his assistance. So with my pizza (x2), Kathryn’s huge chicken strips and fries, Joseph & Laura’s hot dog each, we still had change out of $20 (around £15, so £3 per head counting it as five portions) and that was including drinks. This kind of deal makes a true Scot very happy, and stuffed to capacity. We shared ice creams on the way out too as a reward for not spending too much.