The Jan/Feb issue of Faith Today didn’t start out to be a church-themed issue, but that is where we ended up.
And why should that surprise us?
The Jan/Feb issue of Faith Today didn’t start out to be a church-themed issue, but that is where we ended up.
And why should that surprise us?
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For most Canadian Christians, church is a vital part of our lives. It’s where we find community with other believers. It’s where we teach and are taught, love and are loved, forgive and are forgiven, among many other beautiful and challenging things. It’s where we worship God and where we are restored.
Church is also under no small pressure these days, as our cover story written by Canadian scholar and author Lee Beach says. “If it were true that at one time the Church occupied a place near the centre of Canadian culture, this is no longer the case,” he writes.
Yet, being “Church in exile” or on the margins also gives us a chance to reform, and do things differently and better than ever.
“Exile is forcing the Church to re-engage with its biblical identity as a missional people called by God to go into the world to bring a message of hope, and embody that hope,” says Beach.
What do you think of that?
We also have an article by writer Lisa Hall-Wilson on how we can minister better with seniors. This piece also highlights some real challenges to the Church, as does Rod Wilson’s article on what to do when people leave our congregation.
What are your experiences in these areas? Please email us (editor@faithtoday.ca) or contact us on Facebook – we’d love to hear stories we can share and learn from together. How have you handled it when a family left your church or you noticed some seniors feeling blocked from using their gifts?
The wonderful Ontario writer Ann Voskamp met with us recently to discuss her new book The Broken Way. The latest issue of Faith Todayfeatures that interview. Her challenge to all of us is to serve one another more deeply and faithfully – sacrificially – than ever before.
Serving one another is, of course, one of the unique opportunities we get through church. When we meet weekly and are transparent and vulnerable with each other, the needs and opportunities to give should become clear.
Faith Today is trying to meet such a need with a special distribution of this issue to Canadian Presbyterians whose denominational magazine just had to shut down.
Faith Today helps us all connect across the diverse, challenged, divinely empowered Body of Christ in Canada!
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May God use all our efforts to build up His Church. Because ultimately, that’s what it’s all about.