On Saturday morning Kevin Makins shared the following “Targum” based on Isaiah 65

“Look! I am creating renewed heavens and a renewed earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.

No one will even remember our contaminated soil, or warehouses filled with toxic barrels, or fields stripped for strip malls, or a ruined Randle Reef, or a stretch of dead cement penetrating through a God given, glacier carved valley.

Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!

And look! I will create Hamilton as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy.

I will rejoice over Hamilton and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying of gunshots and ambulances, and the sheer silence of unemployment and homelessness and helplessness and hopelessness will be heard in it no more.

“No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young, and not if St Joes can help.

In those days people will live in the houses they build.

No longer will slum landlords rent out illegal triplexs for profit, or plant down a tree where they have no roots, and my people will eat the fruit of their own vineyards, their backyard gardens, and yes, even from their backyard chickens.

Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards.

Thoughtless urban renewal will not displace the poor, nor will we repeat the sins of our forefathers who confiscated the land of the natives.

For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.

They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the Lord, and their children, too, will be blessed.

I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!

The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The mountain and the lower city will reconcile together. Dundas and Stoney Creek will meet at the same table. Flamborough, and Waterdown, and Ancaster will fellowship as brothers and sisters. The lion will eat hay like a cow.

But the snakes, oh the snakes, the mobsters, the backdoor business men, the corrupt officials, they will eat dust.

In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed in my holy Ancaster, or my holy Flamborough, or my holy Waterdown, or my holy Stoney Creek, or my holy lower city Hamilton, or my holy…

escarpment.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”

For many of us it started when we walked into the sanctuary and took in the 120 foot painting of the escarpment that enfolded us within the Philpott sanctuary.  Thanks to hours of loving creativity poured onto the paper by a group of artists from Eucharist Church and a number of other congregations, Hamilton geography came to life and prepared us well for our time together.

Friday evening’s session was a wonderful mix of poetry and singing and sharing and praying.  We heard of the many diverse ways that churches involved in TrueCity are engaging our city on their own and together.  Worshipping together in song had the Philpott sanctuary reverberating in a way that highlighted well the reality of our unity in Christ.

Starting out from Jeremiah 29, Connan Kublik challenged us on Friday evening to consider what “Putting the Gospel in Place” might look like in our lives.   John Terpstra’s words, “I’ve become attached to a piece of geography,” was a launching off point as Conan encouraged us each to consider which pieces of geography are central in our lives. With the reality of how place is core to the biblical story and to the way the gospel free us to live fully, Connan exhorted us to live out this reality in daily practical ways such as being intentional about where we live and prayer walking.  He gave us a powerful reminder that it is not the “million dollar ideas” that are most powerful in seeing God’s kingdom come, exhorting us not to despise the little things.

For many the highlight of the conference came unexpectedly on Saturday morning when a panel of five shared their stories of place–each one living out the reality of Christ’s love for Hamilton in a different neighbourhood and in very diverse ways, but each with a common passion to worship God by loving their neighbours and investing in their neighbourhoods.  Phyllis Kokoski struck a chord that continues to resonate among us when she encouraged us to “bloom where we are planted.”

The remainder of our time Saturday was spent digging deeper through eight different breakout sessions offered in the morning and the afternoon.  These ranged from Redeemer professor, Craig Bartholomew wonderful session that provided a broad sweep of the landscape of theology of place and examples of its profound implications in daily life to very focused sessions on engaging political realities, daily practices of presence, sustainability, and what place means on the margins of our culture.

What was good and best about this year’s gathering?  Here are some of the things we heard–

• Seeing God’s hand all over the proceedings in so many ways, large and small.
• The sessions and the great atmosphere created by hundreds of Christians, all from different churches, all with a love for Hamilton, coming together to worship and learn how to better serve their city.
• I am encouraged just by being together, knowing that these people also love this city and are praying for it.
• I have a desire to get to know Hamilton better, to understand how I can fit in and serve this community.  This conference is both an inspiration and an encouragement for me to continue this journey.

We are learning to be the Church in Hamilton and by the end of our weekend together we were able to say, “surely the Lord is in this place” and we are beginning to be open and aware of it.

Hear these stories of where we have seen God in our churches and through our movement.

God has been working in the lives of youth. The after school boys Junior high program that Wentworth Baptist Church started a few years ago has turned into a full-fledged neighbourhood youth ministry, with youth nights, bible studies and mentoring. Here is what one boy who started in this program in grade six said now that he is in grade 11.

>”I’m not really sure why it’s important but I know that when I was that age Tuesday was my favourite day of the week, every Tuesday I would watch the clock all day and as soon as the bell rang I grabbed my stuff and ran over to the church. I think that’s important somehow”

Hughson Street Baptist Church  has also been seeing great things with their Tuesday night junior high gym night that reaches neighbourhood boys. So many youth were making commitments to Christ at their yearly retreat that they started a bible study group with these kids that now has 20 boys. They also started another group for girls – which means there are now 50 kids coming out every week.

And on March 31,and  again in the fall, as a movement we joined together for CrossCulture, an opportunity for youth to worship through service to our city.

God was here at Easter time, which Eucharist church illustrated so well with a public art piece on Resurrection Sunday. After a theme of Climbing High Mountains during lent, the church wanted to do something unique and public to capture the spirit behind climbing high mountains. They placed a public art piece going up the Wentworth Stairs that told the story of the road to Emmaus. On the way up the hill were pieces of fabric hanging, moving from white, to light green, all the way to dark green (representing new life and increasing boldness that comes with the resurrection). The congregation literally climbed the mountain and each person added a few of the pieces of fabric to the piece. At the top they broke bread and sang and prayed over the city.

The pieces stayed up for a few days, and the church got a lot of comments and tweets from joggers who found it to be a bit of the sacred popping into their normal everyday routine, much like Jesus walking next to us in disguise: a holy moment breaks into the ordinary.

Later in April, a team of 5 went to Uganda to help teach pastors and leaders there. This group of pastors and leaders from diverse church background were an amazing testament of unity to our Ugandan brothers and sisters.

God is in this place at New Hope bikes.  Tammy writes: This past June  we baptized one of the young adults that found his way into a relationship with Jesus and into the community of New Hope via New Hope Bikes. Through the peer relationships with some of the Christian staff at the New Hope Bikes, coming along on the various trail rides New Hopers do, and being welcomed as part of the ‘family’ of New Hope, Tyler experienced growth, hospitality and a place to belong.  With further encouragement, he is now at Medeba camp (a Christian Leadership Camp) for a 10 month program.

We were invited to pause and remember God is in this place in June, when the Commons created a prayer labyrinth for Open Streets.   A labyrinth is like a winding path, but in journeying through it people are reminded to pray through the often winding path of life, to pause and see where God is on the journey.

God was here in the heat of the summer.  He was here in the work of Phillpott with the Hamilton Victory Gardens. They received a large donation and the work of a number of people from Philpot who maintained these gardens to help provide fresh produce for people who need it.

He was here in Lightway Church’s soccer league for children.  Several volunteers followed-up with a youth drop-in games night at the Riverdale Community Centre.  The community centre even bumped their own programming to let the volunteers use the facility!

And God was with Bethany Gospel Chapel on their summer mission trip to the Philippines.  When they saw how much the youth there connected with music it got them thinking about how music was so important to young people in Hamilton as well. In the Fall  the youth leader began offering coaching for kids in the neighbourhood  who wanted to learn instruments and put together a band. Several started showing up before the weekly youth meetings and hanging out afterward. The experience in the Philippines has led to a deeper connection with kids here.

 We shared God’s presence in our schools at the end of the summer when many of our churches worked together with Start to Finish to fill hundreds of backpacks for kids going back to school.

God was here in the fall.

He was here when True City churches joined together to ride bikes as part of the Ride for Refuge, so that we could raise money for Refugees herein Hamilton and around the world.

He was present at Immanuel CRC while they continue to run their Home with a Heart program, which teaches and empowers young single moms to make positive life choices and learn life skills that will benefit their homes.

Mount Hamilton Baptist Church celebrated God’s presence with them over 90 years as they marked their 90^th anniversary with an initiative to bless others.   Church members were asked to take a jar and save up $90. By the end of the year, the goal is to give $90 to 90 different groups or people in need in our city as a blessing to them. This map shows the places where people have already given.

Grindstone Valley Church took part in a service day with 8 different  churches from Waterdown. Several hundred people worked on over 30 projects to bless their community.

And God, as always, was here at Christmas.

Once again, True City churches collaborated to give out Christmas Hampers. On the mountain, Grindstone partnered with Mount Hamilton to give out 55 hampers.  Many churches partnered with Hughson Street for their large hamper ministry of 250 hampers, including First Christian Reformed, Lightway, New City and Meeting House East and West.

At The Meeting House East Hamilton, one teacher got her class to help create a hamper. When it was delivered, the teacher was able to experience Christmas with the family for over an hour.  When the mother heard that a group of students had helped with making the hamper, she offered to make lunch for all of the students.   The teacher left her phone number with the family and they are in contact often.  To date they have gone sledding together, and mom indeed made and shared a lovely lunch for all of the class.  The students commented that this was the most memorable moment of their term.

The youth from The Meeting House West Hamilton helped raised funds for Christmas hampers families from Micah House, a home for refugees West Hamilton. One fundraiser included cutting a youth leader’s hair if over a certain amount of money was raised. They also helped organize a Christmas party at Philpot for families from Micah House.

A group of small groups at New City Church  also helped two teams from the move in movement throw a Christmas party .  Varun Rana, from New City, gave his personal testimony about coming to Christ as a young Hindu.  Many of those there heard the story of Christ for the first time.

As the year ended, we rejoiced to see two new churches join us in covenant, agreeing to work with us for the good of the city.   Immanuel was welcomed into covenant on January 27.  New Hope Church came into covenant on February 17.

God has been at work in our churches. God has been at work through True City. God has been at work in Hamilton. 

Who can deny it? Surely the Lord is in this place.

“It was interesting to sit there. It was warm. There was sunlight from above coming down, and a plant bringing life. I didn’t mind it so much. But thinking about spending day after day with this as my life, it made me a bit sad for my new friend…I could see it being pretty awful.

“I decided to eat my lunch and offered food again to my friend. He said he only ate supper, that his body was used to it, that he’d been doing it for years already. Only had coffee for breakfast. It’s pretty amazing what the body can grow accustomed to. In a way, this guy probably knows more about fasting than I do.

“I wasn’t sure how much of myself to share… which later made me realize if I didn’t share anything about me, why should he feel comfortable sharing anything with me? I looked at my life through different eyes, and in some ways it made me sad. I couldn’t relate because I put up walls,” the intern realized. But in the end, she admitted, “I was blessed by the little bit he let me in, the things he chose to share. I hope I blessed him by my company, by my offer of friendship, brief as it may have been.”

This is just one of the stories emerging in the Urban Monastic Internship, facilitated by the Greater Ontario House of Prayer. Jill Weber, Director of GOHOP, says that the Internship began with discerning a need for “training opportunities for people who were not in a position to attend university or Bible college, but who wanted to explore themes of radical hospitality, urban mission, and God’s heart for cities in a pragmatic way” and a local context. The training happens “not in a classroom but a living room, eating and learning together,” Jill explains.

The Internship program consists of reading books that are proving foundational for the intersections of urban ministry and monastic disciplines. Interns also take on practical assignments (such as the one above) based on their reading, share weekly reflections in an online forum, meet with a spiritual director on a rotating basis, and meet together for bi-monthly dinner conversations with local practitioners. At one dinner, says Jill, a Catholic spiritual director led a contemplative prayer exercise. And in a showcase of the spiritual practice of creativity, one intern baked a cake with hand-carved chocolate roses, while others shared paintings, quilts, and even a custom-designed running shoe. This eating and sharing together models what Jill calls “a radical sense of community,” with the goal of “developing disciples of Jesus who live with prayerful, loving, missional intention in their cities – whether in Hamilton or elsewhere.”

The interns themselves come from several different denominational walks of life, and over the course of the program, they hear from still more voices, from Quakers to Pentecostals to Anabaptists. For Jill, the most surprising blessing is the volume of participants: she had hoped for four interns, ended up with 17, and already has 10 more on a waiting list for next year. The overwhelming response has her searching for collaborative ways to shape a possible second- and third-year experience, using three-month modules to dig deeper into topics such as intentional community-building, justice, and spiritual disciplines. As this year’s interns are eager to strengthen the community they have established among themselves, Jill looks forward to cohorts moving through each year of the internship together, and she’s planning weeklong “urban monastic intensive” units for July, in which participants will be immersed in communal eating and living and help to host GOHOP’s prayer truck and other ministries. She also notes that the present group has experienced the same values that they are studying: she had planned to take an offering that would offset the cost of books for future interns, but an anonymous donation covered that cost almost immediately.

For more about the Urban Monastic Internship, you can e-mail Jill at gohopchick@gmail.com or you can talk to her in person at this year’s TrueCity conference.

Over the past month we have had some great opportunities to tangibly to do precisely this–to live out our unity by gathering together.   On Sunday, January 27th we came together at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church to celebrate there decision to formally commit to being part of TrueCity. It was a wonderful time of worship as Pastor Mark Knetsch shared the call from Jeremiah 29 to seek the flourishing of the city.  Pastor Henry Kranenburg led the congregation into a prayer of commitment and representatives from ten  other churches shared greetings from their congregations and lit candles to symbolize our common cause in the gospel.

The following Sunday, on February 3rd, twelve churches participated in our 3rd pulpit exchange.  The concept is simple, but challenging to live out none the less.  It is powerful when core leaders bring messages in unaccustomed places.  Some pastors whose churches meet later on Sunday were able to worship with their own congregations and hear a guest preacher firsthand: Sue Carr, Chaplain at Mission Services, enjoyed having Kevin Makins of Eucharist come interact with the congregation that gathers at James and Barton each Sunday. Meanwhile, at Eucharist, Robin Ellis (Wentworth Baptist) appreciated the opportunity for a break from his own current sermon series, though he also recalled the sensation of feeling a little out of place in a congregation much younger, on average, than his own. And at Robin’s church, Leanne Friesen (Mount Hamilton Baptist) preached on the theme of unity and saw living examples of it right in front of her, as she recognized many people that she knew from relationships forged through doing mission together.

As we read through the New Testament we repeatedly come across passages which make clear just how important unity is to God.  John 17, 1 Corinthians 3, Ephesians 4, Titus 3, 1 John 3 are just a few of the places that speak into this theme powerfully.  Clearly God wants us to recognize and live out the reality that we are one in Christ.  As we explore this we come to realize that this unity is not the end, but  a crucial means to the end.  The mission we are given is to live out together the reality of God’s in-breaking kingdom that He might be glorified.  The more diverse, the more powerfully the reality of the gospel comes through.

Over the next month  we will have more fantastic opportunities to come together. This coming Sunday, February 17th New Hope Church is hosting a gathering to celebrate their decision to covenant as part of the TrueCity movement.  And then on February 22nd and 23rd we will have our annual conference which will also kick off two weeks of 24 hour prayer for our city.  So don’t miss out–God is on the move here in Hamilton!  By coming together we can help each other see this more clearly and demonstrate the impact of God’s kingdom for our city as a whole.

Many thanks to Dave Ross and Kevin Makins for bringing this together.

Philpott Memorial Church (84 York Blvd, Hamilton).

Schedule–

Friday 
6:00pm — Doors Open: Connect & check-in
7:00pm-9:00pm —Session1: Falling Into Place
Speaker: Connan Kublik
Special Guest: John Terpstra

Saturday
8-8:45 Coffee and Muffins in the gym
8:45-10:20 Worship, Prayer and Stories of Place
10:30-12  Breakout Sessions
12-1  Lunch
1:30-3  Breakout Sessions

• Theology of Place: Deeper and Wider   Craig Bartholomew
• When Place is not Home: Geography and Mission among the Marginalized  Alison Witt
• Thin Spaces: Praying for the Places we Live and Love    Jill Weber and Panel
• Sustaining Place: Food, Land & Faith  Graham and Emma Cubbitt
• “But I don’t Live Downtown”  Leanne Friesen and Jeff Strong
• Political Places: Churches in the Democratic Landscape   Milton Friesen
• Engaging Place Well: Practicing Disciplines of Presence   Andrew and Kristin Miedema
• The Inspiration of Place: A Poet’s Interaction with Hamilton  John Terpstra

Registration Fees

Early Bird special (paid by February 15th)   $25
Regular Price (paid after February 15th)      $30
registration will open soon

24/7 Prayer Room

The TrueCity gathering will launch 2-weeks of non-stop prayer for Hamilton. Friday, February 22 – Friday, March 8 — TrueCity 24/7 Prayer Room (Behind Philpott Church at The Vine, 78 Vine St.)

* The inspiration for the conference title comes from the book Falling Into Place by John Terpstra.  We are excited to have John participating on Friday evening and presenting a breakout session on Saturday.

As Deann McGlinchey explained the concept of the Mustard Seed, the member-owners of the co-op are people who “have a passion for food,” who envision “a beautiful place to shop” with a “vibrant sense of community,” who love their city, and who believe in “food for people, not for profit.” The planned grocery, Deann said, “enables us to work together for the good of our health, our environment, our local economy and our community.” She and other volunteers are actively recruiting more member-owners, with the goal of 800 members by the time the co-op opens; while the store will be open to the public, a one-time membership fee ($100 per household or per business) means a 2% discount at the store, and more importantly, a voice in how the co-op works. But membership is only the beginning: Deann hopes that new members will also join one of the co-op’s action teams (for instance, she serves on the Membership Team) and tell others why they’ve chosen to join the Mustard Seed.

How did this co-op start? Emma and Graham Cubitt, who attend New City Church, said that they first discovered grocery co-ops about two years ago, and the idea for starting one in Hamilton grew steadily from there, from conversations on feasibility in early 2012 to the opening of the membership drive last November. As this is a faster startup than most co-ops have experienced, Graham highlighted the attention being given to the assessment of interest from the community, the need for members, the selection of a location, and the sourcing of the goods that the Mustard Seed will sell. For example, a priority on local sourcing will need to be balanced with members’ concerns for organic produce, special dietary needs, and so on. Graham also stressed the importance of education for the co-op’s future, expressing a hope for workshops where participants “learn together, as those interested in food issues of access, security, and justice” — issues, he insisted, that shouldn’t be limited to debate among “foodies” and the economic elite.

More generally, these issues reflect the fact that the Mustard Seed is guided not just by its members, but by seven international cooperative principles, emphasizing values like voluntary and open membership, education, and care for community. For the Cubitts, these principles resonate with their faith perspective, too. “Fundamentally, our confidence as Christians is that in the resurrection, all things are renewed,” Graham said. “Practically, how do we work toward that today? How do we help ensure everybody has enough, or take action on restoring ecological balance?” Given the complex relationships between political power and food supply, “how does the ideology of cheap food from anywhere fit in with the idea of sustaining the local economy?”

For more information, including dates and locations for upcoming meetings, find the Mustard Seed online at www.mustardseed.coop/, and on social media at www.facebook.com/themustardseedcoop and twitter.com/mustardseedcoop. To learn about “Sustaining Place: Food, Land & Faith,” Graham and Emma’s breakout session at the upcoming TrueCity conference, visit truecityhamilton.ca/posts/2012/sustaining-place/.

Micah House forum on new legislation

On December 15th the “Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act” came fully into effect.  Often referred to as Bill C31, the act fundamentally changes Canada’s refugee system.  As critics of the legislation have pointed out,  the name of the new act makes abundantly clear that the emphasis is now more on protecting the system rather than on providing a safe haven for refugees.  At a forum about the new act hosted by Micah House last week, Alison Witt shared some thoughts on the implications this new act has for refugees–

If the only information about these changes that you have received up till now is from articles in the newspapers or ‘sound bites’ on the radio or TV you may have the impression that all these changes are really quite good and positive. From our perspective, as those who interact directly with many refugees in Canada, there are some some major reasons to be concerned.

Three of the major concerns we have with this new system are–

• the timelines are too fast
• refugee claimants will have fewer rights
• the tone of the conversation is criminalizing refugees

First the new timelines are too fast. Instead of 28 days claimants now only have 15 days to submit their basis of claim.  This deadline is unrealistic, and will deny refugees a fair chance to prove their claims. Such a short timeline will particularly disadvantage the most vulnerable refugees.

We had a young woman arrive at Micah House last month from Congo. She was physically and emotionally exhausted, disoriented, confused and in shock. She was 7 months pregnant, and didn’t know a single person in Canada. She wasn’t planning on being a refugee, or on coming to Canada –her family just knew her life was in danger and she had to flee -so they found a way to get her out of her country. Fortunately she arrived at the beginning of December just before the new laws came into effect as it took her about 2 weeks to be even able to talk about her situation. I can’t imagine someone like this woman being able to go through all the necessary steps, complete all the paperwork, and gather all the necessary evidence she would need under the new timelines being given.

Second, many refugee claimants will have fewer rights simply because of the country they come from.  The new system assumes that whole countries are safe by giving the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration extraordinary power to designate countries of origin.   There is less emphasis on a refugee’s individual story and why they might need to seek the protection of another country like Canada.

Refugee claimants from these “designated countries of origin” are subject to a different set or rules and even faster timelines.   They are denied other rights -like the right to appeal -and will face immediate deportation after a negative decision.

All this mean that there is an increased possibility of mistakes being made and people being deported to face persecution.  These claimants are now also deprived of basic and emergency health care.

Underlying all these things our third and biggest concern is the tone of the conversation at the government level and how it is presented to Canadians through the media.  The language being used, and the tone of the conversation going on, tends to characterize refugees as criminals and has the potential to lead to an atmosphere of intolerance.

The ideas being spread through the media are very powerful and are capable of fostering increased fear of refugees amongst Canadians.  That is not the way I want my country to respond to the most vulnerable people in the world.  Making a refugee claim is a legitimate way in both Canadian AND international law for a person fleeing persecution to seek asylum.

We need to keep in mind the big perspective. The number of refugees Canada is dealing with is just a ‘drop in the bucket’ of the over 40 million displaced people in our world today. Some might want us to feel like Canada is doing enough already but perhaps we need to question that.

Refugees all over the world always hear the words “No. You are not welcome”

Being able to hear instead “We will try. We are with you. We are glad you are here” offers hope and sustains their dignity. It is also the message that as Christians we are asked to share. We have a clear mandate as followers of Jesus to “love the aliens living among us the same as we love our native born.”

Packing Hampers at Hughson Street Baptist

We began with practical questions: how did the 2012 hamper initiative go at each church? Mount Hamilton was happily overwhelmed with the amount of donated food collected, said Leanne; the church produced over 50 hampers, having originally planned on 45, and was able to share this generosity with other churches participating. Rafik added that his church “just loves doing this,” managing to produce twice as many hampers as they had first planned. The initiative went well at Grindstone, Jess reflected, though she thought that a clearer message about what the hampers are and how people can get involved would help make a bigger impact. We were all amazed by Paul’s report that Hughson Street had assembled 258 hampers — many of which were shared through other churches that are growing toward assembling hampers independently. Hughson Street’s “Toy Shop” ministry also allowed them what Paul called “a better place of connecting” with hamper recipients, given how many there are. This ministry includes families who receive toys and hampers, but also help as volunteers.

We asked, “Can you share a few stories of how God worked through this year’s initiative?” In answer, we heard many stories. When Rafik’s Bible study group delivered hampers they had assembled, one couple ended up staying for two hours, sharing coffee and learning about their hosts. TrueCity Network Developer Dave Witt shared about kids at Micah House receiving gifts from members of Eucharist. Leanne told us how the initiative helped her congregation to connect the dots between what they give toward their Benevolent Fund and where the money goes. Paul, too, focused on his church’s members as much as on the hamper recipients, recalling “how much fun the hamper-packers have together in a high-energy time with such great significance.” Donations collected for the hampers appeared to multiply, he said, evoking familiar biblical miracles. He saw powerful teaching moments for children who were helping with their families in volunteering.

And he spoke of the ministry as an answer to a question many of us ask during this season: “We’re so steeped in Christmas as a giving time that it’s easy to get lost: how do I give?”

Joanne added that “it was wonderful to see the people who responded and were truly excited about doing this. One Sunday, I had to ask for a special plea” for help for one remaining recipient family, “and it was amazing how that family was taken care of within half an hour. One high school teacher had her classroom take part in preparing the hamper,” Joanne continued. “The students took full ownership and really enjoyed the experience. And I was so blessed by seeing people so willing to get involved. I found that they just needed ideas and direction on how to go about doing it.”

Similar reflections emerged when we asked about new insights that opened around this ministry or around outreach in general. For Joanne, “doing practical outreach within our community” draws “our church congregation together and makes us all feel more like a ‘family team.’ It’s very exciting!” For Dave, that’s precisely what the initiative is supposed to do: as people’s hearts open up to needs around them, they find themselves strengthening their relationships within their church, too.

Reviewing Christmas Hamper collaboration

As for changes that congregations might make for next year and what suggestions might facilitate collaboration, we shared hopes for increasing the connection of multiple churches to downtown areas and their needs; for addressing other needs, such as social isolation and the need for community on Christmas Day; and the need for a church that can spearhead collaboration efforts. But the most frequent response involved starting the initiative earlier, including better publicity, gathering names and information for hamper recipients, and a more coordinated distribution of volunteers. Hopes for an earlier start are consistent with how early many of us begin planning for the Christmas season, as Joanne observed. Paul noted that Hughson Street saw fewer responses to their call to “adopt a family” this year, so he hopes to give that more attention, and he added that those who did adopt hamper-receiving families will be asked to follow up by inviting them to share a potluck meal at the church, potentially deepening these relationships and opening up new ways of providing nuanced care. Leanne, too, spoke of the challenges of providing multiple forms of care around the Christmas hamper ministry, among them the provision of anonymity and dignity — which can look different in various parts of Hamilton. Volunteers in this ministry have the privilege and the responsibility of being an answer to prayer, she reflected, and part of that responsibility means staying aware of “how much need there is right in our own backyard.”

“Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”

So join us February 22-23 for the TrueCity Conference 2013 as we explore—

“Falling into Place: How Geography and Mission Collide”

Our prayer is that our eyes will be open to all that God is already doing where we live, work, play and pray, and we will say “surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”

Click for Details

The inspiration for the conference title comes from the book Falling Into Place by John Terpstra.  We are excited to have John participating on Friday evening and presenting a breakout session on Saturday.

Prayer in the Vine

At the corner of Vine and Park Street North, behind Philpott Memorial Church, life in the Vine keeps growing.   The Greater Ontario House of Prayer (GOHOP) has partnered with TrueCity to run 24/7 prayer rooms in the Vine building at the end of February these past two years.  As noted in a previous post, in May Philpott gave them use of the space to run a prayer room on a more permanent basis.  Recently, Jill Weber, Director of GOHOP — or “Abbess of the Urban Monastery,” as she says with a characteristic giggle — shared her excitement about the continued growth that she sees happening in this prayer room which has taken on Philpott’s name for the building–The Vine.

Different churches and traditions are interacting freely and wonderfully here. For Jill, part of the beauty of The Vine is that it offers extended hours, allowing time for many kinds of prayer: any given day may feature quiet and contemplative prayer, lectio divina, Benedictine worship traditions, or an African approach to spiritual warfare. In keeping with Ephesians 6:18 (“pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests,” NIV), the experience of these and other prayer traditions serves to “expand people’s prayer vocabulary, by ‘cross-pollinating,’ ” Jill observes. For example, she recalls one participant saying that while he doesn’t pray in tongues, he loves being around people who do — an admission of hospitality for the practice of different forms of prayer in one another’s presence. One benefit of “trying to swim in somebody else’s stream” in this way, Jill added, is an introduction to a style of prayer that may be ancient, yet refreshing to those unfamiliar with it.

Jill highlighted weekly points when prayer takes specific directions. On Tuesday afternoons, participants invite a local pastor to be prayed for in an extended way. On Thursdays, between 10 AM and noon, they pray for the lost; those who gather for such a time tend to be evangelical in orientation, but others join in too. Where individual churches might not find enough members to sustain a group focused on a shared interest in prayer, such as the plight of the persecuted church, The Vine offers a place for just that purpose — or to pray for at-risk youth at the nearby Living Rock (www.livingrock.ca), where Jill reports that at least five denominations have been represented among those who gather to pray.

Jill emphasized that although much of The Vine’s prayer life is for the good of the city, it is ultimately about the person of Jesus. Central to faith and practice there “is our radical adoration of and radical obedience to this man…today, Jesus looked like a young First Nations man who sat for nearly an hour while we prayed, arms covered with scars from self-harm; at the end of that hour, when asked whether the group could pray for him, he agreed.” Walk-in encounters like this happen almost every day, often because of a simple sign in front of the building: “Need Prayer?”

Jill and other frequent participants at the prayer room are looking forward to two weeks of non-stop, 24/7 prayer, February 22 – March 8, in conjunction with TrueCity’s 2013 conference. “We had to spread out from one week to solve the problem of overcrowding in the evenings,” she laughs. “And it allows momentum to build from week to week, too.” She has been working with several individuals who are developing prayer stations for that time, focused on geographical areas of the city (West Hamilton, James St. North, Concession St. etc.). She hopes to expand The Vine’s hours soon to be open all day, every day, including later on weekends, the better to serve those who find themselves in need of prayer.

The prayer room in The Vine is currently open

• Mondays from 8-4,
• Tuesdays from 12-4,
• Wednesdays from 8-12,
• Thursdays and Fridays 8-4
• Saturdays 12-4

A fuller calendar for The Vine and other GOHOP events can be found on their website, www.gohop.ca.

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The Scaffold is managed by Matt Lowe, a member of Dundas Baptist Church, who has spearheaded this project since its inception earlier this year. Matt hopes that the library will complement TrueCity’s vision by enriching the missional commitment of its churches and leaders. For example, the Greater Ontario House of Prayer’s collection of books on intercessory prayer has now been added to the Scaffold’s online library, to facilitate easier browsing. The library as a whole will also be helpful in building annotated bibliographies for the upcoming 2013 TrueCity conference theme and other subjects of interest. And as the library grows, Matt’s goal is to include books relevant to each year’s conference, as well as the books studied in GOHOP’s new prayer internship program.

Social networking and other media play a significant role in the Scaffold’s development: when it hosted a launch party for a new book by Michael Knowles of McMaster Divinity College, the event was publicized on Facebook, which in turn helped to draw in more potential participants and ministry partners. The first issue of Faith Today in 2013 will also feature a short article about the library.

You can learn more about how to get involved on the Scaffold’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/The.Scaffold.book.room; visit its online library profile and catalog at http://www.librarything.com/profile/The_Scaffold and http://www.librarything.com/catalog/The_Scaffold; and contact Matt at scaffold@truecity.ca.  Matt blogs about this and his other projects at http://lonelyvocations.blogspot.ca/.

On Saturday, September 22, Hamilton youth and Redeemer University College students met for the latest CrossCulture event — a bi-annual series of service projects designed to integrate worship and justice. Students served with various community organizations, including Micah House, Helping Hands, and City Housing, learning more about poverty in Hamilton in the process. Hosted at Wentworth Baptist Church, CrossCulture was held in partnership with TrueCity Hamilton and Redeemer. We asked Steve Dykstra, Community Development Coordinator at Redeemer University College and Eric O’Neil, Discipleship and Youth Minister at Wentworth to share their reflections on the event.

For some participants, this was “a first-time encounter with people who are struggling with addiction, mental illness or poverty to such a degree,” says Eric. “For others, it [was] an opportunity to see (and practice) faith as something that should have an active component that engages our hands as well as our heads… This is one of the first chances they have had to try to put it all together: responding to poverty with Spirit-led action.” Steve, who also assists in Wentworth’s youth ministry, suggests that it also fuels “imagination for how their high school youth group could incorporate worship and service throughout the year.”

Participants gathered in the morning for a time of fellowship and singing, followed by a day spent serving at various locations across the city. This year’s speaker, Jeff Strong, spoke about “filters,” and challenged students to consider the filters they have regarding the city and how these assumptions affect the ways they live and serve here. But how did the activities help them to integrate worship with service? Eric emphasizes the creation of opportunities for reflection and discussion: “We are able to say:  ‘today we are going to sing, we are going to hear a message rooted in Scripture, we are going to visit places throughout our city where God is working through people to meet the needs of His people, we are going to work, and we are going to eat together and visit with one another.’ For Steve, the goal was “not necessarily to share a big picture…of urban-ministry vocation, but just challenge students to ‘take the next step.’ ”

This phrase, “take the next step,” was one of the themes for the event. What might the next step look like for CrossCulture? Where the Fall event focused on integration, which Eric describes as “exploring what it would mean to make this idea of serving others a regular part of our lives rather than occasional excursions,” the Spring event — scheduled for March 23rd, 2013 — prioritizes exposure, with fewer teaching sessions and a premium on the service activities, allowing for “a slightly shorter, and more action-packed day,” as Steve puts it, and a carefully targeted audience for each event.

When asked how CrossCulture’s vision interacts with TrueCity’s mandate, Eric notes that CrossCulture creates opportunities for individual youth groups to work toward a missional, congregational identity (Horizon 1, “Churches”), and that its Planning Team is currently composed of Redeemer students and youth leaders from six Hamilton churches (Horizon 2, “Together”). CrossCulture seeks the good of the city (Horizon 3) not just by “meeting a few immediate needs” but by supplying “the potential to spark lifelong changes” toward blessing the city, a focus Steve echoes as well.

Throughout the September event, students reflected artistically on their service through photography, using Instagram to snap and post photographs of their activities. These can be viewed at http://web.stagram.com/tag/cc905/. For more information on this and upcoming events, email crossculturehamilton@gmail.com.

* Portions of this article were adapted, with permission, from an article written by Steve Dykstra for an upcoming Redeemer University quarterly newsletter.