A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article, with the accompanying photographs, appears below. John A Vissers is professor of theology at Ontario Theological School, Toronto, and Interim Executive Director of the Renewal Fellowship.
As we enter the sixth year in the life of the Renewal Fellowship Within The Presbyterian Church In Canada, we do so with much thankfulness to God for the ways in which the ministries of the Fellowship have been used to advance the cause of renewal within our denomination. The past years have been times of exciting growth and development in various ministries, increasing membership, and wider acceptance across the Church. Under the leadership of our first Chairperson, the Rev. Donald MacLeod of Knox Church, Toronto, the Renewal Fellowship has been given a strong foundation from which to facilitate the long-term process of strengthening the Reformed and Evangelical witness within the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Under the leadership of the Board of Directors, and the new Chairperson, Mr. E.W. (Nick) Nicolle, an elder from St. Andrew’s Church, Islington, the Fellowship looks forward to many exciting days ahead. Our concerns, our purpose, and our commitment to the biblical and Reformed faith remain the same. We continue to pray that the Lord would renew his Church for authentic witness and consistent obedience, for fresh power and authority for the local congregation through the Breath of God in our structures and organizations, for responsible participation in the courts of the Church, for a deep hunger for the teaching of the Bible and its authority, for a recall to lives of biblical purity, especially on the part of those entrusted with leadership of the people of God, for a zeal for teaching those lost without God and without hope in the world, and for a fellowship of believers to give encouragement to continued witness and ministry within the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
The Renewal Fellowship Within The Presbyterian Church In Canada is, we believe, one of the agencies God has raised up in our day to witness to the continuing need for our Church to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a means of contact and encouragement among those concerned for renewal within the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Through its ministries the Renewal Fellowship has as its goal to contribute to a renewal in ministry, a renewal in worship, and a renewal in community.
We are committed to organizing a variety of conferences, seminars, and meetings in the coming year to promote the cause of renewal in our Church. On October 31, 1987 a renewal day will be hosted by Kortright Presbyterian Church in Guelph, Ontario. The theme will be The Church as a Caring Community, and the speakers will be the Rev. Calvin Brown of First Church, Nelson, B.C., and Dr. Stan Skarsten of the Institute For Family Living in Toronto. This will be an opportunity to focus on our concern for a renewal in community. We are planning for a renewal day at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Ottawa, probably in January 1988 on the theme The Christian and Civil Responsibility. The 1988 Annual Meetings will be held at Willowdale Presbyterian Church, Toronto on March 4 and 5. The theme of these meetings will be Christian Leadership. We are also considering the possibility of a one day theological conference to address some of the pressing theological issues in our Church today.
One of our concerns is that smaller regional conferences also be planned to make the ministry of the Fellowship effective right across Canada. In March a conference on Worship: Our First Priority was held in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia with much success. We hope more and more that these kinds of meetings will be organized across the country. We are very aware of the danger of becoming a Toronto-based bureaucracy as opposed to a grassroots movement. If the cause of renewal is to be advanced in our Church The Renewal Fellowship must be representative of what God is doing amongst our people right across Canada, and it must not become bogged down in administrative and bureaucratic problems which can only hinder the free working of God’s Holy Spirit.
One of our major concerns and purposes is to call the whole Church to prayer. The Prayer Calendar is one effective way in which everyone can be involved in daily intercession before the only King and Head of the Church, Jesus Christ. The Prayer Calendar provides an opportunity to pray for the congregations, sessions, courts, boards, committees, pastors, and many ministries of our Church. The Renewal Fellowship stresses that it is within the Presbyterian Church in Canada. We are not seeking to provide an alternative to what the Church provides, but rather a strengthening of the Church’s witness and ministry in obedience to Jesus Christ. Our call to pray emphasizes this, as well as our recognition that renewal can never be engineered. The Renewal Fellowship cannot make renewal happen within the Presbyterian Church in Canada, but only pray for and witness to our need for such renewal. Only through the gracious outpouring of the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord of creation and redemption can our Church ever hope to see renewal. Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Church, and therefore of its renewal in the Spirit.
In 1987 some 10,000 Renewal worship bulletins will have been used in congregations on May 31 as part of our effort to call the Church to prayer, and emphasize renewal. This year the theme of the bulletin is The Church In The Power of The Spirit, emphasizing the ministry of the early church in the Book of Acts whose purpose in witness, whose excitement in fellowship, whose joy in worship, and whose power in their life together as the family of God serve as a biblical model for renewal today.
It is our intention to continue to promote the cause of renewal through our publications, especially our quarterly magazine Channels, and to provide materials that clarify, especially for lay people, the concerns we share. One of our concerns is that the Renewal Fellowship provide opportunities for positive and practical suggestions in areas of ministry, worship, community life, prayer, evangelism, small groups, Bible study, etc. to be shared. We also intend to provide biblical and theological study material. And we desire to provide channels in all our material for the free and frank exchange of ideas on issues of concern before our Church. While we wish to emphasize a positive Reformed and Evangelical witness within our denomination, we also recognize that this sometimes involves speaking out on issues of great urgency and concern which are before the Church.
In the past the Renewal Fellowship has been able to provide support for theological students from Evangelical congregations as they prepare for ministry. This is something to which we continue to be committed as part of our concern for a renewal in ministry in the Church. As well, there is an urgent need to provide opportunities for fellowship, retreat, and development amongst clergy and spouses in our Church. The Renewal Fellowship is looking at the possibility of hosting a Clergy/Spouse retreat in the future. And as part of our concern to support Christian family life within our churches, we are considering such family ministries as retreats, camps, or conferences which might include the whole family. We hope more and more to see the youth of our Church committed to the cause of renewal. These are just some of the ideas the Board has before it at the moment, and your input and suggestions through the various Board members would be most welcome.
In terms of leadership, the Renewal Fellowship is still committed to the appointment of a full-time executive director in the not too distant future. This will largely depend upon the availability of a suitable candidate and the resources to support such a person. Our goal is to have someone in place who is free to the kind of travelling and planning required for the Renewal Fellowship to have its most effective impact across the whole Church. The Renewal Fellowship is largely a lay movement, and we intend to keep it that way. The job of an executive director would be largely to facilitate the ministries of the fellowship by involving clergy and laity across the Church. My appointment as Interim Executive Director on a part-time basis is intended only to bridge the gap until such a person is in place. It is my hope to be out of a job soon! Will you pray that God’s will for the Fellowship in this matter would be clear to all?
This gives some indication of where we are going as a fellowship and as a movement. Please pray for the Board of Directors and the Council of Reference as they meet June 26 and 27 in Toronto. May it truly be the case that the Sovereign Lord will be pleased to use the Renewal Fellowship Within the Presbyterian Church In Canada to help strengthen the Church’s witness and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ! Nec tamen consumebatur… “And, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”