A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article, with a picture from the meeting, appears below.
The Fellowship became, at our 1984 Annual Meetings in March, the Renewal Fellowship Within The Presbyterian Church in Canada. Renewal took centre stage in our discussions and deliberations.
That this should be so was thanks largely to the ministry of George and Bonnie Mallone. But there was another Influence at work in our midst. The 200 delegates there represented, from Cape Breton through Vancouver Island, came expectantly. God the Holy Spirit was graciously in our midst, restoring, correcting, and empowering us. There was a common heart cry: Lord, renew me. I am the one in whom Your gracious working is required. Renewal in the church can only begin with Your Spirit within.
The conference began with George’s single and stark declaration to us as clergy and spouses that “The bottom line in renewal is suffering.”
We crave renewal for its byproducts – filled churches, expanded programs, meaningful relationships – but are we prepared for that cost? Have we counted the price, and do we know what it will involve?
The weekend of ministry ended Saturday evening with worship. Adoration, praise and thanksgiving – hallmarks of the renewed Christian and the renewed church. Hearts filled to the brim with the blessing and peace of the Spirit of a living Lord. We went out, recommitted and rededicated to what our name implies: a fellowship for renewal.
God is using many instruments to work His sovereign purpose for His people in our time. We are aware that the Renewal Fellowship is only one such vessel. But as we rejoiced to hear that there are now over five hundred members across Canada, how wonderful if that number could be doubled, or trebled, in the next year?
With George Mallone, we believe two things. Canada is ripe for revival, and the evidences and signs that God is about to do a new thing in our time are everywhere. But we share with him the conviction that the Presbyterian Church in Canada has, in its traditions, its structures, and its openness, the potential of being a harbinger of the Spirit’s winds right across our land.
The Renewal Fellowship Within The Presbyterian Church in Canada exists not for itself, but for its Lord. It does not seek to perpetuate organization, nor to fragment others. But it does want to be useful in the renewing of the church, and its usefulness is possible only as you – and others you know – are prepared to be identified with us in this great commitment. A Fellowhip, yes. But a Renewal Fellowship.