by Dave Roberts » Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:24 am
I have been in Toronto since Saturday with members of CBF's Movement Leadership Team meeting with and learning from the folks at Canadian Baptist Ministries and from Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec. The first thing you immediately learn is that in this more secularized society, there are no government or societal props for religion of any kind. The second thing you realize is that these folks are living on a mission field, and that totally changes the way they look at being and doing church. Third, that mission field living permeates and intensifies what they are doing. Being actively Christian sets them apart, and they welcome being a minority of their society. Fourth, this is the most welcoming society for immigrants and others that I have ever experienced. We visited a school tutoring program for ESL, and every student we saw was from another country having come to Canada. We also spent time in an immigrant resettlement program with some of the most vulnerable. The Baptists were there. This is not church as usual--Thanks be to God!