We are regularly asking God to develop in us the basic spiritual disciplines that are the foundations of a life in Christ and the maturing of a community of faith in the church.

We have introduced a number of denomination-wide initiatives to deepen our faith together; the Listening Sessions, the William Carey Institute, Assemblies and Banff Pastors’ Conferences, Missional Networks and a vast array of congregational and personal resources.

In September 2007, as previously announced, we will begin an audio devotional with Faye Reynolds. Also, at that time, we will begin to list a simple scripture of the day as selected by Claudia Wakeman. Claudia is one of my associates in the Vancouver office who has an MDiv from Regent-Carey and has been active in many different roles in First Baptist Vancouver.

The third initiative will be a prayer request for the day. Lisa Shierman, who manages church resources and reception in our Calgary office, has created a daily prayer guide for office staff devotions for many months now… she will be sharing many of those requests with us so that we can pray for our wider CBWC family in all its many facets.

Thanks for your time.

Warmly,

In Christ,

Jeremy Bell

I want to share with you an utterly outstanding opportunity at the Banff Pastor’s Conference this year.

As usual, we have an outstanding organizational team led by Jo-Anne Cosier and including myself, John Prociuk, John Huh, Lisa Shierman, David Holten and Jeff Logan. Registration forms will soon be available from the Calgary office (contact Jo-Anne or Lisa at 1 800 820 2479) and will also be available online on our website (buwc.ca). The brochure is being wonderfully crafted by Michael Gurney (who also crafted The Hub).

An outline of the time is as follows:

Eddie Gibbs will be speaking on the missional church; the country and the culture.

Tama Ward-Balisky from Grandview Calvary in Vancouver will lead us in the morning Bible Studies.

Dr. Ken Nedd from First Baptist Vancouver, who is a widely known medical educator will speak on “Ministry can be hazardous to your health”.

Dr. Joyce Chan from Carey will present a paper (Joyce is a historian) on “A Reflection on Multi-cultural Ministry in the Canadian Baptist Context” and lead a Praxis Panel to follow.

Here are some options: pick one major speaker or theme, choose several themes, or take a Sabbath altogether.

Scholarships and financial help are available if needed. Speak to your Area Minister if that should be required.

Warmly,

In Christ,

Jeremy Bell