Calgary Church – Join a movement….

In one moment, a few seconds, just a few short breaths, the entire communities of Shawnessy, Sundance, Millrise, Evergreen, and Midnapore were wiped out. All homes crushed, all power cut; there were no survivors. Did you know The number of people in those communities equals the loss of life in Haiti stemming from the recent Earthquakes? And we could be adding communities to the list in the ensuing days.

This post is both a response to the incalculable need and also to the grotesque replies to the carnage that some 'Christians' have propagated. Continue reading »

Moving From Buildings to Dinner Dates

There was a time when you could build a church building, throw out a few flyers, and swing open your doors to waiting patrons congregants and poof--you had a church.

This 'cathedral' model of church also implicitly and explicitly carries a certain baggage that I don't find very congruent to how churches operated in the first two centuries.

For example, you sit and face the front and quietly listen to what's being propagated to you, thus there is limited participation. It also establishes an 'us them' mentality: you are the congregation, you are over in the pews; we are the clergy, we stand by the altar. Your job is to stay and pay, our job is to pray and preach. Continue reading »

January 6th was Epiphany. Most people don't have any connection to the day but the answer to some of life's biggest questions are rooted in what it commemorates. That sounds pretty significant so why don't more people know about it? Well firstly, it's a part of the church calendar, so not your typical Hallmark event. Secondly, if you don't follow any liturgical traditions then you've probably overlooked Epiphany.

This wasn't the case in the early church where two major feasts were commemorated. The first was obviously Easter. The second wasn't Christmas--it was Epiphany. Continue reading »

Welcome to the New Year! Here are some updates on the gatherings with Calgary Church and Co.

We've already had our Converge worship service with an Epiphany theme (stay tuned for a post on Epiphany). That took place Jan 6th, and was a neat experience for us. The upcoming Wednesdays trickle down like this: Continue reading »

Every third Wednesday of the month is a special evening for chili lovers in the Kensington area! Calgary Church, along with King's Bridge and the The House Coffee Sanctuary, host Kensington Community Suppers in the Hillhurst Community Center (1320, 5 Ave, NW).

What's the catch? No catch. In fact, we are unashamedly committed to no catch chili.

You don't have to live in Kensington, Sunnyside, or Hillhurst to stop by. If you're in the area shopping, at Riley Park hanging, or pass by along the way home, you're more than welcome to take part.

Continue reading »

December marks a change in the Christian calender from ordinary time to Advent--a time of expectations and waiting. It's a moment where we can remind ourselves of the good news of Christ's arrival into the world, and a time to permit this announcement to re-order our lives and communities.

...On one hand while there is an expectation for the culmination of biblical prophesies and promises, at the same time there’s a raw humanity to it all: a teenage girl is expecting – morning sickness, cramps, unreasonable cravings. Her much older fiancee is trying to figure out ways to get rid of her and save face. Within all of this mess an expectation emerges that points to a renewed hope for the world. As Mary and Joseph sneak into Bethlehem under the stars, there Jesus smuggles himself into humanity...

On the other hand Advent gives us a reason to stop and wait, pushing away the stress of the holiday season to recapture the images of the first nativity scene.

So why is Advent important and what does it have to do with hope? Continue reading »

Here is an update on all the secret gatherings with Calgary Church for the month of December. Let us know if you're new and coming for the first time.

December 2nd: Converge Worship Evening
Our theme for the evening will be based on the expectations of advent. There will be a variety of self-serve stations for individuals to participate freely and at their own pace. Some may be unfamiliar with this style of worship but we thought it would be a great way to experience all the different themes of advent in one evening.

The evening begins at 6PM with a potluck dinner and wraps up around 7:30. We will meet at the House Coffee Sanctuary on 10th St and Kensington Road (in the basement). Continue reading »

The Renov8 Congress has come to a close for 2009 and I was very surprised with the quality of the event. Most of all, I was thrilled to be able to connect with other missional leaders from across our country. Another part of why I attended the Congress was capture some quick videos of anybody I could nail down.

The purpose is to extend the missional conversation in our country and hopefully spur action from dialogue. Over the course of the next few weeks I will be releasing snippets of the various conversations I had. To start off, here is the first of a few clips from a brief chat I had with Mike Frost who was one of the awesome plenary speakers at the event. Enjoy.

Mike Frost on 'Kingdom Language' from Ro N on Vimeo.

Mike Frost - Missional v. Attractional Church from Ro N on Vimeo.

We're taking in a church planting conference here in Calgary and so far so good. All the major speakers are squarely aligned with a missional theology which is great considering probably 3/4 of those in attendance are not in that frame of mind.

We're going to post all our blogging updates over at Pomotheo.com.

Just a reminder, Calgary Church is setting up a in person meet for those who aren't tied up Wednesday evening. Details here and through Twitter.

Calgary Church will be attending this years, Renov8 Congress that kicks off tonight at 7PM. The Renov8 Congress is headed by Church Planting Canada and features speakers like Michael Frost.

He will be speaking for free tonight at 7PM so everyone can come out and see him. Seating won't be a problem since it's in the biggest church in Calgary (a bit ironic).

We will be providing updates on the event via Twitter for those attending or not. You can follow the updates on Twitter here. Also, Calgary Church will head an after hours discussion for those not committed to community/denominational meetings after the daily events. We'd like to extend an invitation to join a missional discussion for all participants of the Renov8 Congress. Continue reading »