We want you to meet some of the 60 young leaders from across the country who VMC hosted at a gathering in Oakville, Ontario on April 28-30. We asked them what they are hopeful about and what they are worried about in regards to the future of the church.
How encouraging it was to see a room full of young leaders who are passionate about Jesus and care about the church. Isn’t God good?
Meet John from Toronto, Ontario.
What is John hopeful about for the future of the church?
That people seem to have a real hunger for something better and that Jesus is that something better.
What worries him?
That the church will miss out.
Meet Holly from Guelph, ON.
What is Holly hopeful about for the future of the church?
That the church will fully embrace Jesus’ vision of the kingdom of God – which means a reversal of everything the world says. That truth is revealed to the childlike, not always the experts. That much less is needed for life than we think.. or maybe just “one thing.” That those who are great are servants. That we are called to hear Jesus’ words and obey them rather than intellectually agree with them. That God is so much closer and more available than we ever could have imagined.
What worries her?
That we will be deceptively distracted by so many ministries and busyness, and that we will settle for productivity rather than fruitfulness. That we are so often lulled to sleep in the current of striving for more, or bigger, or the next thing, which can cause us to miss God where He actually is – in the present moment.
Meet Jackson from Edmonton, AB.
What is Jackson hopeful about for the future of the church?
That there are other people who care about the church.
What worries him?
That social media will be the dominant voice for Christianity and misrepresent what the church is really all about.
Meet Tim from Calgary, AB.
What is Tim hopeful about for the future of the church?
He has confidence that God is really good at being God!
What worries him?
That we will confuse the right or the left for the way of Jesus.
Meet Jesse from Edmonton, AB.
What is Jesse hopeful about for the future of the church?
That fruitless cultural Christianity will be purged and people will be persistent, even though it won’t be easy to be orthodox in today’s culture.
What worries him?
That the freshness of what God is doing won’t be able to fully flourish due to our pride and pursuit of power.
Meet Alvin from Calgary, AB.
What is Alvin hopeful about for the future of the church?
That it is God’s church and its future will be dependent on Him.
What worries him?
That we will miss the heart of faith – the life giving, joyful, abundant life found in God.
Meet Ben from Surrey, BC.
What is Ben hopeful about for the future of the church?
That there seems to be an increased sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
What worries him?
That we will hold on too tightly to human tradition and miss out.
Meet Rayna from Peterborough, Ontario.
What is Rayna hopeful about for the future of the church?
Rayna was hopeful that as the pandemic eases and fear decreases, there will be more and more opportunities to gather and create space for others.
She’s eager to bring people together and facilitate relationship and sense of community.
What worries her?
The effects of isolation and lack of engagement with each other from the past few years.
She wonders if it will be hard for people to choose courage over comfort and may prefer their own little worlds, rather than community.
