Embassy back on campus

On the Embassy website  http://www.the-embassy.org/  the cover page said..

"Monday, September 14, 2009.. two old friends become reacquainted …that’s right, Embassy and the campus."  There's a story behind this that I won't elaborate on, but it made the night particularly special.

The Embassy is where my oldest son worships while he is at the University of Waterloo. I was looking forward to joining up with them for the evening, especially since it is only about forty-five minutes from my house. I just bought a camera so I could give some visual glimpses of what I am writing about. As you will see, I haven't exactly got the thing figured out, but whatever... it beats nothing.


It had been eleven years ago to the day that Brandon Malo had looked out from the stage of the Humanities Theatre at a sparse audience which had gathered for the very first meeting of The Embassy. It had been six years since The Embassy, due to unfortunate and controversial reasons, had to leave the campus and meet nearby. The meeting tonight in the same venue was a real homecoming. There was a combination of alumni and new students who had gathered to honour Embassy and the impact it had made in their lives and on the campus. The intention is to meet here once per month, while meeting at Emmanuel United Church just offsite for the other Mondays.

When I arrived onsite, there was a real buzz out in the hall as hundreds of students waited to be let into the Humanities Theatre. The theatre proved to be a great venue, being both expansive and intimate at the same time. Here is a glimpse from my perch somewhere near the middle of the room.

The irrespressible Danny K opened worship with a great mix of of passion and fun . The lead pastor of The Embassy, Joe Wahba talked briefly about potential and baited the hook for the coming weeks. Embassy is starting a series on The Most Quoted Man in the World ( The apostle Paul). There was an opportunity for the entire crowd to respond in worship, and the evening included one of the best renditions of Majesty I have ever heard. The band included the multi talented Trevor Gingrich on lead guitar ( just to our left of the drums). Previously an intern at Embassy, he is now the Mission Canada planter of The Embassy at Humber Guelph.

Brandon Malo, the founding pastor of Embassy ( who started the whole thing just after he graduated from nearby Wilfred Laurier University) spoke about fanning our gifts into flame. Intelligent and accessible, he used his stories and examples to great effect. There were lots of interesting and fun elements thrown into the mix.

There are so many things that Embassy does right. It is not an accident that it experienced explosive growth, nor for that matter was it an accident that some entity was threatened and had them pushed off of campus. What doesn’t kill you, they say, makes you stronger. Having talked at length with Brandon, it is clear that they are stronger for the time of adversity.

Embassy is positioned for some really good things.