Lift Launch 2010

On Sunday evening, Sept `12th I enjoyed the privilege of taking in the September launch service of Lift Church, at McMaster University, Hamilton ON. Living nearby,I have the opportunity to serve in an adjunct capacity on their leadership team this year and we are looking forward to what this coming year is going to bring. Check out   http://www.liftchurch.ca/ 


With founding pastor Dave Slater moving up the road to Parkview Church in Guelph, Lift has been working through a pastoral search process throughout the summer. Since the successful candidate has not yet been announced, I cannot quite go public on him yet, but there is a great deal of anticipation in the ranks regarding the announcement.

What the shift in leadership has caused is the student leadership has stepped up its involvement a notch or two. This is nowhere more apparent than in the leadership involvement of Robin Wallar, who is now a graduate student in the faculty of Engineering Physics and a shining product of the first four years of ministry of Lift.

At their first service, they had a fine worship set led by my young friend, John Balt, and a mingling time where they could grab refreshments. Seeing as it is set in the Student Pub, it is a great venue for mixing and mingling with food. Dozens of first year students signed up for ‘Simple Church’, which is the small group dimension of Lift. Each group has a specific focus. It could be organized around the study of a book or fellowship or whatever, but they each have a different flavor and emphasis.

Then the teaching began. Robin taught on ‘What are we here for..” Great stuff. He spoke to the students right at their level. Total relevance. He was brilliant by just being himself. I think that the students hung on pretty well every word he said because he lived in the same world they did.

Then Lift did what they do so well…. Hospitality. It was time for hotdogs, chips and drinks. People hung around and feasted. Lift happened. It is going to be an exciting year.

If you read my Lift Blog at the same time last year, you would understand why this evening was a bit hard for me. Some of my sweetest memories are from a year ago , seeing my son Dave’s big body abandoned in worship. Jon Balt told me that for him, as a worship leader, seeing Dave engage in worship was the equivalent of ‘about thirty people’. If you knew him, you would know what we mean.

Dave loved the fellowship and worship at Lift. It was important to him. It is certainly important to me.....