It's been a while...

There is a certain irony that the more I have to write about, the less time I have to write it. This year took off like a loaded gun and it simply hasn't let up.  There is so much to capture and distill and I find myself running to keep up.  Which, quite frankly, is a wonderful problem. It is incredible to see the gains we have made in the past few years. 

Student Centre  Western University ( Ont )

Orientation Week at Ryerson University, Toronto

David Burke  our guy at Ryerson and Aaron Mix-Ross, pastor to students at Stone Church near the U of Toronto

Lift Church at McMaster University 

here are a few mindshavings to share....
Mission Canada, the national missional arm of the PAOC, of which Campus Mission Canada is a part consists of five major emphases.  Those would be Quebec and Francophone Canada, Aboriginal Canada, New Canadians, Urban Centres and then the emerging generation.  It is this last one that includes our campus initiatives, along with youth  and children. 

However, when it comes to the campus, it would seem that it combines all of the above. 

Campus Ministry interfaces our other missional priorities. You will find new Canadians, Aboriginals, Francophone, Urban and Emerging generations on nearly any campus in our land. Further more, you will reach these priority groups at a time when they are evaluating and being equipped for the rest of their lives. 

At CMC, we have worked hard at creating a culture where campus ministry is simply inevitable. A culture where campus mission is what we do and what we produce. One in which it is intentional and celebrated. That means a variety of things. It means that in some ways we play a direct role in identifying and deploying the right people and ministries to the right campus and in others it means that we help create the environment and connecting links for this to happen by other means. That may be individuals or churches or districts rising to the challenge. 

Consider the words of the apostle Paul as he helps the Corinthian church sort out the relationship between different ministers and ministries. 

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Depending on the field, we have different roles.  There are times we till the soil. Other times  we plant. Sometimes we water. Other times we are able to harvest fruit that we did not plant or cultivate. But in all cases, it is important that we find our place within what God is up to and what it is that he is growing and producing.We look for where we can best support what God wants to do. 

We have no ambition to be  'the latest and greatest'. We just want to be obedient. We want to bear fruit that lasts. We are not necessarily the best at everything. But, together and combined we are good at a lot of things.  Sometimes, very good. We have come to recognize that we are a significant part of what God is doing on the campuses of our nation and a key part of what He intends to do. He expects more of us.  And what He intends to do is work through willing and available vessels.  He works through those who are open to His working through them. 

Your Scribe

At Campus Mission Canada, we are several things. First, we are a network. That means that we are a coalition of the willing. A group of ministries that share a common national and international burden and a common view of how God works in our own day and age. We want to represent our Master well. 

Secondly, we are catalysts. That means we work at not just being a network but in actively networking ( as a verb)  and sharing resources and expertise. My definition of myself as a catalyst is that I work to bring together the right people and resources to bring about the right result.  Part of this means we represent campus ministries to our larger Fellowship and beyond. We are not isolated but rather united on the things that matter.

Thirdly, as part of Mission Canada, we deploy missionaries.  Campus Mission Canada is a catalytic network. Mission Canada, the larger organization of which we are a part, is a missions agency. This means that we seek to address the gaps that exist within our nation that require an equipped individuals to reach out to it.  So, some of our campus ministers are mission Canada  missionaries.

Red Frogs Support Network at UBC.  Making a splash.

What is the dream?  Well, stay tuned.  Whatever the final description, it involves the following:  We work together. We share resources and expertise across the country. We support and encourage each other.  We work together better than apart.  The dream is not one organizational head. The dream is capturing and distilling the collective genius of what we do all across the country. We start more and better ministries that produce more and better followers of Jesus.