This past weekend, over 550 students and leaders descended on Muskoka Woods for a weekend to explore our identity in Christ. Mike Gordon walked through John 4 (Jesus and the Samaritan woman) in seeing how the woman wanted to project her identity, how Jesus saw behind it and who Jesus really said she was. Mix in some personal stories (including surgery) and students were drawn into considering who Jesus says
Last Saturday, CBOQ Kids (with support from CBOQ Youth) hosted the 4th Faith and Family event with Raptors 905 (the G-League team of the Toronto Raptors). Over 120 joined together for a Raptors 905 victory and a fun-filled post-game program. One key highlight was Raptors 905 forward Nicholas Baer sharing his faith story. As a rookie from Iowa, he shared how his relationship began with Jesus at age 10, and
Click here for the application information. What to expect if accepted to the Young Leaders Collective Retreat? This retreat provides motivational and practical teaching and skill development to strengthen the inner and outer life of a young Christian leader that can be applied to a full-time ministry context or in business, the marketplace, the arts or the social entrepreneurial world. We have partnered with Youth Unlimited’s LAUNCH program
January to March is our high season with five events over 10 weeks. I (Alvin) admit I'm not good at taking a step back to be in the moment with God. Too many times, I'm thinking ahead to what's next. And yet, when I think back to Luke 2, twice the author points out that Mary "treasured" two moments: Jesus' birth along with the jubilant exclamation of the shepherds, and
An avalanche came this weekend. Sure, there was a lot of snow. More importantly, the message of Jesus was clearly presented and available for all to consider. Our speaker, Shawn Naylor, talked through our 4 sessions: the projected identity, what's behind the scenes, when it all falls apart and the raw self. He challenged to almost 500 jr. high students and youth leaders to consider who Jesus calls them to
Accessibility for those with physical, mental or other exceptionalities is becoming a higher priority in the church. While we are not experts in the field, we continue to look for and find ways to accommodate individuals who require some additional assistance. Some thoughts to consider: Do you know what exceptionalities exist in your group? Sometimes they are obvious; other times it may take some investigating. As parents, my wife and
Last night, we hosted our 20th+ Centre Court event. Not only did the Raptors come away with a convincing victory, almost 700 of us got to hang back after the game for our own program. This year's speaker was Stormin' Norman Powell. He shared how his faith has continued to shape him (he previously shared at Centre Court about three years ago), especially after last summer's NBA championship. More importantly,
The youth from MBC went on a 3 day retreat this past summer in Guelph. The weekend was filled with games, food, reflection, mediation, sports, and prayer. Our church partnered with another church (who meets at Tyndale) and had a badminton tournament accompanied with worship (led by Nicholas Wong). Our church celebrated Thanksgiving with a turkey and all the
Recently, I (Alvin) finished reading Andrew Zirschky’s book Beyond the Screen: Youth Ministry for the Connected But Alone Generation. This short book highlighted some profound insights on how Generation Z engages social media in the context of community. Some specific insights that caught my attention: One key reason why many youth gravitate to technology is “not primarily for its entertainment value or cool factor, but because of its potential to
Our VBS camp this August brought in a lot of new faces to our youth group, as new volunteer leaders from the local high-school and current youth group members were brought much closer as a tight-nit group. The new members transitioned into our weekly youth group seamlessly. Now we have a larger group with a strong drive and motivation to be at church as much as possible. Every member attends our
