A blog summary of an event
This is the first time our entire team was able to gather together as we prepare for this Compassion Experience. After some heartfelt good-byes with parents, we centred on why we're in this, had a Spanish primer lesson led by Karla Campbell and began working through the logistics of our final preparations (including shuttling between our office and our hotel).
We are excited to be sending a team of 15 students and leaders from Kingsway Baptist Church and Mimico Baptist Church on this compassion experience to the Dominican Republic on March 9-16. They will be joining the Lighthouse Project which CBOQ Youth has supported for 20+ years. Starting on March 9, we'll have a daily update from our team so you can see what God is doing through our team.
On February 25, over 750 youth leaders and student leaders converged at Bayview Glen Church for the first time in-person in 3 years. Essentially 2 simultaneous conferences happening, it was a time of deep learning, inspiration and conviction. Also, a special announcement on this 40th anniversary was the hosting transfer from Youth Unlimited to Youth Worker Conference. (You can see a glimpse of what the day was like in
This past weekend was our 23rd year of Blizzard, the first in-person since 2020. Lisa Pak drew us into the stories of Joseph, Daniel and Esther. Life Support drew us into God's presence through worship. A key focus this weekend was the concept of journey: with God, with friends and with trusted mentors. The intersection of our lives with one another centralizes in Christ and connects with various people
Last weekend, almost 400 jr. highs, leaders and staff set out on a road trip to Muskoka Woods for our first in-person retreat since 2020. There was snow, food and so many memories made. We even had a travelling suitcase where our MCs, team captains and Karra emerged from to join our plenary sessions in the Hangar. We had several people comment, "It's good to be back together for
For the first time in three years, we hosted Centre Court, our outreach event through the Toronto Raptors. As "normal business" continues to evolve from the pandemic, many things changed as well in how Centre Court unfolded. When we finalized our plans with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), we had five weeks to promote and plan what now turned out to be a pre-game outreach event. In total
Last week, along with our counterparts with Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada, Union d'Églises baptistes francophones du Canada, Canadian Baptists of Western Canada and Canadian Baptist Ministries, we hosted a forum with 47 youth leaders across Canada from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Some may remember a similar gathering hosted in 2016. At that time, Imaginative Hope resulted from that forum. Similar questions were being asked last week as
On October 4-6, we had a small group of six youth pastors come to Camp Kwasind for our annual Youth Pastors Retreat. In light of the 18+ months of adapting (and readapting) youth ministry in our current times, many felt tired and weary. Together, we took time to rest. Our schedule was slow-paced. We had time to be renewed personally and sharpened in our ministries. Matt led the group
Last Saturday, Today's Teens Conference (hosted by Youth Unlimited and involves many volunteers within our CBOQ family) went completely online. Over 1300 guests joined from all province and territories of Canada, several US states, UK, Australia and other nations. The aim: to reimagine what God continues to do in reaching the next generation with the person and message of Jesus. Through our four main session speakers, we rooted ourselves in
AVALANCHE 2021 REVIEW Avalanche this year was unlike any we've ever hosted. Given the pandemic and most recent state of emergency "stay at home" orders, so many of our churches had to stay at home (and our Avalanche team as well). That didn't stop us from delving into our theme "ONE: One God. One Life. Together". Meisha Watson led us through a biblical understand of how God is wanting
