More than 40 pastors gathered for the 2023 PCC Pastors’ Retreat on November 6-8.

Some of the pastors and presenters at the 2023 PCC Pastors’ Retreat gather prior to closing worship on November 8

We were blessed to have Rev. Dr. Richard Topping, principal of Vancouver School of Theology, as our speaker on the topic “Holy Imagination: Believing is Seeing.” (See message Page 4). Worship was led by Rev. James Yang and Rev. William Min and friends. Spiritual Direction was provided by Rev. Christopher Little and Don Craw.

Here are some comments from a few of the participants:

“I was so blessed by the praise team and the prayer time. The praise worship this year exceeded my expectations. It was a time of renewal of my spirit.”

“Rev. Dr. Richard Topping provided great lectures to inspire us to slow down and help others see our Creator God.”

“The teaching was very strong and was a driver of the rest of the activities.”

“It seems that everyone went home refreshed and aglow with the certainty that ‘because Jesus lives, we can face tomorrow.’ ”

Amen!

Rev. Dr. Richard Topping

Among the pleasant surprises was the demographic diversity among attendees, as seen in the above photo. The evangelical wing of the PCC is no longer a Scottish-Canadian enclave. Even more encouraging was the ages of attendees; more than half were under 50.

An additional piece of good news is the fact that the event ended with a financial surplus, just like last year. This was amazing and unexpected. In fact, we were anticipating a small deficit. The main factor was the fact that the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre charged us much less than expected for food and accommodation. What a blessing to be in partnership with them.

We are already looking ahead to next year. The same venue has been tentatively booked for Nov.   4-6, 2024. The organizing team is in place and we are prayerfully discerning the theme and possible speakers.

After initiating and guiding the team for the first two retreats, executive director Andy Cornell is stepping aside to concentrate on RF’s new mission. Rev. Al Brouwer, a member of RF’s board of directors, will ease into the chair during 2024 with Andy remaining on the team for support.

Spirit-led worship, spiritual direction, small groups and a generous amount of unstructured time will continue.

The team is striving to keep the cost to participants down to a token amount and offer a travel subsidy so that cost is not a barrier.

Donations toward this vital gathering are welcome. Tax receipts will be issued.

• e-transfer to renewalfellowshippcc@gmail.com, specify Pastor Retreat.
• Mail a cheque to Renewal Fellowship, 3819 Bloor Street West, Etobicoke, Ontario M9B 1K7.
• Securely online with a credit card through Canada Helps.