Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec

Speaker: Rev. Dr. Anna Robbins 

Position: President, Acadia Divinity College   

Description of Session
In this session we will identify key issues emerging in church life in Canada; explore their nature and origins; and trace alternative futures as we read the signs together. We will then seek to discern what sorts of actions will disrupt negative patterns and enable a flexible response for the church today….and tomorrow.  

Target Audience for Session: Pastors, church leaders, thinkers, innovators. 

Speaker Bio:
Anna serves as President of Acadia Divinity College as a leader committed to serve the mission of Christ’s church locally and globally, with faithful integrity that applies the gospel to real-life issues and relationships with justice, innovation, academic rigour, and joyful expectation. She has an international profile in theology, apologetics, ethics, and contemporary culture. She serves Baptist work locally and globally, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Theological Schools, and is sought after as a speaker, writer, and teacher. She lives in Nova Scotia with her husband Peter, teenage son David, and their Goldendoodle Gatsby. 

Speaker: Sam Chaise 

Position: Executive Director, Christie Refugee Welcome Centre; Past CBM Director

Description of Session: 
Even before COVID, governance and board leadership in churches too often focused on problem-solving, resource-allocation, and management. While these are important, too little energy was given to Spirit-filled imagining of the future, and to entirely new ministry patterns into which God may be calling us. Often our structures and patterns of meeting stifle the vibrant joyful work of God. The COVID experience has battered us and sucked the energy out of us. What would it look like to NOT return to what we used to do, but to let the pain of the COVID experience re-shape and re-form us so that we face the future – God’s future – with a new posture that is stewarded in and through our structures and meeting patterns? This Learning Session is designed to prompt us in these new directions, while giving us freedom to contextualize to our particular situations.  

Target Audience for Session: Board members, ministry leaders, congregational staff 

Speaker Bio: 
Sam was a pastor, church planter, and minister of worship in Saskatchewan and British Columbia for 17 years before launching the Carey Institute at Carey Theological College in Vancouver. He led Canadian Baptist Ministries from 2010-2015 and has been Executive Director at Christie Refugee Welcome Centre since 2017. Along the way Sam has served on denominational and agency boards, including:  Canadian Baptists of Western Canada, Carey Theological College, Arrow Leadership Ministries, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and International Association for Refugees. 

Sam Chaise has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master of Divinity from Regent College. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Practical Theology at McMaster Divinity College in Cultural Intelligence and Servant Leadership.

Speaker: Rachel Turner

Position: Founder, Parenting for Faith

Description of Session: Churches are ready to re-open – what we going to do about Children’s Ministry? Where have all the experts gone? Why aren’t the children coming back? What’s next for us to consider when we look at the ministry to children?

Target Audience for Session: Pastors, church leaders, Next Gen, Parents/Grandparent

Speaker Bio: Rachel is the founder of Parenting for Faith. God gave her the vision for Parenting for Faith in 2005 in response to a need in her local church, and it has grown from there. She has worked in a variety of churches as a family life pastor, children’s pastor and youth pastor since 2004. She consults, speaks at conferences and runs training days for parents and church leaders around the UK and Europe. Rachel moved to the UK from southern California in 2002 and now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and son. She once taught herself Irish Gaelic for three years for fun and is fascinated with obscure history. Her love language is new and beautiful stationery.

Speaker: Gordon T. Smith 

Position: President, Ambrose College 

Description of Session:
The seminar will see to do three things.  First, to speak to the ancient principle – how wisdom and blessing is passed on from generation to generation.   Then second, to observe that congregations are increasingly stratified.   And then, third, a call or invitation to cultivate how old and young are called to worship, learn and serve together and that this is essential to the what it means to be the church.

Target Audience: Church/ministry leaders and pastors 

Speaker Bio:
Gordon T. Smith is President and Professor of Systematic and Spiritual theology at Ambrose University and Seminary in Calgary. He is also a Teaching Fellow at Regent College, Vancouver. He is the author of a number of publications, including most recently Wisdom from Babylon: Leadership for the Church in a Secular Age (IVP, 2020) and Welcome, Holy Spirit: A Theological and Experiential Introduction (IVP, 2021). He is married to Joella and they have two adult sons. 

Speaker: Stanley E. Porter 

Position: President and Dean, McMaster Divinity College 

Description of Session:
This session will be a study of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul wrote this letter that contains moments of exceeding joy and deep reflection while he was in lockdown. Paul’s lockdown was not caused by a pandemic so that he had merely to try to wait it out. Paul was in the custody of the Romans, in chains as he says in the letter, with his future uncertain. In these adverse circumstances, Paul focuses on what is important for the Christian life. He weighs serious ideas about himself, about others, about this life and the next, and mostly about who Jesus is. Paul provides a model in his response to his own lockdown how we as followers of Jesus should respond in our own lives, whether we are living in a pandemic, an endemic, or simply in the midst of normality. 

Target Audience for Session:
Church leaders and pastors; Those who want a fast yet challenging trip through a Pauline letter that speaks in the midst of crisis. 

Speaker Bio:
Stanley E. Porter completed B.A. (Point Loma College) and M.A. (Claremont Graduate School) degrees in English before being “converted” to biblical studies, where he did a M.A. (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) in New Testament and a Ph.D. (University of Sheffield) in biblical studies and linguistics. He has authored or co-authored thirty books and edited over ninety-five volumes. He is also the author of over 500 journal articles, chapters in books, and dictionary entries, and has delivered nearly 300 papers at various events worldwide. Porter has taught at Biola University, Trinity Western University, and the University of Surrey Roehampton, and, since 2001, has been President and Dean, and Professor of New Testament, at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He also holds the Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview. Porter has had the great privilege of teaching students at all levels, including seminarians. He also has supervised over 45 successful PhD students. He researches and writes on a range of topics, including Greek language and linguistics, Pauline studies, the Gospels, papyrology and epigraphy, and higher education. He preaches regularly and (when not in a pandemic) attends Mount Hamilton Baptist Church with his wife, Dr. Wendy Porter, who is a musician and fellow educator. 

Summary: The pandemic showed us that our “vehicle” of ministry was almost solely delivery in-person synchronously. Perhaps there are different and multiple ways we can support a person in their discipleship. Alvin Lau will explore what these 4 channels are and how they can be implemented in your context. (While the focus of this workshop is on the youth ministry context, the 4 channels can be adapted to almost any ministry setting.)

Speaker Bio: Alvin joined Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, specifically in youth ministry, in 2000. His life objective: to help a person their take next step closer to Jesus, no matter how small that step is. In particular, he has a passion to serve youth leaders and churches as they pass on the truths of God to the upcoming generation, “the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” (Psalm 78:4b NIV) Alvin also serves in other capacities such as co-chaplain of Raptors 905 and volunteers with his church (Mimico Baptist Church), most recently as the Livestream Coordinator.

Summary: Research shows us that many children and youth who grew up in the church walk away from a church community especially during life and ministry transition moments. This workshop (presented by Tanya Yuen and Alvin Lau) will explore the 4 different roles involved in a person’s faith formation and how a church can create a space to effective support children and youth through those transition moments.

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Summary: Churches have an opportunity for a significant paradigm shift in the ethos and framework of children’s faith formation. Intentional collaboration between home and church, intergenerational connections, flexible and transferable resources and tools are just a few of the opportunities before us. Based on recent Canadian research conducted in 2021, I will present some possible paths forward and practical steps in developing a new plan for ministry with children.

Target Audience: Pastors, Board Leaders, Parents

Speaker Bio: Tanya joined CBOQ in 2012, focusing on children and family ministry after spending more then a decade as a pastor in youth and young adult ministry. Tanya is passionate about coming alongside churches and ministry leaders seeking to grow in ministry effectiveness with children and families, particularly in intergenerational communities of faith. Tanya also serves as Global Children’s Ministry Mentor for the BWA Horizons Program.

Topic: Dominque Gilliard’s “Subversive Witness” – Book Discussion

Description: The Journey Together team will introduce the book, Subversive Witness. This video introduction is meant to inspire conversation and learning in our churches over the theme of privilege, power, and justice.

Target Audience: Pastors, church leaders, and congregation members. Those who want to deeply explore scripture’s call to leverage privilege.

Speaker Bio:
Paul Lam is the Church Life and Leadership Associate at CBOQ. He is leading the Journey Together Team (JTT. JTT focuses on creating conversation within the CBOQ family on issues of diversity, race, privilege in the church.

Speaker Bio: Jacqueline M. Demczur, B.A., LL.B. – A partner with the firm, Ms. Demczur practices in charity and not-for-profit law, including incorporation, corporate restructuring, and legal risk management reviews. Ms. Demczur has been recognized as a leading expert in charity and not-for-profit law by Lexpert and The Best Lawyers in Canada. She is a contributing author to Industry Canada’s Primer for Directors of Not-For-Profit Corporations, and has written numerous articles on charity and not-for-profit issues for the Lawyers Weekly, The Philanthropist and Charity & NFP Law Bulletin, among others. Ms. Demczur is also a regular speaker at the annual Church & Charity Law Seminar™.

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Speaker Bios:
Rob Jackett, Senior Director of Finance and Administration, CBM 

• Rob has responsibility for Finance and Administration at Canadian Baptist Ministries, including oversight of the Canadian Baptist Benefits and Pension plans. He brings a wealth of business, marketing and financial experience within the Baptist family and from previous corporate executive roles. 

Loyda Ortiz, Manager Pension and Benefits, CBBenefits 

• Loyda is a valued resource who is our Baptist family liaison with our benefits provider and pension plan. She is an expert who has managed benefit and pension plans with various companies, and has been a speaker at Canadian benefit conferences.