With a new name and a renewed sense of mission, Toronto Baptists are exploring new ways to work together and live as Christ's representatives in our city.

Toronto Baptist Ministries, formerly known as the Toronto Area Association of Baptist Churches (TAABC), is one of seventeen Associations within the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec. Our 82 churches stretch from Oakville to Markham and from Newmarket to Lake Ontario and worship in many different languages.

In recent months we've celebrated new churches, a new event for church office staff, a new youth-to-youth drama ministry, and the election of Audley Goulbourne as moderator of our Association. Our churches have been participating in community events such as Doors Open Toronto and Taste of the Danforth. We've done outreach in partnership with teams of volunteers from the US. Now our churches are busily running day camps and other summer programs for children. And other exciting events are in store for August....

CROSS-CULTURAL OUTREACH SEEKS DIRECTOR

TBM's partner organization, Toronto Baptist Inter-Cultural Services, mobilizes and equips Christians for ministry to unreached people arriving in Toronto. It is seeking a half-time director....

MATTHEW HOUSE CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF WELCOMING REFUGEES TO TORONTO

Anne Woolger-Bell, founder and director of Matthew House, welcomed friends, supporters, and former residents to a 10th Anniversary Supper and Barbecue on August 5 at Matthew House-Toronto. This special evening featured international food and music, and former refugees' stories of victory and progress since their arrival at Matthew House. Future 10th-anniversary plans include a Benefit Concert in October, featuring the acclaimed Congolese group Krystaal. Watch for details.

RAIN DAMPENS PARTY IN THE PARK

Mimico Baptist Church generated a huge amount of local interest and support for the“Grows Greener” theme of its 2008 Party in the Park on August 5. With more than 30 displays and activities promoting eco-friendly living, the community party, founded and spearheaded by the church, hoped to attract 2,000 people of all ages. But the rains began coming down as people were setting up in the park across from the church. Instead of the anticipated 2000 party-goers, only 200-300 came. Some activities, such as the hot-air balloon rides, were cancelled. But Canadian Baptist Ministries staff were there (above) selling seedlings to launch CBM's new "Live it Out" campaign. Members of the TC3 Children's Choir danced in the rain; Ontario Minister of Natural Resources minister Donna Cansfield brought greetings; architects and authors and representatives of community groups huddled under tents and had productive conversations with passers-by; and people managed to enjoy hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, and fair trade coffee while holding umbrellas.The weather was obviously a disappointment, said pastor Jim Sanderson, but the event was still a "mutually beneficial partnership between church and community."

CITY-WIDE PRAISE AND WORSHIP CHURCH OPENS

About sixty friends from near and far gathered at Temple Baptist Church on July 5 to celebrate the grand opening of City-Wide Praise and Worship Church, TBM'S newest congregation. The guest preacher, Harry Rowland of Atlanta, Georgia, director of missional church ministries for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, cut the ribbon with pastor George Lwamba and TBM moderator Audley Goulbourne. This young congregation seeks to provide community for Africans scattered across Toronto, and worships in English, French, and Swahili. It has been extraordinarily blessed with gifted musicians, incuding George's brothers, the acclaimed group Krystaal. The Lwambas' "new found" sister, who turned up last winter at Matthew House, led a worship team of young women who have an amazingly smooth blend of voices.

BARBECUE FOR BURMA A GREAT SUCCESS

"Three hundred burgers, 300 people, awesome music, cultural diversity, community, working together, new friendships." That's how pastor Jim Sanderson describes Mimico Baptist Church's BBQ/Concert on July 2, which raised almost $2600 for flood relief in Burma/Myanmar through The Sharing Way. The concert featured performances by the Bon Air Baptist Church Choir from Richmond, Virginia, Mimico Baptist's Mandarin choir, and Karen adult and children's choirs. MP Michael Ignatieff and MPP Laurel Broughton brought Canada Day greetings from the federal and provincial governments. Two Karen leaders told how their Karen forefathers had been led to faith in the 1800s by pioneer Baptist missionaries such as Adoniram Judson. Sue Chester, program officer of The Sharing Way, reported that TSW had been able to get funds into Burma/Myanmar to help with rebuilding. The capacity crowd included friends from several west-end Baptist churches, and about thirty members of the Toronto Karen Baptist Fellowship. "All in all this was a very pleasant evening," Walter McIntyre reports. A Mimico Baptist called Barbecue Bob "made sure that there was plenty of summer food for everyone. The Karens are some of our newest Canadians and they were made to feel very loved on this their very first celebration of Canada Day."

DOORS OPEN TORONTO

Toronto's oldest Baptist congregation and its newest Baptist church building were among the 30 "Sacred Spaces, Sacred Circles" featured in Doors Open Toronto, May 24-25.

1. Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church, 3223 Kennedy Rd., (above) held a community fair with drama, a children's choir, refreshments, games, and photo-ops with police and firefighters.
2. First Baptist Church, 101 Huron Street, presented the history of the Black church in Canada through displays, videos, and tours.
3. Toronto Chinese Baptist Church, 72-74 Beverley Street, offered tours of its historic building (built in 1880).
4. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 1595 Yonge St., showcased music by choirs, organ, and brass; drama; tours of the organ and stained glass windows; chats with the minister, and outreach ministry tours. On Sunday the 11:00 a.m. worship service was geared to visitors (with a sermon on "Behold, I stand at the door and knock") and there was a choral evensong at 4:30 p.m. instead of the usual 7:00 p.m. service.

TWO BAPTIST MAKEOVERS ON VISION TV

Makeovers of two of our Toronto Baptist churches launched the third season of Divine Restoration on Vision TV. The May 12 episode, taped last fall, took us to Ossington Ave. Baptist Church for the transformation of the fellowship room and exercise rooms. It also gave us a brief interview with Rob Patterson and a glimpse of other Toronto Baptists as they walked past Ossington during the annual Walkathon for the Oasis Dufferin Community Centre. The May 19 episode featured Living Hope Community Church and the renovation of a new rehearsal space for TC3, the Toronto Children's Concert Choir. You can also see Pastor Denise Gillard breaking down walls in the promos for the program. A previous season on Divine Restoration presented a reno of the St. Clair Ave. Baptist Churchlibrary.

TWO PASTORS ORDAINED

Markham Chinese Baptist Church, 9850 Woodbine Ave., celebrated its 12th Anniversary on Sunday, May 25, with a banquet and the ordination of two pastors: Mandarin Pastor Enoch Yeung and Acting English pastor (outreach pastor) Louis Leung.

ANSWERED PRAYER AT LISLE MEMORIAL

A Caribbean feast awaited those of us who made it to Lisle Memorial Baptist Church's new building at 265 Eddystone Ave., on Saturday April 26 for the 133rd Annual meeting of Toronto Baptist Ministries (Toronto Area Association of Baptist Churches). Our hosts were praising the Lord! Only two days before, pastor Audley Goulbourne and the church had received news of a big answer to prayer--the Ontario Municipal Board had granted approval for the church to use the building as a place of worship. The congregation had purchased the facility (a former Italian ceramics showroom with two storeys and a large open basement) two years ago, but they had had to worship in a school after their initial application to the city's Committee of Adjustment was denied. While they waited for the outcome of the appeal, they could use their new building only for offices, small groups, youth meetings, and a summer day camp. With the celebration come challenges for this relatively small congregation (56 members): meeting their building fund target of $240,000 for 2008, and being God's agents of transformation in their Jane-Finch neighbourhood. Audley is the new moderator of Toronto Baptist Ministries (TAABC), succeeding Godfrey Green.

1700 ATTEND DEDICATION OF SCARBOROUGH CHINESE BAPTIST CHURCH

The strikingly modern new home of Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church (above) rises above a grove of trees on the east side of Kennedy Rd., north of McNicholl. On Sunday afternoon, April 27, the 1500-seat sanctuary was filled to overflowing for a wonderful afternoon of dedication and celebration in three languages. The church's combined choirs--about 90 singers accompanied by an 8-piece string ensemble and keyboard instruments--sang "And the Glory of the Lord," "Worthy is the Lamb," and the final Amen chorus from Handel's Messiah. They sang "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place " as photos of the building process flashed on the wall. The congregation raised their voices together in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, in hymns of praise. These same languages were interwoven throughout the Scripture readings, prayers, and litany of dedication, with translations projected on the wall and printed in the program books. The guest preacher, Ken Bellous, executive minister of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, delivered a succinct message in English, encouraging the congregation to keep on building: to build people, to build their focus on worship and spiritual disciplines, and to build for Kingdom results. After he spoke, two of SCBC's pastors read translations in Cantonese and Mandarin.

It's been almost nine years since this congregation had adopted the motion, "Move and Grow," almost six years since they purchased this 13.49-acre property, and three years since building began. Infinite hours of planning, open forums, visioning, consultation, collaborative problem-solving, and prayer had gone into designing and building this $17 million "home of the Christian, faith, hope, and love for a multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and multi-generational community". The first services were held in the new building on September 16, 2007. The Sunday School rooms and 250-seat chapel are already too small.

Women on the front lines begin networking

You might call them church secretaries or administrative assistants, but these women know what they really are--"pastors of administration". They're often the first person to greet strangers who visit or call your church during the week; they're the ones who handle details behind the scenes while making other people in your church look good; they're the ones you can trust to keep confidences or bring needs to your pastor's attention. And on April 23 (Administrative Professionals Day), TBM honoured them by inviting them to our first coffee morning. Ten women came, eight of whom are pictured. Susan Murphy of Markham Baptist Church set the tone with a message on the gifts required for this ministry. Rosemary Borja of Kingsway BC described the training she and Ruth Burger of Mississauga City BC had received in early April as guests of the Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia (facilitated by TBM). The participants hope the coffee morning will lead to future opportunities for networking, mutual support, and professional development. They have begun planning their first training event for "pastors of adnimistration", to be held October 15 at Walmer Rd. Baptist Church.

MissionExpoTo8 was a resounding success

What is the mission of the church in today's world? And how can we be part of it? A wonderful cross-section of almost 400 Baptists from across the GTA and beyond--including several carloads of youth from Peterborough and Barrie--came to MissionExpoTo8 February 22-24 seeking answers to these questions. Many answers were supplied by the plenary speaker, Dr. Rene Padilla of Buenos Aires, an outstanding Baptist author, pastor, missiologist, and internationally-recognized authority on mission in word and deed. He reminded us of our biblical mandate to care for Creation, to proclaim reconciliation with God and one another, to be salt and light in a way that draws attention to Christ rather than ourselves, and to live out our salvation by doing good works and practising economic justice.

More answers were supplied by local experts such as Rick Tobias, Tim Huff, Neil Hetherington, Anne Woolger-Bell, and Joe Boot. They and other seminar leaders deepened our understanding of local and global mission, and inspired us to work together on issues such as refugees, poverty, and mission in the marketplace.

Julius Karanja of Kenya, bishop of the African Christian Church and Schools, (pictured above with Cecelia Hamlin of St. Clair Ave. Baptist Church) shared his burden for the people and churches caught up in the unexpected turmoil of his country.

The presence of local and global missionaries, Canadian Baptist Ministries staff, and ministry displays heightened our personal connection with mission. The combined Mandarin, Cantonese, and English choirs from Toronto Chinese Baptist Church (below) helped us honour Andrew and Linda Wong for their 40 years of exemplary outreach and disciple-making among Chinese people on three continents.

Toronto Baptist Ministries was pleased to sponsor MissionExpoTo8 along with Canadian Baptist Ministries, BCOQ Youth, Toronto Baptist Women, and the host church, Yorkminister Park Baptist Church. Watch for a report in the May/June Link & Visitor magazine.

Hear Dr. Rene Padilla's messages at MissionExpoTo8

Dr. Padilla's messages were recorded on a set of 5 CDs. To order the complete set, send your name, mailing address, and a cheque for $25 (which includes $5 postage) to Tape Ministry, Yorkminister Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge St., Toronto ON M4T 1Z9. Make the cheque payable to Yorkminister Park Baptist Church.