On Monday, Sep. 23rd our congregation met for a pivotal meeting. We have come out of a summer season of fasting and praying, particularly into the mission and vision of Jericho Ridge. As an elder’s team, we presented our confident hope in God leading our church toward a missional merger. To that end, we have entered discussions with North Langley Community Church (NLCC), who is part of our Mennonite Brethren denomination and who originally planted Jericho Ridge 19 years ago. Rest assured that we do not see this as a “solution to our problems” (i.e. financial sustainability, critical mass, etc.), but rather we believe this to be God’s desire for an exciting rebirth of our congregation toward making disciples in our community. It’s our aim to be an effective witness to our current and future neighbours. The community around Jericho Centre is growing and will explode in population with the addition of Skytrain. How can we best present the Gospel of Jesus and make disciples? We believe we can do this to our fullest potential with another church. We are “better together” in bringing the Kingdom of God to our community.
So, what does this mean for us in the months to come? It does not mean that this is a foregone conclusion. We are inviting you, as we have invited NLCC, into a dialogue of whether God is calling us into this missional vision of a rebirth for Kingdom mission and what that might look like. At the end of this process, we (and NLCC) will need to have a congregational vote on this potential path for both of our churches. Until we reach that point in our discussions, we are inviting you to prayerfully consider two questions that we asked at our meeting on Monday evening:
- What do you see as the greatest opportunities and benefits in a missional merger vision?
- What questions does pursuing this vision raise for you?
We invite you to submit your answers to our elders so we can answer these and other questions at our next Transitional meeting on Monday, Oct. 21st. In addition, our elders and pastoral staff are available to meet with you and hear your perspective. To arrange for a meeting, please email or .
We recognize this is a lot to take in and it in all likelihood stirs many questions and emotions, which is why we want this to be a church family conversation where we listen well to the Holy Spirit and to one another. As an elder’s team we found this resource to be helpful and we encourage you to also purchase a copy of “Better Together” (Revised & Expanded Version) or stop by the office and pick up a copy. This book is both informational and inspirational regarding the “why” and “how” as God calls churches into a merger.
Lastly, please mark these upcoming transitional meeting dates in your calendar: Oct. 21, Nov. 4, Nov. 17 (AGM).
Peace,
Pastor Wally on behalf of the Jericho Elders