Thank you to all of you who have committed to pray – whenever you pray for GBC – for the process of discernment. We are about to enter Stage 2 of this process (essentially Term 2) where we will be inviting everyone in our community of faith to submit their impressions about where God may be leading us.

I’ll be speaking more about this in the weeks to come with more details, but as we get closer to this next stage I find that I am experiencing a curious anticipation. Not that the anticipation is curious, but that in my growing anticipation is a genuine curiosity. And if I am honest, I think part of my curiosity is not whether this will “work” but how it will work. I put work in quotations because I don’t believe that it's quite the right word; it’s a bit too mechanical.

I truly believe that taking this time to discern where God may be leading us will be graciously met with God’s revelation to us as it is one of the biblical patterns (see 2 Chron. 16:9; Psalm 33:18; Matt. 7:7-8). I am curiously anticipating how God leads us and what impact this makes for us as a community of faith as we engage in discernment together. I hope you feel the same and that you are looking forward to this next stage as I am.

The next stage will be discussed, in part, at the AGM on the 27th.

Marc Rader | Senior Pastor