Brad Montsion, pastor of Fountaingate Christian Assembly in Cornwall, Ontario, sporting his “skipper’s cap” and stressing the navigational theme of this year’s convention at the NAV Centre in Cornwall, gave a hearty welcome to ministers and their spouses Tuesday night, May 2.

Earlier in the day, convention delegates navigated their way through a number of envisioning topics in anticipation of Fellowship direction and ministry for near future. Duane Siemens (The Wave Church, Winnipeg, MB) led the group through a discussion of transitions in the ministry, passing the baton to the next generation of ministers and leaders.

Duane Siemens and Seth McLaughlin, Brad Montsion’s grandson, demonstrating the challenges of passing the baton to the next generation.

At the evening banquet the gathering recognized Rev. St. John Lovelace (Progress Church of God, Scarborough, ON) for years of service as a Fellowship Elder.

Elders and regional coordinators pray a blessing over Rev. Lovelace.

Also honored at the banquet for 50 years of a unique community ministry were Rev. Gloria and Murray Steacy (New Beginning Christian Centre, La Salle, ON). Together they have become pastors to their community, connecting with people in various capacities, including helping them through the various transitions of life such as weddings and funerals. Their wedding chapel ministry has seen over 6,000 weddings conducted through the years.

Murray and Gloria Steacy receive a commemorative plaque from Glen and Lois Forsberg on behalf of the FCA.

Fellowship Pastor, Glen Forsberg (Wetaskiwin, AB), challenged the group with an aviation metaphor for our times—to have a “flight plan” (to know where you and you’re going). He talked about the need for pilots to overcome vertigo by trusting their flight instruments. “With God’s Word and the Spirit,” he said, “we can avoid spiritual vertigo.”

Pastor Forsberg stressed the troubled times in which we live. “Truth is now a moving target! There’s never been so much confusion as there is today,” he said. He spoke of earlier days when things were less confusing. “When I was a kid growing up on the farm, he said, “we could tell the difference between a bull calf and a cow calf. But we can’t any more.”

The cultural drift, however, is not something to fear, however. Pastor Forsberg acknowledged a desire to get our “nice Christian country” back again, but he said there is a better idea than the disciples who wanted Jesus to be king instead of Caesar (Acts 1). Even better than that for dealing with these troubled times, he said, “You will receive the power of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.