This month we focus on three specific locations in Burnaby: Willingdon Church, SFU and Rock Garden. Next month, we will focus on the bigger picture of life and ministry  in Burnaby.

 • Willingdon Church

Burnaby’s Willingdon Church is certainly one of Canada’s most remarkable churches. With about 4,700 attendees weekly (more than 6,000 at Easter), it attracts people from many ethnic backgrounds. Willingdon belongs to the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

BCCN  interviewed  senior pastor John Neufeld about the key factors in Willingdon’s growth since its start in 1961.

Consistent senior leadership

“We have never had to look for a senior pastor, or been without one,” he said. All transitions of senior leadership have involved appointing an associate pastor from the church to the senior role, thus avoiding major changes of direction or emphasis. Indeed, most of the 16 or 17 pastoral staff have  been in their roles for some years. Neufeld added that it is the same for most of the elders. “Willingdon is a church that is elder led, not congregation led,” he said.

Four factors for growth:

Neufeld outlined four important factors for Willingdon:

• Preaching – All preaching is expositional. Sermons follow through biblical text, rather than being topical.

• Prayer – An emphasis on prayer ministry, with an openness to all the gifts of the Spirit.

• Evangelism –  “People come to the Lord every Sunday,” he said.

• International ministry – Highlighting the multicultural nature of Burnaby, he said: “If you want to know what Burnaby is about, visit Metrotown mall.” He estimates the congregation to be  around 35 percent Asian, along with  Russians, Africans, Arabians and others. Services can be heard through headsets, translated into nine languages.

Neufeld described Willingdon as a monocultural, multi-lingual church. This combination, although not foreseen, has proven to be effective in addressing the tension often experienced between first and second generation immigrants. Non-English speaking parents understand services, with their children also finding their place in the same church.

Openness amongst new immigrants

Neufeld expressed Willingdon’s primary work of immigrant evangelism. “If you minister to someone who has grown up here it can take 15 gospel presentations before they warm to the message. With people newly arriving from Mainland China, it takes just one!”

He also feels the expositional model of preaching helps transcend cultural differences. “If you are expositional in preaching it holds [an international congregation] together. We are all filled with cultural biases and preferences. The question is: ‘Will the gospel of Jesus Christ be greater than our differences’?”

Love your neighbour

The church is extremely grateful for the warm relationship they enjoy with next door neighbours BCIT and Moscrop High School – which involves frequent sharing of facilities.

“I love working with Willingdon,” BCIT’s Michelle Treynor told BCCN.   “The relationship works absolutely wonderfully for us, with lots of  events such as convocations taking place there every year. They use our parking – it’s a total win/win!”

Willingdon would like to build, but there are significant challenges. Neufeld foresees even more services (up from the current four per week). They are also planning a two year post–seminary internship program for pastors.

 • Mountaintop life

Burnaby Mountain has featured multiple cranes as part of its skyline of late. Simon Fraser University (SFU), with its 22,000 students, is being joined by a significant urban development: UniverCity. When completed in a few years, it will add some 4,500 homes to the top of the mountain.

BCCN spoke to Shara Lee, an SFU undergraduate who lives on the campus. She is news editor with The Peak, SFU’s student newspaper.

She described student life on campus from a Christian perspective. Her first comment was surprising, as she noted the “ubiquitous nature of Christians in SFU.

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 “Last semester on ‘Club Days,’ held in the Convocation Hall for new students, of the 50 or so tables and displays, 10 were Christian groups – the most of any group.” They included Campus Crusade, InterVarsity and University Christian Ministries  – along with various ethnic Christian groups, including Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese students.

“We have an Interfaith Centre that has a lot of traffic. Sometimes Christians set up tables to try and generate interest. We get letters at The Peak ranting over the number of Christians represented!”

Lee thinks many students have misconceptions about Christianity, which can lead to some being quite anti-Christian.

“They are an easy target up here and are made fun of. SFU is mostly a liberal-thinking place, with not much time for perceived ‘conservative’ thinking.”

Churchwise, there is the newly transplanted Ellesmere United Church – which sold its building in north Burnaby to developers. There is also a new church plant: Simon Fraser Community Church – a Southern Baptist congregation led by Victor Thomas. They meet in the University Interfaith Centre  (Academic Quadrangle).

“We just started the family service Sunday mornings last August, so we are still a small group,”  Thomas said. Sunday evenings, they have been part of a student ministry called The Point, which gathers 30 – 40 young adult students.

 • The Rock Garden

Sermons which last more than an hour, services longer than three hours, with an appeal to 20–somethings . . . such is the successful ministry of Rock Garden. It’s not a church, but a meeting held every two weeks during college semesters, at New Life Community Church in Burnaby.

With no advertising or promotion, 100 – 200 people (most in their 20s or 30s) gather from all over the Lower Mainland for high quality music/worship and teaching – the latter mostly from Rikk Watts, New Testament professor at Regent College. The sermon is followed by discussion of the topic.

“We see ourselves as a theological Starbucks,” says Watts. “You can’t live in Starbucks, and we don’t intend that Rock Garden ever become a church – but there seems to be a hunger for something more substantive in young adults.”

Asked about using break out groups after the talks, Watts responded: “We tried them, but they weren’t wanted. People want to sit and listen for an hour. People tell us they learn stuff – and I do cover material most would not know anything about.”

Rock Garden’s teaching alternates between Bible books and topical subjects – such as ‘being human in Western culture,’ and sexuality.  Watts did agree there is a definite ‘unofficial Regent annex’ feel to things.

“But what is remarkable is the number of non-Christians that are coming out,” he said. “We’ve also had people contacting us from all over the world.”

Watts is adamant about the content. “I don’t dumb it down; but it’s more than a ‘lecture.’ There is passion, knowledge of the subject and application.

“We did several sessions on John’s gospel. I remember when we got to Jesus as the light of the world, we filled the room with hundreds of candles and carefully selected ‘icons’ of Jesus as the light of the world. It was stunning – as, quite unprompted and spontaneously, numbers of young people moved into the isles and knelt down.”

– BURNABY background –

Burnaby is the third most populated urban centre in B.C. (after Vancouver and Surrey).  The city features high-density residential areas often clustered around the SkyTrain lines which cross Burnaby in the south, along the 1986 Expo Line and the 2002 Millennium Line.

Burnaby is home to technology firms Electronic Arts, Creo (now part of Eastman Kodak), Ballard Power Systems and Telus – along with major post-secondary institutions such as Simon Fraser University  (SFU) and British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).

A major focal point of Burnaby is Metrotown, with its extensive mall and nearby tall towers. Burnaby’s ratio of parkland to residents is reputedly one of the highest in North America. Parks such as Burnaby Lake and Deer Lake Park retain a unique rural feel. Politically, Burnaby has maintained a centre-left city council.

According to the 2006 Census, 54 percent of the 205,261 residents  have a mother tongue that is neither English nor French. Adjacent to SFU is UniverCity – a development to house up to 10,000 residents atop Burnaby Mountain.   – PB

February 2008