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By Lloyd Mackey
WHEN close to 7,000 people gathered in a 20-site
satellite-driven Leadership Summit August 7 – 8, Kelowna’s John
and Lorraine Baergen had reason to reflect on how far things have come in
less than a decade.
In the late 1990s, The Leadership Centre had been
operating with some success in Kelowna, as the Canadian arm of the Charles
E. Fuller Centre for Church Growth. At the same time, in St. Catharines,
Ontario, the Canadian affiliate of Willow Creek Community Church’s
Illinois megachurch was beginning to take hold.
Both were engaged in developing effective Canadian
church leadership. In John Baergen’s words, both wanted to encourage
every church to “reach its redemptive potential, exemplifying the
reality of the early church.”
So a meeting took place, one day, in the Kelowna
Airport, between John Baergen and Bill Hybels, the senior minister of
Willow Creek Church and catalyst behind the Leadership Summit.
At that time, the summit had two Canadian satellite
sites, in Toronto and Calgary. The Leadership Centre was involved in a
bundle of initiatives, including Natural Church Development (NCD).
Soon after, the two ministries joined and established
headquarters in Kelowna. Today, 23 people, most of them working from
Kelowna, work year round to serve and resource Canadian church leaders,
with the key initiative being the Leadership Summit; they coordinate this
event with the Barrington, Illinois, Willow Creek Campus.
They have, as well, maintained the NCD process, with
coaches across Canada working with congregations, helping them to identify
and develop the eight characteristics which can lead to healthy church
growth and development.
The Leadership Summits actually drew a total of more
than 50,000 people, this year, in 120 sites across North America – 20
of which are in Canada.
And, says Baergen, the effort has gone global. This
fall will see an additional 50 sites in 20 countries. Among the cities
involved will be Moscow and Kiev.
John and Lorraine have been involved in Christian
leadership development since their 30s. At first they were volunteers,
earning their living from entrepreneurial activities.
Many Christians who recall the late Terry Winter,
Canadian television communicator and evangelist, may remember that the
Baergens conducted counsellor training events as part of the preparation
for Winter’s city-wide Alive Missions.
Then, their lives were devastated when the car they
were in was struck by another, piloted by a drunk driver. Their two
children were severely injured, leaving their eldest with permanent
disabilities. They, themselves were also badly hurt, but recovered.
They were given the opportunity to rebuild their lives
through ministry at Sherwood Park Alliance Church, an Edmonton megachurch.
In 1991, a man named Carl George, a Fuller Church Growth consultant and
personal coach, encouraged them to go national with their vision for
leadership. The NCD involvement came soon, as several denominations saw the
centre as a ‘healthy church’ information and training resource.
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Baergen suggests that being a Canadian cauldron of
church leadership within a larger continental context is helpful to the
Illinois base as well. Even though Canada is more secular and arguably less
amenable to Christian growth concepts, it is also smaller and more
malleable for change purposes.
Today, Ian Campbell, from Australia, is adding
significant momentum to the NCD process, working out of Vancouver.
And The Leadership Centre Willow Creek Canada has
western and eastern directors for the Canadian Leadership Summit.
Brian Derksen, former senior minister of Chilliwack
Alliance Church, works the west from that city. And Brian Bylsma provides
direction in eastern Canada.
Baergen speaks of a particular moment in the
development of the Leadership Summit in 2006, which was pivotal in the
development of a leadership vision.
Rock star Bono had been invited to make a Summit
presentation. He had a world following, as an anti-poverty activist. What
was less known at that time was that he had developed a strong Christian
theological and social action mindset.
Baergen recalls that “there was a lot of push not
to have [Bono] speak.” But, he says, the celebrity did more than
could have been imagined, for world mission.
Now, the Canadian Summit has been able to add a
partnership with World Vision, which provided information booths at all 20
Summit sites in Canada, thereby encouraging child sponsorship.
“And that is because Bono was able to talk about
what Jesus would do, in serving the poor, the homeless and the
disenfranchised,” says Baergen.
The cities hosting Canadian summit sites this year,
besides Kelowna (where the site was at Willow Park Church) were St.
John’s, Halifax, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, St. Catharines,
Pickering/Ajax, Mississauga, Richmond Hill, London, Winnipeg, Saskatoon,
Calgary, Edmonton, Grand Prairie, Langley, Vancouver, Prince George and
Parksville.
Contact: growingleadership.com.
September 2008
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