Many of us are familiar with Paul’s memorable illustration of the armour of God in Ephesians 6, but while the powerful imagery of this passage tends to draw our eyes, the true source of power behind the armour deserves our attention as well. To introduce his metaphor, Paul says, “…Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” (Eph. 6:10). As believers, our ability to withstand the enemy’s attacks and the chaos of our times is rooted in Christ. Our strength and vitality flow only from our connectedness to Jesus.

For this reason, we have chosen Eph. 6:10 as our theme verse for our upcoming conference on October 12-13. Prioritizing the ‘Strength and Vitality’ of our leaders and churches is undeniably appropriate for the times that we are living in as believers and will undoubtedly be of utmost importance as we look to the future of the Canadian church.

Additionally, this upcoming conference will be our first-ever Lead Forward Conference. You may remember that we held our BCYD AGM earlier in 2022, which allowed us to take care of business that would normally be the focus of several business sessions. This means that your leadership development and spiritual care will be the sole focus of Lead Forward. We have designed our Lead Forward conference to equip both pastoral and volunteer leaders in your church.

We’ll be hosting a variety of workshops related to youth, children, and intercultural ministry, while also providing several opportunities for table fellowship at mealtimes. Be sure to register for one of the (Next Gen and Indigenous Leaders) pre-Conference events that our team is planning as well. Given that this will also be the first BCYD conference in two years, where we will be onsite and in-person, this new format for our gathering is especially meaningful.

We’re looking forward to being with you for this truly historic Lead Forward Conference at Evangel Church in Kelowna, B.C., on October 12-13. We are excited to welcome Jessica DiSabatino (Lead Pastor of Journey Church, Calgary) and Jonathan Smith (Lead Pastor of OneChurch.to, Toronto) as our plenary speakers.

Hope to see you there!