Easter Weekend: Looking Ahead to Fort McMurray & Briercrest
This past Easter weekend of worship with the Redwood Park family has been an awesome way to wrap up our time in Thunder Bay. Wow, what an amazing church family with so much potential for the future. What a privilege to have been a part of making Redwood happen over these past twenty years.
Yet as I look back with thanks for twenty years well spent, I cannot begin to tell you how pumped I am about the next chapter that God is opening up. I am so looking forward to yet another opportunity to serve God in the building of a high impact prevailing church through the Alliance Church in Fort McMurray as well as the opportunity to impact the next generation of ministry leaders through Briercrest Seminary. Never have I been more excited to take a next step in the journey God has Jane and I on! While I’ve already shared on this blog why I’m so excited for the move to Fort McMurray, let me add a few more thoughts to the conversation. Perhaps three words best best summarize what has so grabbed me: beauty, community and opportunity. Let me unpack those thoughts in a few brief points:
Fort McMurray: Looking south from Thickwood
- Nothing short of the word, “breathtaking” can be used to describe the beauty of the city we are moving into. Soul stirring green-spaces are found throughout the city that give way to pure rugged wilderness beyond the urban landscape. Add to that the intensity of the Northern Lights! It simply jazzes my being as I’m confronted with God’s unmistakable signature all around.
- Quickly I encountered an unexpected friendliness within the culture of the city. As wild as traffic can be in a city that is growing faster than it’s infrastructure, people are simply understanding – why they even slow down and let you in! Folk who are total strangers are so often willing to pause what they’re doing, just to have a brief conversation with you. At first it catches you a bit off guard, but then you just love it!
- With so many people being from “away”, it’s just easier to enter into friendships and relationships. Whether church or unchurched, young or old, Canadian born or not, you find yourself quickly welcomed into various relational circles in a way I’ve rarely seen in the rest of the country. People are yearning for community and are willing to invest to make it happen.
- And quite simply opportunity abounds on every front. Opportunity for the average Canadian to find a good job in a city that is a wonderful place to raise a family. And the untold story of Fort McMurray is what a family friendly city this is with amazing sports and recreation facilities, facilities for the arts, parks, state of the art schools, and the list goes on. Who needs good shopping when you have everything else. ~ Okay that might be a male perspective!
- And then there’s the Fort McMurray Alliance Church family. They just have the right attitude; a wonderful combination of grace and faith that will allow them to have such a huge impact on this growing city that is expected to be over 230,000 people by the year 2030. There is a core DNA to this church family that is rare to find. They’ve got this wonderful foundation from which a prevailing church will continue to emerge, making the love of Jesus visible and tangible to Fort McMurray and the world. Their grace and faith is simply awesome! It simply means opportunity abounds for this church family!
Sure many folk from outside of Fort McMurray are quick to tell me about the problems associated with a boom city, that a city with an inordinate number of young people with money and nothing to do simply spells drugs and prostitution and the like. And while there is some truth here, my short experience with Fort Mac leads me to believe that it’s not a whole lot different than the city I currently live in. Every city has its challenges. And the challenges in Fort McMurray simply strike me as opportunities to demonstrate the love and life of Jesus in a way that touches and transforms lives for now and eternity.From my limited perspective, if you know anyone with a bit of a work ethic, who is looking for a great place to live and find work and enjoy family, encourage them to consider For McMurray!! Fort McMurray may just be best kept secret in the country. So much of what the average Canadian is looking for in a city can be found here: good jobs, well planned neighbourhoods, easy access to the outdoors and diverse recreational opportunities, great facilities and schools for kids, as well as a great place to make new and life long friends. Fort Mac offers so much!
A perfect city? Not a chance! Does it have stuff to work through? Absolutely! But I’m pumped to get the opportunity to make Jesus visible in this family friendly city full of opportunity, community and beauty with a church family full of grace and faith. Throw in what God wants to do on the Briercrest front with all that, and all I can say is “Wow, the next chapter of our lives is looking awesome!”
Oh and if you want to get a flavour for Fort Mac, here are two videos. The one immediately below plays on the typical stereotypes that are out there that pushes back on some of my glowing statements about For Mac. It’s fun to watch but a word of warning, it’s not 100% family friendly, and for that reason I’ll rename it: “Stuff Fort McMurrayites Don’t Say.” It’s put together by a young guy who grew up in the Fort McMurray Alliance Church along with a few of his friends. Yup, there’s a Matt Popowich in every church family and where would we be without them! The next video is a promotional video that is already a bit dated but will give you a good overview of the Fort Mac/ Wood Buffalo area…
So do pray for Jane and I as we make the transition over the next several months. It’s a huge move for us; lead by our God who has huge plans for us as well as the church and the city he’s called us to!!
Easter Weekend: Saying Good-Bye to Redwood & Tbay!!
Redwood at the Community Auditorium
As Easter weekend comes to a close, I’m hit with the realization that next Sunday will be my last Sunday in Thunder Bay! After a quick jaunt to Tennessee to recalibrate with Jane, I begin the Fort Mac adventure on May 1. As I do, I leave Thunder Bay with huge excitement for the future as well as a great sense of twenty years well spent. No doubt the ‘leaving part’ is bittersweet. Twenty years in one city while falling in love with the city and the people of the city, and then being a part of what God has done through Redwood over these years – yeah, there’s just no easy way to say “good-bye” to a city, a people, a church family that have become such a deep part of myself and my family.
But this Easter weekend really helped with all that. Sure it’s a bit strange to be sitting back as an observer in the church you’ve led for so long. But sitting back far from the front lines, provided me with an incredible vantage point to see the hand of God and what He has done over these last 20 years. It was an amazing experience, watching the Redwood teams at work, handling so well all that they did this past weekend. They’re good! They’re real good! The Holy Thursday/Good Friday services were so deep, so rich, so moving. The service on Friday commemorating the all too short life of Scott Poulter was intense yet sensitive, and will not be quickly forgotten by all those who packed out the church to attend. And what can I say about Easter Sunday in the Community Auditorium? With close to 1,400 there, few concerts fill that place the way Redwood just did. It was simply an awesome worship experience to the glory of our risen Lord.
Perhaps the best way to get a feel for the weekend is to take the time to look at the video below and view Matt Popowich’s powerful video “Broken” set to the Coldplay song, “Fix You.” It was a highlight within Holy Thursday/Good Friday worship. So yeah, a truly amazing weekend where I was able to catch a glimpse of the privilege of having been part of something amazing that God has done in the building of a prevailing church with such impact on the city of Thunder Bay.
It’s gratifying to move on knowing that the work you’re moving on from is so vibrant and healthy, and has such a bright future. The staff, board and ministry volunteers are a spiritually passionate and incredibility gifted team. The church family as a whole, “gets it!” They get that they exist for the benefit of those who are not yet a part of God’s family, they get that their mission is simply to make Jesus real and visible to the people of Thunder Bay and the world. May God richly bless the next stage in your ministry, as He obviously is already doing!!
What A God!!! What A Ride!!! Fort Mac Here We Come!!!
Downtown Fort Mac looking north up the breathtaking Athabasca River
What a God!! What a ride!! The journey we’ve been on pursuing God with the dreams He’s planted in our hearts has led to my becoming the Lead Pastor of the Fort McMurray Alliance Church in the bustling Oil Sands community of Wood Buffalo, Alberta – the fastest growing municipality in Canada. I start May 1st. I can’t tell you how incredibly blessed we feel by what God has done on our behalf.
But it doesn’t end there. In addition to serving as the Lead Pastor of the Fort McMurray Alliance Church, God has opened up an amazing door for me to continue to pursue my passion to see men and women well prepared for service in local church and other kingdom ministries. Effective August 1, I become the MDiv (Master of Divinity) Program Coordinator as well as Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Briercrest College and Seminary.
I’m humbled by God’s goodness. I get to lead a local church that already has a passion to make the invisible Jesus visible to their city and world by being a grace filled community that is welcoming and sensitive to those who are net yet in a life transforming relationship with Christ while figuring out what it means to do ministry both within and beyond the walls of the church. I get to do this in a high growth region that is one of the primary economic drivers of our county. It has a permanent population of 64,000 but a total population of over 104,000 when non-permanent residents are included. The municipality is expected to double in a decade and the permanent population is projected to reach 230,000 by 2030. Simply explosive.
Furthermore, I get to do this in a city where the average age is around 31 – making it one of the most challenging and unchurched demographics in Canada, a city that occasionally takes on a bit of a frat house feel. This means I get to do this in a city full of young adults and young families who are just starting to figure out how they want to see their lives and the lives of their children unfold. It’s also an amazingly diverse city attracting people from the world over. A growing First Nations community is also found throughout the municipality. Youth and diversity simply spells opportunity!
Let’s keep going! I get to do this in a city with incredible outdoor sports and recreation opportunities (just a forewarning to the moose and walleye) as well as with some of the most amazing indoor sports and recreation facilities for a city it’s size. I could keep going!! One way you can describe Fort Mac is that it is Thunder Bay on steroids. Okay the shopping sucks, but online changes a lot of that!
Briercrest College & Seminary
Caronport, Saskatchewan
I also get to invest in the lives of young men and women and some not so young men and woman who have heard God’s call to vocational ministry. I’ll be teaching two modular courses a year at Briercrest College & Seminary while helping to shape the future of ministry preparation in Canada by providing strategic and visionary leadership to Briercrest’s MDiv program from my home base in Fort McMurray. This is an incredibly bold and innovative move on the part of Briercrest that simply speaks of their willingness to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the next generation of ministry leaders are well prepared to serve effectively in our ever evolving contemporary Canadian culture, as well as our vastly changing world.
And while God’s been at work responding to the dreams and aspirations he has planted in the hearts of Jane and myself, we see His hand at work in our family as well. As I head to Fort McMurray, our son Graeme heads to the Vancouver Film School chasing after a dream God has planted in his heart. He recently received news that he had been awarded a $10,000 scholarship, the largest the school has ever given! Many of you know that our daughter Meagan, having graduated from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, is pursuing her dream that currently involves her serving and learning as a pediatric resident at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. Susan and Chris are now taking steps to pursue their dream a living for a year or two in New Zealand before settling down and having a family, perhaps in Fort McMurray.
And while this might sound a bit materialistic, it does speak of the goodness of God who cares for the practical, physical details of our living. On June 15th we take possession of an incredibly beautiful 1,588 square foot bi-level with over 3,000 square feet of sweetly finished living space, adjacent to some of the most picturesque urban trails in the country. With 5 bedrooms we still have room for boarders or family, however things all unfold! And if any of you have any idea about the difference in housing prices between Thunder Bay and Fort McMurray, you’ll understand that this is nothing less than a miraculous provision on the part of our great God!
As we entered this journey, it was with the words of Proverbs 3:5-6 in mind: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV11) With that verse and a little encouragement from reading Mark Batterson’s, “The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears,” I prayerfully and humbly laid my heart aspirations before God, and watched as He answered prayer beyond what I could ever ask for or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20) We are so pumped to be moving to Fort McMurray with the opportunity to impact the next generation both in Fort Mac and the rest of the country and through them the world. To God be the glory!
Experiencing God at 11.6 Litres per 100 Kilometres
I love to drive long distances. It relaxes me. It quickly gets me into another world away from the intensity of day to day life as a lead pastor of a wonderful but often complex church family. Not to mention my own complexities that I add to the mix! ☺
The drive to North Bay to start the first phase of my annual summer study leave was no exception. The iPod was lined up with my latest playlist with worship songs ranging from Skillet’s “Awake” to Hillsong United’s “Aftermath” to Linclon Brewester’s “Real Life” and on and on with a little Coldplay and U2 thrown in as well. There were also a few podcasts to catch up on.
What I had not remembered about this drive is that on a couple of occasions in the past, God has used this time to speak very powerfully to my heart and set the tone for what we wants to do and how he wants my study leave to unfold. Unexpectedly this drive was to be another one of those clearly divine occasions.
My heart is always opened up to the majesty and holiness of our God as I view the spectacular beauty of creation, especially Northwestern Ontario. I love driving the along the north-shore of Lake Superior. I never tire of its beauty. And when God really wants to get my attention on a drive like this he throws in some wildlife. It started with a young buck that bolted daringly across the highway in front of my truck and stood momentarily in front of a sign that read, “Night Danger: Beware of Moose.” I’m not sure what point this buck was trying to make except to proclaim that deer are on the advance. A little later down the highway I did get to see that moose, the sign warned me about. Sweet! And then a spectacular highlight was a very healthy looking wolf, which you just don’t get to see that often driving along the Trans-Canada.
Those who don’t hunt find it hard to comprehend how stirred the average hunter is at the sight of these spectacular members of God’s creation. And for me it’s a way that God grabs my attention and gets me listening to what he has to say. I was tuned in.
Scattered between my iPod playlist were three podcasts. This first two somewhat coincided with the wildlife sightings about a third of the way into the drive. I listened to a young 30 year old speaker by the name of Steve Futrick speak on the 5th Anniversary of what has quickly become a mega Church called Elevation in Charlotte North Carolina. Listening to Futrick I heard both the joy and pain that deeply accompanies mission driven pastoral leadership. His story left me encouraged and inspired about my own role in Redwood’s journey.
I then listened to Mark Batterson from National Community Church in Washington, D.C. speaking on the “Battle of Jericho” with illustrations form the journey of his own church family as they seek against human odds to buy a piece of property in downtown Washington for the next step in fulfilling their mission. I was struck by his call to look to God to work in the long-term and not always to expect instantaneous miracles.
A theme was emerging. God was starting to speak more specifically to my heart. As I enter the 20th year of my leadership of Redwood, the call is to remember the original calling of creating a welcoming church family for those who are apart from God, and a church that would have strong impact throughout the city and Thunder Bay and beyond. It was a call to remember that God works powerfully and continually over time, even decades.
Well it was almost Canada Day, so time to listen to a good Canadian speaker. The theme God seemed to be speaking was trusting Him to continue to work miraculously through Redwood for kingdom advance. So when I saw the message title “Mission Impossible,” by Bruxy Cavy from the multi-site Meeting House rooted in Oakville, I went for it. While I was enjoying Bruxy’s preaching style, the message was not what I had expected. Burxy was taking the theme, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God,” (Luke 18:25, NIV) using the story of Zacchaeus found in Luke 19. I get that salvation is the ULTIMATE miracle, but this message just wasn’t in line with what I was “expecting” to hear.
But then it came, out of the blue, Bruxy took this familiar story gave it a twist and nailed it, leaving no doubt what God was speaking to me. Bruxy described the mission of the Meeting House, which should be the mission of all churches, as being like an easy to climb sycamore tree, where the spiritually intrigued can climb and get a better view of Jesus. That the church is to be a place where seekers can get a better view of Jesus who longs to enter into relationship with them. Yeah, so true. What a great picture of the church.
Elevation Church, National Community Church and the Meeting House all have a crystal clear focus on the priority of reaching people who are not yet Christ followers and leading them to a holistic faith that passionately expresses itself in advancing God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. These churches think big, with citywide impact and influence that extends around the world. And as I listened, God reminded me that Redwood has a similar calling, with multiplied impact that is yet to be realized in Thunder Bay, with influence that will extend increasingly around the world.
It’s a good way to start the summer. It’s a clear reminder to seek God to fulfill the mission and vision He’s given to those of us in the Redwood community, “to bring the message and life of Jesus to our city and world.” I have a renewed sense that our God is strongly committed to taking Redwood to the next level in our missional journey, and that this summer is part of my preparation for the next leg of our journey together. I’m pumped!!
Oh and on a side note. Not only do I love the drive, but I gotta admit, driving a Dodge Ram makes it all the more sweet! At 11.6 litres per 100 kilometres from Thunder Bay to North Bay, I made it to within 250 kilometres of North Bay on one tank! For a half ton, that’s not bad!
2010 in review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,300 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 8 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 21 posts. There were 20 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 15mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.
The busiest day of the year was August 12th with 79 views. The most popular post that day was The 2010 Willow GLS: Leadership in Transition.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were redwoodpark.org, facebook.com, insideredwoodpark.org, twitter.com, and northernboy.theadvancecommunity.ca.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for u2 album, u2 no line on the horizon, bill hybels, missional canadian, and arthur guinness christian.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
The 2010 Willow GLS: Leadership in Transition August 2010
4 comments
Perhaps St. Guinness? March 2010
9 comments
Surprised By Hope in U2′s “No Line On The Horizon” March 2009
2 comments
The Bible: One Big Story June 2010
Halloween: Let’s Enjoy it!! October 2009
6 comments
On The Shores of Lake Clearwater …
As I write this little blog I’m out on the dock of a friend’s cottage across from Ontario Pioneer Boys’ Camp with Girls’ Camp to north and Adventure camp to the south. The Boys Camp Band is doing an amazing job of leading a couple of hundred young men in worship as a part of their time of Bible study. I love the fact that I can clearly make out all the words and hear the passionate singing right across the lake. It’s stirring. It’s nostalgic. It evokes some very deep and raw emotions … the guys are singing, Mighty to Save: “Saviour, He can move the mountains, He is mighty to save, mighty to save!” And it’s echoing with power across the lake. Wow!
Yesterday I tweeted a few of my thoughts, as I enjoyed this cottage across from Pioneer. The response I got back spanned the decades from recent campers to those who haven’t really been a part of camp for decades. And their comments were every bit as emotional as I was feeling right here at the cottage.
Comments included, “Truly a magical place;” “Oh, I wish I were there;” “So jealous. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy;” “Man I miss that place;” “If I could get a cottage on that lake, I probably would!” My daughter Meagan reflected on writing her application for Med School at the Girls’ camp site, crediting the location with the writing of an application that got her in!
There’s the old Camp Song that we used to sing with passion, yes all three verses, that today occasionally they sing the first verse. I get it, the tune and words are a bit geeky for today’s sophisticated youth, but hey, it says a lot:
On the shores of Lake Clearwater
Stands the camp I love
Where in sparkling water glistens
Blue of skies above
Chorus:
Hail to thee, Camp Pioneer
Camp of camps the best
Where in fellowship united
Every heart is blessed
Far from burning heat of city
Here the woodland dreams
Darkling pines and silver birches
Shelter cooling streams
Chorus …
Hear the glories of the Northland
Praise the Lord of all
Here we too can learn to love Him
And obey His call
Chorus …
Geeky or not, the Pioneer Camp song captures the ethos of what’s been happening at Christian camps like Pioneer for the multiple decades of the Christian camping movement. For so many camp is or has been a place where deep life long friendships have been forged, where personal growth has catapulted forward and self worth has been bolstered. And most of all it’s been a place of spiritual encounter and life transformation, discovering that the God of all creation is irrationally in love with me, wants to walk with me personally and has a mission, a purpose beyond my wildest imagination for me to pursue.
For me it’s been camps like Pioneer and Mini-Yo-We in Muskoka where I have been a camper, served as staff member in my formative high school and college days, and later had the privilege to serve full time, being the Director of Mini-Yo-We for two years and the Administrative Director of Ontario Pioneer Camps for almost five years. For many in the Thunder Bay area where I now serve, it’s camps like Dorion, Round Lake and Manitoba Pioneer that evoke that same deeply raw and wonderful emotion.
I really like the Celtic concept of “thin places.” In the days of Patrick of Ireland and the Celtic spirituality that he spawned, the Celts had a deep appreciation for special places of spiritual encounter, where the line between this world and things of God are indeed very thin, an environment that invites us to experience spiritual transformation. Camps are truly “thin places.” So much so that I’m convinced that one week at camp can have a far deeper and more profound impact on a life than a couple of years in church – and hey I believe in church!!
As I wrap up writing this little blog, the boys are singing, “Oh happy day, happy day … I’ll never be the same, forever I am changed.” That’s my story. Because of my experiences at camps like Mini-Yo-We and Pioneer, my life took on a whole new trajectory and I was forever changed. My calling to and passion for full time ministry came from camp. Even how I approach ministry is profoundly shaped by camp.
Thank you Barb and Jim for letting me use your cottage, it’s truly been a “thin place” for me. And all of you on staff at and leading various Christian camps, know that as a part of my study time away form Thunder Bay, I’m praying for you and the great work you do!
About
Doug has just recently accepted the position of Lead Pastor of the Fort McMurray Alliance Church in the bustling Oil Sands region of Wood Buffalo in northern Alberta. Fort Mac Alliance is a church with a passion to tangibly make Jesus visible to our municipality and world, serving as a grace filled community that is welcoming and sensitive to people whatever their faith background and wherever they may or may not be at in their faith journey. It’s an adventurous community that is willing to think outside the norm while prayerfully wrestling with what it means to be involved in ministry both within and beyond the walls of the church facility. This results in a passion to see individual lives and the city as a whole touched and transformed by the love of Christ. Being in a city with global influence, Fort McMurray Alliance is seeking to be a unique global influence for Christ in partnership with it’s denominational family, the Christian & Missionary Alliance.
Doug is also involved with Briercrest College and Seminary in Caronport, Saskatchewan, where he teaches two courses a year as an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology. From his home base in Fort McMurray, Doug serves as the Program Coordinator for Briercrest’s MDiv (Master of Divinity) program, with an urgency to see the next generation of ministry leaders raised up up to serve effectively within our ever evolving Canadian culture, as well as our vastly changing world.
Previously Doug served for 20 years as the Lead Pastor of Redwood Park Church, a multi-site missional community that is committed to seeing the message and life of Jesus impact Thunder Bay, Barrie and beyond. LIFE, PASSION and ADVENTURE are three words that both Doug and Redwood uses to describe the nature of Christian spirituality.
Doug is married to Jane, who possesses an amazing gift of hospitality and the ability to cook for hundreds! They have three young-adult children. Meagan is a pediatric resident at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. Susan who is married to Chris Groenheide, among other things supply teaches at Dennis Franklin Cromarty First Nations High School and promotes “eating local” through a variety of greens and specialty vegetables from her market garden. Graeme who has been involved in an eclectic mix of insurance and financial planning, working for a highway line painting company, and ushering at Thunder Bay’s Community Auditorium is heading off with a generous scholarship to the Vancouver Film School. Each of them in their distinct way has a yearning to be difference makers in this world.
Meal times at the Doyle household tend to be a bit of a party, but you might want to ask what it is you’re eating – as sometimes Doug enjoys a hike with a good friend and a gun in the beauty of our rugged Canadian outdoors, or maybe a paddle on a remote lake with rod in hand. He’s thinking that with the move for Fort McMurray, he might have to break down and add an ATV to his toys.
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