General Conference 2008 - Camaraderie

It was 38 years ago I attended my first General Conference with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. I went along with a senior pastor as his guest. I met many of his ‘old friends’ as I went through that first conference. We sat together and fellowshipped together. I met many new friends at that time.

I was young. They were ‘older’ than me.

At that conference…there was a quartet singing a special number that had most of the audience in tears as their blended harmony touched us deeply. The choirs that sang were right on. Along with the organ music we were drawn to a time of earnest prayer. The meeting was amazing.

Fast forward…
This week I met a few of those ‘older’ than me friends from 38 years ago. Some of them can’t remember my name. Oh boy! That is part of the ‘comedic game’ of the week – “Guess who this is…?” (But these ‘older’ folks, that I knew, are much fewer in number than in the last General Conference that I have attended.)

Some of us have changed a lot… much lighter hair colour… no hair… different shapes… etc. The differences are great.

There is one thing that is amazing. The camaraderie with each other continues. After 38 years the pastors love getting together and sharing.

There is something about friendship that is rich and wonderful. It binds and draws people together. It enriches and deepens what we know of each other when we can say, “This is my friend.”

In a local coffee shop I introduced myself to a couple at the next table. They were older than I am. He looked at me and before he told me his name he said, “You’re Murray aren’t you”. Oh Boy! Who was I speaking with…?

In a matter of minutes two friends discovered each other and caught up on many years of not seeing each other. But my how we both had changed!

Change was inevitable…
The change that I witnessed wasn’t just in the hallways and the meeting of friends…it was in “the church”. Let me explain.

Each night our group met for a Church Service. The Church Service had all the qualities of Church Services all over the world…with music, with announcements, with an offering, and with men speaking.
But this was very different from the world that I know and the church that we worship with in Peterborough. I will have a hard time finding words to really explain the difference. Very, very different with very, very different added to the first two very, very different-s – might help you see or feel what we witnessed.

First I will say there was “VIBRANCY”. The three main speakers were between 10 and 25 years younger than me. The worship leaders were probably between 30 to 45 years younger than me. The main/final speaker on introduction of himself admitted that he was one of the “older guys” now. (I remember him as a “very young upstart” beginning as a pastor of a larger church in BC. that had been a youth pastor not long ago…)

Second there was a “GAP” in what they DID in church and what I KNEW or was FAMILIAR with in our church today. The style of worship was VERY DIFFERENT! WOW – such vibrancy and such ability and so young and well – just plain different!

My wife leaned over to me and asked me a question. She didn’t need to whisper…but rather said it loudly…then had to say it again for me to hear… “What do you think “D….” or “M….” would think of this? I only wish that we could bring them all to see and feel what this is like!” Then she shook her head with a grin. “They would…” her words trailed off…

I was thinking exactly the same as she was.

The VIBRANCY and THE GAP was so great in what we normally do or know that there are no words to describe it. This was the NEXT GENERATION at its finest. This was GOOD. This was ATTRACTIVE and POWERFUL. In our old terms – THIS WAS SPIRIT FILLED and would draw the next generation back to church in a HEART BEAT.

How can it be SO DIFFERENT from what we know – or maybe you know – as you read this…?

Well first you need to dim the lights… down to almost dark. You need to add a roaring and vibrant band that plays at a much louder level than we are use to…then add some lights that express the music. These lights are able to swing around in 360 degree circles and in any direction or angle downward. They also change colour and shape and size… and SPLASH LIGHT all over the darkened audience below. The lights – dozens of them keep pace with the changing music…and draw you into the EXPERIENCE that is taking place all around you.

There was one common thread between what we do “at home” and what they do…people raise their hands as they sing and praise God. In fact there are many more in this group that raise their hands in praise than “at home”. Here… to do so is CONTAGIOUS and VIBRANT and YOUTHFUL and NEXT GENERATION.

Another word is PULSE that helps me to describe what I saw and felt. PUSLE comes from a LIVING BODY that has life in it. If ever any of my “older friends” wondered if there was hope for the church of tomorrow - they only need to see what is happening at these meetings. There is PULSE and LIFE here. It is good – very good!

Pause…
Most of the people on the platform were not born – or even thought of when I attended my first General Conference 38 years ago as a ‘young man’. The main speakers of last night were in early public school along with my daughters….or in early high school at that time!

I am not in tune with what is happening around me. I am so far from the main stream of what is taking place with the up to date stuff that it is embarrassing…and I am not able to understand. I am a “dinosaur” – something that is almost a relic…of old bones that will be discovered with great interest some day…and looked at with fascination.

Wow!

The Tourist…
I walked around with my camera and took photos of my fellow pastors as they worshiped. I know that I looked like a ‘tourist’ but I didn’t care. Some how I had to take some of this home so others like me would be able to catch some sense of what I experienced.

As I came to the very front row of the church my eyes locked on to an amazing sight…there was an older pastor…MUCH OLDER than me…with solid white hair, hands raised and swaying back and forth to the music. The solid sound that was hitting him was like a wall of music flooding in wave after wave at the front row. This man had to be at least in his 80s and he was into it. He was not going to miss a thing! He was up front and right with the band.

That may have been why the band leader was crying…with tears running down his face at times.

I gulped as I witnessed that small snapshot of the service. I am so glad I was the ‘tourist’ last night.

What does God think with all of the changes…?
This question popped into my head more than once over these past few days. I now have an answer. He is the one who designed it. He is the one that is behind it all! Loud doesn’t phase him all – check out a Thunder Storm. Vibrant and lively is what he is all about – look at young colts running in the field. Flashing light and light of any kind is his specialty – take a look at the Lightening Storm or a Sunset.

Flowing, drawing, lifting, encouraging, challenging, caring, loving, grasping, working and all together is what God is all about. And that is exactly what the pastors worshipping together did this week. And it is what the church back home is all about (or should be…).

WOW! And DOUBLE WOW!

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~
(YouTube Video Clips to follow)