Around Town: From Northview to Harvest, Humility & Hope, New Roots

The lead pastor of one of our largest local churches will soon take on the senior position at a Chicago-area megachurch whose founding/senior pastor left under a cloud two years ago.

Jeff Bucknam, who has served with Northview Community Church in Abbotsford for the past 15 years, will take on his new role as lead teaching pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel July 12.

In a video explaining his decision to move on, Bucknam said:

My heart actually is toward churches that have difficulties; that’s one of things that drew me to Northview to begin with. . . . The only reason that I am going is largely because we feel burdened by the mission of God for this.

Being a part of Northview, and seeing some of the turnaround that’s taken place here is something that we as a church want to see everywhere. . . . This particular church that I’m going to requires a bit of a specialist’s touch when it comes to the turn-around and replanting and planting and renewal of churches.

Northview has also posted a Q&A in which Bucknam answers several questions about why he is leaving.

The Bucknams are originally from the United Sates, but spent seven years pastoring in New Zealand before their time at Northview. They have two sons and a daughter, 20, 17 and 11. Jeanne acknowledged that “It’s just a stage of life that it’s hard to consider making a transition. . . . but God has been moving in our hearts, just warming our hearts to the idea.”

While Northview Community Church is large by local standards – more than 3,000 people at four campuses (in non-pandemic times), Harvest is several times larger, with meetings at six campuses.

Harvest Bible Chapel has been going through considerable turmoil over the past few years. Christianity Today reported just over two years ago:

In the midst of efforts to reconcile with longtime critics, Harvest Bible Chapel fired its founder and senior pastor James MacDonald for “engaging in conduct . . . contrary and harmful to the best interests of the church.”

The magazine followed up with another report last October:

Harvest Bible Chapel has reached a multimillion-dollar agreement to transfer some of its assets to former pastor James MacDonald, who plans to continue in ministry outside the Chicago-area megachurch.

Harvest and MacDonald had a contentious separation last year, when he lost the position he held for 30 years over “inappropriate” comments and “harmful” conduct stemming from his legal battle with people investigating the church.

Though MacDonald has been granted the rights to his Walk in the Word ministry, he and Harvest remain at odds.

Harvest announced their choice of a new lead teaching pastor April 25. The video included an interview with Jeff and Jeanne Bucknam. Jeff will preach in person at Harvest twice at the end of this month.

Humility & Hope

Tim Dickau’s new book will be launched during a Cross Country Conversation later today (May 6).

‘Addressing Our Cultural Moment with Humility and Hope’ will feature four participants:

* Jason Byassee is the inaugural holder of the Butler Chair in Homiletics and Biblical Hermeneutics at Vancouver School of Theology. He is a prolific author whose latest book, Better than Brunch, tells the stories of creative churches in the Pacific Northwest.

* Tim Dickau was a pastor at Grandview Church in East Vancouver for 30 years. He recently transitioned to two new roles, as the director of CityGate and as an associate at the Centre for Missional Leadership. Tim is passionate about resourcing communities to participate in God’s restoring action in the world.

Anna Robbins is the president of Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She is also the first director of the Andrew D. MacRae Centre for Christian Faith and Culture. She is committed to working out how the gospel in real-life issues with justice, innovation, academic rigour and joyful expectation.

Shadrach Kabango is a Juno award winning rap artist who has released six studio albums since 2005. His latest single is titled ‘Out of Touch.’ In addition to his music being easy to dance to, Shad has a knack for prophetically speaking to vital cultural issues. Shad hosted Q on CBC Radio and the documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution. He lives in Toronto.

The book launch will feature Dickau’s new book, Forming Christian Communities in a Secular Age:

In this book, Tim Dickau tells three stories: the story of Western society’s move towards secularism and its captivation to distorted powers; the story of Grandview Church’s sustained journey of forming a thicker and more porous shared life in a particular place; and the story of his own recovery from burnout and alcohol abuse after 30 years of pastoral ministry in one place;

In describing the moves made in Christian theology and practice over the last half millennium, Dickau attempts to help us understand how we have come to our current cultural context. By describing how Grandview church has responded to this context, he attempts to spark our imagination for how the church might participate in the mission of God in fruitful ways in this cultural moment.

New Roots Live

Wondering what’s next for Pacific Theatre during this troubled time? New Roots Live will answer your questions, entertainingly, this Saturday evening (May 8).

Here’s what they have in mind:

Join us as we celebrate the launch of our New Roots campaign! Hosted by board members Julia Church and Chris Nash, this evening event will feature introductions to our spring projects, interviews with commissioned artists Tetsuro Shigematsu and Shayna Jones and a live performance from Jordan Klassen.

Available as a Zoom webinar or through FB Live.

May 2021

Canadian Sexual Exploitation Summit 2021 – May 6, 2021 - May 7, 2021 at All Day
Addressing Our Cultural Moment with Humility and Hope (including book launch) – May 6, 2021 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Flourishing Conference: Uprooting Poverty, Planting Hope – May 7, 2021 - May 8, 2021 at 8:30 am - 12:30 pm
SIM Banquet: Changing Times Unchanging God – May 8, 2021 at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
New Roots Live – May 8, 2021 at 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Memorial Service: Remembering Teacher Hui – May 10, 2021 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Sarah Williams: The Integration of Heart & Mind – St. Bernard of Clairvaux for the Postmodern Academy – May 10, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Faith in Action: Refugee Advocacy Webinar – May 11, 2021 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Keeping an Open Heart in Troubled Times – May 12, 2021 at 10:00 am - 11:00 am
John Swinton: Moving Beyond the Empire of Illusion – What Do We Do About the Problem of Evil? – May 12, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
March for Life in Your Neighbourhood – May 13, 2021 at All Day
Identity: Film Screening & Conversation Around Faith, Race, Art & Mental Health – May 13, 2021 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Beyond the Conversation: A Gift of Presence – May 15, 2021 at 12:00 am - 11:55 pm
AC Literary Expedition: Discussing Critical Race Theory – May 16, 2021 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Elizabeth Sung: Rethinking the Kingdom of God, Christ's Ministry & Christians' Transformation – May 17, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
What Would Jesus Tweet? – May 18, 2021 at 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Virtual Book Club: Not Done Yet by Beth Seversen – May 18, 2021 at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Carmen Joy Imes: The Mission of the Church to Bear God's Name – May 19, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Cardus Coffeehouse: Welcoming Refugees – May 20, 2021 at 10:00 am - 11:30 am
BAM Vancouver Transforming Business Series – May 20, 2021 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Woven Together: Partnerships in Community Programs – May 20, 2021 at 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Historymaker – May 21, 2021 at All Day
Mark Glanville: 'Where are Your Roots?!': Biblical Ethics & Jazz (a Jazz-Talk from the Piano and a Bar Stool) – May 24, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Religion & Thoughtful Activism Conference – May 25, 2021 at 12:00 am
The Common Good Collective: Words for Good – May 26, 2021 at 1:00 pm - 1:45 pm
Susan Phillips: Tethered by Prayer – the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola – May 26, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Alpha Webinar: Reviving Evangelism in Gen Z – May 27, 2021 at 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Earthkeepers: Prayer Night for Bold Climate Action – May 27, 2021 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
What's the Best Luxury Album? A panel discussion – May 27, 2021 at 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Day of Prayer for Camp – May 30, 2021 at All Day
John Behr: What is Life? – May 31, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Jun 2021

Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual Lives of Christians With Mental Health Challenges – June 1, 2021 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Building Trust in an Age of Division: A Timely Conversation with David Brooks & Rev. Jennifer Bailey – June 2, 2021 at 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Johanna Harris: The Puritan Literary Imagination – June 2, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Discovering God at Work in Your Neighbourhood: An Introduction – June 3, 2021 at 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Germinating Conversations Book Launch – June 3, 2021 at 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – June 5, 2021 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Sahara Challenge / Crescent Project – June 8, 2021 - June 10, 2021 at 9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Living Well After the Pandemic – June 8, 2021 at 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Healing in Colour: Stories of Race, Faith & Mental Health – June 9, 2021 - June 11, 2021 at All Day
A Conversation with Ed Stetzer: Evangelism Through Small Group Ministry – June 9, 2021 at 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Stephen Leacock: Canadian Christian Humanist, High Tory and Public Intellectual: – June 9, 2021 at 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
New Roots Festival – June 10, 2021 - June 13, 2021 at All Day
Turning Points: A Conversation with Mark Noll – June 10, 2021 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
"You Want to Go Where??!!": How to Honour Your Parents – June 10, 2021 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
'Round the Kitchen Table, hosted by Journey Home – June 10, 2021 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
MORE HOPE: Finding Strength Through Connection – June 10, 2021 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
ACMI@40: Celebration, Transformation, Innovation – June 11, 2021 - June 13, 2021 at All Day
Discovering God at Work in Your Neighbourhood: An Introduction – June 17, 2021 at 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Places That Matter Plaque Presentation: Mennonite Maids – June 17, 2021 at 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
George Guthrie: Hearing Hebrews – Fresh Thoughts for Critical Times – June 21, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Running Alpha in Small Groups – June 22, 2021 at 9:00 am - 9:45 am
FaithTech Global Community Meetup: Future Tech and the Gospel – June 22, 2021 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Youth Leader Gathering: Summer Session – June 23, 2021 at 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Marion Taylor: 'Restore Thou Me That Am Lost' – Our Foremothers of Faith – June 23, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Run Alpha Q & A – June 24, 2021 at 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Hinge Point: Learning to Navigate a Racialized Society, Together – June 24, 2021 at 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Pointing to Things Unseen: A Gestural Approach to Religious Signs – June 24, 2021 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
A Conversation: Acting Together in Canadian Churches to Observe International Decade for People of African Descent – June 24, 2021 at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
What Do Missionaries Do and Why? – June 24, 2021 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Three Ways Your Church Can Prepare to Welcome Refugee Claimants in the Post-Pandemic World – June 24, 2021 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Regent College 50th Anniversary Online Reunion (two events) – June 25, 2021 - June 26, 2021 at All Day
Indian Horse: Film Screening – June 25, 2021 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
One With Them: A Day for Christian Captives – June 27, 2021 at All Day
World Refugee Sunday – June 27, 2021 at All Day
AC Literary Expedition: Discussing Progressive Christianity – June 27, 2021 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Past, Present and Future: Reconciliation as an Everyday Reality – June 28, 2021 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Mark Roberts: Lifelong Flourishing – Surprising Wisdom from Scripture & Science – June 28, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
The Gospels: A New Translation – a Conversation with Sarah Ruden – June 29, 2021 at 10:00 am - 11:00 am
David deSilva: The Indispensable Circularity of Grace – June 30, 2021 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm