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The Gospel Coalition is coming to Vancouver! On April 22–24, 2024, we plan to host our third national conference in the city of Vancouver. Our theme is “Acts Once Again,” pointing to the reality that Canadians need to remember how the earliest Christians “turned the world upside down” by preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a culture hostile to the truth of Jesus.
Over the course of this conference, we intend to revisit the foundational narratives within the Book of Acts to retune and retool for a new era of Gospel ministry in Canada. As we study these stories about crossing boundaries and suffering hardship for the cause of Christ we hope to be inspired, edified, and equipped in our calling to take the Gospel to every tribe, tongue, and nation on planet earth – and within our own country – in the years and decades ahead.
Michael Reeves oversees the work of Union School of Theology, and teaches in the areas of systematic and historical theology and also on preaching and spiritual formation. He is a local church minister, Director of the European Theologians Network, and speaks and teaches regularly worldwide. Previously he has been Head of Theology for UCCF and an associate minister at All Souls Church, Langham Place, London. He is married to Bethan, and together they have two daughters, Lucy and Mia.
David Short is rector of St. John’s Vancouver Anglican Church in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition.
Mark Burch is the lead pastor of Northview Community Church.
Tim Challies is a pastor, noted speaker, author of numerous articles, and a pioneer in the Christian blogosphere. Tens of thousands of people visit Challies.com each day, making it one of the most widely read and recognized Christian blogs in the world. Tim is the author of several books, including Visual Theology, The Next Story, and, most recently, Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History. He and his family reside near Toronto, Ontario.
Pastor Sam Chua serves as the lead pastor of Westlynn Baptist Church. Sam was born and raised in Burnaby and has a heart to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached in every part of the city. He is married to Esther and they have four children. Prior to entering pastoral ministry, Sam worked in industry as a computer engineer and then as a graduate student researcher at The University of British Columbia.
Dwayne Cline served as the Lead Pastor for James North Baptist Church, in downtown Hamilton, for 28 years. He is on the Council for TGC Canada as well as well as the board for City to City Canada. Dwayne and Aimee have been blessed with four children. He is currently assisting organizations think through matters of governance, strategic planning, team building and fundraising.
Jonathan Griffiths serves as Lead Pastor of the Metropolitan Bible Church in Ottawa, having previously served on the staff of the Proclamation Trust in London, England. He studied theology at Oxford and Cambridge universities and is the author of a number of books – most recently, Preaching in the New Testament (IVP, 2017). Jonathan is deeply committed to expository preaching and loves to train and mentor others in word ministry. He and his wife, Gemma, have three young children. Follow him on Twitter: @drjigriffiths.
Robert occupies the Philip and Rebecca Douglass Chair of Church Planting and Christian Formation at Covenant Theological Seminary in Saint Louis, MO and is an ordained teaching elder in the PCA. Prior to that, he planted Gracepoint Church in Philadelphia and was also the Metro Philadelphia Church Planting Coordinator.
Paul Martin is the senior pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario. You can find Paul on Twitter (@PastorPWMartin), his blog, or via the website of Grace Fellowship Church, Toronto (gfcto.com).
Ezra Okoti is the executive pastor of ministry development at Northview Community Church.
Yanick Ethier attended SEMBEQ (Quebec Baptist Evangelical Seminary) for his Bachelor’s degree in Theology. Married to Esther and father of 2 young adults, Yanick has been serving in the pastoral ministry with The Fellowship Evangelical Baptists in Quebec for over 20 years, in his mother church in Longueuil. He is the pastor of teaching and vision at Église de L’Espoir. His passion in the ministry is preaching the Word and training pastors. In 2011, with a band of dear brother pastors, Yanick had the privilege of starting Sola, a gospel coalition for the French-speaking Canadians with a vision of joining a movement for the Gospel and our country. Yanick is an original Council Member for TGC Canada. You can find Yanick’s at Egliseespoir.com or reach him personally at yethier(at)egliseespoir.com.
The Rev’d R. D. Glenn is Rector (Senior Pastor) of St. George’s, a congregation he has served for over 10 years. R.D. loves to see people grow into confident, joyful disciples of Jesus Christ. Gospel preaching and vibrant liturgical worship form the backbone of R.D.’s ministry at St. George’s. Apart from his central work at St. George’s, he also is a council member of The Gospel Coalition Canada, and gives leadership to the Anglican Network in Canada’s Bold Witnesses ministry priority. He has an ongoing love affair with the internal combustion engine, races motorcycles, skis big mountains, and skydives. If you are new to the church, He’d love to get to know you over a cup of good coffee.
Kristal Toews serves at Northview Community Church, overseeing discipleship ministries.
Brett Landry is the lead pastor of Christ City South Van and the Executive Director of City to City Canada.
Rob Godard attended Briercrest Bible College and Seminary (B.A.; M.A.) and graduated from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (D.Min). He has been in pastoral ministry for 24 years serving God’s church in an Evangelical Free Church, and two Baptist Churches. He has served in denominational ministry as a council member, and vice president and currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Cloverdale Baptist Church, a large multi-staff church with a passion for biblical preaching and living this out in a missional, multi-ethnic, multi-generational way. Rob has taught at a number of different colleges, and has a passion for the equipping of pastors from persecuted countries. Rob is the happy husband of Lori and the proud dad of 4 big boys, Ryan, Jeff, Ben and Graeme. Much of his reading is done at ball fields as he watches his children play sports. Rob is an original Council Member for TGC Canada. You can contact him pastorgodard(at)gmail.com.
Steve has been in pastoral ministry for over 20 years serving in both Fellowship and Canadian Baptist churches in Kingston Nova Scotia, Charlottetown Prince Edward Island, and currently St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada. He presently serves as the Lead Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in St. John’s, a small but growing Church with a passion for biblical preaching, missions and church planting in one of the most unchurched provinces in Canada. You can find Steve’s Church at calvarybaptistnl.ca or reach him personally at steve(at)calvarybaptistnl.ca
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Timothy Trust
In this pre-conference, David Short and Jonathan Griffiths will help you to preach the whole counsel of God. Be ready for practical help as a preacher of God's word. This pre-conference includes lunch.
City to City Canada
Join Brett Landry, Mark Reynolds, Senior Strategic Advisor for Redeemer City to City, Andrew Katay, Executive Director of City to City Australia, and Jamie Bester, Director of Revitalise Australia as they provides a vision for reaching Canadian cities for Christ across Canada. Be ready for a practical vision for what it might look like to plant churches across Canadian cities. This pre-conference includes lunch.
Michael Reeves
In this talk, Michael Reeves will show us how the Gospel is the antidote for hypocrisy.
Sam Chua
Sam Chua will speak about evangelizing Canadians in the public sphere. In particular, pastor Chua will share how he has engaged and evangelized Canadians in Vancouver. Come to this this talk if you want to gain confidence in evangelizing Canadians in public as well as to develop ideas for how to start a ministry of evangelism in your church.
Tim Challies & Paul Martin
Tim and Paul have served together as pastors and elders of their local church for years. Both of them realize the deep benefits of building lasting friendships. Attend this talk to learn about both the benefits of pastoral friendship and how to build them as you get older, especially if you are in or plan to enter into ministry.
Paul Carter & Dwayne Cline
In this co-led session, pastors Paul Carter and Dwayne Cline discuss how to triage theology biblically and practically. Attend this session if you desire wisdom on how to navigate theological differences among Christians.
Brett Landry & Robert Kim
In this co-led session, Robert Kim and Brett Landry will share from a deep well of experience what it looks like to church plant in cities. With the high cost of living among the challenges of planting in cities, it can seem like a near-impossible task. Yet the Gospel must go to people, and people live in cities in the modern world. Attend this session to gain practical wisdom for how you can contribute to the mission of the Gospel by supporting or even participating in planting churches in cities.
Ezra Okoti
In this talk, Ezra Okoti will point to the high calling of following Christ. Drawing on experience living outside of Canada and now serving as a pastor in Canada, this talk will challenge you to think biblically and practically about what the call of the Gospel looks like in modern-day Canada.
Kendra Gerbrandt
Churches are full of single and married people. Sometimes, however, we can speak past each other, forgetting the needs and opportunities that married and single people have. By seeing each other as members of the same body of Christ with various gifts, Kendra will equip you to think foster a church culture that values the contributions, needs, and gifting of both single and married people.
Tim Challies
Blogger and author Tim Challies has dedicated much of his life to blogging and publishing. In this talk, he explains what motivates him to write and how and why Christians should consider writing (blogs, books, etc.). Attend this talk to learn the ins and outs of writing as well as how to publish. And come ready to learn and ask questions!
David Short
After having what he describes as a “crack up” in the middle of time in ministry, David Short worked over the years to heal and recover from his mental anguish. In this talk, David will share his story and how God carried him through his ordeal, as well as the lessons he learned along the way. Attend this session for some deep pastoral wisdom.
Rob Godard & Steve Bray
Pastors Rob Godard and Steve Bray pastor congregations across Canada---one in British Columbia and one in Newfoundland---but have developed a deep friendship with one another which has led their congregations to partner together in Gospel ministry and church planting across Canada. Despite the geographical distance, these two pastors and their two churches have partnered together for Gospel work. Is it possible for other churches in Canada to partner like this despite their distance? Yes. And doing so is one important way to support Gospel work in Canada. Attend this session to learn about how Steve and Rob met and how their churches have supported each other in this important work of church planting.
Brett Landry & Andrew Katay
Movement. Everyone and everything aspires to be a movement - church planting agencies, denominations, large churches - movement is in. But what is movement? And what is a specifically Christian, Biblical and theological approach to movement? This breakout will reflect on these questions, including the way that City to City Australia has approached catalysing movement across the ’sub-cities’ of Australian cities and towns.
Kristal Toews
With years of ministry experience, Kristal will help you to identify the convictions and strategies necessary for developing and growing women’s ministry at your church. This material will be helpful for male pastors who wish to come alongside women who are teaching women, and will also be helpful for female leaders, staff and volunteers. Attend this session to learn how your church can come together to provide opportunities for women to encourage one another with the word.
Paul Carter
Pastors are retiring, and churches are finding it hard to find replacements. Added to this, the cost of living in Canada has skyrocketed over the past decade. This means that churches may not be able to afford a living wage for youth and associate pastors as they had done in years before. For this reason, Canadian churches need to think wisely and biblically about how to raise up the next generation of pastors and leaders in the church. Attend this talk to learn biblical and practical strategies to raise up young leaders in our churches for gospel ministry despite the significant headwinds that we face.
The conference will be held at Westside Church in Vancouver. As a downtown location, this church venue is near hotels and restaurants and within driving distance of at least two airports.
Both hotels and short term rentals are near the venue. Click here to see hotel options with special discounts for the Conference.
Learn moreVancouver International Airport is 13.5km from venue. Abbotsford International Airport may be a great option if you rent a car (65.6 km away from the venue)
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And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent
