What a rich time we had in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia for our national Vineyard Canada family gathering. Our movement is growing younger and older at the same time, a rich sense of love and friendship marked relationships, and our times of worship, prayer and laughter together were great.
I ran around like a dog, but that’s what one responsible for something does at these events. We hosted the whole country of the Vineyard movement here, and most of them just fell in love with the place and experience.
The band did a fantastic job, and worked very hard; covering 6 worship leaders, many new tunes and new players to play with. Calum Rees (drummer for Hungry, Come Now Is The Time from Vineyard UK) added the sweet primal rhythms to the fest, and the rest of our crew, Tim Davidson (bass), Tyler McGee (percussion), Jonathan Baker (keys/mandolin), Holli Durost (vocals and guit), Monique Tute (vocals) and Matt Frise (violin & whistles) held down the house band fort.
We did a Coram Deo night at the Lutheran Church, complete with radiant candlelight (by artist Judi Brannen) and great sound from Sound Systems Plus sound out of Halifax.
I’m left with this possibility, given our leadership team and its quest for faithfulness. We just may successfully navigate a course that has caused great stumbling to every movement/denomination since the time of Christ. What a bold statement. We may be able to successfully pass Kingdom values off to another generation without demanding the same forms, or even the same name. We’re poised to try to counter the historic tide. I’ve been skeptical for years, but I think we may be doing it. Hmmm.