Cornerstone Blog, April 13th, 2012 – The Big Concrete Pour

So today was a big day!  We poured a floor 8 inches thick, over an area of about 1500 square feet.  It was on the second floor, and all the concrete was mixed, carried, and poured by hand.  All I can say is that my arms feel like rubber, and my legs are shredded.  Even as I attempted to clean up tonight, I’m finding concrete dust in places one would never dream concrete should ever dare go.  We started at 8am and went straight through till 6pm.  Which was fascinating in and of itself because 4pm is quitting time for the Haitian work crew.  They shut the whole process down for about an hour while the negotiated the wages for overtime.  It was quite exciting as they expressed themselves in very dynamic ways.  We didn’t really have a clue what was going on, just that everyone is yelling, and everyone is a bit tense.  It was actually quite interesting to see firsthand the kinds of things Mark and his team here are facing as they attempt to build something positive here in Haiti.  We need to continue to pray for the ministry here, because it has some very unique challenges.

I had my third day of teaching with the worship team here.  They continue to be very engaged students, and very encouraging in how they respond and think through the things that are being taught.  We have time for questions at the end of each session, and they come up with some really good ones.  One young leader, in response to the scriptures we were working through, expressed his desire to see really change in regards to the ministry of worship here in his church and community.  I was excited to be able to challenge him, and encourage him to serve God faithfully, and to continue to pursue with his pastor (that would be Pastor Mark) the big vision that is being formed here at Haiti Arise.

I think that’s the exciting part for me and our team as we get into the work here.  While Haiti has lots of issues to work with, and there is a lot to build and rebuild.  Yet we see Mark and Lisa looking to the future and, with God’s help, they want things to be better here for the generations that come next.  I see a bright future here, and am thankful that we as a team, and we as a church community, have the opportunity to build into the lives of people in Haiti.  God is at work here, and we will continue to pray and assist however we can.

Phew, I’m exhausted.  Time for bed.

Pastor Lorn Gieck

The View From Johnna’s Eyes

It’s my third day in Haiti and I still feel like my eyes can’t take it all in. The airport and ride through Port-au-Prince were an adventure in themselves. You have an image in your mind of what to expect, but it’s so different to actually experience it. I found myself getting emotional even as we flew in and I got a view from above. The drive home was long but I appreciated all that we got to see along the way. The garbage lining the streets seems endless. I was surprised by a few things, like a Kobe Bryant jersey, or the hip hop music playing in the streets, some of which I listen to at home.

In the evening I really enjoyed the community walk. You almost got tackled by little kids when you squat down to take a photo with them. They love to put their arms around you or hang on your back, and then looking at the picture of themselves on the camera. Two girls held my hand the whole walk. They are so content just to have some affection.

The church service made me realize what a BIG God we serve. Looking around and watching everyone worship with their hands up, singing in Creole, I thought “Wow, God you understand all the languages in this world”.  I know it seems silly, but I never really thought about that. God knows every single person in this world, just as well as he knows every detail about me. I have never felt so small but so special at the same time.

I have quickly had to become a “low maintenance” person. During one of my showers the water turned off about midway through. I have learned to just go with the flow.  I still find it pretty hilarious that I brought my flat iron and eyelash curler on the trip!

I have really enjoyed getting to know the members of my team during this trip. I came in not really knowing any of them, but they all have been so warm and encouraging. We all work well together and I feel we have gotten so much done already. I am happy to have new friends at my church when I go back home.

I look forward to what these next 8 days hold for us!

First Full Day at Haiti Arise

So today we got up and got going on the various projects that are going here at Haiti Arise.  The guys got right into the technical school construction project.  It was a concrete pour day, so there is a bit of pressure to get things done.  What we learned is that construction works the same in Haiti as it does in Canada:  you never accomplish as much as you want to get done in a day, machinery breaks down, and there is always down time.  Today’s down time was a result of a broken concrete vibrator, a machine used to tamp the concrete and shake out air pockets in the columns we were pouring on the second floor.  They had two, both had the parts we needed together to work, but they didn’t fit together.  George to the rescue!  He cut a socket in half and fashioned an adapter and we were off and running.  Sam was going hard on forms for stairs to the second level.

The ladies accomplished a lot today as well.  There is a list just inside the kitchen filled full of odd jobs and they just took a look at the list and started crossing things of.  Joanne and Linda spent some time in the school, and were thoroughly impressed with the teachers.  Linda said the grade two teacher had been teaching four years already.  He’s only 21.  Joanne was amazed at what they do with such little resources, and how the kindergarten students were learning hand writing; all this with one teacher to 36 kindergarten students.

The group was able to take a tour in the late afternoon of some of the local areas, and were impressed with all that Haiti Arise is involved in.  Kathy got to see the wall her son Mitchell was involved in building (when the team was just there late last year).  She remarked that the wall just went on forever.  It’s great to see the lasting impact of Cornerstone‘s involvement here in Haiti.  Thanks again to all the guys who came and built that wall.

I had the opportunity to do some teaching with the worship team here this afternoon.  They said I should go for an hour, and when that was over they kept going with questions.  It’s been fun learning to interact through an interpreter.  I’ll continue with the worship teaching with two hour long sessions both Thursday and Friday afternoon.

Tomorrow we’ll continue with the concrete pour and other odd jobs.  We seem to be settling in and getting comfortable with the rhythm of life here at Haiti Arise.  Everything is well organized, and things keep progressing.  We’re excited to be here and to be a part of it.   Keep praying that we’ll accomplish all that God has in store for us as we serve Him here in Haiti.

Pastor Lorn Gieck

First Day in Haiti

So we’re finally here and everyone is starting to sift through the experience thus far.  It’s a lot to take in during the course of a day.  We left Miami with all of the comforts we are accustomed to and, upon arriving in Port-au-Prince, have now entered a totally different world.  I’ve seen lots of photos and heard stories of the devastation in Haiti, but it is still an incredible sight to see.  As we drove we saw tent villages, crumbled buildings, rubble, and dumps of random garbage.  All along the way, George (a veteran of this particular trip) gives this constant refrain of how well things are going, and how much they’ve rebuilt, cleaned up, and developed.  There still seems to be a lot to do, but it’s encouraging to hear that it’s come a long way.  There are people everywhere, and tons of activity.

We arrived at Haiti Arise at about 3pm local time.  Got unpacked, settled, went through orientation, and immediately went to church.  It’s a blessing to be able to join in worship within a totally different context.  Even though we didn’t understand the language, we could identify some of the songs being sung.   Russ will be happy to hear that I had to go to the front and bring greetings to the church, and introduce the team.

Everyone is pretty exhausted, so it’ll probably be a pretty quiet night.  We start early tomorrow with work on the technical school.  It’s a pouring day, so it’ll be hard work as we mix concrete, and then carry it up to the second floor to build the columns.  We’ll also be doing some work on a house, and on the children’s village.  Tomorrow I’ll be doing some worship teaching with their worship teams as well, so I’m looking forward to that.  Pray for us in terms of strength and stamina, and that we would be wise in taking care of our bodies as we adjust to working in the heat.  We’ll keep you posted.

Pastor Lorn Gieck

Worship In Adversity

You know sometimes things just don’t go your way.  You wake up on the wrong side of the bed and stub your toe on a chair as you stumble for the light switch.  You have your heart set on toast, and instead it burns, and you’ve spilt the coffee all of the paper which you’ve been reading glumly noticing the dire news within.  As you clean up the mess you notice that there’s a stain on your shirt and you need to change.  With all of those setbacks you find yourself pressed for time, so you grit your teeth and rush out the door only to be frustrated again: the car just won’t start.  It’s been one of those days and its only 7:30am.

Now we all have days like that, and we can usually push through and hope tomorrow is better.  But sometimes the difficulties last through a longer season in life.  Situations come our way and we’re just not sure how to handle it, and there are really no text book solutions.  Sometimes we can face an ongoing struggle with depression.  Relationships can become strained with our spouses or children.  We can lose our job and wonder where the next paycheck is coming from.  Even our health can leave us.  These are overwhelming situations where we wonder: has God truly abandoned us?

As I’ve been writing these past months, I’ve been going through principles on worship from the book Worship on Earth as it is in Heaven: Exploring Worship as a Spiritual Discipline.  We’ve talked about the priority of worship in our personal lives, of making worship a part of our routine, and being careful about idolatry in our lives, but now we come to face the times when our situation in life seems to be against us, and it is difficult to find ourselves worshiping.  It is important for us to learn the spiritual discipline of worship, even in adversity.

In the Bible we find that David was no stranger to difficult times.  He lived a long time as a fugitive, hunted by his former friends and allies.  And even when he became king, there were constant plots and threats looking for the moment of weakness when they could take him down.  Even in his own life, David acted inappropriately (that’s putting it fairly mildly, think Bathsheba) and would have to face the consequences of his own sin.  Often that put not only himself but his whole nation in jeopardy.

But we see in Psalms that David is driven in these times to worship:

“Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me.  So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!”   But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain.”  

Psalm 3:1 

 “I come to you for protection, O lord my God.  Save me from my persecutors – rescue me! If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion, tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.  I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.”

Psalm 7:1-2, 17

 “Lord, why do you stand so far away?  Why do you hide when I need you the most?” Psalm 10:1

 These kinds of statements are throughout the Psalms.  It is interesting to see the clarity with which David delivers his worship before God.  He is truly honest with what he is wrestling with inside.  And we have to acknowledge that God is obviously aware of all of David’s problems, and so it in unnecessary to apply any kind of candy coating over the issue for David.  It’s a pretty clear and honest conversation.

But neither does it end with David’s troubles.  In the midst of coming to the Lord, in the heart of the moment of worship, David encounter’s the living God.  This makes all the difference.  David is never left in despair.  He is able to look to the Lord, and understand the character of the Sovereign King.  God never turns His back on those who call on His name.  Though the situation in the moment has not changed, David arrives back at a sense of confidence and a thankful trusting faith.

Worship brings about a confidence that life can be faced in all its difficulties, not because our problems get a quick or easy fix, but because our eyes are able to see the glory of God and His redemptive actions in every dark situation.  In worship we are reminded that our lives are less about us, and more about bringing praise and glory to God. As Rory Noland observes, “Left to my own devices, I allow my problems to loom larger than life.  Though I may not admit my lack of faith, my worry and anxiety betray the fact that I don’t believe God can really handle my dilemma.  At that point, my problem is not the real problem.  The real crime is that I’ve made my problem too big and God too small”.

The blessings we receive are connected to the presence of Christ in our lives.  We never walk alone, and as a result we can be free from the burden of our agendas, and are invited into the greater kingdom mission that God is bringing about through the church.  God never promised that this would make life easy.  The blessing of being a follower of Christ is not a life free from difficulties.  Sometimes it’s really hard.  But in worship we have this awesome opportunity to openly and honestly tell God how we feel, and let him minister to us, and heal our wounded spirits.

Lorn Gieck
Associate Pastor of Music & Arts

A Change in the Wind

We’ve got a fundraiser dinner theater event coming up this April, right here at Cornerstone church. The play’s title is A Change in the Wind. For those of you who are interested, here is a synopsis:

“A Change in the Wind” is the story of a family on a farm in the prairies in 1910. John Miller has been in Toronto for the last year attending school. He has given his parents the news of his recent marriage and is bringing his “city bride” back home to the farm to introduce her to his family and friends. As soon as they arrive you can feel tension between the bride and the mother-in-law. We watch the awkwardness unfold as everyone is walking on eggshells while these two strong personalities work out their differences.

Dates: Thursday, April 26th; Friday April 27th; Saturday April 28th

When: Dinner served at 6:00 PM

Where: Cornerstone Church, 315 Lenore Drive

Cost: $10 per ticket, $80 per table

An offering will be taken up to raise funds for our lent projects: Feeding the Orphans, Orphanages in Ghana, and Station 20 West.

For any additional information, feel free to contact us at (306) 931-4949.

Lent Projects

This Lent we are having a project with two focuses- local and global.

Local is Station 20 West, an urban renewal project focusing on providing access to healthy food options, in areas of Saskatoon that don’t have those options in their neighborhood.  For more information on the project check out their website at http://station20west.org/

Globally we’ll be contributing to an initiative from a ministry called Feeding the Orphans, which is building a safe house for fishing slaves on Lake Volta, in Ghana, West Africa.  For more information on the project check out their website at http://feedingtheorphans.com/2012/01/calling-all-kids.html#comments

 

Cornerstone Church Constitution: Information, Questions and Answers

Introduction to the Constitution Process

The mission of the church is of vital importance. Christ’s call to make disciples is the pursuit that we need to passionately engage in as a body of believers in our world.  To accomplish this no detail is insignificant.  We need to constantly evaluate our ministries and their ability to build up the body.   Any barrier that keeps us from accomplishing the mission needs to be held up for examination.  As spiritual leaders we need to pray and ask for discernment that the ministiries of Cornerstone Church come from a place of obedience to God’s kingdom plans.   Scripture teaches us that as leaders we will be called to give account for how we lead.

As we engage in the ongoing  practice of accountability, we find that we have regular evaluations of individual ministries, programs, and staff.  This is important and necessary to ensure the quality of these indivdual areas.  However these are all interconnected in a larger frame work or structure.  And our practice of evaluation should also extend to looking at the bigger structures of leadership and management within the church.

With this in mind Council decided to look at the Constitution and structural organization of the Church and initiated this process by appointing a committee on October 19^th, 2009.  It’s been a prayerful process, and we continue to walk carefully through it.  In this document you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions about the proposed constitutional draft, a list of key leadership values in the proposed structure, as well as testimonials from other churches and organizations that have benefited from going through this process.  If you’d like to explore this further, take the opportunity to examine the proposed documents (they are available to download as .pdf’s at the bottom of this page).

 

Constitution Frequently Asked Questions

Why make these proposed changes?

Our current constitution is limited in its ability to accommodate the needs of a growing ministry at Cornerstone Church.  The desire is to clarify issues of authority and responsibility, as well as providing a framework for the ongoing development of management policies.   We also want to ensure in our leadership structure that our spiritual leaders have greater authority to exercise their gifts of prayerful discernment in directing the overall mission and vision of Cornerstone Church.

Does this model give the pastor too much power?

This is an important concern, because we’ve all seen power abused.  The proposed leadership structure will clarify the power that the lead pastor may exercise, as well as their responsibilities and accountabilities to the board.

Does this remove or minimize the congregation’s voice?

No, if anything this leadership structure affirms the voice of the congregation in a way our current constitution assumes, but never specifically prescribes.  In the proposed documents the congregation is identified as the authority in the church, and it lines out specifically how that authority is exercised.  Further, it prescribes how the board and the lead Pastor are to engage the congregation in more meaningful conversation on the mission and vision of Cornerstone Church.

Is this the perfect system? 

There is unfortunately no perfect system.  We are all human beings prone to sin, and to abusing the systems that are meant to protect.  What this proposed system of leadership does better is clarify responsibilities and accountabilities, thus minimizing the possibility for abuse.  And, if abuse does occur, it gives clear authority in regards to accountability. 

Cornerstone Leadership Structure – Quick Values Check:

The affirmation, involvement and empowerment of every individual and group at all levels is vital to the success of Cornerstone Church

Decision-making proceeds from shared values, vision and mission, not unilaterally from the Board or the Senior Pastor. Decisions are made as close as possible to where they are implemented.

The lead pastor and staff are responsible for management, delivering services on behalf of members in accord with Board-stated priorities and for achieving the strategic goals within the limitations of the authorization and resources available.

Authority, responsibility and accountability are the primary components of all relationships. Limitations (of authority) and expectations (of responsibility) are the secondary components.

Each individual is responsible for creating, owning, understanding and implementing the mission or purpose of Cornerstone Church.

Cornerstone Church is results oriented. Indicators and measurements of strategic results are identified and applied. Monitoring progress towards results and monitoring compliance with limitations form an ongoing process.

Testimonials

“The key benefit of investing in leadership structure is the clarity that can result as roles and responsibilities are discussed and agreed upon.  The introduction of policy governance at Briercrest created an opportunity to clarify the expectation the board had of the president and the expectation the president had of the board.  The conversation was helpful because it enabled a new level of clarity about roles, a new freedom to work in those roles, and a new accountability to deliver in those roles.   It reduced the surprises and frustration that comes about when roles and expectations are not set out and agreed upon.“

Dwayne Uglem, President of Briercrest

 

“The most significant value of a governance approach to church leadership structure is that it allows for the best influence at the best places. In many churches, the staff (especially the lead pastor) gives overall direction to the vision and mission of the church. This is a problem because when the pastor changes, the vision changes. Often the board (or the council) ends up managing the changing vision as staff naturally change. In a governance system, the board is responsible for setting vision, mission and strategic plan. Staff and membership have input into this but it is owned by the board. The primary role of staff (mainly lead pastor) is to implement this vision/mission. A compelling vision can be better embraced by everyone in this case. Also, when pastoral changes happen, the vision doesn’t change. So, the best influence for vision and strategic plan happens at the board level with input from staff. The best influence for membership is to give regular feedback to the board about the vision and mission of the church. The best influence for implementation of this vision and strategic plan happens at the staff level.This make sense because staff have specialized training to do the ministry of the church. Boards generally do not have this specialized training.

When governance works, the board engages membership to set visionary direction and the staff manage and implement that visionary direction.”

Dale Dirksen, Associate Pastor, Forrest Grove Community Church

 

“The most frequent word I hear from churches who use the Relationship Model for their governance is “clarity”. People feel much more confident when they know how authority flows in the church and how much authority they have to make decisions.  The confusion and sense of powerlessness is replaced by a clear sense of direction and clear expectations of responsibility.  The relationship between the pastor and the church board is strengthened with this clarity. It’s been a great pleasure to watch the difference these Biblical principles make for churches.”

Les Stahlke, Church Leadership Consultant, Author of Church Governance Matters

 

“For nearly four decades of pastoral ministry at various levels of church sizes and complexity, I have been struck with the importance of efficient church governance.  How well a church is governed may very well spell the difference between “mission accomplished” and “mission aborted.”  Instituting great church governance is hard work yet with significant payback.  Time invested in assessing and enacting clearly written and articulated leadership and management for churches will prove to be time well spent.”

Dr. Les Somers, Lead Pastor, StoneRidge Fellowship Church, Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia

 Proposed Constitutional Documents

Constitution Draft (.pdf)
Board Governance Manual Draft (.pdf)
Management and Policy Draft (.pdf)

An Unhealthy Attachment

February 25, 2012

Lately on this blog I’ve been going through and highlighting thoughts on personal worship from the book Worship On Earth As It Is In Heaven: Exploring Worship as a Spiritual Discipline.  It’s been a very healthy call to really make worship beyond just a Sunday event that I attend, and discover what the pattern of a worshiper should look like beyond the community worship we experience Sunday by Sunday.  Honestly, we expect a lot from the church worship gathering.  We need it to be this refugee of holy peace, and an escape from the noise of everyday life; we expect to commune our hearts together and to hear the intimate voice of God, and it needs to all happens within the confines of a specifically allotted one hour time.  However, a worshiper lives a life of devotion beyond Sunday morning.  And this book thus far has challenged us to make worship a priority, and to schedule a regular routine of it in our lives.

This leads us to another challenge: surrender.  We need to let go of the idols that compete for our time and attention.  Idolatry is often easily dismissed as an antiquated image.  In our minds we imagine some ancient tribal people group dancing ecstatically around a fire, late at night, bowing down to some carved wooden face, or other kind of statue.  In the Bible we think of the golden calf, or of asherah poles, and idols like the baals of the ancient Canaanites.  We don’t participate in any overt ritual action like that and so we think idolatry is not an issue for us.  But idolatry as theologian A.W. Towzer said is simply “worship directed in any direction but God’s, which is the epitome of blasphemy.”

Worship is anything that is more important to you than God.  It can take the form of many things, whether possessions, relationships, a job, a social cause.  It can really be anything.  I actually have this picture in my mind of the character Linus from the cartoon Peanuts.  He’s a very mature, articulate, and well adjusted young kid, but for some reason he’s very attached to his blanket.  It causes him great anxiety to part with it.  It goes everywhere with him.   That’s kind of how we attach ourselves to idols, and it is an unhealthy kind of attachment.  Idols can be the things that set us off emotionally, that give us a sense of peace and security, and cause us great anxiety when they are taken away.

The thing is, as Christians, holding on to an idol is an insult to God.  In the first two of the Ten Commandments God says we are to have nothing above him, nor are we to worship anything else.  Exodus 20:3-5 says: “You shall have no other gods before me.“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.   You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”  (NIV).   God tells us very clearly there is no room in our lives for anything above him.

And neither can anything replace the satisfaction of placing God first in our lives.  Only God can make our future secure and guide us to true lasting satisfaction.  The Psalmist understands this when he says:

You make known to me the path of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence,
   with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
 Psalm 16:9-11 (NIV)

And so worship in our personal lives needs to be expressed in full devotion to God.  We need to be careful to live our lives free of idolatry, and to spend our time enjoying the presence of our God.  If there is anything that hinders us or tempts us away from Christ, we need to examine ourselves, and flee from it.   This will continue to transform us as a congregation when we come together to worship.

Lorn Gieck

Associate Pastor of Music & Arts
lorncornerstone@sasktel.net

New Sermon Series: Vision Begins With God

We are starting a new series of messages with the new year. The series, entitled Vision Begins with God, explores the topic of what the Church’s vision should be based on what God says through His scriptures.

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