Community Outreach: Register here for our August Youth Soccer Camp in High Park.

June 6, 2013 — Adam Rumball

 poster online westminster chapel
As a community outreach experience, Westminster Chapel and Athletes In Action will team up to offer a Youth Soccer Camp from August 12-16 in Toronto’s beautiful High Park.
Please read the details, register your child and/or share these links with those who may like to register for this wonderful week.
Click this link for the Registration Page only
Thanks to Arleen (the Super Intern) for her administrative support in setting this all up for the volunteers, coaches and youth!
Thanks to Westminster Chapel and Athletes In Action for having the heart of Jesus to reach out to the active youth of Parkdale-High Park-Roncesvalles Village through the language of sports!
God Bless You,
Adam
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Recent Ministry Activity: Baseball Chapel Leader for Blue Jays, Prison Ministry, Food Bank, HFH, etc.

December 26, 2012 — Adam Rumball

My Community Outreach & Institutional Chaplaincy Praise Report

Dear RumBloggers,

Here is a list of recent developments in my ministry department since the church amalgamation. There have been some new and exciting ministry opportunities that have emerged amidst our new church’s adjustments, challenges and changes. I really like the staff, board and congregation of Westminster Chapel. I am believe that I am gradually adapting to the new environment and settling into my new role and responsibilities successfully. Thank for all the support along the journey. Keep praying for us all to be a church that make a gospel-impact on the people of Toronto.

Community Outreach:

Record breaking food donation from one neighbour household.

Record breaking food donation from one neighbour household.

58 boxes were delivered by 25+ people to 44 households on 11 local streets.

58 boxes were delivered by 25+ people to 44 households on 11 local streets.

People in our church did a great job serving God together by blessing our neighbours in Jesus’ name through:

1. Habitat For Humanity Build Day and Home Dedication Services. Read a previous post on one local event here: http://wp.me/pWjMU-Bq

2. Roncesvalles Polish Festival Outreach Tent Days.

3. Food & Clothing Bank Work and Donations.

4. Toronto Star “Santa Claus Fund” Christmas Gift Box Deliveries.

5. Prayer Walk Teams.

6. In December, SIM Canada and Westminster Chapel secured an MOU for the Chang’s “Culture Connexions” vision to serve the Church through cultivating intercultural character and ethics as foundational to Kingdom living, valuing the reciprocal blessing of intercultural relationship, and envisioning God-inspired blessing among diverse neighbours and communities.

7. In January, I plan to attend and recruit people to the relaxed and informative “Searching For Truth” course. This is good chance for skeptics, spiritual seekers or new believers to explore the basics of Christianity. It is led by my colleagues Joe Boot and Scott Masson at 9 Hewitt Ave on Tuesday evenings at 7pm and a meal is provided.

Institutional Chaplaincy:

Thankfully, God has opened a door for me to have ongoing Christian services in new areas. Pray for me to make good relationships with everybody so I can know how to best serve spiritual needs among the following people:

1. Correctional Service of Canada at the Keele Centre (300 Keele St. at Annette) and possibly elsewhere too.

Rev. Harry Nigh and Rick Arsenault have a lot of experience and will train me to serve well in this context. I first got involved with prison ministry in Kingston during the recent Grey Cup week festivities. Athletes In Action Canada and Prison Fellowship Canada arranged events with the CSC Chaplains to bring CFL players to speak with inmates. During these visits, we spoke to inmates at three prisons and twice to athletes at Queens University.

2. Toronto Blue Jays organization through Baseball Chapel.

With the support and training of experienced staff like Kevin Edelbrock, I looking forward with humble confidence to this service opportunity! The team has 13 home Sundays (April through August) in which they need a chapel service (a 15-minute mini-sermon / devotional). The Sunday games are at 1pm. I’ll be at the park a few hours before game time to set up chapel, see ball park staff, front office people, players & coaches, do chapel (one for the visiting team, one for the home team and then dropping by to see the umpires). Sometimes there are 3 guys in attendance, sometimes there are 15 or more. The Jays have a lot of new faces so I’ll be building it from the ground up. As well, I’ll strongly encourage a mid-week Bible study of some type for the players and one-on-one meetings with the guys.
There is also an oversight role to this as well, and some travel. As a Major League Chaplain, I’ll be overseeing each of the 7 minor league teams. I’ll visit two minor league teams per year to see the chaplain in action. As well, I’ll stay in touch with the others and you would be a resource to them. I already met and enjoyed a lunch with Chaplain Joe Ciffa in Buffalo, the Jays’ AAA team. I am looking forward to a conference with Baseball Chapel in Dallas (Feb 10) and building relationships during Spring Training in Dunedin (March 3, 10, 17). I will know more about who wants/needs what and who I can rely on to assist me as time passes and trust develops. Trust-building takes time and communication over periods of trial and error. I may need help from my church with things like discipleship support for interested Spanish speakers as well as all the interested women and children. You can read more about the ministry at their website or in the PDF document: BaseballChapelPresentation

For the fame of Jesus’ name,

Adam

Matthew 9:35-38

Matthew 25:34-40

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Planting my 12 Sacred Seeds writing project on 12/12/12. Check it out:

December 12, 2012 — Adam Rumball

Dear RumBloggers,

I have chosen 12/12/12 as the perfect time to plant/publish my 12 Sacred Seeds writing project at www.12sacredseeds.com . It will be a separate site from this and I will continue to use this one for regular posts and updates. Read it over and comment during this reflective time of year. This time of year naturally opens up opportunities for us to reflect on our values and beliefs. What do you believe about sacred things? When I talk to friends and neighbours around Toronto, I hear their personal statements of spiritual conviction.  Recently, I shared a paper containing a personal statement of my spiritual convictions.  Before that, I presented an expanded version of each “sacred seed” as 12 talks for the inspiration and education of my congregation. After sharing it with all of them, I thought it may be good stewardship to post it on the web for your use rather than just file it away in a drawer or under a pile.  I am posting some of the content  here as a way of reaching out to people who are reflecting on their sacred beliefs with a desire to understand what a Christian, like me, believes.  This writing project is called 12 sacred seeds because it contains 12 potent ideas that when planted in your mind and nutured in community have the power to grow you a fruitful life!

Sacred Seed 1: The Bible 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-4P 

Sacred Seed 2: Blessed Trinity 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-4R

Sacred Seed 3: God, The Father 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-4T 

Sacred Seed 4: Jesus Christ 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-4U 

Sacred Seed 5: The Holy Spirit 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-4W 

Sacred Seed 6: Satan 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-4Z

Sacred Seed 7: Humanity 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-51

Sacred Seed 8: Salvation 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-53 

Sacred Seed 9: The Church 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-55 

Sacred Seed 10: Symbols of the Gospel 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-57 

Sacred Seed 11: Future Things 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-5a 

Sacred Seed 12: The Church and State, Civil Government and Religious Liberty 
http://wp.me/p1iVne-5h 

Related articles
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News about My New Ministry Role and Recent Ordination:

October 16, 2012 — Adam Rumball

This month, I have reached a meaningful ministry milestone and also began pioneering a new ministry role.  Here are some reflections on both. Thanks for your interest in my life!

1. Recent Ordination

On Monday night, my Ordination was approved by a FEB Ordination Council and then enacted by High Park Baptist Church leadership.  I am thankful to supporters and praising God upon this ministry milestone of Ordination.  It is an honour to be formally and fully set apart for the Baptist ministry in Canada among our FEB association’s many amazing Pastors, Chaplains and Missionaries! :)

This is me in the process of reading and defending my formal statements of personal conversion, ministry calling and theological convictions to the council of FEB Pastors at 9 Hewitt Avenue for about 3 hours.

The difference that ordination makes is both objective and subjective: ability to officiate marriages in Ontario; ascribed the Reverend title (Rev.); access to discounted golf at some golf courses on Mondays; meaningful peer recognition and affirmation of my calling.  It is somewhat comparable to a lawyer passing their bar exam or a thesis defence for an academic.  Ordination is a meaningful ministry milestone for which I thank God.  Rev. Dr. Darryl Dash gave a memorable charge to me from 1 Timothy 1:12-17.

2. New Ministry Role

I am grateful to have learned so much as I have served the Lord as Lead Pastor at High Park Baptist Church from 2008-2012.  I am grateful and motivated for the opportunity to continue serving the Lord among the newly merged community of his people called Westminster Chapel at High Park (WC@HP), which I started on October 1, 2012.  My new role at WC@HP is Pastor of Community Outreach and Institutional Chaplaincy.  Click here is my staff profile on the Westminster Chapel website. Take some time to read about the church by exploring the website.  In the “Institutional Chaplaincy” efforts of my new role, I am “asking, seeking and knocking” for “open doors” of ministry with the following groups.  Please pray for contacts, discernment,  wisdom and favour in exploring service to/with:

  1. Clergy of all religions.
  2. Political Agencies, Parties and Leaders.
  3. Secular Business Leadership through BIAs and direct visits.
  4. Hospitals and Health Centres (UHN, CAMH, etc).
  5. Schools, Universities & Libraries.
  6. Police, Fire, EMS and Canadian Forces.
  7. Other NGOs. (Habitat For Humanity, etc)

Many initial indicators of the church amalgamation all point towards beneficial results for the faithful “flocks” and the broader community because two churches choose creative partnership through crisis.  Come by and experience worship among us one of these autumn Sundays at 10:30am!  I hope that the newly merged churches can carry out more for the Gospel as one new community together than we could as two independent communities.  I am enjoying the teammates in the staff and the opportunity to specialize in an area of passion and gifting! :)  During the transition, I have been praying the following Biblical benedictions as pastoral “wish-hopes” for all people who are interested, impacted and involved in the positive changes:

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” – Romans 15:5-7

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” – Romans 15:13

“May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” – Romans 15:33

Thanks for reading my reflections on my new ministry role and recent Ordination in this edition of the RumBlog.

Blessings,
Adam aka Reverend Rumball, Pastor of Community Outreach and Institutional Chaplaincy.

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13 pictures from today’s Roncesvalles Community Build Day with Habitat For Humanity at 96 Ritchie Avenue:

September 8, 2012 — Adam Rumball

The heavy rain could not stop the workers from building.

We chose not to BBQ burgers, but order pizza for the wet, willing workers.

A special highlight for me was meeting & welcoming the partner family to the neighbourhood with a hug.

I learned that I am pretty handy with a hammer stapler (depicted below).

I used a few puns to keep morale high.

I was happy to see some 20-30 community activists and neighbours our to build with the family.

The team photos were a lot of fun!

Special thanks to Enloe Wilson for inviting High Park Baptist Church to be a part of this special community build day!

OYEE!!

Related articles
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Let’s build a home and hope in Roncesvalles together with Habitat For Humanity

August 25, 2012 — Adam Rumball

Build a home in Roncesvalles and hope in a family! :)

On Saturday, Sept. 8, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Habitat for Humanity Toronto will host a Roncesvalles Community Build day at 96 Ritchie Ave. – and you are invited!  Only a 5 minutes walk from our church building (400m)is a great opportunity for you to get involved in meaningful community service project.  Community outreach is important plus it feels good to build something meaningful together! Join me at this and share this opportunity with your network in Toronto. Click here for the Ritchie Build Day Invite PDF.

Important and Urgent sign-up details: All  those interested in participating should RSVP to Habitat for Humanity Toronto’s ewilson@torontohabitat.ca or 416-755-7353 ext. 242. Please note: Volunteer spots are limited, so RSVP soon!

The organization invites local residents, businesses and faith groups to come swing a hammer along with the family who will live there, greeting them to the neighbourhood in a festive day of construction, camaraderie and…  a cookout!

High Park Baptist Church will barbeque at noon for the event. Food and beverages will be provided by Loblaws, also the site’s land donor. We need 5 people to help grill and up to 15 builders.

Community Build participation is free and no build experience is necessary. Habitat Toronto will provide all necessary training, as well as tooling and construction apparel. Habitat Toronto regrets it cannot accommodate build volunteers younger than 16. Youth, however, are invited to assist with a fundraising lemonade/bake sale during the event, proceeds of which would help fund the Ritchie build.

Let’s build something great together on September 8,

Enloe and Adam

Related Article: 96 Ritchie Ground Breaking Day with Gord Perks.

Posted in Leadership Lessons, Pastoring People, Touring Toronto. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

The 5Ws Leadership Communication Tool: Worship, Wins, Walls, Wants and Warts.

August 20, 2012 — Adam Rumball

My sabbatical month in Europe was excellent.  I may post something on that soon, but I thought this might be of interest to us all as we transition back from summer vacations into the activities and meetings of autumn. For this post, I want to publish a leadership communication tool that we used in-house, at High Park Baptist Church (HPBC), called the “5Ws“.

The 5Ws of reporting are traditionally known as who, what, when, where and why. Those are super-important Ws to consider  in reporting the facts of a story, but they are not what the ones I have in mind. We used a different 5Ws to improve our leadership communication at HPBC: worship, wins, walls, wants and warts. I want to publish these 5Ws as a tribute to all the present and past members of the HPBC Ministry Leadership Council (MLC) and the strategic plan we agreed to accomplish together.  Dear MLC, I think we got some meaningful things done towards the church ratified mandate and this tool helped us talk it through together towards a higher impact!

The story of the 5Ws goes like this.  As part of our strategic plan implementation at HPBC, we established the Ministry Leadership Council (MLC).  The MLC is like a church parliament composed of church department leaders.  I wanted this group to become a Higher Impact Team (HIT) at HPBC to operationalize the goals of our strategic plan through their task forces.  Each servant-leader on the MLC was a directly responsible individual (DRI) for reporting to and from their department at this forum.  Complex meetings like this needed leadership to communicate important mission information in an efficient and high trust format. The tool that I provided in order to enhance team communication is the powerful “5Ws” communication template. The 5Ws helped the MLC of DRIs at HPBC become a HIT.  I hope it helps your team too. Here you go:

WORSHIP: Remember God by prayerfully reflecting on a Biblical passage.  This information fosters humility, motivation, vitality and unity.

WINS: Celebrate success by reporting a few successful stories. This information fosters motivation and public speaking skills.

WALLS: Identify barriers to success by reporting a few frustrating facts.  This information fosters empathy and collaboration.

WANTS: Seek support in success by requesting a few helping hands. This information fosters trust and collaboration.

WARTS: Admit weakness with a few personal flaws. This information fosters humility and trust.

The 5Ws can make your team into a HIT - Higher Impact Team.   We did not get everything done that we wanted to on the plan.  We did not achieve our 15 mission goals entirely.  We did get some meaningful things done and increased the quality of communication across within and across our ministry departments.  I believe that joyful mission results were improved to the degree we practiced faith (Worship), celebrated success (Wins), identified barriers (Walls), sought collaboration (Wants) and admitted weakness (Warts).

Will the “5Ws” help your church or organizational leadership team build impact and trust this fall?  Start by providing the template in advance and asking everyone on the team to use 5 minutes to speak about their 5Ws.  If they do, then you will see the trust, collaboration and measurable results increase!  I believe teams improve through talking about worship, wins, walls, wants and warts.

Posted in Leadership Lessons, Pastoring People. Leave a Comment »
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