SARDIS FELLOWSHIP BAPTIST CHURCH

In January 2001 I was invited to speak one Sunday morning at the Sardis Fellowship Baptist Church in Chilliwack, BC.  I knew one couple in that church besides our daughter, son-in-law and three grandsons.  Following the service I was invited to speak again in February.  After the February service was finished, I met briefly with some of the members of the board of elders and they asked if I would be interested in meeting with the board to discuss an interim senior pastoral position.  That meeting with the board happened within a few days.  The church board was in contact with a potential pastoral candidate in the east and asked if I would serve three days a week until June, almost four months, when this candidate would be coming to speak.  I agreed.  I began my ministry as interim senior pastor in March.

SFBC members blended their voices to form a Christmas Choir

In June, the young couple from the east came to candidate, but they were not accepted.  So the board asked if I would stay on until they were able to secure a senior pastor.  Once again, I agreed to do so.  In August, a professor of Bible at Briercrest College & Seminary stopped by the church.  He had previously been a Fellowship Baptist pastor and was interested in returning to pastoral ministry.  A couple of elders joined with me as we spent an hour or so with him.  He was invited to candidate that fall. The church congregation had a meeting, following his candidating weekend, in which the members voted and extended a call to him to be their senior pastor.  The board asked me again whether I would continue on until he arrived.  What could I say?  I was thoroughly enjoying my interim ministry and agreed to do so.  Well, he had a school year before him, that he had to teach, plus summer school in 2002.  The long and short of it was that my original agreement to serve them for four months ended up being about sixteen months.  I concluded my ministry in mid July 2002 and he arrived in August.

If you're wondering what my interim ministry was like, let me say that I preached Sunday mornings, sometimes back in Chilliwack Sunday evenings for a visit or sometimes a prayer meeting.  I was in the office Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, one of which I met with the staff.  There was a youth pastor and a secretary.  My afternoons were spent in visitation.   Tuesday afternoons I had a retired gentleman, a member of the church, who accompanied me on my visits and Wednesday afternoons Leona went with me.  Leona and I also did some visitation in the evenings.  The church had gone through a rough time, prior to our ministry.  Many of the seniors were hurting, as a result, so I was initially asked if I would focus my visits on them.  Those visits were very enjoyable and spiritually rewarding.  We also had several visits with some that were not seniors.  Having retired from Sevenoaks Alliance Church as the pastor to seniors, serving at Sardis Fellowship Baptist Church was like icing on the cake.  Once again I was pastor to the entire church congregation, not just seniors.  I inter-acted with the children, youth, young and middle adults as well as the seniors.

 Dan telling a story to the children prior to his sermon

During our time at SFBC we saw about eleven decisions for Christ.  Leona and I had the privilege of being involved with some that prayed to receive Christ, especially with some seniors.  It was reinforced in my mind that not all people who regularly attend a Sunday service in an evangelical church are born again believers.  Let me share a couple of stories.

One night Leona and I visited a couple that were regular attenders, although they only started attending around the time that we began to serve the church.  After small talk and getting to know them and their background, I asked a question relative to their relationship with God. The man responded in the affirmative, indicating that he knew the Lord.  A few seconds later, he said to me, "No!  That's not true.  God seems like He is distant."  He shared further that he had been involved in a church, prior to moving to Chilliwack, but he had no real inner peace.  That night, the husband prayed to received Christ.  A short time later he was baptized at SFBC.

One afternoon, when Leona was with me, we called on a couple, both in their late sixties.  He had been asked to sing a solo at SFBC in a few weeks time.  The music committee that had asked him wondered, after they had invited him to sing, whether or not he was truly born again.  Since his solo was four or five Sundays away, the two of us called on this couple.  They were faithful attenders and were also involved in a care group in the church.  As I began to inquire as to their spiritual life, they shared with us that since they were getting on in years, they thought that maybe they should be learning something about God.  Since one of their nephews was on the board of elders at Sardis Fellowship Baptist Church, they decided to attend his church.

As we continued with our conversation, that afternoon ended with both of them praying to receive Christ as their Saviour.  Well, that evening was the week night that they met with their care group.  I learned later that once they were about to begin the evening, my new brother in Christ said something like, "Before we begin tonight, we want to share something with you.  We both prayed to receive Christ this afternoon."  In due time, he sang his solo in church, but again, before he started to sing, he shared with the congregation what had transpired and the change in their lives.  He then sang, "Amazing Grace," accompanying himself with his guitar.

There were other wonderful conversion stories about people inviting Christ to be the Lord of their life.  Some of the members of the church also had some great stories to share.  I remember that one member shared how he lead a friend to the Lord, with whom he worked.  Once again I was thrilled to be in a place where we saw God working in hearts.

I should share an incident that taught me never to prejudge a persons intentions.  One morning when I was in the office, the secretary informed me that a man was in the reception area and wanted to speak with a pastor.  I figured that this fellow probably wanted some money.  I invited him in to my office.  Once we were seated, he shared his story as to how he had been raised in a Christian home, had prayed to receive Christ as a young boy and had wandered far from the Lord.  He was desirous of getting right with God.  That morning, there in my office, he recommitted his life to the Lord.  Soon after his visit, he contacted me again and said that his wife wanted what he had.  We had the privilege of leading her to a saving knowledge of the Lord.  They both became regular attenders at the Sunday morning services and Leona and I enjoyed a couple of delicious meals in their home. 

Sardis Fellowship Baptist Church had great Daily Vacation Bible Schools.  In a day when many churches no longer conducted a DVBS, it was exciting to see the energy and enthusiasm that went into reaching the community.  Their DVBS was held in the evenings, which made transporting the children to the church much easier and also allowed for many workers. The youth pastor, Jon Luesink, had a great heart for the Lord, was enthusiastic in his ministry and gave leadership to the DVBS, in addition to his youth work and music ministry.  He and his wife later left SFBC becoming missionaries in the Czech Republic.  Today he is a representative for Avant Ministries in Canada.

There was a plus, in serving at Sardis Fellowship Baptist Church.  Our daughter Sharilyn, her hubby John and grandsons Joshua, Austin and Quinton attended that church and Leona and I got to sit with them for most of the Sunday morning services.  I offered a dollar to the grandsons if they filled in the sermon outline, which was in the Sunday bulletin.  Each Sunday the boys would give me their outline in exchange for a "loonie," a one dollar coin.  I eventually included one or two of their friends, who also received a dollar for the outline.  There are many fond memories of those Sundays at SFBC.