Retreat Reflections

During our Crossroads fellowship last night, we shared with one another our experience of the church retreat last weekend. We asked each one in the fellowship group to share their "God-defining" moment at the retreat.

For some, their God defining moment(s) were getting to know other brothers and sisters in the church. Often times at TCBC, we are our own little silos. After service, we tend to gravitate toward the group that we feel comfortable with and it's always the same group of people. Over time, we establish our comfort zone and start to neglect other people. We don't make an effort to reach out to others. Such behaviour often leads to a breakdown in building a true, authentic community.

During the church retreat, people are brought together through organized actvities and other opportunities such as during meal times, to really talk to one another and get to know one another better. Barriers such as age, education, and background become irrelevant. Although people still do tend to gravitate toward their comfort zone, I could see that people were reaching out to one another at the retreat-- the beginning of building that authentic community.

For me, and like most of those who went on the retreat, the God-defining moment was the Holy Communion on Sunday. Unlike other Communion Sundays, this particular one touched many hearts. I could feel God's presence in that room that Sunday. The Holy Spirit was working in us, through us, and among us.

Before the Holy Communion, Pastor Nolan gave a mini sermon and reminded us of the significance of partaking of the bread and drinking of the wine (in our case, it was grape-flavoured Gatorade) from the cup. As the theme of the retreat was "Coming Home" and about community, Nolan pointed out to us that the Gatorade was purchased from a corner store in the community that TCBC is located. The bread, although not prepared from scratch by the people at the retreat (i.e. from land to oven), it was nonetheless prepared through a process (ie. from farmer to consumer) and has now made its way to our table. So, that is also a community from which God has provided us this food.

At this point, Nolan reminded us that we are also a community and that we are called to serve one another. As such, the Holy Communion would be done differently. We are to first to receive and then to present the bread and cup to one another.

Two chairs were arranged facing each other and a third chair for Nolan so that he can tell us what to say. To demonstrate, Nolan asked Norm to receive the bread and cup. Facing each other, Nolan presented the bread to Norm reminding him that the bread represents Christ and to eat it in rememberance of Him. Likewise, the cup was presented and to drink it in rememberance of Christ. Afterwards, they stood up and hugged each other. After that was done, the next person went up and Norm presented the bread and cup to that person reminding that person to eat the bread and drink from the cup in rememberance of Christ. That person then became the presenter for the next person and so on and so forth.

While watching each individual go up and being the receiver and then the presenter was such a touching moment. Seeing my brothers and sisters serving one another like that truly touched my heart. Tears were whelming up in my eyes and I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in me. Looking around the room, I could see that others were also touched. I thought to myself, this is what true authentic community ought to be like.

When it came to my turn, it was Ivy who presented the bread and the cup to me. I gave her a big hug afterwards. In turn, I presented the bread and cup to Eric.

One other touching moment was seeing those we were not baptized yet going up to request for a prayer. There were a few in the group that had not been baptized yet, but not all of them went up. But for those who did go up, I was witnessing God's love and God's wonderful work.

During the Sunday night sharing time, many people spoke up and shared their thoughts about the direction of TCBC. The topic of the Holy Communion earlier that day came up. The person who was speaking about it became very emotional. From that, I knew that I was not the only one who was touched by it. The Holy Communion that morning was so powerful.

The sharing time that night was also a highlight for me. Many people who shared became quite emotional. Tears were shed and you could tell how much they care about TCBC and our family in Christ. We all want TCBC to be a strong, growing, authentic community. Someone mentioned we should strive to be an Acts 2 community. I would love to see that happen and I feel that the Holy Spirit is willing us to accomplish this. I sense that leaders in the English ministry are starting to step out and step up. It is exciting to see that and I know that with God's guidance and help, we will be a stronger, more authentic community of brothers and sisters.

Other highlights for me at the retreat include the beach volleyball game (Wow! I didn't know Sarah was such an awesome volleyball player), the canoeing, and the games of eucker until the wee hours of the morning.

All in all, I had a wonderful first church retreat. Thank you Lord.

BTW, I'll blog later about what God revealed to me during my quiet time with Him on the last day of the retreat.