Our Guiding Values:
Historic and Creedal:
We honour, embrace, and remain rooted to the historic Christian creeds as reflected in both the Nicene and Apostle's creeds.
Priestly and Prophetic:
We value the role of the prophet who engages in a perpetual and creative struggle with social constructs that marginalize and exclude, and the priest who engages in liturgy, the ministry of sacraments, along with leadership and administration.
Relevant and Mystical:
We value the tension between the mystical work of the Spirit, the transcendent source of God's Word and the relevant, imminent implications of this work and this Word in our lives, personally, and in our world.
Evangelical and Liberal:
We value the tension created between Liberal and Evangelical Christianity. We accept and engage without denunciation all forms of knowledge and scholarship with gracious and humble spirits, while maintaining clear convictions regarding the deity of Christ, the authority of scripture, and God's redemptive plan for humankind.
Grace and Truth:
Accepting that we all are prone to both error and sin, we seek to look directly and unflinchingly upon the human condition with grace, art, humour and truthfulness.
Special thanks to Rev. Steve Yeo
A Brief History
Abba Ministries of Canada and its precedents have been in continuous existence since 1978. The formation of our denomination followed the traditional pattern of establishment: a pattern that is as old as Christianity itself, and well documented in St. Paul's letters.
In the beginning, a group of people came together to worship the Lord.
In February of 1978, a Mr. Donald Smiley sponsored a halfway house in St. Catherines, Ontario. The facility was designated for both male and female residents. Smiley prayed, and the Spirit offered guidance, and by early March of '78 the facility was thriving with 18 to 22 people in residence at any one time.
There were many miracles. The Lord provided food for the communal meal on one occasion after 18 people had concluded 'grace' while the cupboards and refrigerator were as bare as Mother Hubbard's. Transport was donated, heating bills paid. And there were many individual healings.
As time passed, folk would often us WHY? Why were necessities provided? Why did we do the work that we did? This presented the group with the opportunity to tell people about Jesus and His ministry; to share our faith in God, our love for our Saviour, and the knowledge that He loves us all. These times grew into impromptu bible studies and times of worship and praise.
More and more people came into contact with the St. Catherines core group and this led to the formation of other churches and various outreach ministries. Questions were asked about 'status' and 'tax receipts' for charitable donations and this led the founding members to explore the possibility of denominational status here in Canada.
The recognition of our Abba Ministries of Canada by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency as a Federal charity led to its incorporation in 1998. Denominational status was granted to us by Ontario shortly thereafter. British Columbia followed in 2002, then Nova Scotia in 2003.
Those who have joined Abba Ministries of Canada come from diverse backgrounds but all share a common passion for the Lord. It is Abba's goal wherever possible to strive to work with other ministries and denominations, as a community of faith, to stand together in reaching out to all segments of the community to help serve those we can as best we can. For those of us within Abba, the critical word is 'service': just as our Lord served, so must we, and as Jesus reached out to all without exception with His teaching, healings and program of open commensality then so must we reach out.
At the beginning of 2005 Abba Ministries of Canada is Spirit led on a path that will lead us to become more professional, more inclusive and absolutely dedicated to the deceptively simple program of Jesus of Nazareth: love Almighty God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself. Please join us in prayer and meditation so that Abba Ministries of Canada can continue to grow from its humble beginnings, beyond the three provinces it touches today, to cover Canada countrywide from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts and then beyond. Join us and become true disciples of Jesus of Nazareth.
Romans 12:3-21
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues [or languages], and to still another the interpretation of tongues [or languages]. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love. I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS;YES, BUT... |
At a time when Silence is Unacceptable...
Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel says there is a time to take sides. "Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
Contributed by Rev. Steve Yeo
John 15:3
This is my command: Love each other.