Friends of Meadowvale
Over the years we have grown in our understanding of the Trinity, the scope and depth of the Cross and the self giving, life-laid-down-love of Jesus. This has been possible because of the enduring friendships with wonderful folks like those whose links you will find on this page.
Roger and Sue Mitchell
Roger and Sue, have worked together for the thriving and well-being of persons, communities, institutions (like the church), and nations for nearly 50 years. Together, they have planted churches, experimented with new kinds of communities rooted in their Christian faith, and provided leadership, encouragement, and vison for social movements of love and kindness. We have found them to be ideally equipped to resource fresh thinking and to open the space for the work of love and inclusion. Roger and Sue, through their charity called “2mt" where "2mt" is two Mitchells (2m) who are following the way of Jesus to empty (mt) their lives in life-laid-down love, just as God empties himself of his power in order to embrace, partner, and collaborate with the Other.
More than 20 years ago, drawn to Mississauga by the Outpouring of the Spirit here in 1994, they promised to walk with us as we worked and prayed for the transformation of our cities and communities. Two decades on, they continue to be our primary mentors as we seek to be a transforming presence here in Mississauga. Roger is an evangelist, pastor, and political theologian obsessed (his word) with applying the politics of love to community situations. Sue is an educator, teacher, pastor, life-coach, and facilitator in the Art of Hosting. They live in Silverdale, UK, and until COVID, travelled regularly to Canada.
It is impossible to overestimate the impact and importance of a deep relational encounter with a love that loves through and beyond us and includes our enemies.
This is the kind of love that completes me but is not only about me. Without this, love has no authority. As Luke describes, Jesus was very clear about this “even sinners love those who love them” (Lk 6: 32). The love that overcomes the powers is not a self-centered love. It is a love that so affirms the identity and value of a human being that the whole of humanity is thereby affirmed. The story of Jesus affirms the existence of this kind of love. Roger Mitchell
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Jesus is well-known for his teaching of the ‘Beatitudes’, calling blessed those who mourn, who are hungry and thirsty, poor and despised. Clearly he is pointing to those not in positions of power and nothing to lose in the present system or social order, because another social order, or era, is about to dawn. His hearers can receive this new ‘kingdom’ with joy because they are not invested in the present, unjust and oppressive one. This hungering and thirsting is for righteousness, this poverty is of value and respect, this mourning is for the loss of the God-given image of humanity and creation where all live in peace and each has her own, rightly shared provision. Sue Mitchell
Michael Lafleur
We met Rev. Michael Lafleur through what has become known as the Toronto Blessing—a tangible outpouring of Spirit that began in 1994 in Mississauga. Denominational walls were coming down and pastors and Christian leaders were beginning to meet to talk and pray. Together we shared a love and passion for the city of Mississauga and were determined to be a blessing to all the families in this place.
At that time, Michael left the local Baptist congregation he was leading to “pastor” the City of Mississauga. It was an extraordinary act of commitment and faith. His gifts of networking leaders and churches, his ability to put faith into practice, his openness to the Sacred Presence of God in all people, situations, and places have been an enormous blessing and encouragement to us. Together we have partnered with Michael in city-wide Marches for Jesus, prayer events, conferences, and local and national reconciliation movements. Michael is a close friend, confidant, and pastor to this congregation. By the power and work of God, we share a reciprocal love, intimacy, and fellowship rooted in the Trinitarian relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He and his wife Mary live in Oakville.
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TrinityFlix is an initiative of The Infusion Network. Our core passion is to inspire, resource and encourage people everywhere to become fully alive by knowing the loving heart of the Father as revealed in the face of Jesus through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
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We are an organic, perichoretic community of friends and contributors from around the world, committed to recovering the ‘beautiful gospel’ of the Early Church as expressed in the Nicene Creed, and to exploring it’s implications for personal healing, relational wholeness, social justice and the thriving of all humanity.
Carolyn King, C.M.
Carolyn King is the first woman to be elected Chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (1997-1999), a business person, an educational specialist, a cross-cultural trainer, a community developer with the Mississaugas, a consultant with governments, colleges and universities, businesses and communities, and the author and developer of the Moccasin Identifier Project. She received the Order of Canada (C.M.) in 2020.
Over the years, Carolyn has become a good friend of Meadowvale and is considered an invaluable resource and partner for civic and community engagement alongside the Mississaugas. Members of the congregation have joined the Mississaugas on their reserve in Hagersville for their annual three-day Heritage event in February as well as their August Pow-wow. In 2019, as a sign of our friendship and partnership with Carolyn and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Meadowvale Church was given the “Mississaugas of the Credit Award.” This cultural and heritage award, sponsored by the Mississaugas themselves, is presented to any community that has demonstrated a commitment to awareness and preservation of the Mississaugas of the Credit culture, traditions, community and heritage.
As you enter the church building, you’ll notice two things. First, we have “moccasins” stenciled on the ground near the entrance. With Carolyn’s help, we painted these moccasins here to remind us that the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation are still here and are still stewarding this land entrusted to them by the Creator. Secondly, you’ll see a land acknowledgement over the foyer entrance—recognizing that “The Community CRC of Meadowvale is located on the treaty lands and territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.”
"If we, as First Nations people, don't get a marker on the ground today, we will be lost forever." - Carolyn King
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Dr. C. Baxter Kruger
Dr. C. Baxter Kruger, theologian, writer [and fishing lure designer] is the Director of Perichoresis Ministries. Baxter is a native of Prentiss, Mississippi. He and his wife Beth have been married for 30 years and have four children. A life long student of psychology, Baxter has degrees in political science, divinity, and earned his PhD.from Kings College, Aberdeen University in Aberdeen, Scotland under Professor James B. Torrance. He is the author of 8 books, including The Great Dance, Jesus and the Undoing of Adam and Across All Worlds, and recently the international bestseller, The Shack Revisited. He teaches around the world. He is an avid outdoorsman and holds two United States patents for his fishing lure designs. He is also the founder and President of Mediator Lures.
“The doctrine of the Trinity means that relationship, that fellowship, that togetherness and sharing, that self-giving and other-centeredness are not afterthoughts with God, but the deepest truth about the being of God. The Father is not consumed with Himself; He loves the Son and the Spirit. And the Son is not riddled with narcissism; he loves his Father and the Spirit. And the Spirit is not preoccupied with herself and her own glory; the Spirit loves the Father and the Son. Giving, not taking; other-centeredness, not self-centeredness; sharing, not hoarding are what fire the rockets of God and lie at the very center of God’s existence as Father, Son and Spirit.” Baxter Kruger
Brad and Eden Jersak
Brad Jersak is an author and teacher based in Abbotsford, BC. He the Dean of Theology and Culture for St. Stephens University and serves as a reader and monastery preacher at All Saints of North America Orthodox Monastery.
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Through his books and seminars, Brad shares the good news that God is Love, perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ. He teaches others how to encounter God through the practice of ”listening prayer,” through which God’s love heals wounded hearts and empowers us to heal this broken world.
Brad Jersak’s foundational book, "Can You Hear Me? Tuning in to the God who Speaks" trains readers in the ways of “Listening Prayer.” This book provides biblical teaching and 33 practical exercises for discerning God’s voice.
“So while God in his fullness is far beyond our comprehension, who God is can be known through the revelation of the Cross, by which we mean cruciform love, by ‘laying down his life.’ Love is not merely one of God’s attributes. Love is who God is in his very nature. God is Love in a way that exceeds character qualities. God is living love.” Brad Jersak
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Eden is a pastor, teacher and writer who is a member of the leadership team of The Bridge Church in Abbotsford BC. Eden co-authored “Rivers from Eden: 40 days of Intimate Conversation with God” with her husband Brad. She loves to encourage, build up, and cheer others along in their journey of understanding their authentic self.
“What we’re trying to do, or what I want us to be doing is to be giving each other permission to actually just do the things that we’re really good at, that we love, that make us tick. It’s really important in this to be aware of your essential self- who you are at the core. And to be aware of what you have to offer, so that you can offer that and you don’t get stuck in all the other stuff that people are expecting...you discover more things about yourself along the way.” –Eden Jersak
Wm. Paul Young
William Paul Young was born in Canada and raised by his missionary parents in the highlands of former New Guinea. He suffered great loss as a child and young adult and now enjoys the “wastefulness of grace” with his family in the Pacific Northwest. He is the author of Lies We Believe About God and the New York Times bestsellers The Shack, Cross Roads, and Eve.
“I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughter of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved.” Jesus
― Wm. Paul Young, The Shack