HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-05-02, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019.
Non-denominational
church moves ahead
Continued from page 9
church become long-term parts of
London, saying he wants to start the
church and pastor it for as long as he
can.
“I want to be in one place,” he
said. “I think that consistency
matters. Relationships aren’t quick,
and I think, when you move to a new
city, it can be easy to have people
perceive that you’re coming, then
moving on to something else. Our
commitment, however, is to our
family and to this city.”
The church, in what’s called the
100 for 100 program, is aiming to
raise $100,000 to launch. ARC
Churches, which has created
approximately 90 churches in the
US and 19 in Ontario, will match the
first $50,000, dollar for dollar,
giving the organization $150,000
when it starts.
The name for the program comes
from the fact that, in London, there
are over 100,000 people without a
religious affiliation in the
community, or 29.9 per cent of the
population. So that $100,000 is
being raised to bring Jesus to those
100,000 people who have no
religious affiliation.
Fromm is a graduate of Central
Huron Secondary School (CHSS)
who studied graphic design at York
University. Some time later, he
travelled to Calgary to obtain his
Masters of Art, in Leadership and
Ministry at Ambrose University and
Seminary.
His educational experiences and
his experiences with faith led him to
believe that this church is a way to
overcome some of the challenges
that more traditional denominations
face regularly.
“I’ve been part of the
denominational world, and I think
there are some great things about it,”
he said. “Denominations can have a
lot of baggage, though.
“[Being non-denominational
Christian] is an intentional
decision,” he said. “That’s not the
most important part of the church.
We wanted to emphasize what is
actually the most important thing,
and that would be Jesus.”
Even the name of the church is
meant to focus on what people can
do when they work together despite
differences.
“A collective is a group of
individuals with a common
purpose,” Fromm said, saying he
wants to respect the uniqueness in
everyone. “The traditional church
world pursues uniformity, but we
need to pursue unity.”
Fromm said everyone at the
church doesn’t need to look or
behave the same way, but only
acknowledge there is a great
purpose.
“Who we are, uniquely, is
necessary,” he said. “We need to be
united around a common purpose,
not common behaviours,
necessarily.”
Looking back, Fromm said he had
no idea he would be starting a
church, but much of what he learned
in his childhood has helped him
realize he can achieve this dream.
“There have been some
entrepreneurial patterns in my life
where I have started things or built
things, and that all started with a
vision,” he said. “I think, for me,
when I was in high school, I had a
vision of what the church could be
and how it would be different from
what it was.”
He said watching the church his
dad was growing and the challenges
there definitely highlighted the need
to be part of a bigger, well-
established organization like ARC,
but even with it, there is some
hesitancy.
“This isn’t something easy, or safe
to do,” he said. “But I have realized
[creating this church] is what I’m
built to do.”
Some of that surety comes from
CHSS, Fromm said.
“I just imagined how things could
be,” he said. “I’ve always been
drawn to creative expression and
imagining what wasn’t and then
making it happen.”
Fromm pointed to retired teacher
Stephen Oliver and the impact he
had on Fromm’s belief that he could
create whatever he imagined.
“Whether it was doing the [now
defunct] Imago Film Festival or
coffee houses at the school, I
realized I could imagine things,
work my butt off and make it
happen,” he said. “Mr. Oliver had a
profound impact on me, showing me
that I could accomplish what I
imagine in my head.”
For more information on
Collective Church, visit it online at
collectivechurch.ca or e-mail
tyler@collectivechurch.ca.
Continued from page 1
squads, with KCI A bouncing back
after their loss to Madill to win the
consolation game by besting St.
Anne’s Catholic Secondary School
in a one-sided 30-5 victory.
MacDonald said Madill showed
promise throughout the tournament
after having trouble in the Blackswans
Invitational on April 18 in Stratford.
“We had two games in that
tournament and we lost both, but it
was a big learning curve,” she said,
explaining that some of the rookies
on her team were seeing a
competitive rugby game for the first
time when in Stratford. “There was a
big improvement at the Dinning
tournament, and the players were
getting better every game.”
The win was a good note on which
to start the regular rugby season,
McDonald said, explaining that two
days after the tournament, on April
26, Madill’s squads, including the
Junior Boys, Senior Boys and Girls
teams, were set to take on St.
Michael’s again.
“I’m sure they were looking for a
win,” she said. “There will be some
tight competition for the season.”
Madill player Lane Edgar won the
MVP plaque for the tournament and
the championship plaque was
presented to Madill’s captain,
Spencer Logan.
Hail Mary
F.E. Madill School’s Peter Jakobsen wasn’t going to let a little thing like being tackled by a St.
Michael’s Catholic Secondary School student stop him from making a pass during the final
game of the Matthew Dinning Memorial Cup tournament last week in Wingham. Madill claimed
victory and the trophy, winning the match 19-0. (Denny Scott photo)
Continued from page 1
that information during a meeting
with local CAs months ago, Beard
said, and he and fellow professionals
felt they were on the right path.
“After our meeting with the MPPs,
we felt we were fitting our mandate
and what we were doing was
important,” he said. “The fact that
stewardship is not mandatory is
surprising.”
Beard also didn’t want the
reduction in flood prevention
funding discounted, saying that the
authority previously received
$70,556 for flood prevention and
will now receive $36,464, which
will make budgetting difficult.
When asked if any of the changes
made were beneficial from the
MVCA’s point of view, Beard said
that there wasn’t much.
“We can put stop-work orders out
when people aren’t following the
rules,” he said. “But we’ve only had
two court cases in 30 years, so that’s
not a big deal.”
In an interview with The Citizen
last Friday, Thompson said that she
would put Huron-Bruce first and
forward the concerns of the CAs and
residents to Phillips.
“As the local MPP for Huron-
Bruce, I’m proud for the type of
example the MVCA sets,” she said.
“We have good conservation
authorities in Huron-Bruce, and I’m
going to be willing to take their
voice back to Minister Philips.”
Thompson said that any current
stewardship commitments will be
honoured, but that cuts and changes
will aim to streamline their roles.
“As far as stewardship goes, I
want to clarify, we’re all on the same
page,” she said. “The conservation
authorities play a very important
role.”
Thompson also said that the cuts
to funding revolving around flood
issues may still change as a result of
the comment period following the
budget announcement.
“Premier [Doug] Ford is in Ottawa
this morning,” she said on Friday.
“He is experiencing first-hand what
those communities are facing
with floods and how they create
crises.”
She said the awareness for the
need for flood prevention and
awareness is being heightened as a
result of natural disasters.
Thompson welcomes comments
Madill starts season with trophy
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