Over 500 attendees joined us in Banff or online for a time of refreshing, renewal and restoring. Every session was inspiring, challenging, and a reminder that none of us do this alone, we are Together. Check out how to playback the sessions.

We are now almost two years into a global pandemic. To say that vocational leaders are tired and discouraged would be a colossal understatement. On the front end of it, most seemed to quickly acknowledge, “this isn’t going to be a sprint, we’re going to have to lace up for a marathon.” And pastors did just that.

2021 has been an exhausting season for many. I don’t know about you but I don’t feel like I have too much gas left in the tank for 2022. It’s tough to prepare mentally for a new season when you feel the light at the end of the tunnel is growing dim.

Are you going on vacation this summer? You had better be. If I hear you haven’t, expect a visit from me. Here are some pointers for making it a memorable and refreshing getaway.

What’s your best shot at staying passionate about God’s call on your life? How can you sustain energy to fulfill God’s purposes for you and your congregation? How about a life-giving relationship with a cohort of leaders, who are in step or one step ahead of you? Our aim in the ABNWT is to develop a legion of leaders whose sole focus is to obey the Great Commission, lead prevailing, relentlessly, outbound churches, and raise up the next generation of adaptive pastors.

A prescription for perseverence

Pastor Joachim Chisanga is one of the millions of people on the move for reasons benign and tragic. He misses the warmer, free, expressive climate and worship in southern Africa but he has adapted to southern Alberta. His perspective on adapting to change and leading outbound, adaptive change is informative.

Have you noticed? ABNWT pastors are gritty. You’ve combined passion and perseverance to find a way through the adversity, trauma, and threats of a pandemic. Resilience is what gives grit its elasticity, which is why RESILIENT is a good choice for the word of the year in 2021.

This Christmas will be unlike any other in your lifetime. That's why putting resilience on the top of your gift list serves you well. Resilience is not reliant on the comfort of explanations but the courage from God’s presence in the deepest dark.

Four essential ingredients to self-care.

There are a lot of factors that cause pastors to lose the passion for their calling. Pastors start out fired up and end up burning out. COVID hasn't helped. There is one simple switch that can keep pastors on fire for God.

A pandemic and sociological upheaval leave pastors facing increased threats to their relationships and longevity. Some of longest serving pastors of many of the most vibrant churches in Canada, share 12 qualities of resilient leaders.

The question becomes, “if I have to leave forever in 4 weeks, who in this church/ministry will take over the leadership?” Whether you know the answer to that or not, here are 9 ways you can begin to develop leaders in your church starting today.

During these times, our mental health is tested. It’s important for us to stay mentally strong so we can serve those around us. Here are eight things mentally strong people do every day.

Adrenaline Fatigue is a real danger for leaders who have been working in high stress circumstances.

While the following tips may seem to be simplistic and obvious, they are the very things many pastors neglect.

If we wish to continue rotating on an even keel, the three components of our life, Physical, Emotional and Spiritual must rotate in balance and harmony. Any one of them, under or over-weighted, can throw us into a state of dis-equilibration.

A series of hardships in ministry such as cancer, members leaving, and the inability to grow as a church left me feeling bruised and beaten. My frustration was compounded because I thought I knew what we needed to do, only to find there was little fruit to show for it. I thought I was a good pastor, but I could not figure out what needed to happen to get us where we needed to go.