Fresh vision revives evangelism ministry
REGINA, SK—After a period of discernment during which board members considered closing the ministry down, Canadian Revival Fellowship (CRF) is moving forward with a renewed vision to train and equip church leaders.
This past March, CRF leadership moved into a new building in Regina. With the move comes a change in focus from solely existing to support CRF ministry teams, to being a multi-faceted ministry involved in leadership training, discipleship training, church planting and counselling.
"The ministry's more multifaceted [now] in that it's providing a place and a venue for church leaders and planters to be trained in various things," says Blair Allen, 37, who was appointed executive director of CRF in March.
"At the heart of what we're about is Jesus," he adds. "We want to equip pastors and church leaders to grow ... in light of who God is. We want to see the gospel go forth, so we want to help in any way we can to serve, equip, empower and inspire people to be gospel-focused leaders."
The change in direction comes after CRF's board asked its membership to submit proposals outlining how the organization might best move forward. Allen, who has been involved with the organization in some capacity since 1997, submitted a proposal titled, "Faithful Past, Faithful Future," which outlined ways in which the organization could build on its history of evangelism to reach a new generation.
The CRF was established in the early 1970s to support ministry teams that formed in response to the revival that spread across Saskatchewan at the time. At its peak, the CRF supported approximately 20 teams. Today, there are seven. Most are based in Saskatchewan, but there are also teams in Quebec, the United States and Honduras.
Allen says the CRF members he has spoken to are excited about the renewed interest in the organization.
"That's been a real encouragement to us as we've stepped in," he says. "There's a lot of work to do, but we are just really overjoyed by the response so far."
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