September 23rdPastoral Highlight
Bob Boehr - Living Hope Christian Fellowship
5 Fun Facts about Bob:
1. Last name is pronounced Bear or Bare, which meant that in elementary school when I got my report card, they called up ‘Bare’, Bobby.
2. In the 80’s I attended CBC and spent summers as a counsellor at Camp Squeah where my nickname was Big Bad Bob Boehr from Beautiful Burnaby British Columbia (if you know, you know).
3. In 1993, I first met my wife Shannon on the MCBC Young Adult mission trip to Kenya but only started dating 13 years later.
4. At the age of 40, I got married, accepted a job as a youth pastor, and moved to our home in North Delta.
5. In 2028, Shannon and I are tentatively planning to go back to Kenya for our 20th Anniversary.
Ministry Update:
In August, we had a combined service with the church down the road, and I introduced myself as the New Old Pastor at Living Hope.
I am old because I was here when the church was planted in 1994, was called as youth pastor in 2008, shifted to Associate pastor in 2017 and was called elsewhere in 2019. Many of the people, programs and things I temporarily nailed to the wall are still here. Old is comfortable and reliable.
I am also new because the neighbourhood has continued to change, many of my youth have had to leave and move into the valley because they cannot afford housing here, and some of the things I go looking for have been thrown out 5 years ago.
Isaiah 43:19a says, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” Two months into my new season at Living Hope, I am trying to balance the old and the new. In August, we held our summer VBS camp and had 55 kids and 30 volunteers, many of which are not from our church (we had more attend VBS than attended the August long weekend Sunday service). In September, we held our 31st annual Family Fun Day where there were over 100 people milling around our property. Almost half were families from the neighbourhood. These are old events that still impact our community.
This season we are beginning a teaching series on “God Speaks” as we look into the times where the Lord speaks directly to people like Abraham, Moses, Samuel and Elijah to name a few. We want to hear what He says, understand what He means, recognize the voices that speak contrary to his voice, discover what that reveals about God’s character and ultimately learn to walk in obedience to his voice. We trust he will show us what ‘new thing’ he has for us and give us the courage to move forward.
-Bob