The account of how the Brampton Ecclesia on Ontario succeeded with their seminar experience was covered in the Special Issue on Preaching, August 2011. Their seminars began on September 19, 1995, with their first Seminar on “Learn to Read the Bible Effectively.” As Bro. and Sis. McKay report, through the grace of our Lord, a wonderful and exciting new experience in presenting the Word of God was suddenly opened up to us. From that point forward, we have been generously blessed by our Heavenly Father, not only in the opportunity to proclaim His Word, but in the Spiritual well-being, vitality, and fellowship within our Ecclesia. To date, approximately half of our members have been baptized as a direct result of our efforts in this area, for which we fell greatly blessed.
Recent update
In the fall of 2013, the Brampton Ecclesia began the presentation of the 18th year of consecutive seminars, based on “Learn to Read the Bible Effectively”. Once again, the LORD extended His blessing upon our efforts. In response to the two advertisements placed in our local weekly paper, we received 83 registrations, and of these, 51 attended classes on the first evening.
Our series of Seminars consist of
- Learn to Read the Bible Effectively (Six week course)
- The Book of Genesis (six week course)
- The Life of Christ (8 week course)
- The Acts of the Apostles (8 week course).
At present, in addition to attending the weekly seminar evenings, 13 students are now regularly attending the Wednesday evening, “Be Ready” classes in our home. Of these 6 are now beginning to join us at our Sunday morning service.
As in earlier years, many of our previous students, who are now baptized, attend the “Be Ready” classes each week, providing support and encouragement to the new searching hearts.
The consistent response to these seminars continues to generate enthusiasm and excitement among the members of our Ecclesia, emphasizing to us that the seminar approach to presenting the Word of Truth still provides a viable method of preaching in our local community.
We feel the most important principles to follow in our seminars is:
- Be true to your word. The most singular common comment made by those who now freely discuss first principles with us, is that we gained their respect by staying true to our promise that we would not overtly attempt to convert them. Awareness of error developed of its own accord as true knowledge of the Word was established.
- Involvement. We keep all the brethren and sisters of the Ecclesia informed and involved as the seminar’s progress.
In God’s grace, based on such response, the members of the Brampton Ecclesia feel obligated to continue in these efforts each year, as long as the Lord demonstrates His blessing upon this work.
In the meantime, in addition to thanking our Father for this blessing, we are thankful to Him for the great blessing we have in the members of the Simi Hills Ecclesia, and the Williamsburg Foundation, who enable us financially as partners in the Lord in presenting this service before Him each year.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One