Editorials

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Never The Same Old Same Old

Celebrating Resurrection Sunday In a few days from the time of writing, Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday will be marked by Christians worldwide. Pentecost Sunday will follow 50 days later. Many will observe these commemorative days out of routine or even obligation, but for many more, their meaning in 2026—as it has been for centuries—remains clear and respected. Whatever is happening with us personally, we are reminded every calendar year of the central purpose for which w...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS What Could Be: For Our Sons and Daughters

Those in the picture look towards us with a mix of puzzlement, warmth, wonder and anticipation. Six are members of the Nielsen family, and the young man on the right is Jakob Thomsen Dam. Jakob, raised on the farm “Nygaard,” near Hover, Denmark, had been dating Marianne Nielsen, the woman next to him. Marianne’s brother, Mads, his wife, Kate, and their three sons, Borje, Gunnar and Harry, were beginning the great journey that many had taken post World War I. They wer...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Reflections for a New Year

Jesus’s First Words in the Gospels In its nearly 40-year history, Barna Group has conducted more than two million interviews over the course of thousands of studies, and has become a go-to source for insights about faith and culture, leadership “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22). This promise has stood the test of time, with God continuing to sustain the universe by His Word (Hebr...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS The Roots of Truth: The Nicene Creed

In 2025, within multiple Christian communions, there was a strong focus on the 1,700th anniversary of the process and church councils that led to the Nicene Creed, a shared statement of faith that could be adopted by the various branches of the church at that time. The Nicene Creed was initially created at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325, with further revision at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381, when the clause related to the divinity of the Holy Spirit was finalized. The fel...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Technology and Mission

A Multi-generational Call to Relationship In its nearly 40-year history, Barna Group has conducted more than two million interviews over the course of thousands of studies, and has become a go-to source for insights about faith and culture, leadership and vocation, and generations.1 They have defined a future-focused church as one that not only envisions where it wants to go but actively engages its congregation, particularly the next generation, in shaping that future.2 Professor Christi...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS A Great Life

Testimonies are a valued means for followers of Jesus to communicate God’s goodness in their lives. Christian communities often use a variety of platforms to share their stories of faith. Many memories come to mind of “testimony time” within the Sunday night services I attended as a youth. Diverse experiences were shared—from deliverance from things that bound a person to the joy of God’s provision in a moment of need. I somewhat miss this pattern in our services, ...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Grace and Glory

Holding Space for the Ultimate Goal In tracking the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, we can see our Creator’s intentionality behind His design for us and our lives. No matter who we are or the circumstances we face, we can continually refocus on His promises for us and have peace as we consider His thoughts about our future—there is always hope when He is in it. In the beginning, He said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS Affirming the Value of Leadership

Leadership is a given dimension of our lives, whether in government, family, church, sports, work, or multiple other contexts. We all have opinions on what makes for good leadership and decide which leaders to follow or not follow, including who we vote for, who we work for, who we cheer for, and who we worship with. Followers of Jesus recognize that the qualities of leadership we are to emulate are rooted in the One who created us, who, by His will, delegates those who will lead in a way consi...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS The Randomness of Sovereignty

I am currently on a journey that many people go on annually. This adventure involves reading the entire Bible during the calendar year. As you read it chronologically, one has a heavy initial engagement with Genesis, Exodus and Job. Pondering the purposes of God and studying His involvement with Job, Abraham and Isaac, Moses, and others, has, once again, stirred up the marvel I experience at what I call “The Randomness of Sovereignty.” This is not a disrespectful nor theologically a...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE A Brighter Day

God’s Heart for Today and Tomorrow There is no greater joy in day-to-day life than sharing the truth about who Jesus is with someone who has shown an interest in hearing it. Sometimes, the opportunity may come about through a series of direct questions in a spontaneous conversation and at other times through a clear Spirit-led moment that may have been years in the making. In this season, we celebrate Jesus’s life and His obedience in laying down His life for us and rising again so t...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS Focus, Fasting and “Infobesity”

GS CHECK-IN | A WORD FROM OUR GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT, DAVID WELLS “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). Like never before, denying yourself is countercultural. The Christian understanding of self is that our full potential is realized as we focus our devotion on Jesus and live...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE A Faith of Substance

Jesus’s Promises Will Endure A Christian music class participant once asked me: “Miss, how did you keep your commitment to Jesus over a long period of time?” I didn’t have to think very long about the answer. “I really don’t feel like I can take any of the credit. At all the right times, He always came along to encourage me, and I took to heart whatever He said or did and discerned Him leading me in the right direction.” I described that I would often co...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Cycles and Seasons

Trusting God’s Word to see us through “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. …The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:6b, 8). “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). The cycles or seasons of human life are familiar to us: birth, infancy, childhood, ...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS The “EveryOne” Trajectory – From Vision to Reality

Call them dreams, call them inspired ideas, call them visions—people, especially in leadership, tend to have a number of end results they would like to see become reality. I know I do! The inevitable challenge is that for the desired vision to be fulfilled, there are essential steps of faith, obedience and sacrifice that need to be taken. This is clearly seen as we continue to pursue our shared mission as a Fellowship including our call to “EveryOne.” A reminder that the PAOC, ...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS Foundations: Who We Are

On May 14, 2024, I was humbled that in our biennial General Conference business meeting, I was elected to serve another four-year term as general superintendent of The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC). Susan and I are very grateful for our Fellowship’s confidence and loving, prayerful support. In a future article, I will reiterate the areas of vision I continue to share with our various leadership groups within the PAOC. In this article, I share from a clear conviction that we need...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE God Uses Everything

Taking our places in God’s plan for our times A recent issue of Faith Today summarizing faith trends featured a Wycliffe College study of Canadian adult converts to Christianity. The study noted the pathways they took on the way to conversion and how believers helped them get there. Thirty-nine per cent of respondents described their conversion as a process with no single moment of conversion, and 38 per cent as a process with a specific turning point.1 For those who said it was a process,...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE The Power of Story

Sharing our testimonies about Jesus As a believer, how often do you share your testimony of meeting Jesus? Do you feel that it is compelling? Or do you feel that it is underwhelming compared to what you’ve heard from others? How often do you experience God’s activity in a way that causes such excitement that you need to share it with others? We can never underestimate the power of story in the hearts and minds of those around us—particularly narratives where God’s involv...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS The Next Obedient Step

There are ideals that each of us would long to see realized personally, in our relationships or the life of the church. A decision must be made regarding what the next step will be to address the gap between our ideal and the current reality we see. Do I let it go and give up? Do I grow cynical and critical, continually pointing out the gap with angst and perhaps anger? A response I have felt called to make when I face the gap between the ideal and the real is to take the next obedient step the...

From the Editor STACEY MCKENZIE Trauma and the Mission Field

Getting to know ourselves and our neighbours Another year has begun with reminders everywhere that creation groans for the return of Jesus, our Saviour (Romans 8:22). Diane Langberg, globally recognized for her work with victims of trauma, suggests that “the trauma of this world is one of the primary mission fields of the twenty-first century.”1 Her encouragement to us as God’s people is for each of us to dig deeper into the heart of the Saviour, allowing Him to shine His ligh...

From our General Superintendent DAVID WELLS Show Me Your Glory – Presence and Purpose

Divine purpose and calling are a strong focus for our family of churches and ministries at this time. Without called people—volunteer or credentialed—the mission we have been given as God’s people will not be accomplished. We are “The Called Ones” who only demonstrate the Lord’s greatness, love and grace when we align with His purposes. How we respond as a church or ministry—individual or family—when confronted by a major setback will inevitably d...