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VIDEO: North Delta churches come together for Easter

‘Gathering together like this is declaring to our community that we are together’

It’s Friday, and a day of both remembrance and celebration for Delta Church’s lead pastor, Jeff Beck.

His congregation is sitting in the pews at the church, preparing to remember a sacrifice that is a key part of their identity as Christians. But it’s not just Beck’s congregation that has come to the church. Six other congregations have come as well, all ready to join together in worship and praise.

“Obviously, it’s focusing on Good Friday, when Jesus was tried, tortured and killed,” Beck said about the Friday service. “We believe he represented us, and willingly gave himself up to represent humanity.

“All Christian churches, while the form of gathering together to worship would look differently, we all agree on that,” he continued. “So … gathering together like this is declaring to our community that we are together. We are all part of something that we believe God is doing on this planet.”

Beck has been a pastor at Delta Church since 2001, and has been a part of North Delta’s joint Easter service since it started over a decade ago.

For the first few years, the service was held at Delta Church, located next to Burnsview Secondary on 112 Street. But by the fifth year, the service had grown so much it couldn’t fit in the local church and had to be moved to the North Delta Secondary.

The service stayed at North Delta Secondary for six years, but recently the number of churches that are been involved has declined.

“Nobody’s under any obligation to join us,” Beck said.

This year, seven congregations came together for the service: Delta Church, the Fijian Pentecostal Church, Sunshine Ridge Baptist Church, New Hope Christian Church, Community of Hope, Sunshine Hills Chinese Pentecostal Church and St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church.

The churches are from different denominations of Christianity and represent different ethnic groups — and for Beck, that’s one of the key parts of the service.

“We aren’t divided,” he said. “You know how there are different restaurants? There are different churches. And they all have probably a bit of a different type of philosophy in terms of what our music sounds like and how we do things, but generally we agree on a great deal.”

Although North Delta isn’t the only community in the Lower Mainland to host joint Good Friday services, it does have one of the longest lasting events.

“The ministerial that we have in North Delta is pretty unique,” Beck said about the community of churches. “We’re good friends. While pastors will change, or tend to change, we have a vibe to it that new folk who are coming in … feel right at home.”



grace.kennedy@northdeltareporter.com

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Delta’s Fijian Pentecostal Church shared a song during the joint Good Friday service at Delta Church on Friday, March 30, 2018. (Grace Kennedy photo)