Briercrest College and Seminary's academic building buzzed with anticipation as over 400 conference attendees waited to hear from keynote speaker Bruxy Cavey (the teaching pastor of the Meeting House in Toronto), Briercrest professors, and other guest speakers on matters of theology and church ministry at SERVE 2008 last weekend.

After a worshipful welcome from Briercrest's a capella group Resonant, Cavey opened the first main session by saying, "The mark of a Spirit-filled church is that they are jazzed about Jesus."

Though many participants came for new and updated ideas for ministry, Cavey focused on the timeless message of the gospel, saying that "the gospel is the good news message that God became one of us, to show us love, to save us from sin, to shut down religion and to set up His kingdom."

In between main sessions, SERVE attendees participated in four workshops of their choice in children's, youth, men's, women's, or general church ministry. Whether attending a workshop on church audio and technology or on preaching a sermon from the Old Testament, the purpose of the weekend was evident--to teach the Scriptures and serve the church. As Cavey put it, "[Church] community is the steward of the word of God."

As one attendee said of the conference, "SERVE '08 was a blessing and [an] encouragement to me, challenging and equipping me to work toward new goals in ministry."

Olivia Plouffe, current student