30 May General Conference: Day 1 Ends in Guelph

Day 1 of General Conference including hearing reports from every national conference except for the United States (they went in alphabetical order; the US will begin the day o Thursday). In the afternoon, the delegates took an excursion to Doon Village, an old village in Kitchener.

The day ended with a worship service at Parkwood Gardens UB church in Guelph, Ontario. This is the church pastored by Brian Magnus, bishop of the UB Church in Canada.

For a Wednesday night, they turned out quite a crowd, pretty much filling the sanctuary. The service included:

• The Parkwood Gardens worship team (with Bishop Magnus playing bass and his wife, Lynette, singing) led the crowd through a number of worship songs.
• Bishop Magnus introduced all of the international delegates and guests, bringing them to the platform and having prayer for them.
• A Vietnamese congregation started at Parkwood Gardens at the end of 2012. A number of them were present, and they were recognized.
• Yiu Kin Keung, superintendent of Hong Kong Conference, preached. It was his first time ever preaching in English. As Bishop Phil Whipple wrote on Facebook, “He hit a home run.”
• A dessert reception was held after the service in the downstairs fellowship hall, with way too much sugar present. The Vietnamese congregation had their own table of goodies, including some amazing egg rolls.