Nov 1999
 
Next Wave: www.next-wave.org: November 1999
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Waves Logo Fluid In Motion
A Profile of Waves Church (1/7)
 
Richmond, BC, Canada
Imagine... walking into a church service, and hearing the pastor tell the congregation to "wait a second" while he orders a drink in the middle of his three-point sermon. Sound far-fetched? Think again. Waves Church takes place in a Bubble Tea House -- an ultra trendy and youthful Asian-Canadian equivalent of the western coffee bar -- and while pausing during a preaching session, Pastor Dann Pantoja, DID order a Bubble Tea drink! 

 

Bubble Tea

The very popular Bubble Tea drink, originally an import from Asia, has steroid-injected tapioca balls, and its diverse flavors range from coffee, passion fruit and ice-cream shakes.

Walking into a service at Waves Church is a like a voyage into unchartered waters. Words like ‘BiComm,’ ‘H&H,’ ‘Waves Coaching Team’ and ‘TsunamiSunday’ are cutting edge terms for Biblical communication or a sermon, a hug and hello or greetings, pastors are ‘coaches’ and TsunamiSunday stands for Sunday service. To make TsunamiSundays more interactive, the Waves Coaching Team sometimes uses LCD projectors or computer presentations to illustrate sermon points with animation. Often their worship lyrics are printed straight from their Web site on to transparencies, complete with hyperlinks and graphics -- all adding to a more engaging service. After BiComm, people huddle into groups to discuss a relevant question or a picture that corresponds to the message, and pray together. The service ends with announcements, offering and a closing song. Informal fellowship takes place naturally as people chat around tables.

Not only does this Richmond, church-plant in the Greater Vancouver region envision to reach the generation of people aged 14 years to the twenty-somethings, or known as Generation-Y, they are also targeting an under-churched population of Asian-Canadians. "We wanted it to be Asian-Canadian based because that’s who we are, and then branch out from there and address the issues of the future, which we call postmodern issues," Dann said.

Surf with me and catch a glimpse into this innovative, inter-generational, multicultural ministry geared to reaching Asian-Canadians in the context of their culture.

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