Central Abbotsford

A couple of weeks ago, I previewed a new newsletter segment called “Know Your CA Family”, and I am happy to introduce our first respondent! Please enjoy the answers provided by our own Doug Gardham, as you get to know a member of your CA family!

 

1. What does your day-to-day life look like?

 

DOUG: My day-to-day is a mixture of a number of things. I’m usually gearing up for and scheduling my podcast (Better Than Not), getting guests, and promoting it. I am also reading a number of books: the Bible, and almost daily something about the history of Christianity; lately, I’ve been going through Dominion by Tom Holland and The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez, which are fascinating reads. Though I am finding it tough to read as much as I want to. 

 

With Better Than Not, it takes more and more time to promote. I don’t sit down with a to-do list anymore. I just feel like God’s leading me where to go, and I’m trying to listen. That’s the hard part. You [Eric] have also given me the direction to lead at Men’s Bible study, so I spend a fair bit more time doing that.

 

2. How did you come to faith in Jesus?

 

I’ve always believed in God. I was raised in the Anglican Church, but I don’t think I got an understanding of what the gospel really was about until we moved out to Abbotsford. It started when I left the corporate world. I was writing full-time, and I landed on the Bible series from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, and was seeing the Abraham story, and just how, for whatever reason, it kind of dawned on me that, like, that’s really messed up. And Abraham was told to have faith. He was going to have descendants that covered the earth, and then Sarah is going to solve that by providing him Hagar, and in the context of the times, that’s how you would get your descendants. But the fact was he had been told he would have descendants, and he didn’t have faith enough to do that. And then he had a second chance because he was then asked to sacrifice Isaac, his son. And he didn’t, even though he demonstrated that he would do it. So that’s really what started it. I went through a number of phases; it wasn’t just a sudden thing.

 

Jordan Peterson was a signpost with his “Maps of Meaning” series and his Bible stories (an amazing series to watch). Then I went back into history with things like Graham Hancock and his book Fingerprints of the Gods. I got fascinated with history again. And then we moved out here [Abbotsford], and that really shifted things for me. I started to read the Bible on a regular basis. We started to attend Northview. We attended a care group. The care group alone blew my mind, and it still does in many ways. It’s like couples counseling. Then God came to me and said, “it’s time for you to be baptized”. And so I was baptized at Central Abbotsford. And I haven’t really looked back. 

 

I will tell you another thing, and this is where sometimes God has mysterious ways of working. One day [lead pastor] Mark [Burch] said “you should be ashamed if you’re not serving in the church”. I got super mad at that statement. I did not like it at all. That was the same weekend I started to serve, and I pretty much serve every weekend now. So I don’t know what that’s all about, but that’s kind of how I came to Christ. 

 

3. Has there been anyone (or more than one person) who has been a big influence on you in any aspect of your life?

 

I have to credit my wife, Laura. She is the emotionally smartest person I know. I love her dearly; she’s a gift from God. She’s just provided so much for me. 

 

I’ve gotten to know many of the pastors here at Northview, and have especially been influenced by many of the friends from our care groups, especially because we didn’t know anyone when we came to Abbotsford.

 

I will add that my kids are also major factors! My son, Zach, who introduced me to most of the stuff I pay attention to. And my daughter Sam was really instrumental. She came out here to go to Bible school in 2011. She’s kind of what got us out here. She was the one that gave me the Bible series – her and her husband, Johnny. Sam and Zach have both been enormous influences on me. I can’t believe what you learn from your kids.

 

I put my parents in there, too. They’ve always been there. For better or worse, they’ve been consistent. I’m very fortunate that they’re still alive. And, since coming out here, I’ve also been connected with my brother and sister; we have come together in a staggering way that I never expected; my brother is one of my best friends now, and I could never have said that before. 

 

4. How long have you been attending Central Abbotsford?

 

Since it first opened during the pandemic – about five years now.

 

5. Why did you first come to Central Abbotsford?

 

We really liked the local feel to it. The first time we were there, we met someone. I think it was Jim and Irene. One of the things about going to the Downes Road Campus was (and I liked this before) you can be anonymous. You can go in at the last moment, literally as the worship would start, and you find a seat. You go through the worship, and the sermon, and then you can leave quickly and be out and not actually meet anybody. For whatever reason, there was something about that, that at one time, appealed to me. I think being in the corporate world probably did it, because in the corporate world, you’re going from meeting to meeting, meeting to meeting, meeting to meeting. You are always with people. 

 

6. Why have you stayed at CA?

 

Because we just continually meet new people there. Part of it, I think, is serving; that’s why we will continue there. I’d love to see it grow as we continue to attend. It’s the community – I never realized how important people are to us. Like, I think the pandemic really demonstrated it, but the community of the church gives you that. 

 

As a kid, I looked forward to Hockey Night In Canada on Saturday nights. Now I look forward to going to Central Abby on Saturday night, serving, seeing the different people. Whether it be greeting, ushering, or the Connect Desk… all those things are just fun and you start to meet people that you hadn’t anticipated meeting. 

 

Also, I connected with you [Eric] very early and was fascinated by your story, because, in a sense, there was a connection in leaving one thing to go to another. So yours was the law, then going to God. Mine was engineering science, going into writing in the creative world. And I could get a sense of what that is. 

 

7. What do you do for fun?

 

Laura might argue that I don’t know how to have fun, but I kind of paraphrase the Mark Twain quote: “If you can make your vocation a vacation, you win.” I get to do what I think I’m supposed to be doing. And that’s a kind of neat thing to do, which I would not have anticipated even five years ago. 

 

8. Tell us a thing or two about you that might come as a surprise to others!

 

I really like heavy metal; really, music in many ways. I’m a big Rush and a big Korn fan; a big Tool fan.

 

9. What is one question you have for me?

 

I had a lot of questions for you that we talked about on our podcast! You can find a link to it here!