Grace Brethren pastors, leaders, and church members from around the world are descending upon Toronto this week for Margins|2016, the national conference of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, which begins tonight. It continues through Monday afternoon at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel.

The conference marks 20 years since a group of young church planters were commissioned at another national conference, also in Toronto, to begin a new Grace Brethren church in the metro area. That effort has blossomed into GBCanada, a network of Grace Brethren churches in the country.

Registration begins at 1 p.m. today. The first event of the conference occurs when conference participants head to nearby Rogers Centre to see the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Seattle Mariners.

Also today, the Fellowship Council, the board that oversees many of the functions of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, is meeting. A gathering of young church planters, who also met yesterday, head to the suburbs to visit the site of a planned Grace Brethren congregation, which will be led by Wade Rininger.

Tomorrow, the conference begins with prayer — a 6:30 a.m. event on every day of the schedule. Participants will pray for the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, for conference speakers, and for God to speak to each attendee about next-steps as we minister from the Margins.

Also on the schedule is breakfast with CE National, a morning celebration with  Caeser Kalinowski, and workshops in various locations around the hotel. Lunch is sponsored by Encompass World Partners, with dinner hosted by Grace College and Seminary. Grace Brethren pastor and church planter Neil Cole is the speaker at the evening celebration.