I went to MissionFest Toronto and failed to benefit from the program the organizers had arranged.

I was right there at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the entire March 12-14 weekend when speakers from many countries and thousands of Christians from around the Greater Toronto Area and beyond came together for worship, instruction and mission motivation. It was a busy, lively place-loud and active.

But, alas and alack, I attended no seminars, missed all the plenary sessions and conducted no media interviews. I scurried through the crowded exhibit area but made few stops to learn about new ministries and meet new people. I could hear the thunderous exaltation of nearly 5,000 worshipers preparing to listen to renowned pastor David Yonggi Cho of Korea, but I wasn’t there to hear his message. Nor did I meet Pat Francis, founder and pastor of Kingdom Covenant Centre, a church of 3,000 in Mississauga who also, I was later told, galvanized the crowds.

Face it, readers: If you were looking for news about MissionFest Toronto, you will be mightily disappointed with me. I was there, and I am not prepared to report on it.

I kind of wish I was writing about it. Simply being there gave me a taste I would like to share more broadly. I noticed, for example, a strong charismatic flavour among the main speakers that contrasts with last year’s keynote speaker Tim LaHaye (of Left Behind fame) and next year’s more intellectual bent with Ravi Zacharias. It occurred to me that the organizers are working hard to embrace the entire evangelical landscape.

I hasten to tell you that my time in Toronto was not idly spent. I did see plenary presenter Glenn Smith for a few minutes, and he put a copy of a small book in my hands that I have the pleasure of reviewing elsewhere in this issue-The Lonely Road: Seven Words about Suffering, by Keith Price. And I did buy a cookbook of First Nations recipes from Mohawk evangelist Ross Maracle (there’s lots more to his story). And I did meet ...

No, I wasn’t idle. It’s just that I had to take off my reporter hat and function as an editorial director. In fact, I spent my time in meetings, meetings, meetings-most of them arranged long before I left home. Here I must confess that I took shameless advantage of the networking pull of MissionFest; this event, and others like it in other cities, brings together many of the people the editor of a national Christian newspaper needs to be meeting with. So I did, and I missed the main event.

Five days in Toronto, and I didn’t even come home with a t-shirt. First reviews of the cookbook, however, are starting to come in and they are very tasty.