Shaila Visser with the Lead Pastors Fellowship: Reaching Gen Alpha, the Future of Alpha Canada, and Canada’s Unique Spiritual Moment
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Today’s episode features a conversation between Tammy Giffen, Lead Pastor of Groundswell Church in Turo Nova Scotia and Shaila Visser, National Director of Alpha Canada and Senior Vice President at Alpha International. It’s a recording of a conversation that took place live in front of our Lead Pastor Fellowship cohort, two weeks ago when they were gathered together in Vancouver for a city meetup. Over the course of that week together, the cohort, made up of 15 pastors from across Canada, spent time learning from local pastors and leaders, touring local churches, and enjoying quality time together. This conversation between Tammy and Shaila was one of the sessions of the week that was designed to help encourage our cohort members and sharpen their pastoral imagination, specifically around the themes of evangelism, prayer, and ministry to Gen Alpha and Gen Z.
Shaila shares how a late-night encounter with the Holy Spirit reframed her entire sense of calling and how that moment has shaped Alpha Canada’s vision for the next generation. In this conversation, Shaila unpacks the four questions God gave her in the middle of the night and how they’ve become a compass for her leadership. She reflects on what it looks like to hold a big vision while cultivating deep spiritual rhythms of prayer and fasting, and why people across Canada are uniquely open to the gospel during this time.
Along the way, Shaila highlights:
Why naming 4.4 million Canadian high school students has expanded Alpha’s vision for youth ministry.
How Made for This, a national prayer initiative, is mobilizing churches to cover schools across the country.
Why she believes Gen Alpha is more spiritually open than any generation in decades.
How equipping students to run Alpha for their peers strengthens discipleship and mission.
This conversation will encourage pastors to think bigger about the next generation, lean deeper into spiritual dependence, and not grow weary in ministry. Shaila closes with a moving word of encouragement: to keep going, for the sake of those who do not yet know Jesus.
Shaila Visser
Shaila Visser is the National Director of Alpha Canada and the Global Senior Vice-President for Alpha International. She is the Executive Producer of both The Alpha Youth Film Series (2013) and The Alpha Film Series (2016), and currently holds a position on the Board of the Damascus Road Foundation.
Shaila has a heart for people coming to know Jesus and is passionate about helping the local church flourish. She is a gifted communicator who is known for her strategic leadership as well as her ability to bring people together.
Shaila loves hiking, beaches, next generation leaders, her big anglo-Indian family, and achieving new goals, whether that be fitness, books, or learning. Shaila lives in Vancouver BC with her husband, Ryan Visser, a Vancouver Police Officer, and their four-legged family members, Talon and Benny.
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