Worship Him, Jesus Christ, Our Lord

-- by Paddy Eastwood

Paddy is in the process of teaching the children how to worship and has been sharing some thoughts in the bulletins to help all of us review our worship practices.

GatheringThere are many ways for our worship services to begin, but always we worship because God has called us to listen to God and to respond in faith and prayer. So we come to worship with a prayerful, expectant, humble and joyous spirit. The children are learning to prepare themselves for worship with prayer. The words of greeting remind us that it is always God who comes to us before we come to God. We respond to God’s words of greeting and promise with adoration, praising God in prayer and song both for who God is and what God does. Secure in the love and grace of God, we can honestly confess our sin and that of the world. The good news of the gospel is that in Christ we are forgiven! For your reflection:

What images of God do I have as I approach worship?

How can we prepare ourselves to worship so that we come together with open and expectant hearts?

The WordThe reading and preaching of God’s Word stands at the centre of our worship. The Holy Spirit speaks to us not only as the Scriptures are read but through the preacher as the Scriptures are proclaimed. Thus we respond to the reading of God’s Word, “This is the Word of the Lord” with “Thanks be to God” and to the preaching of the Word with a time of silent reflection followed by prayer. Listening carefully as God’s Word is proclaimed is a discipline for all of us. In our noisy and active world, it is easy for us to lose the ability to still our minds and hearts to hear a Word that comes to us from outside of ourselves, sometimes to comfort, at other times to correct, always to encourage and strengthen. For your reflection:

By the power of the Holy Spirit, God challenges us, comforts us and awakens us. How can I sharpen my awareness of God’s presence?

How is God calling you to focus on God and not your own needs, to hear the Word God wishes to communicate to you?

Our ResponseThe offering is a vital part of our response to God and God’s Word, helping us connect our adoration for God with our life of discipleship. The money given at the offering is a token and symbol of our desire to devote our whole selves to God’s service in response to God’s loving faithfulness to us and symbolizes the many other gifts we should return to the Lord: time, possessions, talents, insights, and concern for others. In the prayers of the people we intercede for each other and for the world at large. We pray not just for our own congregation and for the people we know; we also intercede for those in authority, for those suffering oppression, for those who are poor, hungry, or sick, and so on. For your reflection:

Christian worship is hospitable, caring and welcoming. It must never be self-centred but communicates God’s and thus our, care for the world and all those who live in fear, despair and loneliness.

How have I experienced the hospitality and care of worship?

How do I express the welcome and concern of the Church for all?

CommisioningWorship does not end when we leave a worship service. Our worship continues through obedient and grateful living. Having come together to meet God as the children of God, we go out with the mandate to promote God’s rule in the world. This commissioning conveys to us that we live in faithful service not so

that God will love us, but because God has loved us first and that we live by the power of the Spirit and thus do not need to rely on our own strength. We began our worship service with the greeting from God. We end the service with God’s blessing. We began with God’s gracious invitation and end with God’s promise to always be with us. The children have been busy planning the service for June 3rd. God’s Spirit works through those who plan worship each week and also through all of us as we worship God together. How can we tell if the Spirit has been active in worship? One way is to consider our response to worship. One of the Spirit’s main characteristics is to always point toward Christ. The Spirit is a witness and an advocate for the person of Jesus. If we leave a worship service comforted and challenged by our faith-filled encounter with Jesus Christ we can be grateful for the Spirit’s work in our hearts. For your reflection: Clement of Rome wrote this prayer, “O God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: Grant that we may be grounded and settled in your truth by the coming down of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Reveal to us what we do not yet know. Fill up in us what is wanting. Confirm what we know. And keep us blameless in your service, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.” May God give us grace to pray and to mean words like these as we prepare for worship.

-- by Gerard Booy

In yesterday’s sermon I said, “The purpose of the church is to form us into a community of people who are

loved by God, and who therefore love God and one another.” Every time that we say the Apostle’s Creed, we

profess that “we believe in the communion of the saints” which is why the session committed themselves to a

year of studying the concept of cell-church ministry to see if this is something that could help us build up

the “communion of the saints” in this congregation.

The last year was a meaningful year for the Session. Apart from the normal business that we regularly dealt

with, we set time aside at our meetings for study. We carefully considered our theology of the Trinity and

the Church, we looked at the way in which Jesus made disciples, we talked at length about various aspects of

small group ministry, and we discussed the merits of implementing cell-church ministry in the congregation.

Having spent a lot of time praying, studying and discussing it among ourselves, we are convinced that this is

something that we are called to do. The reason is simple: it is an investment in relationships. But not just any

relationships; we are talking about the communion of the saints. We are talking about relationships in which

all of us are intentional about being brothers and sisters in Christ; relationships is which we intentionally

build one another up in faith; relationships in which we care about love, holiness, Christ-likeness,

discipleship, prayer, the fruit of the Spirit, evangelism, the needs of others, and hospitality.

How will this work? From now until the fall, I will hold a number of Q&A sessions

where you are welcome to come, learn more, and ask the

questions that are on your heart. The first one will be on

Thursday May 10th (7:30 pm) at the church.

The Session and I will also identify potential leaders around

whom the first cell-churches will develop. They will be invited to participate in leaders training in the

form of a cell-church.

Our plan is then to have an open-house on a Sunday after church in September where more

information will be shared and where you can sign up for a cell-church of their choice.

First Question and Answer Session: 7:30 pm Thursday 10 May

At the Church

Cell-churches are groups of 6 – 12 people who gather regularly in homes to pray together, support one

another in faith and life, and to do a short Bible study. They are “intent on participating with Christ in

building his ever-expanding kingdom in the hearts of individuals, in the life of the group and, through

believers, into the world.” (Jeffrey Arnold: The Big Book on Small Groups)

Typically, a cell-church meets at the home of one of the members. What we have done in the past was to

rotate between homes so that it doesn’t become a burden on just one family, but a family or two may

choose to host it most of the times, and others may choose not to. There are also rooms at the church

where this could be held.

They would ideally meet weekly at a fixed time chosen by the group, but some cell-churches might find

that bi-weekly meetings work better for them.

Cell-churches follow a simple liturgy when they meet. We begin with a time of caring and sharing

(listening to each other’s stories), followed by a time of worship (singing and praying), a short, simple

Bible study aimed at Christian living, a time of intercession, and a time of hospitality.

A cell-church gathering should not be longer than an hour and a half (two hours at the most). Again, this

is something we do over a long period of time and we do it therefore at a pace that everyone can

sustain. This is not supposed to be a burden and the length of the meetings should not become a

deterrent.

Caring could be extended into the week. I would encourage cell-churches to develop a pattern of

assigning care partners each week. For example, each family (a family could be a single person, a couple

or a family with children) is assigned another family to care for during the week. There are all kinds of

simple and creative things you can do… a follow-up phone call, an e-mail or text-message, a greeting

card, a desert or a dish during the week, a care-package... It is a simple, but intentional practice to say

“we care about you”.

A cell-church would typically start small with a few people, but the goal is that the cells will grow by

inviting others to become part of their church. Consultation happens in the cell-churches when people

are invited into the groups.

There will come a time later on when existing churches are becoming too big. It should be understood

from the beginning therefore that there will come a time when the cells have to multiply, each forming

two new cell-churches. This will happen by consultation in the cell-churches and in prayer as to when it

will happen, who the leaders will be, and who will join which church so that everyone is well-

prepared for it. This is crucial for the vitality of cell-churches. And sister-cells may decide

then to do certain things together in the future.

In time, cell-churches may want to take on short-term service or mission

projects, but the emphasis is always on the relationships and care

for one another.

Leaders will be trained and supervise by the minister.

Their initial training will happen in a cell-church

format, and they will continue to meet

monthly with the minister. Each cell-church

chooses its own leader-in training, who

gradually takes on more responsibilities in

preparation for the time when the cells multiply

and the LIT becomes the leader of a new cell-

church.

Something about the name: Why do we call them cell-churches? The name is deliberately chosen.

They are churches. They do what churches do. They worship, and they care for their members. They are

part of the Body of Christ. Their agenda is the church’s agenda. The church’s calling is their calling. Their

meetings have a liturgy. They are not just interest groups; they are churches.

But they are cell-churches. “Cell” expresses that they are not the whole church. They are not

independent little churches. They are cells in the body. They belong to the Body, to the congregation.

Their ministry to one another is the ministry of the whole congregation.

Most of this came out in the previous articles, but I think it is worthwhile to remind ourselves again of the

reasons why we are taking this route.

Cell-church ministry is an investment in relationships. God is love; God loves us; God commands us to love

one another. And “love is nothing if not personal.” We want to be intentional in building up the communion

of saints in this congregation.

These are some of the reasons why we are convinced that we need cell-churches:

Cell-churches emphasize personal relationships rather than programs and work. There are groups in

church where we have fellowship around the work we do, but this is not about work, fundraising, service

projects, or programs that we are running. This

is about relationships with one another.

Faith matures as we practice it together in a

community.

Disciples are best made in community

where they learn by watching and

imitating. Jesus himself chose 12

people with whom he lived and

worked in close relationship during

his three years of ministry.

Cell-churches create a space where

we can model faith to our children

and youth.

It provides opportunities to

practice the priesthood of all

believers and develop spiritual

gifts.

It creates a more natural environment for

leadership development in the congregation.

It is a safer place to introduce new people to the

faith.

And, like God’s grace, it is free!

My Story

I was very reluctant when we first started a cell-church ministry in 1997. Along with five others from our Klerksdorp

East congregation I attended a week-long training event. It was a good event. They all came back enthused and eager

to go. I was much more hesitant. Wait a minute. Are you sure this will work? What if it doesn’t work? We already

have all kinds of groups and activities in the church, why do we need cell-churches? Do I need this in my life? Where

will I find the time? Do we really have to meet weekly? I’m a very private person… For every good reason they came

up with in support of cell-churches, I had a whole bunch of questions, reservations, excuses and objections.

Why do I tell you this? I’m sharing this so that you can see that cell-church ministry is not just a new bandwagon on

which I wish to hop. I was not a believer at first. But I was converted. And it didn’t take long. Cell-church ministry

has grown on me. I became a firm believer because I have personally experienced the difference that that these

intentional relationships made in myself, in my family, in our congregation, and in our community. I’ve experienced

the deep joy of spiritual friendships, of laughing and crying with others, of searching with others for God’s will; I’ve

witnessed the truth that our faith grows and matures in community. Yes, the intimacy was a bit scary at times; yes,

we had our quarrels; yes, there were disappointments; yes, there were days when we dragged ourselves to gatherings;

but the love and care, the deep communion we had with one another in Jesus Christ outweighed every bit of that.

Looking back over 22 years of ministry, I can honestly say that cell-church ministry was one of the most meaningful

and memorable ministries that I have been involved in. We left eleven years ago, but I still remember some of our

gatherings in detail. I remember the hospitality of Frans and Anna, an elderly couple, and their delight at having us

over and treating us to the finest deserts; how we were squeezed in with some of us sitting on the floor in our living

room when the group had grown bigger; BBQ’s at Dalene and Albert’s; the day when Maryke and Trevor told us that

their daughter’s skin problem was symptomatic of a deadly heart disease; Lukas and Rihette’s pain over their

daughter’s pregnancy and later their joy in their grandchild; Gerhard, their teenage son’s discovery of a new gospel

singer; Idelette’s joy when she was accepted into medical school; Lina’s humble and mature faith; Estelle’s boisterous

passion for the Lord; and Roelf’s quiet manner …

Our cell-church started initially with four families, but within a year we had grown to eight families. We couldn’t

comfortably meet in a home anymore and we knew that we were not going to be successful at bringing in new people

under these circumstances. So after weeks of prayer and emotional preparation we chose a day when we would

multiply and form two cells. For the first time in my life I practised the casting of the lot as described in the Bible

to determine who would be going to which new church. It was a deep spiritual experience …

Children and youth fully participated in our cell-churches. In our cell we had four young children, a couple who were

in elementary school, and a few who were in high school. They all participated fully. I was surprized tonight how much

Regard remembers about the cell-church.

The relationships established in these cell-churches were strong and lasting. It became a significant venue for

intergenerational relationships where adults, youth and children connected deeply and built relationships that fostered

spiritual formation. People were valued for who they are, not for what they do, which means that this was also one of

the best ways to reach out to new people and include them in the community.

Gerard

-- by Gerard Booy

The session asked me to write something about communication in the church.

The church is a family. As in other families, communication is very important in the church. It could be one of

the most important aspects of our relationships with one another in God’s family; also one of the trickiest

parts of our relationships. As in our families, most of our communication is congenial and happens

spontaneously when we are together – we laugh, tell stories, share ideas, pass on information, discuss events,

ask questions, shed a tear, speak words of encouragement … But there are also times in each family when

something is bothering, when we have an issue with something or with someone in the family, and we have

to talk.

The best ALWAYS is to do it in the most personal way possible. This is also the way that Jesus demonstrates in

the gospels. Personal conversations where we look each other in the eye, sit down, and talk person to

person, heart to heart, are always the best. It works well. We listen to each other, develop an understanding

for one another, explain ourselves, sort out our differences, make plans, and we all grow because of our

commitment to talk.

It is interesting to note how frequently the New Testament writers address the manner in which people in the

early church talked to and about one another. (Read for instance Ephesians 4 and 5 and Colossians 3) They

had issues with communication, just like we do. Like them, we are sometimes tempted to use impersonal

ways to make our opinions and feelings known or to put pressure on others; like them we talk about one

another instead of to one another … and on and on it goes.

It is very important for us to build relations of trust and respect in the congregation. Personal communication

is essential for that. We encourage you therefore to make use of the opportunities that are available.

You are always welcome to talk to me personally for

pastoral care and any church related matters. I make

time for people who want to meet with me, and as

far as possible schedule it in a timely manner.

I am at the church on Tuesday, Wednesday, and

Thursday mornings from 8:30 am – 1:00 pm. I am

also in the office on Thursday afternoons until 3:00

pm. I am not often in the office in the afternoon

because that is when I do visits, and prepare Bible

Studies, Sunday school lessons, orders of service and

things like that. I am not necessarily in the office on

Monday and Friday mornings because these are the

times when I do sermon preparation for which I

prefer the quiet space of my home office to pray and

write. But you are always welcome to give me a call

(604-467-1715 at the office, 778-868-1548 on my

cell) or to send me an e-mail

(revhaney.pc@telus.net) if you want to talk to me.

The church is structured so that there are many

channels for communication. Different groups and

people are responsible for the various ministry areas,

and each of these has a leader or convener who can

be approached personally about things related to

their area of ministry. It is often best to approach the

responsible group or committee directly.

The Session provides overall spiritual leadership to the congregation and can be approached through your

elder or the Clerk of Session (Gordon Shields). I encourage you to follow the personal route, but you are

welcome to write a letter to the clerk if you feel that is necessary.

The Board of Managers are responsible for financial management and building maintenance and can be

contacted through one of the board members or the board chair (Dick Lyster).

Church Office – Susan Reaveley is our administrator. Office hours Tuesdays – Fridays from 8:30 – 12:30.

Youth ministry (including pastoral care of youth and children) - Paddy Eastwood is our youth pastor.

Music - Rachelle Kostelyk-Pals is our music director and leader of the music team.

Personnel/staff - Bob Garvin is the convener of the Session’s personnel committee.

Church School - Lynda Gaudiuso is the superintendent of our Church School.

Pastoral Care – contact the minister, your elder, or Richard Newman the elder for pastoral care.

Sound - Nigel Taylor is the leader of the sound team.

Worship – contact the minister or Cherilynn Toll the elder for worship.

Christian Education/Bible Studies – Dave Newberry and Karin Breuer are the responsible elders.

Mission – Alice Chambers is the convener of the Missions Committee.

Ladies Evening Fellowship – Joan Kerr is the convener.

Men’s Group – Dick Lyster is the convener.

Leading-with-Care – Jacqueline Curtis and Gayle Howard are the LWC elders.

Prayer Chain – Lorraine Cornish organizes this.

I trust that this is helpful to you. And if you need more help, contact Susan at the office or myself.

Finally, a word from Scripture: And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Are you willing to be a Shopkeeper, Tribe Leader or Assistant?

Or could you help with set-up or financial support? Please contact Annalize at:

annalizebooy@shaw.ca or 778 868 1578 It will be lots of fun! Have a look at the website:

http://group.com/childrens-ministry/vbs/babylon

Seven Deadly Habits Disconnect

1. Criticising

2. Blaming

3. Complaining

4. Nagging

5. Threatening

6. Punishing

7. Bribing or Rewarding to control

Seven Caring Habits Connect

1. Supporting

2. Encouraging

3. Listening

4. Accepting

5. Trusting

6. Respecting

7. Negotiating differences

-- by Annalize Booy

Dr. William Glasser1, a well-known psychiatrist, developed “Choice Theory”, which states that we

are driven by our genes to satisfy five basic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom

and fun. Since closeness and connectedness with the people we care about, is a requisite for

satisfying all of these needs, love and belonging is our most important need. Dr. Glasser also

explains that we choose our behaviours and as such also the quality of our relationships. Most

people’s unhappiness is the result of relationship problems and/or being disconnected.

In our relationships with each other we often try to resolve dissatisfaction or conflict by trying to

control the other person. This kind of behaviour is destructive to relationships and when used, will

destroy the ability of one or both to find satisfaction in that relationship and will result in a

disconnection from each other.

7 Deadly Habits that Destroy Relationships

When we attempt to control another person, we tend

to use one or more of the 7 Deadly Habits. When

another person is not doing what you want them to

do, it is tempting to try and control/change the other

person’s behaviour, by using one or more of the 7

deadly habits.

Resolving differences using the SOLVING CIRCLE

Glasser encourages us to identify our disconnecting

habits and replace them with connecting behaviours.

But remember, we can only control our own

behaviour. When people who have been having

trouble in their relationship start to get along better, it

is usually because they have ceased trying

to control each other (although they do

not always recognise that). We are all

different and as such problems and

conflicts will inevitably show up in any

relationship.

Dr. Glasser suggest a technique called the

“Solving Circle” to address differences and

conflict:

Create an imaginary circle

1 http://wglasser.com/the-glasser-approach/choice-theory ; “Counseling with Choice Theory” (2000), William Glasser, M.D.

Face each other, express that you care

and want to resolve things for the sake of

the relationship.

State that you are committed to keep the

7 deadly habits outside the circle and

will not try to control each other. If they

do show up, say “that sounds like

(criticism/blaming etc.), which will not

help”.

State your concern clearly and briefly,

using facts.

Then be quiet and give the other

person a chance to speak.

Listen from their perspective. Remain

open to suggestions.

Maintain eye contact and acknowledge

the other person as he/she is speaking.

Stay in the solving circle until you find

a solution you agree on.

Of course as Christians

none of this is new to us!

-- by Bob Garvin

So, what are you going to do tomorrow? How about next week? For most of us, planning for our future is both commonplace and advisable. Our youth sometimes drift because they have no goals, no direction for post high school education, training or work. The young couple plans when to start a family or seek a career move. Wise are the folks who make sound financial plans for the future. People look forward to retirement with the freedom to pursue new activities for which they currently do not have the time. Retired folks look forward to visits from or to grandchildren. And so it goes. But sometimes those plans and dreams are truncated because of accident, major health problems or death. So it was last January that my brother’s plans to finish his volunteer missionary work in Taiwan and return to Canada in June were not fulfilled because of his sudden death. This forcefully reaffirmed the fact that we do not know what tomorrow will bring. We only know the present. Murray’s death summoned us to do what we had thought of doing, that is, update our Enduring Power of Attorney and Will documents. Before tomorrow takes you by surprise, please consider these two important documents. This implies a visit to a Notary Public or Lawyer. Our Notary suggested these documents need to be reviewed every five years simply because things change, in both the law and our lives. First, Enduring Power of Attorney is a legal document which gives your spouse, assigned family member or friend the right to transact any business on your behalf should you become incapacitated by things like a major accident or health issue such as a stroke. Death terminates the E.P.A. For many years Carol and I have had E.P.A. for each other. But at our stage of life, we have also granted this to our son should

something happen to both of us. I believe granting E.P.A. is very advisable.

Second, a Will is a legal document which comes into effect at your death that enables your

appointed executor (e.g. spouse, child, friend) to fulfill your

wishes concerning matters such as the care of your

children, the sale of your legal assets and financial matters. If someone dies without a Will, the Province appoints an administrator to dispose of your assets according to provincial law. This takes time and adds great stress to the family. Who should have a Will? Every adult! We make a Will because we care about our family. Now, about tomorrow … have you given someone Enduring Power of Attorney? Do you have a Will? If not, why not?

Bob Garvin

by Stephen Chapin Garner , Jerry Thornell http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=9894 Excerpted and adapted from Scattering Seeds: Cultivating Church Vitality

by Stephen Chapin Garner with Jerry Thornell, copyright © 2012 by the Alban Institute.

Over the past decade, worship attendance, annual giving, and participation in Christian education have doubled at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Massachusetts. We have learned that tending to growth requires tending to worship and education for all ages. Arguably the most significant shift in our congregation has been our emphasis on education and worship for all. Like many mainline Protestant churches in our country, worship and church school for children were held at the same time. Parents and other adults worshiped upstairs while children attended church school downstairs. The children were invited to join in worship when there was a children’s message, or when it was Youth Sunday. Even on the surface of this arrangement we recognized numerous flaws. First, and most immediately pressing, was that issue of recruiting church school teachers. Because church school was held during worship, and because worship was an engaging activity for adults, most adults avoided teaching because they didn’t want to miss Sunday’s service. There was also the significant issue of teacher education. We were offering a fairly paltry assortment of Christian education opportunities for adults, which meant that the only time adults really learned anything about their faith was during worship. If teachers couldn’t attend worship, that meant they were not learning themselves, and if they were not learning themselves, what were they prepared to teach our children? This was most glaringly apparent in the fact that our minister of children’s education never had the opportunity to attend worship. While teachers taught only a few sessions at most during a given program year, our minister of children’s education was downstairs in our basement classrooms all year long. In that educational model, the leading educator of our children never had the opportunity to worship or learn more about the Christian faith. A cursory examination of our educational program revealed that there were glaring issues, but what slowly came into greater focus was the implicit and unacceptable message we were giving to the members and friends of our congregation. Having adults worshiping God at the same time that our children were in church school communicated that Christian education for adults was not important and that having children participate in worship was not important. We had not intended to send such a careless message, but our church tradition and convention was communicating just that—children needed only education, and grown-ups needed only worship. Once we realized the unhealthy faith dynamic we were sustaining, we knew it had to change if we were going to grow in faith as a community. Due to teacher recruitment issues, over the years we had convened different task forces to look into other educational models we might employ. We came to the conclusion that our course ahead would involve more education and commitment on the part of church staff and membership. We knew that worship was more like an educational vitamin supplement than a full meal, and we knew that if children didn’t learn to worship it was unlikely that they would ever acquire the taste for it. We began to suspect that expanding to a two-hour model for education and worship on Sunday morning was the path we needed to take. However, we were reluctant to break from our traditional model, largely, and personally, because of fear. We knew our educational model was spiritually unhealthy and structurally compromised, and it was unclear if anyone had the courage and resolve to make a change that might fix it. With the encouragement of council, I drafted a proposal for a new approach to worship and education, and the church followed it. Thankfully, church leadership recognized the importance of

the situation we were in and acted to strengthen our educational ministries by enacting an initiative that offered education and worship for everyone. We would extend our Sunday morning offerings to allow for comprehensive adult education and worship participation for our children. We were choosing to learn together and to worship together. The transition was surprisingly smooth at first, with some immediate and truly hopeful results. The opportunity to offer adult Christian education on Sunday mornings reinvigorated our adult Christian education ministry team, and within short order we were able to offer several different adult education classes every Sunday morning. Because of our limited offerings in previous years, this meant that participation by adults in Christian education hit levels we had never seen before. On any given Sunday we would have dozens of adults gathering for Bible studies, book studies, and classes on spiritual disciplines and other topics. Not only that, it suddenly became much easier to recruit children’s church school teachers because church school was no longer competing with Sunday worship for adult involvement. Without question, the number of young children in our program declined due to a lack of willingness by some parents to commit to an extra hour of church on Sunday morning. That said, with the addition of our middle school and high school Bible study classes, the participation of our teenagers on Sunday mornings ballooned. While we always long for a deeper commitment to education by more members of our congregation, we could not ignore the fact that the life and vitality of our church had been enhanced by increased time spent together in educational activities. Of course, “Education for All” invariably meant we would be engaging in “Worship for All.” The adjustment to having even our youngest children in worship proved to be more challenging than adding an extra hour to our Sunday morning experience. We tried our best to prepare for the transition in worship. We still provided nursery care for infants and toddlers, we made sure we had activity bags made up and set out for families with children who might struggle to pay attention, and we even offered Sunday morning classes for parents about how to parent in the pew. Even with those preparations in place, the children struggled, as did their parents. Our first month or two of worshiping together was undeniably noisy. Thankfully, after several months, we noticed that children were becoming accustomed to being in worship for an hour. Our services became less noisy. And the children began to actively participate in the leadership of the service. Learning together, worshiping together, and being together in fellowship are worth the challenges that come with just such a transition. It is important to note that the particular challenges we faced during our time of transition still persist to this day. The objection to forcing our congregation to get up and get going even earlier on Sunday morning struck a chord with me. Sunday was supposed to be the Sabbath, and perhaps our increased educational demands were stripping families of some of that sacred time. The most difficult aspect of our transition was the realization that education, worship, and fellowship within Christ’s community are not priorities for everyone. Parents value secular education, and they have higher expectations for their children in school than they do for their children when it comes to faith education. For many families, organized sports are more important than organized religion. And many people refuse to take on much if any responsibility at all for the religious education of children. Some parents don’t want to teach their children how to worship, and plenty of adults still refuse to teach church school. With the increased educational expectations of our church has come the increased realization that matters of faith often inhabit a rather peripheral location in our human and cultural landscape. This reality is certainly disappointing to those of us who make faith a priority, but it is helpful information when making decisions in the church. Now when we make a program decision in the church, we always try to determine what is best for the spiritual growth and development for our people, not what is easiest. The church’s role is not to make life easier for people but to teach people how to live life better.

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Everyone that has ever attended will tell you how much fun it is and what an enormous difference it makes to your life.

Check out their numerous summer programs on their website: http://www.campdouglas.ca/

HPC’s Upcoming Children and Youth Events

August 20-24

Vacation Bible School

9am – 12 noon, ages 3-12

This year we’re heading off

to Babylon with Daniel.

Friday September 14

Corn Maze Madness 6 p.m.

Friday September 21st

5-7pm Friday Night Youth Groups begin again.

Welcome back!

Phone Paddy for more information 604-467-1715