Atlantic Connexion

It was an extraordinary weekend celebrating extraordinary leaders!

• Dale & Sherry MacDonald (top) were honoured with a surprise Sunday morning service to celebrate 40 years of ministry as Lead Pastor of Woodstock Wesleyan.
• Scott & Shari Prime (middle) had a front row seat to a 1.5 hour Sunday afternoon service to celebrate 25 years of ministry as Lead Pastor of New Hope Wesleyan.
• Ryan & Maridel Farrell (bottom) were celebrated on Saturday afternoon for 15 years as Lead Pastor on Nackawic Wesleyan.

That’s 80 years of first-class, first-chair Kingdom leadership that received well-deserved esteem and appreciation! Each service was filled with speeches and presentations – some in person and some by video. Well done to all those in each of these three great churches who planned and prepared over recent months to make these amazing Kingdom leaders know they are loved.

Ellen joins me in expressing our heartfelt condolences on behalf of the Atlantic District for Cora Gorman and her siblings and extended family on Wednesday’s passing of her father, Rev. Karl Gorman.

Twenty Ordained Ministers were present yesterday at Yarmouth Wesleyan to form an honour guard for our joy-filled brother and Kingdom colleague. CLICK HERE for his obituary with opportunity to share a personal expression of support for the family.

• Cora has loved her parents so faithfully through this season of their lives with her mother’s passing in 2019. Karl & Helene’s years pastoring churches in Sandford, Brazil Lake & Yarmouth as well as serving 20+ years in missionary work in South Africa are a wonderful role model for us all.

AJ Plaizier delivered the message using the pulpit Karl preached from in Brazil Lake, reading from Karl’s KJV Bible and even with the text and notes of one of Karl’s early sermons first preached in 1957, one year before they left on a three-week voyage to begin their missionary work. The Yarmouth Wesleyan family prepared with excellence in honouring our dearly departed brother.

• It is required of a steward that they be found faithful. The past three days have celebrated 80 years of faithful stewardship in the living legacy of three leaders and 90 years in the finished race of a life and Kingdom calling well lived. May all who come behind us find us faithful.

Sunday also marked the first year anniversary of Kings – St. Stephen (Pete Stubbs) with 136 in attendance. Pete shared the following highlights from this beginning year of Kingdom impact.

• We have seen as 60 core volunteers have come together to be engaged in leading various ministries.
• We have had an average attendance of over 100 people each week.
• We have seen as God’s love has been shown to the community, as an example we have been able to serve 2400 meals to our community this year.
• We have seen as 32 people have come to faith in Christ – PTL!
• We have seen 15 people take the next step in their faith to be baptized.

Praise the Lord for how He has been at work through this new Kingdom location!

PreacHer Sunday continued this Sunday as Sheila McCrea-MacCallum (pictured right) shared The Word at Nackawic (Ryan Farrell). It was also announced that this year’s World Hope Well Walk has raise $8,150 as the Nackawic family joins forces with West Head (Vince Robertson) to complete the funding needed for this well.

McCaila Andrews (pictured left from Deep Water) also preached at Blacks Harbour Wesleyan (Ken Banks). Ken shared, “We were encouraged by McCaila’s message as she shared on Story and Perspective. She was engaging and on point.”

Corbett (Jason Vienneau) is preparing to partner with World Hope in Cambodia to build relationships and to share the hope of Jesus. Over the last month questions were submitted concerning missions and these were addressed live and online. Jason leaves today on a vision trip to Cambodia. He will learn about their vision and hope for their community, and gain clarity on the opportunities and challenges this relationship will represent. Jason shared, “With the help of Jesus, we can provide community for a village that is asking for support.”

Stay tuned for updates as the team returns later this month!

Encounter is coming!

Register before October 24th to get the Early Bird price of $75. After October 24th, it’ll be $90! Sign up at kingswood.edu/encounter – Kingswood University can’t wait to see your teens on Campus for Encounter, November 3rd & 4th!

Excitement is building for the January launch of Kingswood Learn, a powerful online tool allowing anyone, anywhere, anytime to grow in their faith and ministry potential. Our District Ministerial in January will provide additional opportunity to engage on the ground level with these innovative leadership development tools to raise & release leaders by creating a customized certificate for the needs of your church family.

• This compelling and timely new resource is only one of the many ways Kingwood University exists to serve our church leaders. CLICK HERE for a full breakdown of all the ways you can engage in multiple levels of training for effective ministry in both lay and clergy roles.

Clean water touches every aspect of our lives. And access to nearby clean water changes the game for vulnerable communities! This Christmas we are celebrating “When the Clean Water Came…” and inviting your church to partner with World Hope to help see transformation happen around the world. We have put together resources for you to make this easy from videos, to talking points, to social media posts and more!

CLICK HERE for all you need to engage your local church in this vision!

The energy and excitement of fall momentum is palpable. These are the easiest days to slip into old habits… to our peril of both cause and soul. Tyler Stanton gives us a phenomenal reminder about the essential rhythms of Vine-abiding that come through an intentional Rule of Life.

• CLICK HERE and take a few minutes to watch as you recalibrate this priority in your ministry calling.
• CLICK HERE if you prefer a Summary PDF to read.

• CLICK HERE to download these resources to engage the core of your purpose in the Mary-Martha tension we all seek to manage.