It’s Monday Again

Solid Rock (Stuart Marples) had a full weekend. Stuart shares, “Friday afternoon we had the Memorial Service for Mabel Johnson. Mabel’s husband, Sam, served as Lay Pastor at Solid Rock after Stewart Steeves’ first time as Interim Pastor and before Graham Perry became Lead Pastor. On Saturday we had our annual Family Fun Day. The focus was all on Connections. We made some great connections with our neighbours and got several children signed up for MadLab this fall. Probably had more children than ever at the event. Challenged the members of the congregation to ‘Each One Greet One’ – meaning that they were to go out of their way to intentionally engage one or more of our guests in meaningful conversation. Very pleased with the number of people who took up the challenge. Yesterday afternoon we baptized two ladies – God is good!”

• The Atlantic District launched a new website www.atlanticdistrict.com this weekend. The core values featuring the six Exploration Essentials includes both overview and full-length videos of the presentations at Beulah Family Camp by myself, Seth Fancy (Kings), Mark Brewer (Crosspoint), AJ Plaizier (Yarmouth), AJ Thomas (Deep Water), & Denn Guptill (Cornerstone). A huge shout out to Mark Brewer and Jamie Cambers of Crosspoint for their amazing creativity and excellence in branding leadership as these six core values found expression through this exploration metaphor. The 2018 District Conference Journal is also posted for access as needed.

• New Hope (Scott Prime) celebrated 8 baptisms last Sunday and Jonesport (Andy Phillips) had one baptism as well.

• Andrea Gunter (Executive Director of Camp Ministry) and her family provided a delicious meal on Thursday night at Heartland for the core volunteers of Beulah Camp & Conference Center (pictured above). It was a delightful evening capped off with poem from Caretaker Bruce Cheney entitled, “Ode to the Beulah Volunteers!”Andrea has provided stellar leadership to enhancing the program of Summer Weekends for those who enjoy cottage and RVs at Beulah Camp & Conference Center. This Summer@Beulah is winding down with one final weekend of activities after a full schedule of events all summer. In the past few weeks, campers have enjoyed an ice cream social and game night, coffee house with Darren McGinnis, How To Study the Bible seminar with President Stephen Lennox (Kingswood University), movie nights, and the weekend breakfasts and Sunday dinners. A highlight was the bus trip to Grand Manan on one of the soggiest days this summer. Despite the rain, spirits were high as the crew of 55 travelers (pictured below), kept in stitches by the antics of Arnold Stairs and Warren Hayes, enjoyed a tour of the Island and an excellent lunch at Newton’s Mercantile & Café,  hosted by Tim and Gayla Guptill (The Lighthouse). Special thanks to all those who have volunteered to lead and serve during our summer of activities!
• Labour Day Weekend will feature a Sunday morning message from Dr. HC Wilson with a special focus on the Atlantic District Exploration Essentials. The evening service @ 7:00 p.m. will feature a One Sacrifice Reunion Concert.

• WHI-C (Tanya Nace) is responding to the damage of Hurricane Lane in Hawaii and will be providing clean water supplies, solar panels, tarps and emergency supplies.  After the damage is assessed, they may send in Fresh Water Production teams depending on the needs post-disaster. What a great way for the Canadian church to give to help provide relief to the people of Hawaii!

• Hope (Joanne Ozon) was filled Saturday night with 120 people for a Gaither Concert evening. Over $800 was raised for a family in need in Shelburne. This was how the church was rebirthed three years ago under the amazing leadership of Carl & Evelyn Brewer. #contextualeffectiveness
• Congratulations to Drew Donovan (Moncton) and Martin Stehouwer (Saint John First) for their appointment this month as the new District Youth Co-Presidents.  Thanks to Dave Rowe (Crosspoint) for his leadership in this position over recent years.
• A recent article in WesLife News by General Superintendent Wayne Schmidt brings inspiration and heat to “The Gospel Gap” that is at the core of our “why” in ministry. Why not subscribe to WesLife News today?

• Presque Isle (Bud Fancy) had an all church celebration picnic this weekend. It was a perfect 75°, with 670 for the weekend (excellent a week to go before vacation ends). Bud shares that the after-church picnic was, “by far and away the best fellowship we’ve ever had at a regular picnic with lots of buy-in for the year ahead!”
• A word of appreciation to our DBMD Executive – Dale MacDonald (Woodstock), Greg Hanson (Kings), Jay Guptill (Hillside), and myself as we spent a day earlier this month reviewing the nearly 600 pages of Annual Service Reports with follow-up assignments pending.

• Earlier this month our National Superintendent Stephen Elliott convened a meeting with both DS’s and two representatives from each district to address the best ways to inform the The Wesleyan Church of Canada (TWCC) to be ready versus reactive in the face of many of the unique ministry challenges of our day. Eric Hallett (Centennial Road) and Olivia Phillips from Central Canada District and Steve Trueman (Chair), and Joel Gorveatte (Moncton) from the Atlantic District joined with the superintendents (including myself and Peter Rigby) as we invested a day of dialog in serving TWCC. Three lawyers were present as we discussed how to best position our churches to be “ministry ready” in the changing landscape of religious freedoms in our country.  One lawyer provided expertise in human rights matters as we addressed the central question of the day, “How do we respond operationally with grace and truth to our rapidly changing culture?” Stay tuned for direction from our NS as this unfolds.
• The logistical transition between our former and current National Superintendents is complete – please take note of the following contact information items:The new mailing address for all correspondence except “Wesleyan Retirement Plan” may now be sent to:

  The Wesleyan Church of Canada
  PO Box 4458
  Sussex, New Brunswick  E4E 0B1

  National Superintendent
  Dr. Stephen Elliott – (506) 435- 0767, Stephen@wesleyan.ca

  National Bookkeeper
  Marilyn Otis – (506) 567-1452, office@wesleyan.ca

  Wesleyan Retirement Plan Administrator
  Helen Parker – (519) 703-9048, WRP@wesleyan.ca

  Please note that ALL CONTRIBUTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE CANADIAN “WESLEYAN RETIREMENT PLAN” are to be sent to the following address.  Kindly remember that all cheques are to be made payable to the “Wesleyan Retirement Plan” (not to “The Wesleyan Church of Canada”).  Retirement plan inquiries and financial contributions are to be sent to:

  The Wesleyan Church of Canada
  Suite 148
  356 Ontario Street
  Stratford, Ontario  N5A 7X6

• As the summer comes to an end, tens of thousands of students across Atlantic Canada get ready to return to their university towns. This presents a unique opportunity to local churches in these towns to minister to these young adults. If you know of any students headed to university/college, please pass on this list of the churches and follow-up with them to encourage their involvement in the early weeks of settling into school.- Fredericton: Corbett Avenue, Crosspoint, Journey
  – Halifax: Cornerstone, Deep Water, Hillside, Kings, Metro
  – Moncton: Moncton
  – Presque Isle:  Presque Isle
  – Sackville: Amherst
  – Saint John: Kings, Saint John First
  – St. John’s: Solid Rock
  – Sussex: Sussex
• Congratulations to Aaron Reimer (Island) on recently joining the volunteer fire department.

Thot: Missional focus is essential as we make decisions about making potentially uncomfortable changes required to achieve a more important end result. The gospel gap, actually closing the gospel gap, is what matters regardless of structure. (Wayne Schmidt)

What an opportunity to partner with Craig Groeschel, John Maxwell, Erwin McManus, Danielle Strickland along with a truly impressive and diverse faculty of 15 speakers for another amazing GLS.

• Lower Sackville, NS (Rock Church) – October 18-19
• Lewisporte, NS (Emmanuel Convention Centre) – October 18-19
• St. John’s, NL (TBA) – October 25-26

Click here for more info and/or to register.

BYF RETREAT 2018 
September 28 – 30

Dr. Stephen Lennox, President of Kingswood University is our guest speaker. Dr. Lennox is a Christian statesman and prolific writer. He has authored several books on the Old Testament. We are so excited to have him with us for this weekend!

Our worship leader for the weekend will be Rob & Marti Tafton.

PDF Brochure and Registration Form

Join hundreds of women at from all over the east coast as we come together to worship God and have fun! Our goal is to create an atmosphere where every woman at Harvest will experience an encounter with God that will impact their life and the people in it.

Join us this fall at Kings Church, October 19 & 20, with special guest speakers Annie F. Downs and Heather Semple. For more information, or to register visit www.harvestconference.ca or call 506-847-5343.

A Christian Leadership Response to the Shifting
Landscape of Canadian Religious Freedoms

What: High order Christian-based legal insights and recommendations for the shifting landscape of Canadian religious freedoms
When: October 4 @ 10:30 a.m. Atlantic Time
Where: Zoom-inar
Who: Derek Ross, Executive Director & General Counsel for Christian Legal Fellowship
How: Pastors and lay leaders may register by email with the Atlantic District (office@www.atlanticdistrict.com) All AD credentialed pastors who register AND attend the Zoominar will receive a complimentary copy of the June 2018 publication, Hope for Nations: Standing Strong in a Post-Trust, Post Christian World (John Dickerson).

“Times of great social upheaval are times of great spiritual opportunity,” writes Dickerson. “You can live the adventure of this era with great purpose. You can know with confidence that the Creator of the universe appointed you to bring light and life to this moment in human history.”

Check out this recent radio interview with Derek Ross and Barry Bussey (Director for Legal Affairs of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities since 2011) on The Drew Marshall Show (begins at 1:40 in the MP3 file) for a sneak peek on some of the insights you will learn in this Oct 4th Zoominar.

YARMOUTH WESLEYAN CHURCH 
Thursday, November 1st, 9:30-4:30
Keynote Speakers Including : AJ Thomas, Kevin Vincent, Brent Ingersoll, Mike Miller & L.D. Buckingham

THE ROCK CHURCH HALIFAX
Friday, November 2nd, 9:30-4:30
Keynote Speakers: Jerry Reddy, James Mallon, AJ Thomas, Kevin Vincent & L.D. Buckingham

For more information and to register please visit the BLI website.

January 9-12, 2019
Orlando, Florida at The Caribe Royale

More than a minister’s conference. The Gathering is a reunion of ministry family and friends. A sabbath for our souls. Coming together to stop, rest, pray, play and thrive.  A chance to celebrate what God is doing in our lives and ministry through meals, stories, inspiration and worship.  We know this will be a gathering you won’t want to miss! Early bird registration ends this week – Aug 31, 2018.