Monday Again

Historic day on Grand Manan yesterday. The three churches worshipped together at Grand Harbour Central with chairs being carried in to accommodate the crowd of 198 – a full house plus. Following the service with an anointed sermon from Steve Bradley, and a combined congregational meeting, a vote was taken on supporting and approving in principle the merger of the three churches into one. While many details are yet to be settled of course, the merger was approved by the members of all three churches by a truly overwhelming majority of 94.9%.  The proposal was also strongly endorsed by the non-members present  – 86% – who were given the opportunity to vote as well. Now the major and serious work begins – onward and upward!

• Janet Starks has been nominated by President Lennox and the Administrative Cabinet at Kingswood to serve as the next Vice President of Academic Affairs. The appointment of Dr Starks is subject to Board of Trustees ratification which I am confident will be forthcoming very shortly. A more complete announcement will follow. Congratulations VP Starks!
• Steve LeRoy has resigned his staff position at Digby Wesleyan. 
• Peter and I attended a planning meeting at Kingswood  last week that brought leaders together from a number of denominations to work toward a Thriving Church conference to be held at Kingswood in late summer this year. Great to interact with fellow labourers for the Cause. More word to follow on the conference. 
• Our sympathy is extended to Linda Lamos and Dean Stephenson both of whom lost their fathers last week. 
• Some weeks I am privileged to interact in person with more of our pastors than is true of other weeks. This past week was one of those banner weeks as I was privileged to meet with AJ Thomas, Steve Sinclair, Matt Maxwell, Don Ingersoll, Linda Fillmore, Bill Lea, Dave Green and the Grand Manan four. What a tribe!
• Yarmouth has had 450, 460 and 461 in attendance the last three Sundays.

Peter led an MI Team at Fort Fairfield this weekend with Wayne Robertson & Neil Horner.  Community Wesleyan began in 1905 and is experiencing days of refocussing under the leadership of Jamin Melanson.

Presque Isle Wesleyan is fully engaged in the 5-week study on prayer following a showing of the movie War Room.  There are 17 small groups with more than 160 participants.  Peter had opportunity while in the county to interact with the PIWC staff following the Saturday evening servic

Pastor Wayne Robertson at Houlton saw 24 men present for their 5:30 AM Bible study last Tuesday morning. This is the largest group that has ever attended this early morning event focused on the Word.  Well done.

A multi craft day, consisting of knitting, weaving, and quilting was held at Beulah on Feb 2nd.  It was attended by 22 ladies from Saint John, Quispamsis, Fredericton and the Browns Flat area.  A pot luck lunch was enjoyed by all.

THOT: “In parenting, the days are long and the years are short. So, what you do this week matters.” – @theparentcue

ON SECOND THOT: “Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.” G. K. Chesterton

Kingswood University will be livestreaming the Acadia Divinity College 2016 Simpson Lectures on February 8-10 from 7-9 pm in Stairs Hall, room 202.  Keynote Speaker Dr. Anna Robbins, who is Associate Professor of Theology, Culture and Ethics, Director of Doctoral Studies, and Academic Dean at ADC, will speak on the following topics:

• We are Babylon: Dispelling the Myths of Exile (Monday, Feb. 8)
• We are Babylon: Dispelling the Myths of Hospitality (Tuesday, Feb. 9)
• We are Babylon: Dispelling the Myths of Security (Wednesday, Feb. 10)

KU site facilitator is Dr. Kenneth Gavel, Associate VP for Graduate Studies and Division Chair of Biblical and Theological Studies.  For more information, contact Eileen Gavel at 432-4429. There is no cost to attend the livestreaming.

Hillside Rally 2016 is just around the corner! We couldn’t be more excited for what is in store! Alive from KU will be doing the music, Dave Sylvain from Presque Isle Wesleyan will be the speaker for the weekend. Fun activities, fantastic workshops, and a great time await students at Hillside Rally. Pre-register for $30 (by Feb 12) or late registration $40 – available at  (hillsidewesleyan.com/rally). See you there!

Pastors and church members are invited to attend “Mission & the Local Church,” a conference with missiologist Chris Wright. The simulcast event of the Evangelical Missiological Society of Canada will be held February 12 at Kingswood University from 9 to 4:30 pm in Wesley Hall. The cost is $20. Lunch is included. For more information, call Eileen Gavel at 506-432-4429 or see https://www.emsweb.org/regions/canada.