Monday Again

I was privileged to speak at a Missions Weekend for a church in another district this past weekend. Gloria and I will be taking a few days of vacation this week.  However, I am fully available through email, twitter, texting and cell phone if and as needed.  We plan to be back in the district no later than this coming Sunday.
NOTICE:  It was a privilege to have our General Superintendent in the district last week to meet with the LeRoys and also with the DBA. When she was here in May, David LeRoy was placed on an eight month leave of absence due to his cancer diagnosis and I was asked to serve as interim DS for that period of time. David continues on leave and is in the process of applying for long-term disability. I have been asked to continue in the interim role until District Conference in July of next year. Dr. Lyon will be back in the district in December to meet with the DBA to consider next steps. Please continue to be in prayer for this very significant matter.
GPAtlantic: Is your church planning a short term mission trip?  Promote it on GPAtlantic.ca by emailing  denn@gpatlantic.ca. Are there folks in your church looking for a short term mission opportunity that you are unable to provide? Direct them to GPAtlantic.ca to find opportunities to serve.
The new Wesleyan Hospital on La Gonave, Haiti will be dedicated in just a few days. What an amazing addition this will be to the medical ministry of Global Partners.  Many of you have been there on mission trips and we all join in a hearty PTL!

Our zone ministers meetings wrapped up last week in Houlton. The attendance target of 100 was exceeded with 124 in total attendance. Special thanks to host pastors Greg Dakin, Matt Maxwell, John Symonds, Jay Guptill and Wayne Robertson – very well done one and all. What a classy tribe.
He’s here! Levi David James Hockley, son of David and Amy, arrived on Sept 19, all 8.11 of him. David says “Levi is wonderful and Amy is doing well.”  Congrats

Sydney New Roots hosted two mission teams in August who held VBS and Block Parties while there. The highlight was a block party in the downtown park area where 92 kids showed up. A number of contacts for fall follow up were made. Thanks to the volunteers on the teams.
Great back to church Sunday at Easton in celebration of the recent ordination of their new Pastor Jason Coffman, complete with a video of his ordination that took place in his home district in Indiana. This allowed the Easton folk to share in the experience and the  morning crowd was about 20% above last year’s average.
Amherst held its “Come Home to AWC Days” last weekend. Pastor Raymond says “it was a huge success.” More than 100 attended their Saturday activities and half of them were unchurched non-AWC’ers. The day included carnival style games, a dunk tank, pie-in-the-face, cake walk, mini putt, washer toss, tug of war along with the canteen, walking tacos, canteen, BBQ and corn boil. Saturday ended with a bonfire and campfire sing. Sunday morning set a record of 140 in attendance with many new faces. What a positive community impact. Go Raymond!

Bangor River City held their Free Fall Family Festival with the Praxis team from KU led by Mike MacNeil helping with pre-event visitation. Sunday morning they turned the parking lot into a carnival and held their worship service outdoors.  Many visitors expressed interest in the church. Drawings were held from among the completed contact cards – they got a lot of contact cards. After the event was over and they were cleaning up, a random stranger showed up and gave Pastor Steve $100 and said he just wanted to bless the church.

Hammonds Plains Cornerstone had 306 present last Sunday including 81 kids – their largest children’s attendance ever.
These highlights along with others shared in the last few Mondays point to a genuine moving of the Spirit across our district. We are about to CATCH FIRE – are you ready?  Onward and upward.

Kingswood University will be presenting “24/6 – Finding Rest in a 24/7 World” on Tuesday, October 1, in the Saunders Irving Chapel. The evening seminar, which begins at 7:00 p.m., is Kingswood’s first Community Event for the new school year. The 60 minute presentation features Matthew Sleeth, M.D. and his wife, Nancy, as they speak about living a healthier, happier life by scheduling time for rest.
Denn Guptill recently came across some old district journals from 1963 – 50 years ago. Top memberships that year were Moncton 212, Seal Cove 197, Marysville (now Crosspoint) 176 and Beals Island 161. Interesting to be sure.
Our GS Dr Lyon was the speaker of impact at Ignite, the fall spiritual emphasis services at KU this week. Many reports of spiritual growth and victories under her ministry.

THOT: BE or be quiet.  – Dave Bever