It's Monday Again

Good Monday evening!  Just returned to the office late this afternoon having been in Nova Scotia since Friday.  More detail on the weekend’s activities below.
John Symonds received an overwhelmingly positive vote yesterday at Corbett Avenue and has accepted the position of Senior Pastor.  On the one hand, I am sorry to see him resign his significant position at Bethany Bible College where he has served very effectively.  On the other hand, I am thrilled to have him back in full-time pastoral service on the District.  He and Willo Ann will be moving to Fredericton this summer as they assume this new ministry responsibility.
May Rally ’07 information can be found on the web at  http://www.firstyouth.ca/.  Posters will be sent to the churches but all other information, including an on-line registration option, must be accessed at the website address.  Don’t miss it!
EXALT Youth Choir tour – music ministry experience hosted by Bethany Bible College for high school students in grades 9-12.  From June 24th to July 8th, EXALT will share in five days of rehearsal at Bethany followed by a 10-day concert tour, concluding at Beulah Camp.  This is a great opportunity to grow spiritually, develop musically, and be a part of a 2000+ km bus tour with other youth who love to sing and love Jesus.  For more information, visit  http://www.bbc.ca/ or contact David Klob at klobd@bbc.ca.
This continues to be a spring of outstanding mission trips for our District.  We have a team presently in the Ukraine led by Neil Horner of Woodstock, and a team that left this week for Ghana and Sierra Leone led by Peter Moore.  Another team will be going to the Ukraine next week led by David Steeves from Moncton.  Thanks for continuing to remember these teams in prayer. 
Sunday, March 25th, is being set aside as a Day of Prayer for Church Planting here on our District.  Dean Brown, our E&CG guy, joins me in requesting that church planting be included as a prayer focus on Sunday, March 25th.
Pastoral Transitions:
• Tom Ward resigned yesterday as the senor pastor at Fredericton-Olivet.
• Jay & Sharon Guptill will candidate at Dartmouth-Hillside this coming Sunday, March 4th.
Our church in Miramichi (Gary Churchill) is interested in having someone who might fill a “tent maker” role come and assist in the ministry.  If you have interest, please contact the pastor at gdchurch@nbnet.sympatico.ca
Please continue to pray for Alex Otis.  We mentioned in last week’s IMA that doctors were working to replace a shunt in his brain.  That shunt did not work and they were scheduled to replace it today.  This will be three shunts in four weeks and this is really taking a toll on Alex and the family.  I have assured them of our prayerful support and concern.
Dr. David Taylor (who previously served as a Missions Professor at Bethany) and his wife, Pat, presently serve as missionaries in Swaziland with the Church of the Nazarene.  Many of you will remember them.  They were recently brutally attacked and robbed in their home on the compound of Swaziland University.  David was struck in the head with a machete and his wife was repeatedly threatened before the robbers departed with money and other articles of value.  The M.D. informed David that if the machete cut had been a bit more to one side, he could have easily died.  They have obviously been traumatized by this experience and prayer is requested for them.
Passings:
• Mrs. Elizabeth Green, widow of Rev. W.E. Green, passed away over the weekend.  There will be no visitation or funeral and there will be a private family burial at Brown’s Flat.  We extend our sympathy to Maridel and Norman and his family.
• Mrs. Norma Backman, long time and faithful member of the Beals church, passed away over the weekend and her funeral was held today at Beals Island.  Norma is the grandmother of Seth Fancy, our youth pastor at Yarmouth.  Our sympathy is expressed to the family.
This past week for me included LBA meetings at Fredericton-Olivet and Havelock, NS as we work through the pastoral search process.  I also conducted LBA meetings at West Head and Yarmouth to review extended calls for Pastors Perry Ingersoll and Jim Agrell.  I spoke in the church at Port Maitland yesterday morning and Gloria and I were pleased to share lunch with Dale and Sherry Robertson following the service. 
On our travels, we were also pleased to share lunch with Connie and Duane Stewart, and Dean and Rosalie Brown.  I always truly consider it a privilege to share with the ministers of our District.
Ministers’ Prayer & Fast begins tomorrow, Tuesday, at Beulah, mid-afternoon.
THOT:  Save us from the hotheads that would lead us to act foolishly and from cold feet that would keep us from acting at all. – Peter Marshall