Deep Water (Nathan Maskery) celebrated 14 baptisms at Rainbow Haven Beach last month – PTL! This was after a 24-hour prayer event the same weekend with the two locations as they prepare to launch Deep Water – Woodlawn in the church year ahead.
- Yarmouth Wesleyan (AJ Plaizier) celebrated their annual summer baptism at Ellerwood Beach with 11 people taking the step of faith to receive the sacrament. So many transformed lives – every number has a name, and every name has a Holy Spirit story for God’s glory!
Live Well Community (Tim Long) celebrated the baptism of a couple last month who were visiting their daughter who attends the church. Assistant Pastor Angela Love also had opportunity to baptize a teenage girl in June at low tide on Beautiful Cove Beach in Freeport. The young lady was part of a program Angela was teaching when she had opportunity to hand out Bibles and talk about the importance of baptism. Praise God for seeds sown now bearing a harvest!
- Live Well Community also held its annual **Blossom Ladies Retreat** on August 22-23 with the theme of Empower and the corresponding flower was a sunflower. 14 ladies came out to be empowered by God through Worship, Workshops, Fellowship, and Fun. With the Digby Neck having about 1700 residents, this incredible turn out would be like having a women’s conference in HRM with more than 3,500 in attendance – way to go Live Well Community! The guest speaker (Laura d’Entremont) and worship leaders were from New Hope Wesleyan – Kingston (David Tysick).
After a very brief introduction at District Conference regarding the nearly two-year process for our new Culture of Care, we are pleased to offer this video overviewof the many opportunities you and your pastoral family members will have to engage in high-calibre care that is both preventative and restorative.
- A key first step for our Ministerial Tribe is to take part in the following assessment – you will continue to receive info throughout September…
**Coming in October:**
Flourishing in Ministry: **Well-Being Assessment**
for all Atlantic District Pastors
The Atlantic District aims to cultivate a healthy culture of care, support and safety for all pastors and their families. To that end, we are engaging the services of Dr. Chris Adams, a leading researcher in clergy wellbeing at the Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University. Dr. Adams will be conducting the **Flourishing in Ministry Assessment (FIM)** of the wellbeing of all Atlantic District clergy. The assessment will take place October 7-22. More details to come in the following weeks.
- CLICK HERE for a thorough website overview of our Clergy Culture of Care.
A God-honouring word from Children’s Pastor Linda Lamos of Kings (Brent Ingersoll):
- Wow God! We have so much to celebrate! This summer has been incredible with 5 Kids Camps in 3 Provinces (Kings -Valley Location, Charlottetown, West Saint John, Halifax, and St. Stephen). 539 kids heard the Good News because 250 volunteers gave up their time and served. Lives are forever changed. An amazing job to all of the KC Kids Camp Directors and their teams!
Amherst Wesleyan (Evan Oxner) held its annual Konnect Camp last month. Approximately 40 kids attended and **9 made first time decisions to follow Jesus!** They also had a goal to collect 300 non-perishable food items for the food bank and blew the top off their goal with 419. This has been an effective way to minister to families and bring the Gospel to the community of Amherst.
- I subscribe to every local church newsletter and enjoy seeing the updates of God at work. I particularly enjoy one feature in the Amherst Wesleyan Newsletter with a simple (you might even say, blunt) title: WINS! CLICK HERE to check it out. I appreciate the thoughtfulness Evan puts into articulating wins that are qualitative as well as those easily measured numerically. A great idea to consider trying in your local church newsletter.
Lighthouse (John Lamos) had 35 kids registered for the whole week of VBS last month. John shared, “Two church communities coming together in one body to serve and love the next generation on our island in the name of Jesus.”
- Congratulations to Seth & Lauryn Cooney as he joins John’s team this month as Worship Pastor – welcome to Grand Manan!
*Hainesville Homecoming – Where Stories Meet Again*, hosted by Lower Hainesville Wesleyan (Peggy Yetman), brought together neighbours, friends, and generations of memories under one big tent. Peggy shared, “From homemade pies and local crafts to balloon animals, music, and a petting zoo, the day was filled with laughter, connection, and rural charm. It was a beautiful celebration of community spirit and the deep roots that continue to grow in this little corner of New Brunswick.”
- CLICK HERE to check in on The Little Church That Could: The Shelter Projectas they seek to raise $6000 for badly needed repairs on the parsonage.
The picture above represents a group of 54 men from Journey (Matt Maxwell) who have committed to a year of intentional, peer-to-peer discipleship called **Man Year** (Jon Tyson). Matt shared, “32 of us have come together to celebrate the completion of the first three-month Spiritual Module. The testimonies around this circle are moving, motivating, encouraging and awe inspiring! GOD IS GOOD!!”
CLICK HERE to register!
We are incredibly blessed by the leadership of Director-Elect Wayne Clark at Beulah Camp & Conference Center. Nearly 110 volunteers were present for the annual appreciation dinner on August 21st coordinated by Wayne’s team with a delicious meal prepared by Chef Hannah Wright.
- The Beulah Session of the Camp Board assisted in serving the meal and the next day convened for its full-day summer meeting chaired by our Executive Director Tami Mutch-Ketch.
**A Mullen Heritage Archives Highlight**
CLICK HERE to be inspired by the letters of our third Superintendent, Rev. Fraser A. Dunlop, as compiled by his grand-daughter, Dr. Shirley A. Mullen, our BCCC Heritage Advisor. She also graciously provided the following comments at my request:
- Even while we appreciate the convenience of texts and email, we yearn for the more leisurely days when “snail mail” was the norm. This summer, the Mullen Heritage Archives featured as one of its special displays, letters and poems that had been written about Beulah over the decades. They invited the children who visited the Archives to describe their experience of Beulah in letter form; the children’s letters remind us of how much Beulah gets deep in our hearts and minds from our earliest days!
As part of paying tribute to the importance of letters in our lives, the Archives collected and made available excerpts from letters that Rev. Fraser Dunlop wrote to his daughter Vesta between 1971 and his passing in 1988. (As you recall, Vesta was the founder and curator of the Archives from its founding until her passing last summer.) I am including a link to those letters—for their wisdom, their testimony to God’s faithfulness, and their generally enjoyable commentary—as well as their reminder of the importance of passing along our own stories to the next generation.
TWCC National Health Care Plan Update
National Superintendent Steve Elliott (TWCC) has been diligently providing leadership to a year-long thorough review of our National Health Care Plan. He will be sending an important email announcement this week following last month’s outcome of the final meeting in a lengthy process pictured above. This included leadership from both districts and Kingswood University. We are blessed by his commitment to continue to explore the best options available to serve those who are employed at least 20 hours per week in our churches and Wesleyan ministries.
- Last week, Dr. Elliott also convened the National Board to address a variety of time-sensitive items as TWCC prepared for the beginning of its fiscal year on September 1st.
DBMD Chair Dale MacDonald (Woodstock Wesleyan) convened the DBMD Executive last month for the yearly review of the *Annual Service Reports*. It was noted by all that in this post-pandemic era there was a greater sense of unity, momentum and positive outlook expressed in the 237 reports.
Here are just a few excerpts that caught our eye:
- I love The Wesleyan Church… I believe in where the Atlantic District is heading. I see God working many miracles through the ministry of the Atlantic District.
- I love The Wesleyan church. I also love the Atlantic District!
- We have one of the best districts any denomination could ask for. It’s beautiful to see the support and the autonomy that is offered, but the true connection and tribal power of the community as a whole is incredible.
- I fully support the Atlantic District of The Wesleyan Church! There is a strong and clear vision kept at the forefront for the growth of God’s Kingdom work in the district and beyond. As pastors we are encouraged, supported, and resourced to do what God has…