It’s Monday Again
Operation INSPIRATION could be heard by the pastoral team of Journey (Matt Maxwell) yesterday morning during their livestream service. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds (431 Air Demonstration Squadron) are saluting citizens across the country this week for playing their part to slow the spread of COVID-19. These pictures were taken as the squadron flew over the church and are provided courtesy of Ellen TS Photography.
Executive Director J. Kevin Cameron of the North American Center for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response offered excellent insight for our pastors on Thursday as we serve our church families and communities impacted by the pandemic and the mass shooting in Nova Scotia. Special thanks to our new Executive Director of the Atlantic District Tami Mutch-Ketch for facilitating this first-class opportunity. Pastors may email Tami to request a copy of this recording.
This past weekend would have been on-campus graduation for Kingswood University. The Faculty found a creative way to extend their congratulations for the Class of 2020! Know a potential student for this fall? Feel free to share this virtual campus tour. Also, the renovations on Stairs Hall began last week!
The values-driven vision of our 2025 Horizon Storyline (see the bottom of this email) continues as our six Discipleship Pathway Cohorts continue including 90% of our churches. This week Dr. Rick Kavanaugh (Framework) served as Facilitator for Crosspoint, Deep Water, Kings, & Yarmouth. This pandemic season of ministry provides extra margin for our churches to rethink and renew discipleship pathways. Dr. Kavanuagh’s dissertation is available for review and provides helpful insights on leading change in the local church.
Congratulations to Nathan Adams (Moncton) on his acceptance this week into the Ph.D. program of Religious Studies at McGill University! Moncton (Joel Gorveatte) is currently accepting applications for two pastoral staff roles. Interested candidates may submit resumes to Joyce Gildart (jgildart@mw.church) for Student Ministries Pastor or Executive Pastor positions.
More youth. Less hair. That was the challenge of Youth Pastor Bradford Jordan at Blacks Harbour (Dr. HC). His challenge was to have 20 students on Zoom during Sunday night’s SURGE Youth Group. Bradford has not only reached a new attendance marker – he’s saving on shampoo! Cooke Aquaculture has generously provided a three-year grant to allow for this staff position.
AD COVID-Check-In with the DS. On Tuesday, I met by Zoom with some of our Atlantic Pastors. In this weekly meeting, we share perspectives on specific challenges/questions/resources and have opportunity to pray for each other. I would welcome any pastor to join me for this optional Zoom COVID Check-In on Thursday, May 7th @ 2:30 p.m. Atlantic Time. The time/date changes weekly based on my schedule. Please cut and paste this Zoom link into your calendar now to make plans to join in this week!
Executive Director Tanya Nace of World Hope International (Canada) invites you to take a virtual trip around the world as we celebrate lives changed and give as we anticipate continuing to build hope this coming year. This fall thousands of Bahamians received clean water and life-saving supplies after the destruction of Hurricane Dorian. Throughout the past year World Hope provided clean water through wells and piped water to communities in West Africa and Cambodia and we continue to help transform the lives of young orphaned girls in Ukraine.Join us online in Celebrating the Passionate Purpose at our Online Gala on May 29 at 7:00 p.m. Atlantic Time. We will go LIVE from Facebook and can’t wait to have you join us as we come together with a shared purpose and vision to provide hope. RSVP here and follow this link and prompts to get exclusive content leading up to the gala. See you there!
Points to Ponder
- All trauma does is intensify existing dynamics. Denial of awareness, impact, or responsibility can keep people from expelling anxiety and hinder healthy recovery from trauma. (J. Kevin Cameron)
- There comes a point in our forward growth with Jesus, we will not grow until we are helping others to grow. (Rick Kavanaugh)
- The world is exactly as uncertain as it always has been. God is exactly as trustworthy as He always has been. (Linda Lamos)
- What: An Online Pentecost Prayer Event (click above for the video greeting)
- When: Pentecost Sunday, May 31st (7:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. AT, 8:30 p.m. NT)
- Who: The Wesleyan Church across North America and beyond
- How: Graphics and social media messages are available to promote this call to prayer – just visit https://www.wesleyan.org/event/together for more information for you and your church family to participate
ATTN: Lead Pastors, Staff Pastors and Ministerial Students (Deadline: May 31st)
It is that time of year to start thinking about filling out your Annual Service Report (ASR). You should have gotten an email from Headquarters with your login username. Below is a link to help you with the process. Please go to this link before calling the office: https://www.wesleyan.org/asr-and-lcsr-instructions – Please call the District Office if you have problems getting logged in or have questions about the process. Also let the District Office know if you didn’t receive an email with your username.
COVID-19 Resources
There is little doubt we are in a season of testing and refinement…
not only for the Church, but for her leaders.
not only for the Church, but for her leaders.
- “The three determinants of culture are shared values, shared language and shared vision. Can you see ways to nurture and cultivate all three virtually?” (Scott Rodin) Shaping culture virtually in crisis is far from business as usual. These are days of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA). As James Emery White so clearly articulates, “You are leading in a VUCA world.” This blog gives excellent direction in how to effectively shape culture in our current context.
- National Superintendent Stephen Elliott has provided this helpful Summary of Government Financial Direction for consideration by local church leadership in response to the fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Canadian Government Financial Link for COVID-19 Response. Canada Helps has also provided this Guide for Charities with Government Programs.
- HQ RESOURCES: We are grateful for the excellent and growing online hub of COVID-19 resources provided by The Wesleyan Church HERE which includes links such as our CMAD Division with specific direction for NextGen ministry innovationsuch as the NextGen Facebook Group for Wesleyan Youth Pastors/Leaders.
- This COVID-19 Ministry Resources PDF includes a variety of ministry links to explore as you seek the best way forward in leading your church family. Barna Research provides this Local Church COVID-19 Report from 1500 pastors recently surveyed.
- Online Service Webinars: “What if [Church] leaders started thinking of themselves as a digital organization with a physical presence, instead of a physical organization with a digital presence?” (Carey Nieuwhof) During Easter week, two of our local church pastors provided workshops (pictured above) for a Beginners Online Service (Tom Cann – Yarmouth) and an Intermediate Online Service (Shane Grant – Moncton). Also, a friendly reminder that your local church CCLI License does not cover streaming your worship songs. However, you can check out their CCLI Streaming License info HERE.
What about Beulah Family Camp & Caton’s Island for 2020?
CLICK HERE for a full announcement dated April 27, 2020, by action of the Atlantic DBA
World Hope International (Canada) Opportunities
Looking for a meaningful way to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day for your family or through your church family? Look no more – CLICK HERE for details on how you can honour your parents by investing in those who have no parents to provide for their future. You can also use this video presentation to highlight the impact of this ministry.
World Hope International has created an online platform, Get-Support, to help communities and churches stay connected and provide support to one another. This is a platform where users can submit and respond to requests for assistance from one another. Five churches in the Atlantic District are registered to use Get-Support. If you are interested in using this tool in your church, watch this Webinar that explains how the system works. For more information and to register, https://get-support.ca/
The national office of The Wesleyan Church of Canada is pleased to provide access to some helpful documents for the pastors in our Canadian churches. Included in those documents are:
- Summary of Canadian Government Financial Direction for COVID-19 Response
- Overview of the Retirement Plan Life insurance and Long-term disability benefits
- Information for the Wesleyan Retirement Plan
- New form for allocating contributions to a Tax Free Savings Account
- Prayer Poster for our Canadian Missionaries (current as of Dec. 31, 2019). Full size posters are available from: Stephen@wesleyan.ca
- Poster promoting the need/opportunities for Church Planting in Canada. Full size poster are available from: Stephen@wesleyan.ca
- Direct Deposit form for the financial support of our Canadian Global Partners missionaries (accelerates donor process by at least 50%)
- 2020 options/contact info for the National Cell Phone Plan (Bell Aliant)
Additional forms, such as ‘Sexual Harassment Avoidance’ policy are available at: www.wesleyan.ca (click: Menu : Ministries : Resources)
Want to know about the Atlantic District’s 2025 Horizon Storyline – Values-Driven Vision? Click here to see a one-page overview
Click here for the 45-minute video 2025 presentation
Click here for the 45-minute video 2025 presentation