It’s Monday Again
Congratulations to Woods Harbour on yesterday’s unanimous election of their new Lead Pastor, Rev. Tim Conrad! Tim preached live via Zoom from Brockville, Ontario. Tim & Jenna and their sons will begin at the usual time of pastoral transition in July. As they are new faces to most in our Atlantic tribe, feel free to CLICK HERE to enjoy the family introduction they provided during their 100% virtual candidating process.
Here are some other updates from around the Atlantic District:
- Shawna Rogers received a unanimous Extended Call recommendation from the River Valley LBA by congregational vote to be held in early March.
- Ken Banks recently presented two $1000 cheques from the Blacks HarbourChristmas offering (The Big Give) to the principals of Blacks Harbour School & St. George Elementary School.
- Ken also shared how the church family is continuing to adapt and innovate, “With COVID regulations at the Orange level, we haven’t had in person services since January 3rd. We decided to try something new this weekend. We opted to go with a two service approach – offering a Saturday night, with a max of 35 attenders, and a Sunday morning service, also with a max of 35 attenders. This would permit us to allow those who wished to attend in person the opportunity to do so, but also provide a margin for non-registered persons and guests, as we could have 50 at each service. We offered live music and kids ministry on Saturday, with live preaching. On Sunday, we showed the recorded music from Saturday and also provided live preaching. A live stream option was also made available.”
- Tim Guptill was featured by CBC News this Thursday as he highlighted the merger of our three churches on Grand Manan to form The Lighthouse. This coverage included an excellent clip on the evening news for CBC New Brunswick with a focus on the use of geothermal heating technology and on the significant outreach to 100 youth and kids in mid-week ministry. CLICK HERE to enjoy the article and HERE to watch the three-minute news clip.
Congratulations to Evan Oxner (Amherst) for sending in the first accurate guess last Monday morning – hope you enjoy his book, perhaps we should send him a copy of yours! The leader pictured above is Dr. Dann Spader. He is recognized as one of the premier heavy weights in North American discipleship circles and will be our Guest Leader for the Pastor Cluster Leader meeting on March 17th.
Dr. Spader’s work, particularly in the metrics of discipleship, will provide substantive material for the Pastoral Development conversations in our Pastor Clusters during April, May, & June. I am so grateful for the 20+ Pastor Cluster Leaders who are making these monthly connections a meaningful expression of how we are stronger together.
- We don’t so much break God’s laws as break ourselves against them. (Wilbur Williams)
- It is not so much that God has a mission for His Church in the world, but that God has a Church for His mission in the world. (Christopher Wright)
- Holiness is more about joyously aligning my life with Jesus than it is studiously avoiding sin. (Richard Heyduck)
for leaders to think more strategically
about doing church?
(Will Mancini)
Check out these great resources above at www.wesleyan.org – we are blessed by the many ways our denominational leadership serves the front lines of the local church.
Staying on top of your mental health has always been important, but it certainly seems to be even more pressing in our current season. With that in mind, Yarmouth (AJ Plaizier) offered an online seminar recently featuring Dr. Allen Lee (Program Director of the Christian Counselling program at Kingswood University and Atlantic District Clergy Care Coordinator). CLICK HERE to view this presentation hosted by Mark Brewer with practical strategies to help us stay mentally healthy during these challenging days.
- Sermons: We’ve recorded two sermons which churches can use to provide a respite for those preaching. We plan to provide more sermons in the coming weeks.
- Greeting and update: We have included a brief video update on how God has been working at Kingswood University during the past 10 months. Churches deserve to know how we’re stewarding their investment.
- Free classes: Pastors may welcome the opportunity to sit in on a virtual class session to learn more about a topic of interest. The care package contains a list of classes and syllabi for those classes. Anyone interested can contact our Registrar for more information or to register (rodgersonm@kingswood.edu or 506-432-4406).
- Seminar on Personal Wellness: We’ve provided a video file to a seminar presented by Dr. Allen Lee, Professor of Christian Counselling at Kingswood University.
- Youth group: Seasoned youth speakers, Shaun Miller and Zach Painter, are happy to lead a virtual youth service for an evening. If COVID-related restrictions allow, this could be done in-person. Anyone interested should contact enrolment@kingswood.edu.