Author: WCV Administrator

New Prospective Elders

Posted on by

Last fall we embarked on a process to discern who God was inviting into eldership at the Vineyard. Lindsay and Lois Ward, Rick and Luanne Hill, Cornelius and Tania Martens and Christy Chan came to the forefront of our discussion and prayer. We’ve since invited each of them to be prospective elders. This means that they will come to our meetings and participate in normal elder activities in the Vineyard. At the end of this prospective period (April 2020) we will determine if they would like to have their names stand to be elders. If it seems good to us and the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:28) the membership of WCV will vote on them.  

Let’s continue to pray for all of them, as well as the rest of the elders and Leadership Team.

C:\Users\Lindsay\Downloads\IMG_4892.jpg
Lindsay and Lois Ward

Lois and Lindsay have been part of WCV tribe since the mid 1990’s having experienced significant God encounters through Prairie Fire (Winnipeg) and the Toronto Airport Vineyard (Toronto Blessing).

“Church planting was a significant initiative within the Vineyard movement and encouraged by a John Wimber conference leading to plants being seeded in Winkler, Portage la Prairie, Brandon and locally in Transcona and South Winnipeg. In 1998, two couples, the Musselmans and ourselves embarked on a journey of ‘doing the stuff’ in the South end of the City meeting in various locales under the auspices of WCV. What a ride! There are lots of ‘out and back again’ stories in the Bible, and we’ve been part of that story. WCV has been our home for a quarter of a century (ouch) yet we look ahead with confidence and some trepidation to what God is planning for WCV.”

Luanne and Rick Hill

Luanne and Rick Hill have been involved in ministry for over 35 years (youth, church planting, parachurch and church consulting). They became acquainted with WCV in 2001 soon after they arrived in Winnipeg from Ontario with their three children (Esther, Caleb, Micah). Luanne has recently retired from her full-time position as a Nursing Instructor at Red River College (although she has returned on a temporary basis). WCV has served as a spiritual home for them between periods of Rick’s work as a transitional pastor/consultant in several churches throughout Winnipeg.  

Rick and Luanne are both trained Spiritual Directors (Sustainable Faith) and are passionate about helping people cultivate a deeper connection with God. They are excited to have welcomed their two new daughters-in-law and a future son-in-law into their family over the last few years. 

“We are full of hope and looking forward to see how God moves within WCV in the future.”

Cornelius and Tania Martens

Cornelius and Tania Martens, along with their four children: Lukas, Annalie, Tobias, and Larissa have been attending WCV since 2007. They are especially passionate about the Kids and Youth ministries. They have served as Youth Leaders, Club 56 Leaders, and Sunday School teachers over the years. Tania currently administrates and teaches ages 4-6 kids ministry. Cornelius enjoys being part of the regular worship rotation and he also serves on the Board of Directors.

Christy Chan

Christy has been a part of WCV since around 2001. Over the years she has enjoyed helping with Sunday School, the Breathe program for moms with little ones, and co-leading a house group with her husband Andrew and their 3 boys. She has recently become a Spiritual Director (Sustainable Faith) and is enjoying the gift of hearing peoples stories and praying with them.

CarePortal Vision

Posted on by

CarePortal is an online platform specifically designed to connect real-time needs of children and families with local partnering churches. Congregation members & community are promptly able to respond relationally to local needs through the local church.

God is using the church to have a direct impact on Child Welfare! Please take a look at the 2-minute testimonial video about CarePortal and the impact they are having on lives in our community.

We will be launching CarePortal in our own church very soon! We will host an interest lunch after Sunday morning service in the coming weeks. Please stay posted for more details!

CarePortal Launch @ WCV

Posted on by

CarePortal is an online platform specifically designed to connect real-time needs of children and families (identified by partnering child serving organizations, such as SafeFamilies & CFS) with local partnering churches. Congregation members & community are promptly able to respond relationally to local needs through the local church.

CarePortal started piloting in Winnipeg May 2019 and officially launched November 2019. So far, they have 12 churches working together to serve the needs of 2 referring agencies. They have seen 51 children’s needs met through CarePortal and are looking forward to being a part of the greater number of over 50,000 children served through CarePortal Internationally.

God is using the church to have a direct impact on Child Welfare and they are answering the call by saying yes to caring for the vulnerable children and families in our communities.

>>>Please note: WCV is postponing its launch date and interest lunch that was scheduled for this Sunday, March 22nd.

Up From The Ground

Posted on by

Thursday, March 12th. An Invitation to share, and create.

Hi friends,

Next Thursday, March 12, we are hosting a WCV community sharing night called “Up from the Ground”. The hope is to have members of our community share pieces they have created over the past 2 years. This could come in the shape of song, poetry, art, craft, dance, etc. You are invited to come and share, or come and receive. All are welcome.

We will also begin a community art project together that will culminate on Easter morning. Sometimes when difficult seasons strike it feels like we’ve been shattered. Lent gives us an opportunity to share in the grief and the unknown nature of our hard seasons.

For our art project, we are inviting you to bring something breakable that you are willing to smash. It could be a cup, a pot, a plate, a piece of pottery, a small sculpture, etc. At some point in the evening on Thursday we will take a moment to shatter our pieces, and collectively surrender these things to God.

On Easter Sunday some members of our creative team will rebuild these pieces into a community art piece.

If you have a piece of art you can share on Thursday, please contact Krista Heide or Sherry Ansloos so we can plan accordingly.

And please, think about what sort of breakable item you can bring along to contribute to our collective Lent art project.

Please feel free to share this invitation. Youth are invited to participate as well.

Thank you!

The Sacrament of Baptism

Posted on by

One does not slowly become baptized. It is a singular point in one’s history. In fact it’s more than just a moment – it is an act of obedience to anyone who has decided to follow Jesus. Jesus, Paul, and Peter all had significant things to say about baptism (Mark 16, Romans 6, & 1 Peter 3 respectively). This sacrament which Jesus even participated in himself, is in God’s plans for every one of his children. Participating in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are the primary realities demonstrated through baptism. Somehow we can access his post resurrection life now – it can become part of us. This is possible only through his death (which we celebrate during Communion). When we are brought up out of the water, we are cleansed and born into a new community, and are participating with Jesus in his new life! This is why there is often a fresh sense of being filled with the Holy Spirit at the time of baptism.

Jesus said, “believe and be baptized” (Mark 16:16). In other words, believing is never just an internal reality – it always finds expression and is made practical, in our real lives. Baptism is an outward expression of an inward reality and one that followers of Jesus have participated in ever since Jesus himself was baptized by his cousin, John the Baptist.

If you believe in Jesus and haven’t yet taken this step, we invite you to think and pray about it. Call or contact the office if you’re interested and we’ll be in touch with you.

Christmas Feast – Pie Sign Up

Posted on by

Our Christmas feast is less than two weeks away! Jessie Penner, who has in previous years helped organize and cook for our feast, is also helping organize the feast this year! As she shared this past Sunday, she is needing some pies donated for our dessert at the feast.

If you’re able and willing to donate a pie or two (or three, or more!) please contact Jessie to let her know of your plans. Any pies that you want to drop off at the church for Jessie to pick up can be done so tomorrow (Thursday the 5th) or on Sunday morning, December 8th, so Jessie can take them home to cook!

To email Jessie, click here.

>>>Christmas Feast Details:

Sunday, December 15th @ 12 pm in the Sanctuary! (Families will eat together in the studio).

Hope to see you at the feast! Merry Christmas!

Emotional Allergies

Posted on by

This past Sunday, Krista Heide shared about “How to Love Well”, based off of our Emotionally Healthy Spirituality series. (To listen to that sermon, click here). As an opportunity to go deeper, she also created a helpful handout from Pete Scazzero’s book on ‘Emotionally Healthy Spirituality’ that speaks about “Emotional Allergies”.

Emotional allergies are strong reactions we can have to “something in the present, that remind us, consciously or unconsciously, of an event from our history” (Pete Scazzero). To read the excerpt from Chapter 7, click the link below:

>>>Emotional Allergies

Nepali Women’s Co-op @ Third + Bird

Posted on by

Nepali Women’s Co-op will be at the upcoming  Third + Bird Christmas Market in the downtown Hudson’s Bay basement! Here at the dates and times:

  • November 22 – Pre-Shop (tickets bought online before the sale)
  • November 23, 10 am – 5 pm
  • November 24, 11 am – 4 pm

This is a fun event; please consider attending! Visit the NWC booth and enjoy a time of shopping local. We are very thankful for the partnership with Third + Bird. 

We are still looking for people to bake cookies! If you are interested in volunteering or baking cookies for the sale, please contact Debra Kelly.

If you’re wanting more information, visit the NWC Instagram: Nepali.womens.co_op, or their facebook page: Nepaliwomenscoop.

Help Needed

Posted on by

Hey folks!

Are you wondering how you can plug-in to our community? Or be a little more connected? We need some practical help, and here’s where you come in!

We’re in pretty dire need of some people to run the Sunday morning worship slides during the service. If you have a basic understanding on how to work a computer, that’s all you need! We’d of course provide an orientation and training for this.

We also need those who are morning birds and have a love for greeting people! Our Sunday morning greeters create that welcoming atmosphere as well as hand out bulletins. Usually we tag team this job with the coffee and treats prep! Again, orientation and training is provided.

We are all pieces of one puzzle, one body, one church. If you feel like this is something the Holy Spirit is leading you to, we could really use your help!

Thank you for considering! You can contact Vanessa at the office if you’d like more information or if you’d like to sign up on one of our rotations!

Welcome Party – November 17th

Posted on by

All WCV newcomers are invited to join us for a Welcome Party after the service on Sunday, November 17th. If you’ve started coming to the church over this past year and you’ve never been to a Welcome Party here, join us! You’ll have the opportunity to meet some of our leadership team, meet some other newcomers, ask some questions, find out a bit about the Vineyard, and enjoy a tasty lunch on us! If you’re interested please call or email the office to sign up, 204-582-2900.

We’d love to have you!

Annual Fire Drill – 2019

Posted on by

WCV will be doing an annual fire drill at the end of the service on Oct 6th, at 11:40 a.m. This is part of WCV’s Plan to Protect policy.  Kids Church will practice leaving their rooms with the volunteers down the designated stairwells. All of the kids and youth will head to the Greenspace,where their parents can pick them up and sign them out. After the kids have been signed out, everyone is welcome to head back inside for coffee, tea, and fellowship.

For both the fire drill and in case of any real emergency, Kid’s Church volunteers will escort children and youth (carrying all of the babies) safely out of the building.

Note>>> As parents, please do not attempt to rush up the stairwells to collect your children, as this will hamper our efforts of getting everyone down the stairs.

WCV Women’s Retreat 2019

Posted on by

This year’s Women’s Retreat is in gear! We are all so excited for this year’s retreat. God has some really cool things in store for us!

We are booked with Camp Nutimik for September 20th – 22nd. Lesley Hays, from FatherHeart Ministries, will be our speaker for the weekend!

>>Location: Camp Nutimik

>>Theme: Mending Your Heart; Tending Your Soul.

>>Cost: $105

To see the weekend’s itinerary, see our Brochure. To sign up, please fill out our registration form below and submit with payment!

If cost is an obstacle, there is a subsidy available if needed. Please talk to Elisa!

[gravityform id=”28″ title=”true” description=”true”]

We Are Hiring! Kids and Youth Job Postings

Posted on by

We have some exciting news… we’re hiring! We have a few meaningful and impactful roles working with our kids, youth, and the volunteers who work with them. If you have energy and passion to see kids and youth grow in their love for God and want to inspire volunteers to do the same, perhaps this is for you.

There are three job positions posted below: A director position that combines both Kids and Youth, and two other job descriptions that separate the two.

We invite you to:

  1. Join with us and pray for the right person or people,

  2. Forward this opportunity to someone you think might be a good candidate, or  

  3. Apply yourself.

Job Description – Director of Kids and Youth Ministries

Job Description – Director of Youth Ministries

Job Description – Director of Kids Ministries

>>Applications (resume and cover letter) can be submitted to Andy via email, or dropped off at the WCV office.

>>We will be accepting applications until August 4, 2019

>>Update: The position has been filled! Thank you!