Author: WCV Administrator

Last Encounter God Night – Invitation

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Encounter God Night is coming to a close, at least for this season. We’re not sure what the next season will look like, but we invite you to participate in the possible last one! Encounter God Nights are an opportunity to meet God through worship and prayer.

Our WCV youth have so faithfully led these evenings over the months, so we as a community thank you! Thank you for your heart to serve our community and minister to the Lord in worship and prayer!

The details: Thursday, June 27, 2019 @ 7 pm, 782 Main Street.

We hope to see you there!

Mercy Reset

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Mercy Reset & Activities Update

#1 Food & New Friends Dinner: Church Greenspace Chicken Barbecue, Sunday June 23 @ noon

Establishing Environments to Facilitate Relational Connectivity. This “Food & New Friends Dinner” will be a community event with volunteers and all food provided from the church budget and donors. This is our intentional effort for everyone to mix and eat together with those we can help with resources. This will bring opportunities to connect with new people that we don’t really know. We encourage you to eat beside someone you don’t know, and connect with someone you may be able to help in the coming weeks. The promises of Matthew 25:31-40 will become real as we seek new friendships over dinner.

Volunteers Wanted for:

  • Chairs & Tables – set up & removal
  • Food Prep – we need 20 Caesar salads, that can serve 12, donated – UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who is bringing a salad! We have reached our desired quota!
  • Plate Assembly – We want to serve each person with no line ups. The youth team will help serve all the meals, but we need a few more volunteers for plate assembly.

Please direct your volunteer decision to John Rademaker

>>>Coming Sunday June 9 will be a teaching to envision relationship. “We are all are poor; we all can help.” Everyone has something to give.

#2 Camp Days: Hadashville, July 28 & Aug 25

The traditional after church bus ride and cars in Hadashville is a beautiful time to spend a few hours of food and fun with those who have no other chance to go to the lake, a park or place of beauty. It’s an opportunity to love on each other and find out what you can do to see Jesus in  the poor. We will do a brief spiritual focus prior to the swim. The swim time is the high light for most: canoeing, swimming, staying cool and just plain fun.

#3 Drop-In: Status – No Action Yet 

This was identified as a “Top of the needs” of the Street Parish. They want the time alone in a building, perhaps once a week to start, to hang-out with friends, do Bible study, videos, love Jesus, communion, food. They want to just be a family (valid and important!) This, however, is only doable with volunteers. We also don’t have a pastor to lead this yet. We have to line up free food. We have vision but no takers on making it happen. Staff is pursuing options but without a practical plan. This will be revisited it in fall. When we see a groundswell of volunteers we will get off the ground; we are waiting patiently for that to happen.

Meanwhile the personal friendships will have to carry the challenge.

Please plan to attend where you can!

TREK Sessions

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From May 5 – June 30, Flatlanders Inn has partnered with the Multiply’s Central Canada team to host their TREK program’s orientation time. So a handful of people are moving in upstairs for the next two months to learn, prepare and pray towards what God is calling them to.  Some of them are heading to Brazil, and some to Japan. Others are staying in the north-end to join in what God has already begun right here in the heart of Winnipeg.

TREK has intentionally chosen to be here with us at this time to pray and worship and create with us and for us and this neighbourhood. To bless what God is doing here and to pray for what is to come. We are already feeling the love!

They are also inviting us to join in on what they are doing. There are weekly teaching sessions that will be happening in the Studio from 9 am – 4 pm. Each module has a small cost of $15 (this covers every day that a speaker is teaching).

  • May 10, 17: Larry Wilson – “A Path toward Healing & Wholeness”
  • May 13 – 16: Paul Winter – “Evangelism & Discipleship”
  • May 21 – 22: Elton Dasilva – “Holy Spirit Partnership”
  • May 23 -24: Paul Kroeker – “Path of Discipleship”
  • June 4 – 5: Randy Friesen – “Christ’s Kingdom Authority & Us”
  • June 10 – 12: Doug Penner – “Multiplying Discipleship Principles”
  • June 13 – 14: Bill Hogg – “Understanding & Sharing the Gospel”
  • June 17 – 20: Richard & Hazel Funk – “Healthy Sexuality”
  • June 24 – 26: Lloyd Letkeman – “Personal Gifting and Team Dynamics”

Contact Amanda Leighton or the church for more details.

Schools of Spiritual Formation ~ This Fall 2019

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This fall, there are two Schools of Spiritual Formation offered through Sustainable Faith. You may have heard about them: The School of Spiritual Direction, and The School of Mercy and Justice. Here’s a bit of information on these two amazing schools.

The School of Spiritual Direction (SOSD) is a two-year program, the first of which is intended to provide a well-rounded introduction to the ministry of spiritual direction, and the second of which is intended for those who envision spiritual direction as a fairly significant feature of their vocation. A real highlight of the school is the opportunity to offer spiritual direction early on and receive peer and formal supervision while doing so and, in the second year, engaging in an annotated version of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

  • SOSD Year One
    • Oct 4-5, 2019
    • Nov 22-23, 2019
    • Jan 24-25, 2020
    • Mar 20-21, 2020
    • May 8-9, 2020
  • SOSD Year Two (Dates TBD)

 

The School of Mercy and Justice (SOMJ) is a one-year program particularly for those who desire to cultivate a deep, vibrant interior life with God and engage effectively and healthily in the practical work of mercy and justice in the world. It’s spiritual formation for those who long to embody a contemplative posture while engaging in an active life with those on the margins of society.

  • SOMJ
    • Oct 18-19, 2019
    • Dec 6-7, 2019
    • Feb 7-8, 2020
    • Apr 3-4, 2020
    • May 29-30, 2020

>>>Please see the Sustainable Faith website for more information and registration.

Follow-up to our AGM / Community Meeting

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Dear WCV,

Thank you to everyone who came and participated in our AGM / community meeting on Monday evening. It was our most well attended and passionate AGM in years. This is wonderful, primarily because it indicates that you care – deeply. Thank you as well, for everyone who shared their thoughtful questions, insights, emotion, confessions and suggestions. It was very helpful for the leadership team as we continue to navigate this season… and we believe God was honoured by the whole evening.

We ran out of time, but thankfully, there will be more opportunities to be together, ask questions, ratify the budget, and share together. We want to outline those opportunities here as well as let you know of a few actions that are a direct result of hearing from you on Monday.

Drop-in:

We so appreciated hearing the heart and dismay behind the loss of Suhail’s position and the suspension of Drop-in. This sentiment was very clear. We’ve resolved to not just pause Drop-in until we can re-envision it, but rather to work at getting it going again as soon as possible, and then engage a re-visioning process with all the stake-holders. Like was stated on Monday, none of these decisions were easy to make. The BOD and Lay Elders agonized over the salary decisions (Andy, Jodi & Suhail weren’t involved in these specific discussions). We knew that these reductions would have a direct impact on various ministries as the staff worked out the implications on reduced time. At this point we can see that we should have kept Drop-in going. We will work to make it right. If you’re interested in volunteering in any capacity, please contact the office.

Input and Care:

Like we mentioned at the meeting, we have a number of initiatives planned. None of these will be perfect nor will any one initiative work for everybody. For example, not everyone will have the time or the personality to speak up at a community meeting. We hope, however, that cumulatively we will reach as many of you as possible. While these initiatives are not necessarily decision making times we do want to listen deeply, and lead carefully, all towards healing and moving forward together. To that end:

1) Survey

Watch for a simple survey that will be an opportunity to input into the life of the church. We need to know where you’re at, what you’re feeling, what you view as the greatest challenges, as well as our unique opportunities right now.

2) Talking Circles

We’ve had one, we’re going to have more. This Sunday (March 17), 12pm. Bring a bag lunch – childcare will be provided onwards from April 7th till May 12th (excluding Easter). These are opportunities to share where you’re at, unto healing. There will be a number of them planned around curated topics.

3) Next Community Meeting

At this point our next window for a meeting is the end of April. Spring break, the Imaginarium, the Men’s Retreat, and Easter are all factors in this timing. Watch for the date.

4) Reach out

We are open to hearing perspectives, concerns, prophetic nudges, etc. Please reach out to the Elders, who represent you in leadership. Both the pastoral and lay elders are available.

We encourage you to read the AGM booklet – physical copies are available at the info table, or you can email the office to ask for a digital copy. Unfortunately, there is no audio recording available of the meeting. There were some technical difficulties.

Lastly, a huge thank you for hanging in there during a difficult season. Thank you, too, for your prayers, support and encouragement. We are in this together, and God is with us. This, of course, is our great hope! Good things are in store for us as a community as we press in. Let’s keep it real, keep it focused on Jesus, and keep leaning into God as we do the work of loving God and each other. Let the Kingdom come!

The Vineyard Creative Imaginarium

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Mark your calendars! On April 4, 5, 6, 2019 Vineyard Creative is hosting an Imaginarium gathering in Winnipeg, MB. What in the world is an imaginarium you ask?

Here’s how Wikipedia defines it:

“An imaginarium refers to a place devoted to the imagination. There are various types of imaginaria, centers largely devoted to stimulating and cultivating the imagination, towards scientific, artistic, commercial, recreational, or spiritual ends.”

What that looks like for us is a Christ-centered gathering of Imaginators that is a creative, safe, sacred space. A space to share our work and our dreams, to be inspired, challenged and listened to. It means engaging with and exploring the imagination of God, the great Imaginator of it all. It means feasting together, worshipping together and creating together. It means coming to the table and breaking bread and the wine together.

We will be specifically exploring creativity as a healer and as a story(truth)-teller.

This gathering is being facilitated by Vineyard Creative Catalyst Leaders Kris MacQueen and Krista Heide. Rik Berry, acclaimed painter and Valley Gate Vineyard pastor will be joining us as well.

We will start with a Dinner Meet & Greet on Thursday, go all day Friday and Saturday, ending with a celebration / party Saturday evening.

There is a registration fee of $70 (early bird pricing of $50 until March 15)

 

Registration includes dinner together Thursday night and fun party food/appetizers on Saturday night. Attendees responsible for all other meals.

>>>Register here.

Update on our Retreats & Other Opportunities

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In light of our current circumstance, we have, with sadness, cancelled our Men’s, Women’s, and Youth retreats this year. We are walking out this situation and responding to the needs of the congregation. We are creating more ways for the community to process, grieve, and connect that is more manageable and involves less planning than the retreats. Our next step in this process is as follows:

  • August 23rd, (tomorrow night)we will be having a Prayer Night, at 7 pm in the Sanctuary. We invite you to come, intercede for the church body, call out to God for mercy, wisdom and continued healing for all those affected.

Thank you for your love, understanding, and prayer for us.

If you have any ideas for connection, have any questions, or need to reach out to anyone, please contact the office.

~ The Leadership Team

Some Resources on Grief

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Hey everyone,

Here are some resources on grief that were available on Sunday, August 19, 2018. They will also be available at church during our meetings this week:

The Open Care Night, August 21, 2018 at 7 pm in the Sanctuary. This will be a come-and-go evening that will have people ready and available to talk and pray, a quiet space in the sanctuary for prayer, and some resources on how to process this in a good way. We will also have suggestions on who to contact if you need professional counselling.

Prayer Night, August 23, 2018 at 7 pm in the Sanctuary. This will be an evening during which we gather together to call out to God for mercy, wisdom and healing for all involved. Be assured that so much prayer has already covered us, but we need to continue to turn to God in this time.

And lastly, if you need to talk about this, please reach out to any of the staff, elders or BOD members. If you don’t know who to reach out to, you can call Andy’s office phone at 204-582-2900 x13. The team will be organizing care from there.

Characteristics of Grief

Grief – Stages & Characteristics

Grief in the Bible

The Mourner’s Code

Supporting a Child who has been through Trauma

Trauma – Children & Adolescents

Talking to Children about Loss – Simple DOs and DONTs

 

Men’s Lake Getaway CANCELLED

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2018 MENS GETAWAY ANNOUNCEMENT

We regret to advise that this year’s GETAWAY is being cancelled.

The Pastoral staff are dealing with recent developments within the church and find it impossible to give adequate time to this event in the next weeks.

We know that our times together are significant for all who come.

We will look forward to next year.

Thanks for your understanding,

John Rademaker

Coffee House Pictures

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The coffee house Saturday, April 7th, was amazing! Thanks to all who contributed by donating a raffle prize, donating a dessert and by coming. We are so blessed by the support. What a beautiful night of performances by our youth! And thanks to the Janzen boys for contributing to the dance party!

Here are some pictures from Saturday evening:

Thanks to Jodi for working so hard and putting this amazing event together!

Thank you Andrew Reimer for taking all the photos!

We are looking for support for our youth in 2 ways for the trip that is coming up in June:

  • First, we are looking for available vans to use to drive our youth to Duluth June 25 – July 1.  Talk to Jodi or Jason if you have a reliable van that you are wiling to lend for this trip.
  • Second, if you are interested in sponsoring a couple of youth who are not able to afford the cost of Project Timothy, please email Jodi.

The cost per youth is $350 USD.

Imaginative Prayer in Kids Church – Spring Update

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We are having fun continuing our journey into Imaginative Prayer with the Grade 1-7 gang!

Last Sunday, Grade 1-4: We explored chapter 16, “Forgiveness means we can forgive the sins of others.” What a valuable Jesus-focused message! As Jared Boyd states, “We’re trying to paint a broad picture of ways we can experience forgiveness: between us and God, between God and those who are lost, and between God and the people we interact with.” (136)

Pray that as we explore forgiveness that this generation would grasp how wide and deep and high the love of God is.

I wanna give a big shout out to our Sunday morning leaders, who are helping our kids know that they belong and are loved. Last week Marlese Hazeu, Josiah Koppanyi and Cliff Heide led small groups, while Gloria Fligg led the kids in a large group game called “bigger and better.” These kids not only had a lot of fun stealing gifts, but they were able to experience the path to forgiveness firsthand.

Last Sunday, Grade 5-7: Mike Labun led the Grades 5-7 on the same topic using an escape room/scavenger hunt he created. Kids hunted for clues and solved puzzles so they could break into a vault to retrieve an audio message on a USB stick. All of this led to a discussion on forgiveness.

Pray and Follow Along: We love our kids and youth at WCV. Pray that as we explore forgiveness that this generation would grasp how wide and deep and high the love of God is. As parents, keep on using this great resource by following along and trying the ideas in Imaginative Prayer. Here is the schedule:

  • April 22 – Week 18
  • April 29 – Week 19
  • May 6 – Week 20
  • May 13 – Week 21
  • May 27 – Week 22
  • June 3 – Week 23
  • June 10 – Week 24
  • June 17 – Week 25