Weekly Newsletter

Posts that will appear in the weekly WCV Newsletter.

An Invitation to Create

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The Creative Team would like to invite you to participate in a series of artistic expressions that centre around Advent. The season of Advent provides an opportunity to slow down, to reflect, to consider and to give attention to the story at the centre of our faith. When art is shared communally it can be a powerful gift. We are looking for poets, songwriters, dancers, painters and makers of all kinds.

“When art is shared communally it can be a powerful gift.”

Our advent series will lead us into a time of contemplating the humility of Christ – The Humble King. We will spend time exploring Paul’s text found in Philippians 2:1-11 as we journey through the traditional advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love through this lens.

“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,  make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”

 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Our goal is to nurture and celebrate the diversity of gifts within our community and we hope to highlight and incorporate creative art into our worship time at WCV. There are a variety of ways for this to be done. If you would like to participate in any way, please contact Krista Heide or Jessica Williams.

 

Encounter God Nights

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Our very own WCV Youth have come together to plan and prepare some open worship evenings for our whole congregation. The heart behind this is to provide a space to come together in worship and to engage in what God is doing among us. We want to nurture deeper relationships with God and with each other. Our next Encounter God Night will be on Thursday, November 29th at 7pm in the Sanctuary. We’d love for you to join us.

A Light Unto My Path

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Here is a special message from Gloria Fligg summarizing the fall session of Kid’s Church:

“For the past two months, we’ve had lots of fun upstairs in Kids’ Church! We learned about lighthouses and how they illuminate our path, and keep us from danger. We compared God’s word to a lighthouse, and learned the verse, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105). We also talked about how God’s word is like a double-edged sword, and we heard about the Bible story of Samuel and how he heard God speak to him, even as a very young boy.

“This is truly an amazing group of children; I have so enjoyed working with them.”

The adventures continued with our “Roaming through Romans” lessons and the accompanying centres (at each one, the children learned about a different concept found in Romans). Last Sunday, we also spoke about the life of Paul (the author of Romans), and how Jesus radically changed his life. We will wrap up our fall with a fun lesson about how even though it can be scary to “let go” and trust God, our lives will always be rewarded when we do. Stay tuned for a fun object lesson involving apples and some delicious apple crisp. Every week, we also participated in praise and worship, learned Bible verses, and did lots of art projects. This is truly an amazing group of children; I have so enjoyed working with them. Thanks so much to all the leaders and helpers too. Kids’ Church wouldn’t be possible without all of you!”  -Gloria Fligg

Next Sunday Gifts4God will begin. Leaders are in place and our elementary kids are looking forward to the fun. There is so much joy that comes as we nurture and explore the gifts inside of us. This is what Gifts4God is all about! Over the next six weeks our kids will participate in cooking, sports, arts & crafts, dance, drama and comic art. A very big “thank you” to everyone who has come alongside the Kids’ Church ministry to help make this happen!

Youth Groups @ WCV

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It’s wonderful to have our Youth Calendars finalized for the fall! We’re looking forward to all God has for these groups this year.

There are three different youth groups at WCV.

>>Our Senior Youth Group is for all youth grades 9-12. They meet as a small group every second Thursday night at Jodi and Mike Labun’s place.

>>Our Junior Youth Group is for all youth grades 7-8. They meet every other Saturday night in host homes.

>>Club 56 is for kids in grades 5-6. They meet one Saturday night each month at WCV.

Additional Youth Events are scheduled and you can access the full calendar below, or pick up a schedule at WCV on the information table.

Sr. Youth Schedule Fall & Winter Schedule 2018 

Jr. Youth Schedule Fall & Winter Schedule 2018

Club 56 Brochure

Help Needed in the New Year

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As we plan for the new year we can see that we are in need of a few new volunteers for our Sunday morning gatherings. If you would like to give to the community in this way we’d love to have some new faces join our serving rotation in 2019!

Please prayerfully consider the following roles.

MAIN GATHERING NEEDS: *Orientation will be provided for all roles, some will have additional training.

Sound Board Technicians: 1 -This job requires an niche for music and an early morning (8:15am) arrival. *Additional training will be provided.

Ushers: 2 – A simple but important responsibility on a Sunday morning. The lead usher coordinates passing the offering baskets, fills out our Sunday morning tally (head count), receives newcomer registrations and locks up the offering after it has been collected. *Women are welcome!

Projectionists: 1 – The projectionist should arrive by 9:15am to make sure all music, power points & slides are in order. *Additional training will be provided.

Communion: 1 – Communion preparation requires a 9:15am arrival to fill the cups and break the bread. There is space for creativity in this role with how the table is set & prepared. Post service clean up takes approximately 15 minutes.

Kids Church Update

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We are in a new season of Kids Church at WCV and we’re off to a good start. Here is a word from Gloria Fligg on what our elementary kids have to look forward to in the months ahead:

“This last week we had an amazing time as we began Kids Church for another year! For the next two months, our theme will be “lighthouses.” We will be comparing God’s Word to a lighthouse that illuminates our way, especially as we go through storms in this life. We are learning the verse, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” We decorated our own “lighthouse” bulletin board, drew our own paths and finally we painted our own “footprints” on them. Next week, we are doing more artwork: we will be making our own lighthouses for our paths, after we learn how we can use God’s word to speak the truth over our lives. It’s such a privilege to lead this awesome group of kids! If your child is in Grades 1-4, we hope to see them there!”

Thank you to Gloria and to all the other volunteers who serve our children in this way. We’re so grateful for you!

Grief Run

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We are planning a Grief Run this Saturday, September 22nd, 9:00am at Whittier Park.

Amanda Leighton has organized this event for our community. She writes, “This is something visceral & physical for us to do together as an expression of our sadness and our anger and our anguish; as an expression of our grief. It is an act of prayer and worship in truth and honesty.”

“We will run through the darkness to get to the Light.” -Joyce Rees 

The run is approximately 2 km and will take about 25 minutes at a slow to medium pace. The route is suitable for all paces – walk, jog or sprint. The path will be well marked and it will be easy to see each other and stay together. There will be a guided liturgy to help center us before and after.

Everyone is welcome.

We will meet at the shelter in front of Fort Gibraltor.

Kids Church at WCV

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We are excited for this season of Kids Church at WCV. As we prepare, there are a few things we want you to know.

Leaders are in place and ready to come alongside our children and youth to be a positive presence and a source of love and encouragement in their lives. One important aspect of WCV’s Generations Ministry is the safety of all children in our care. Our Plan to Protect policy helps to insure that WCV is a safe place. Kid Check is an important part of this. As has always been the case, it is mandatory that every minor (age 18 and under), every guardian and every Generations Ministry worker is registered through Kid Check and wears their name tag every Sunday. There are no exceptions to this rule. We love the young people God has entrusted to us and we want to do everything we can to make sure they know that they are safe with us so they can be free to learn and grow into all God has for them. Please help us by being responsible in this way as Kids Church resumes this fall.

We also want to highlight a few changes this year. Our “Jouth” (Jr. Youth, Grades 5-6) will meet every Sunday  in the youth room. Our Youth (Grades 7-12) will be meeting every other Sunday. When there is no youth they are welcome and encouraged to remain in the service.

Lastly, we are still in need of leaders who will step up in different areas including Kid Check, Gifts4God and Pre-School leaders. If you can help please contact Jodi Labun.

Welcome back, everyone! We look forward to having you with us.

 

 

Messages of Love

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Over the past few weeks many people have contacted WCV with messages of love, encouragement and assurance of prayer for all of us. Here are just a few we’d like to highlight for you now.

Joyce Rees (National Council Member and Pastor at Epic Vineyard in Kelowna)

The LORD is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

“In all circumstances we look to the Lord, and our great comfort is that He is close, especially to those who are “crushed in spirit”. My encouragement is that you would keep turning toward Him. Speak honestly to Him. Many are praying, most hours of every day, that you would experience the Holy Spirit’s presence very near to you. We are sending you our love.”

David and Anita Ruis (Vineyard Canada National Directors)

“You are not alone.”

“Hey WCV family,

We just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know we love you and are walking beside you as you journey through this challenging time.

People coast to coast are holding you in prayer. We are coming alongside your team there with as much resourcing and support as we can muster.

You are not alone. We’re in this together. Be assured of our care and concern for everyone impacted, and our deep awareness of the wide range of emotions, reactions and triggers that such events bring to the surface. We are extremely proud of the way you are handling this.

Huge love and prayers.”

David and Anita, on behalf of your Vineyard Canada family.

And this week Provencher Community Church gifted us this painting that was created for our community during a recent worship service. It was delivered personally, with warmth and love. The back is signed, “Standing together with our Vineyard family.”

There are many more messages like this that will continue to be shared.

Kids Church Start Up

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Our WCV Kids Church will resume next Sunday, September 16th. This Sunday’s service will continue to model our typical summer schedule. A video series is being shown in the Comfy Couch Room during the sermon as an option for the kids. Parents are asked to stay with their children if they are watching the video. All are welcome to remain in the service as well.

Serving Opportunities

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Looking to serve? We are excited to start kids church in the fall but we are in need of leaders who are willing to love on our kids. Contact Jodi if you can be on a rotation to serve our younger ones.

Want to paint? Some of our kid’s church rooms are in need of some paint touch ups. Contact Jodi if you have experience in painting and have a few hours to serve in this way. Also a huge thank-you to the Miles Mac Key Club for a beautiful job of painting the Dragonflies room. Thanks to Joseph for organizing this!

Looking to help in a practical way? We are looking for a couple of servants who would be willing to clean our toys in three large areas of kids church. Contact Jodi if you have a few hours to serve in this way.

Community Campout Survey

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Our annual WCV Community Campout has been a valued tradition for many years. These weekends provide a prolonged time of connection and fun for those who come. We’d love to see more people make it out so we are asking for a little feedback. Please help us by taking a moment to fill out the survey below. We want to hear from you![gravityform id=”23″ title=”true” description=”true”]

Cultivate: tending lives that produce good fruit

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One of my family’s favourite outings is to pack all six of us into the van and head down to Corydon Ave. We all eagerly race into Nucci’s gelati for a tasty frozen treat – we run because usually it’s raining when we all go – a weird quirk of this particular family tradition. Walking into that little shop and seeing the array of vivid colours lined up side by side fills my heart with love and my tastebuds with anticipation. All those amazing flavours beckoning to be tasted (favourites include Pistachio, Mullberry, and Tartufo Bianco). One delicious frozen treat, many mouth-watering flavours.

When Paul speaks of the work of the spirit in our lives the language he uses is that of fruit. He famously lists what he calls the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. It’s not a complete list of the Spirit’s work in our lives (scholars agree) – how could the work of God be summed up in a simple list?! However, he is clear that all these various fruit are rooted in one kind of fruit… kind of like a whole bunch of delicious flavours of gelati but it’s all one type of desert. Many flavours – one fruit. The Passion Translation says it like this:

“But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

This summer we’re going to be exploring these and other “flavours” of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Good fruit grows on healthy plants. While the good fruit our lives produce is ultimately a work of the Spirit we can either partner with or work against the Spirit’s work in our lives. How do we “remain in the vine” to use Jesus’ phrase (John 15)? What do these various fruit actually look like on the ground in the dirt of our actual lives? How do we cultivate good soil in which to grow?

We’re going to explore these and other questions as we look at some of the fruit Paul names. We’re going to explore how they are all really many flavours of the one real fruit of the spirit which is love itself. You could say we’re gong to look at nine flavours of love this summer. When we root ourselves deeply into God – that is, when we grow into his very character, we begin to produce beautiful fruit.

To whet your appetite, here are some of the themes we will be exploring:

  • Cultivating patience in an age of hurry.
  • Cultivating love in a world of indifference.
  • Cultivating joy in happyland.
  • Cultivating peace in a time of disruption
  • Cultivating self-control in an age of greed.
  • Cultivating gentleness in an aggressive city.
  • Cultivating faithfulness in a rootless society.

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

“Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” Matt 7:20

“These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” James 1:15