Stories of Hope

  I’m a very visually oriented person in all areas of my life. I function and understand by seeing, so it was never a surprise to me that so much of my Sunday worship was done through seeing.

  Hope Fellowship’s Tricia and twenty other graduating artists from York University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program are presenting their recent paintings in a current exhibition at the Twist Gallery in Toronto. The exhibit is called “Merge” and demonstrates “their mutual exploration of contemporary motivations in painting today, such as neo-minimalism, environmental issues, neo-expressionism and figurative work.”

  The best selling book and soon to be released movie Heaven Is For Real is based on the true story of the three year, ten months old son of a Nebraska pastor who claims to have experienced heaven during emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix.

  Many teenagers lead busy lives. They’re involved in organized sports. They have homework. They have part-time jobs. And they’re involved in family and church activities, like everybody else. These realities have made it difficult for some of our teens to come out to the Wednesday night youth group meetings.

  Our arrival at the Kingfisher Bay Retreat Centre last Friday set the tone for a focused experience for Hope Fellowship’s leaders. Reconnecting with the welcoming staff and sitting by a warm fire was a great way to start setting aside the busyness of daily life and shifting our hearts, souls, minds and bodies towards the future of Hope Fellowship.

  As the producer of Emmy award winning shows like Survivor, The Apprentice, The Voice and Shark Tank, Mark Burnett is well known for what he does.

  On Friday night and all day Saturday, Hope Fellowship’s office bearers and zone co-ordinators met at the Kingfisher Bay Retreat Centre to continue their discussions about our church’s mission and vision.

  In my recent message about “Safe Surfing” I said that Internet pornography is so addicting because it is accessible, affordable and anonymous. My reference to anonymity triggered a thoughtful response from Steve, a regular worshipper at Hope Fellowship.