Stories of Hope

  Who doesn’t love an ice cream sundae? What a great way to start off a meeting—deciding on what kind of fruit, what extra toppings, how much whipped cream to add and a chance to chat with others in the room. It was a great start to the meeting of Life Group Leaders, Life Group Team and Pastoral Care Elders.

  In our hurry-up-and-move-on-to-the-next-thing world, we often forget to stop and celebrate milestones along the way. Sometimes it’s good just to stop and remember and enjoy.

  The staff that prays together, eats together and plays together...stays together? Given the busy-ness of Christmas in a church office, we decided to postpone a staff celebration to January.

  When I was asked if I would be willing to be on the slate for elder, I said yes, thinking that I wouldn’t be chosen. I’d been asked to consider being a Deacon several times and never been chosen, and believed that things would continue on the same way. God, however, has a sense of humour, and I discovered to my surprise that I was indeed chosen to be an elder.

  I had to buy Christmas presents this week. Normally I don’t like to think about Christmas till Advent, but when your daughter moves her family across the ocean, that’s just not possible. So the presents are purchased and will be delivered tomorrow to the children’s other Grandma, who will take them to Manchester at the end of the month.

  Have you ever checked out our prayer room?  Did you know we have one?  It's a multi-purpose room, really, but at least twice a week people gather there to pray together. Our praise team and pastor meet there every Sunday morning to pray together before leading our services.

  Anyone who knows me, knows that I love babies.  Personal items - purse, phone, coat, keys, papers, etc. - have been know to go flying when someone offers me a chance to hold their precious baby!  One of my favourite duties as an elder is being allowed to introduce a newly baptized member to the congregation.

  When I woke up on Saturday, April 7, Gary asked me if he should be worried. My fuzzy brain couldn’t figure out why he would ask me that, and so he reminded me that I was going to learn how to “Kick the Boring Out of My Life” and he was worried that included him

  Hopeful stories can be found in the most interesting places. If your eyes are open for God’s work in your life, you will find it—even through cell phones!

  Don’t you love hearing stories of unexpected gifts and generosity where you least expect it? I do, and Kim, the supervisor at Ultimate School Agers, the daycare that rents space at Hope Fellowship, knows this and will often drop by the office to share a story or two with me.

  On Sunday, April 30, Pastor Dale and Gloria had their last service as pastor at Maranatha Church in Calgary. Saying good bye is hard and emotionally draining. Especially when you are leaving your beloved wife behind as well as a beloved congregation.   According to Google Maps, the trip from Maranatha Church in Calgary, Alberta to Hope Fellowship Church in Courtice is 3,509 km and takes 36 hours.

  One of the things any organization struggles with is communication: How do we get word out? How much do we say? Who needs to know? Who needs to be involved in the decision-making process?

  It was a quiet Tuesday morning in the office, I was just preparing for an upcoming meeting when the phone rang. The lady on the other end asked me where food bank food went.

  They say it takes a village to raise a child. Apparently it also takes a village to celebrate a pastor who is retiring. There was a veritable army of people who worked on the retirement celebrations for Pastor Peter and Marja.

  Every year we celebrate a “Stand Up Sunday” at Hope Fellowship. The name comes from the old hymn “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus” and that’s exactly what happens. Men, women and children stand up and declare their faith in Jesus.

  I’ve been trying to imagine what Hope Fellowship would be like without any volunteers. I can’t

  It’s here! The first big event of the new ministry season. Sunday, September 13 marks the start of our annual week of prayer and fasting.

  As summer draws to an end (and no matter how hard we ignore the signs, they are still there!), we start to think about autumn things again - things like going back to school, wearing sweaters or long pants, and setting a routine again. As we start to gear up for a new season of ministry at Hope Fellowship, you may be wondering if it’s time to get involved in a ministry or a small group at Hope Fellowship.

  Christian Reformed Churches usually wait until a pastor leaves before they start looking for another pastor. Our leadership, with Pastor Peter’s encouragement, began thinking about the process of finding a new pastor several years before his actual retirement.

  Have you noticed what our electronic sign says? “We support Shoal Lake 40 Freedom Road”. What on earth is that?