Spotlight.May.15 - Calvary Baptist Church
Transcription
Spotlight.May.15 - Calvary Baptist Church
Spotlight What We Are Meant to Be April 2015 Inside This Issue 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 Did You Know … Summer Services Ganaraska Woods CBOQ Assembly May 3rd Speaker From Texas with Love Garage Sale Our Sign Language June 21st Speaker Setting Boundaries Mother’s Day Finance Report Pastoral Care Christian Education Upcoming Events Birthdays Mark your calendar now for the In the church year Easter is a celebration that lasts for seven Sundays. In our hearts it lasts forever and it is with this knowledge that we begin a new life together as a church family. “Conversation:” I have noticed that the latest word floating around is “conversation.” Whenever anyone in the media discusses an issue, at some point they will say “this needs to be part of the public conversation.” Well as much as I get annoyed by “conversation” in pundit babble, I look forward to a lively conversation with you all over the coming months. The vision of who we are, what we are meant to be, and how we’ll get there will become crystal clear. I’m praying for it and I’m convinced it will come to pass. Thanks to the Calvary Moderator, Marguerite Campbell, and the Worship Chair, Shelley Faulkner, and all those on the various church teams for their ongoing planning. Over the spring and summer months we will have a succession of guest preachers and worship opportunities. The roster is in this issue of The Spotlight. However to keep us on track I would like to send out e-mail reminders each Sunday morning. I’ll let you know what to expect and help you prepare for worship. If you get The Spotlight by e-mail I have your e-address. If not contact me at rexdeverell@gmail.com. (And of course I’ll take you off this list if you wish) Peace and Blessings, Everyone Rev. Rex Deverell (Pastor Emeritus) Emeritus, by the way, means I’ve been around for a while and can fill in from time to time. Annual Church Family Picnic Saturday June 20th Everyone is invited for the day – lunch and supper provided. Activities will include games, hiking and swimming in our salt water pool, or just taking time out to relax! Ganaraska Woods is also available Friday overnight for a limited number. Contact Cynthia Sneyd. Toronto Baptist Ministries Annual General Meeting On April 21, 2015 the A.G.M. for the T.B.M. (formerly Toronto Area Association of Baptist Churches) took place at Martin Grove Baptist Church. Rev. Jim Sanderson, one of three Moderators of the moment, chaired the meeting. In his Moderator’s Report he mentioned that on behalf of the 85 churches that make up our area T.B.M. was busy and productive with welcoming new churches, ordinations, inductions, beginnings of constitutional revision, provision of some unique and beneficial training and support opportunities. The delegates voted to approve the T.B.M. Board and reports were given by several people about Mission and Ministry initiatives. A written Annual Report Book was distributed to delegates and a copy of this report is available in our Calvary Church office for our members to peruse. Paul & Barbara Sneyd, Delegates Calvary lives to seek, know & worship God representing the redeeming love of Jesus PAGE 2 CALVARY SPOTLIGHT Did You Know … Love & Prayers Her church family send their love and prayers to Chela Tisdall who is a patient in the Palliative Care Unit at Toronto East General Hospital. Barry and Diane are also remembered with our love and prayers. As well, love and prayers from the church family go out to Denis Walmsley, husband of Yvonne, who has been at Providence Health Centre for some time. We remember Bob Long with love and prayers as he recuperates from minor surgery performed recently. Jeffery, Bob's son, recently suffered a seizure and had to be transported to hospital via ambulance. Love and prayers, Jeffery. New Address Kathie Condie and Jay Crockford have moved to the new home they had built in Picton, Ontario. Their new address is 53 Jasper Avenue, Picton, Ontario, K0K 2T0. We wish them well as they experience life in a new community. They will be missed by their church family at Calvary. Congratulations Congratulations to Ben Frank. He is part of the media team for an upand-coming game called Kerbal Space Program. He makes cinematic videos of this spacefaring, orbital mechanics game. The game just went from beta testing to its first "real" version 1.0 and Ben's video is gracing their website! Check it out at www.kerbalspaceprogram.com Spring & Summer Services What Happens Now? May 3: we will welcome the first of our monthly guests who will speak to us about new forms of ministry. This Sunday, Lee McKenna will be telling us about her work in areas of ethnic conflict. See page 3 for more information about Lee. May 10 and May 17: our own Shelley Faulkner will be the preacher. May 10 will be a special Mother’s Day celebration. May 24 and May 31: we will welcome Rev. Dr. Cameron Watts to the pulpit. Cam, who is known to many of us, was recently pastor of Aylmer Baptist Church and is the President of the Gathering of Canadian Baptists. June 7: we have asked the Rev. Tom Crosby and wife Dr. Monica Justice to speak about the relationship of Science and Faith. Monica is Program Head and Senior Scientist, Genetics & Genome Biology and Professor, Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto. Tom is an ordained Baptist Minister and former Minister of Music in Texas and Louisiana churches. June 14: we will welcome Rev. Errol Johnson to our pulpit. Errol is the relatively new pastor of our sister church, Shiloh Baptist. Two Sundays later we will join with Shiloh in their service. This will be a chance for our two congregations to get to know one another more closely. June 21: we are honoured to have The Very Rev. Hon. Dr. Lois M. Wilson joining us. Dr. Wilson is an author, a former moderator of the United Church of Canada, a Canadian Senator, and former president of the World Council of Churches. She will be speaking on the topic “What Kind of Leadership do Churches Need Today?” June 28: we will be joining with the Shiloh congregation at their 1 p.m. service under the leadership of Pastor Johnson. July 5 and 12: Shelley Faulkner will be in charge of the services, one of which will be centered on the music of Taizé. July 19: Paul Abell will be our special guest. Paul is a Stewardship Coordinator with A Rocha, an organization dedicated to Christian Conservancy, and he will be speaking about faith and care for our planet. July 26: our own Dr. Rita Deverell, broadcaster, journalist, and writer will speak to us on the topic of her current concern for our congregation. August 2: Tom Crosby and his brothers from the U.S. will be leading an exciting service featuring Texas Gospel music. August 9: we have asked the Rev. Gary Harder to speak about the concept of intentional transition (or interim) ministry. Following August 9, we hope to welcome an interim pastor and finally a new minister. CALVARY SPOTLIGHT PAGE 3 Ganaraska Woods Spring is traditionally our “slower” season at Ganaraska Woods as March break, Easter, and spring thaw combine to discourage retreat planning at this time of year. However, our second “weekend of welcome” for some of our newer members was well attended with just under 30 present. We enjoyed perfect spring weather and spent part of Saturday in Port Hope watching “crazy craft” floating down the Ganaraska River. The weekend was made more enjoyable due to the number of young people with us (seven)! It was a “hard” winter, and we had a burst pipe causing some flooding in the basement and damage to bedroom #5. In addition our hydro wires were shorted out by overhanging trees forcing us to call in professional help to clear trees and limbs along our entrance drive. Thankfully Brian, Terry and Glen are able to repair the damage without incurring additional expense. They have also almost completed a major rebuilding of the “sun room” on the south side of the Ora Sneyd cottage. We are grateful for their continuing assistance. Kevin and Larry Littlewood have spent time combating the local beaver population and have saved our wagon trail by clearing the culverts to prevent flooding. No easy task! We are renewing our agreement with Calvary Baptist, Oshawa, for Adventure Day Camp in July. Once again we will have 60 campers and 20 counsellors using Ganaraska Woods facilities each weekday for the month. Please mark our annual CHURCH PICNIC on your calendar NOW! Let’s all come and enjoy a day together. CALVARY PICNIC SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2015. May 3rd Special Speaker: Lee McKenna, Executive Director, Partera; trainer, teacher, writer, facilitator, musician, story-teller; and winner of the 2010 YMCA Peace Medallion What is Partera? It means midwife in Spanish. But there are no babies delivered here. Other things, however. Change. Solutions and resolutions. Plans. Tools. Whether equipping for working well together, living well, planning an organisation's future directions or intervening for the purpose of building and creating peaceful societies, the methods employed by Partera assume the wisdom and inherent strength of the participants in any process towards change. Partera is part of a global network of trainers and facilitators with a wealth of experience and expertise. Partera brings more than 25 years of experience in facilitation, training, mediation, strategic planning and third-party non-violent intervention in a host of situations around the world on four continents. We are honoured to have Lee join us. BCOQ Assembly: June 11-13 Assembly is an annual conference hosted by the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec. Each year we gather to worship, to pray for one another, to learn more about the way of Jesus, and to carry out church business. Though the business sessions are intended for delegates from the more than 350 CBOQ churches, the plenary sessions with Growing Up theme speaker Gary Nelson president of Tyndale and past General Secretary of Canadian Baptist Ministries) are available, free of charge, to everyone Thursday, June 11, 7 – 9 p.m., Friday, June 12, 7– 9 p.m. and Saturday, June 13, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at International Plaza Hotel at 655 Dixon Rd – Etobicoke. The Worship Leader is songwriter, storyteller, and troubadour, Steve Bell, joined by a worship team created for this event. Office Hours for Pastoral Care, Prayer & Support Monday – 9:30 – 1:30: Rex Deverell, Pastor Emeritus Tuesday – 9:30 – noon: Rev. Tom Crosby Thursday – 9:30 – 1:30: Shelley Faulkner PAGE 4 From Texas with Love … CALVARY SPOTLIGHT Wow! What a ride over the past 16 months! So many people have asked about our experience here, coming from Houston just over 16 months ago, and landing in the Beach of Toronto just after last winter’s ice storm … and I must honestly say, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it! The people here are very friendly and helpful, for the most part, and we noticed early on that it was impossible to pick out one person who represented a typical resident, because there is such a variety of humanity up here. We had some of that in Houston, but not to this extent. The terrain is beautiful with hills and gorges and creeks. I love walking the dogs down the Glen Stewart Ravine that begins at Kingston Road less than a kilometer from the church, and follow it all the way down to Queen Street. Lake Ontario is beautiful with clear green water that makes the gulf water near flat-land Houston muddy in comparison. The Seasons … you actual have seasons up here! It tickles me that you think the summer is hot. Believe me when I say, “IT’S NOT HOT!” Of course, heat and cold are relative, I realize. Having lived the past 27 years in Houston’s 90 degree summers preceded by four years in Dallas’ 98 degree summers preceded by seven years in El Paso’s 100 degree summers … Toronto summers are refreshingly cool. The Fall colours are amazing, and the snow and ice of Winter provide their own beauty and opportunity for recreation that Texan’s have to fly to Colorado to enjoy. The food in Toronto is everything we were told before moving up. I thought that it would be hard to beat the variety and quality of Houston cuisine, but Toronto has certainly lived up to its reputation. Monica and I have enjoyed trying different restaurants on Main, Kingston, Queen, and Danforth; the world’s chefs have come to Toronto. The church has been, I think, our greatest joy and blessing in the move. When it comes down to the nuts and bolts of what makes life enjoyable, it’s your friends and family. The fellowship here at Calvary Baptist church is truly special. The snack and drink time after each service really helped us get acquainted with people quickly. As a result, we’ve been in many of your homes and vice versa, and look forward to enlarging that circle. Not-soamazingly, our family members seem more excited about visiting us in Toronto than Houston! We had four separate visits from family last summer and this summer promises as much or more. It is such a joy to be able to walk to a great church each Sunday and worship with friends. Al’s sermons and Sheelah’s music were cream on the top of a great worship experience from the first time we visited. Thanks to Sheelah and others, both Monica and I have been encouraged to use our gifts here, and that is not something we take for granted. I find the leadership at Calvary quite capable and, though the Roberts’ departure was heartrending for my wife and I, as we were becoming good friends, I am excited for the future of Calvary. The Beach is chuck full of people who need the Lord Jesus in their life, and with all the condos being built down on Kingston, many more will be coming our way who need a Saviour and a loving church home, which Calvary can provide. Thank you for welcoming this displaced Texan and his wife into your church family, and may many more come to enjoy the warmth of your embrace. Tom Crosby Note: “u” inserted in applicable words to give the allusion that Tom is becoming a Canuck! June 6th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Remember when doing Spring cleaning, save those items you no longer use or need and donate to our church yard sale. Bring your stuff into the church for sorting, and plan to help out on the day. Please contact Cynthia Sneyd at cynthiasneyd @gmail.com Poetry from Rev. Sneyd’s Leaves of Gold “A commonplace life,” we say, and we sigh, But why should we sigh as we say? The commonplace sun in the commonplace sky Makes up the commonplace day. The moon and the stars are commonplace things, And the flower that blooms, and the bird that sings; But dark were the world, and sad our lot, If the flowers failed, and the sun shone not; And God, Who studies each separate soul, Out of commonplace lives makes His beautiful whole. Susan Coolidge CALVARY SPOTLIGHT OUR SIGN LANGUAGE For April – Our three Easter Services with the tag line “Bring the Whole Family” The Parental Support event The Ganaraska Weekend And closed the month st June 21with near tax time – “Heaven’s Riches Special Speaker: Are Tax Free” Lois Wilson was the first female Moderator of the United Church of Canada, president of the Canadian Council of Churches as well as the World Council of Churches. She was active in the Student Christian Movement of Canada, In 1984, she was a commentator for CBC on the Pope's visit to Canada. A Companion of the Order of Canada, she was the 1985 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace. In 1998 she was appointed to the Canadian Senate and served in the chamber as an Independent until her retirement in 2002. She was the Chancellor of Lakehead University and currently serves as Distinguished Minister in Residence at Emmanuel College. Ms Wilson is the author of nine books. We are honoured to have her speak to us on the topic “What Kind of Leadership do Churches Need Today?” PAGE 5 Setting Boundaries Many thanks to the several people who helped support our 2nd Parent’s Event on April 13th. Paul Robertson shared a number of strategies for parents on, Setting Boundaries to Build Character. All went smoothly except for the weather and we look forward to continuing to promote our church family in the Beach community. Excellent work Ben! Special Mother’s Day Service This Mother’s Day we would like to spend some time honouring our mothers in the service. You can help by contributing a special memory, story, Bible verse, hymn, or poem in honour of your mother. These contributions will be shared throughout our worship service on May 10th. If you have something you’d like to offer, please contact Shelley Faulkner by Sunday, May 3rd shelley@ksts.ca or 416-466-7022. Finance Team Report for the Four Months to April 30, 2015 Statement of Income and Expense INCOME General Offering Leroux Shiloh & other rentals Fundraising and other TOTAL INCOME 2015 Actual $ 27,237 35,800 2,710 4,095 69,842 2014 Actual $ 26,391 35,800 3,640 4,731 70,562 36,252 1,618 1,455 517 1,905 3,258 47,432 92,437 52,109 1,726 2,084 1,093 2,424 49,659 109,095 EXPENSE E - Facilities Team F - Ministry Support and Admin G - Worship Team H - Christian Education Team I - Pastoral Care Team K - Finance & Stewardship Team L - Salaries and Benefits TOTAL EXPENSE NET INCOME (LOSS) $ (22,595) $ (38,533) Our financial picture to the end of April is as expected in the budget and slightly better than the prior year. We are grateful that the offering from the congregation is up again this year by 3%. Expenditures are close to budget, except for facilities costs, which are slightly higher than budget due to increased natural gas costs. This was offset by lower salary costs, due to the fact that the position of pastor was unfilled for a part of April. Although the lower salary cost does help our financial position, we must aim to arrive at a balanced budget through other means. Our bank position was at $6,000 at month end. This reflects lower reserve levels due to the fact that we have had (and continue to operate at) a deficit. Please continue to pray for our financial sustainability. Sandy Drysdale & Heather Mains, Finance Team PAGE 6 CALVARY SPOTLIGHT Pastoral Care: Thanks to all on Easter Sunday who gave their time and energy to deliver the beautiful Easter flowers that enlivened our worship to our shut-ins and elderly. Thanks also to Cynthia Sneyd for taking care of purchasing and decorating. Thought you might like to know that: Eileen Kelley's granddaughter, Amanda very graciously delivered one to Helen Boyko and she enjoyed a short visit with her Don and I delivered one to Yvonne Walmsley's husband, Denis at Heritage Nursing home and he was very appreciative Don and I also took one to Marita Engal, who hasn't been to Calvary in a while and she was very appreciative. She phoned the church afterwards to thank us and said she would attend when the weather gets better A prayer shawl accompanied the one that was delivered to Chela Tisdal to comfort her while she is in palliative care with cancer. Please keep all these folks in your prayers and remember to use our prayer and concern book, located at the front of the sanctuary. Please get permission from the one you are praying for so that we can pray publicly for them. Marlene Ronson Christian Education Our “Journey Through Acts” is a long one and we continue to learn more about Jesus and the early church. Our hope and prayer is that the children learn to love and serve Jesus. Please continue to pray for the Sunday School children and the teachers, Victoria, Darlene, Sandra and myself. We are praying and looking for more teachers as this school years draws to an end and we feel the loss of Dianne Roberts as a main teacher. I, also, will be leaving the city sometime during the summer so we are praying for someone who would be willing to take over the planning and teaching of the children and the organizing of the teacher schedule. This is an amazing opportunity to share the love of Jesus with the children. The summer months will be planned through August but we could use another teacher to fill in some spots. I am willing to work with a new teacher on planning for the fall and help get things started. If you would like to be more involved at Calvary, have a love of children and a desire to share God’s love then please come talk to me. I am more than happy to help. Please pray that God will send someone to take on this important role in our church family. Diane Houzer The Main Thing ● May Birthdays 4 8 10 14 20 22 24 Jake Houzer Kimberly Powell Nancy Burton, Leslie Harsell, Darlene Kelley Shirley O’Sullivan Doris Hunter Marguerite Campbell June Birthdays 3 Garry Kelley 7 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 20 Audrey Knowles Kwaka Darko-Mensah Jack Vitto Ben Frank Victoria Drysdale Ron Murphy George Dewar, Chela Tisdall Fred O'Sullivan Norma Forrest 22 23 27 Connie Elliott Catherine Frank Kent Faulkner Upcoming Events Tues. May 12 – Mission Team Mtg 7:15 p.m. Resource Rm Wed. May 13 – Praise Team Practice Sat. June 6 – Garage Sale. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sat. June 20 – Calvary Picnic at Ganaraska Woods Summer Preaching Schedule See page 2 Calvary Baptist Church GPCC Director: Kathie Collins-Williams ● Director of Music: Sheelah Saunders Administrator: Carol Carney ● Building Manager: Jim Yolevski 72 Main St. Toronto, ON M4E 2V7 416.691.4721 calvaryonmain@bellnet.ca www.calvary-baptist-church.ca