Why I Attend The Village Church

THE VILLAGE CHURCH - THOROLD, ONTARIO
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WINTER 2012
Thoughts from the village
Thursday, November 8th is a
day I won't easily forget. After 5 years of coaching football, the Thorold High School
Golden Eagles won the Niagara Regional football championship! After the final whistle
a nuclear explosion of celebration took the field as we
hugged, screamed, and high
fived each other. The sense
of satisfaction is
indescribable.... all
the weeks of practicing in the rain
and cold had paid
off. We were the
victors.... the champions.
The next day, November 9th, is a day
I won't forget either. That's the day
when one of the
football players named Jake
found out his dad had been
killed in a tragic car accident.
I went to visit Jake and his
mom the next day and the
reality of their despair was
evident in the silence of the
visit. Life is so fragile, one
minute you’re on top of the
world and the next minute
life bites into your soul and
demands grief and pain.
Both extremes are a reminder
to me of why we planted this
church. We celebrate with
those who celebrate and
mourn with those who
mourn.... but in all circumstances we never lose hope.
With the coming of Christmas
we are reminded of that
hope. Psalm 71:14 says
“As for me, I will always
have hope, I will praise
you more and more” .
That verse points to the
God of hope, no matter
what life’s journey brings.
This newsletter is our gift
to you for helping us in
bringing the hope of the
gospel to people. Enjoy...
and Merry Christmas.
Pastor Mike
Inside this issue:
Why I Attend The
Village Church
2
Youth For Christ Partnership
2
Small Groups at The
Village Church
3
Community Partnerships Grow Deeper
4
“...And You Will Be a
Blessing”
4
Vision Statement
“To be a
community of faith
The Village Church is
committed to being a
part of the community.
One way we do this is
by being a part of the
annual Christmas Parade. We handed out
glow sticks, Hershey
kisses, and postcard
invitations to worship
with us. We also assisted the Parade
Committee this year
by holding one of
the sponsors’
banners!
that is dedicated to
knowing Jesus Christ,
serving others in His
name
and making Him
known throughout our
home community.”
PAGE 2
THE VILLAGE CHURCH
Why I At tend The Village Church
BY Julie Wilson
I was asked to write a short piece on
how and why I go to the Village
Church. So after a day of thought
and prayer, this is how I started attending the Village Church.
I asked my mother to come to
church with me and she said “Ok,
let’s try this new church someone
told me about.” So I said ok and that
Sunday we got dressed up and
walked into this new church. I was 8
1/2 months along in my pregnancy
with our second child. I was feeling
self-conscious that I may be judged
but I wanted my mom to go
to church so I put those feelings aside and walked in with
my mom and oldest daughter.
To my surprise, the woman
who greeted us at the door,
(Maria) was just as far along in
her pregnancy as me. We took
our seats and someone asked
us if we would like a coffee or
tea. We filled in a visitor card
that day.
At that moment, I decided to
make The Village Church my
family. For someone to not
know me and to want to pray
for me, it touched me in a way
that was unexplainable.
We left after the service and a few
weeks later Sandy (a hospitality team
member of The Village Church)
called me and said that she had a
gift for me and if I was coming back
to church she would give it to me.
So the next Sunday, just my daughter and I went to church and Sandy
came up to me and gave me a small
welcome gift. I said thank you and
took my seat.
That service, the Pastor asked for
prayer requests. A man stood up
and asked for the pastor to pray for
me and Maria; that we have a safe
and happy rest of our pregnancy
and birth process. At that moment,
I decided to make The Village
Church my family. For someone to
not know me and to want to pray
for me, it touched me in a way that
was unexplainable.
This is one of many reasons why I
attend the Village Church and call
it my family. Thank you for your
time and may God bless you and
your day.
YOUTH FOR CHRIST PARTNERSHIP
BY GLEN SPARKS, DIRE CTOR FOR YOUTH UNLIMITED
Back in February/March of this year I
met Hilda Vander Klippe for the first
time at a breakfast meeting with my
fellow staff and two pastors from St.
John's Anglican Church, Thorold. It
was an exciting conversation for me
because we were talking about how
we can impact the community, especially struggling teens from Thorold.
During breakfast Hilda shared with me
that The Village Church was hosting
local agencies on Sunday, March 25,
2012. I accepted the invitation that
morning during breakfast to attend the
spotlight service.
I always love the opportunity to share
our ministry with churches and service
clubs in the community. But to me this
morning was different because
throughout the morning I noticed a
real genuineness from The Village
Church, that they wanted deep part-
nerships in the community. Partnerships with local churches helps us enormously through volunteer contacts,
prayer support, listening congregation
and financial support so that we can
continue to operate year after year.
Since then The Village Church has had
a few RAKE Sundays at the 226 Merritt
Street Youth Centre that we are developing; the youth center has been the
recipient of well over 100 Village volunteer hours removing garbage, cutting
grass, shelving/doors removed, new
taps installed, general cleaning and
many other necessary jobs so that we
can move forward. The Village Church
has also faithfully prayed for us as we
further develop this ministry.
My family and I have been attending
The Village at least 2 - 3 times a month
over the past 8 months. We are truly
excited for the friendships that have
developed and it brings a real sense of
peace in our lives knowing that we
have a church that loves the ministry
in which we are involved. We also
know that we have a church family in
Thorold that loves us.
Over the coming year or two I would
love to see The Village Church youth
program further develop where the
young people we work with have the
opportunity to attend a youth event at
The Village Church and over time connect them with the larger church family. When the Sparks family attend The
Village Church we feel we are part of
a family, we have a voice and we matter; I want our struggling young people to experience that joy as well.
“We see the HOPE and POTENTIAL in
EVERY young person."
WINTER 2012
PAGE 3
SMALL GROUPS AT THE VILLAGE
BY DANA BROWN
In the fall, The Village Church welcomed Dana Brown and his wife Jane.
Dana has been hired to be the Small
Groups Coordinator. Dana is excited
about creating community within the
Village Church.
If you asked
your doctor,
"What is essential to
physical
health?", she
might say
"exercise,
good nutrition, and an
annual check up.". If you asked your
pharmacist, "What are the essentials to
physical health?" he would probably
say "a flu shot and these important vitamins." If you asked your financial planner, “What are the essentials to physical
health”, he would probably say “RRSP’s
and a diverse investment portfolio."
But we at the Village Church believe
we are more than physical beings living
in a physical world. In fact, we believe
we are not simply physical beings hav-
ing a spiritual experience; we believe
that we are spiritual beings having a
physical experience. Just like there are
essentials to our physical health, there
are several things that are essential to
our spiritual health. Without these
spiritual essentials, we are not living,
we are just existing. We are not thriving, we are just surviving.
One of those essentials is community.
You were made for community. You
were made for relationships. As Pastor
Rick Warren points out, "the Bible tells
us that when God made Adam, He
put him in the Garden of Eden which
was a perfect environment. No problems, no pressure, no pain. Yet God
looked down at Adam in a perfect
environment and said it's still not
good enough. There's something terribly wrong. And in Genesis 2:18 "God
said, 'It is not good for man to be
alone.'
It is not God's will for you to be lonely.
You were made for relationships. I
don't care if you ever get married or
not. I don't care if you're young or old,
a Christian or non-Christian. You were
made for other people.”
Warren also notes a Department
of Mental Health of California
study where they discovered that
if you isolate yourself from other
people, if all you have is acquaintances, no close friends, you have
no intimate relationships with
other believers, other people, you
are three times more likely to die
an early death, you are four times
more likely to suffer emotional
burnout, you are five times more
likely to be clinically depressed
and you are ten times more likely
to be hospitalized for emotional or
mental disorder. You were made
for relationships.
At the Village Church, we believe
that one of the key reasons for our
small group ministry is to provide a
place where people can experience true community. We want
our small groups to be a place
where people can belong, serve
and grow in their love for God
and others.
We had two R.A.K.E. (Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere) days this fall. Even
though the weather was a bit cold and damp, we were able to bless families, ministries, and clean up some parks within Thorold.
PAGE 4
THE VILLAGE CHURCH
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Mike Collins - Pastor
E-Mail: [email protected]
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS GROW
DEEPER...
Erin Knight - Administrator/Worship
E-Mail: [email protected]
Jeanette VanderWerff - Prayer Coordinator
E-Mail: [email protected]
Hilda Vanderklippe - Community Connections
E-Mail: [email protected]
Dana Brown - Small Groups Coordinator
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone:
905-227-2525
Website:
www.myvillagechurch.ca
Ministry Centre Location:
133 Front Street North
Thorold, Ontario L2V 0A3
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 47
Thorold, Ontario, L2V 3Y7
Below is a quote from the Manager of the Thorold Community Activities Group, Betty Lou Lynds, on what our
partnership has meant to their agency:
“Thorold Community Activities Group (TCAG) has been
very fortunate to have developed a relationship with
The Village Church. I am proud to say that we are
“Community Partners”!
When I think of what The Village Church means to us, I
think of so many things. I would best describe The Village Church with the words “Dedication”, “Family”,
“Commitment” , and “Caring”. I feel so impressed and
appreciative of all that they do for others. They have a
very special way of making everyone feel like a part of
their “Family”.
Thank you to each and every one of you who has
helped TCAG! You are an inspiration!”
“...AND YOU WILL BE A BLESSING”
As we began the new year, Pastor Mike
shared his Ministry Plans for January
2012 to June 2013 and one of the
theme verses he shared was Genesis
12:2, “I will bless you and you will be a
blessing”. This, of course, was taken
from the story of Abraham, when He
promised He would make Abraham
into a great nation.
And as seen above in the note from the
Thorold Community Activities Group,
we feel that God has been blessing us
and we in turn have become a blessing
to so many local agencies. We have
been able to bless and reach out to our
local community and begin new relationships and also deepen others. And
people like yourselves have been a vital
part of this: you have supported us with
your prayers, your notes of encouragement, your donations and your lending
of time and talents.
So! ‘Tis the season. . . for appeals (and
not the ‘pealing’ of bells!). But this is the
Village Church - “we do church differently”, and right now we’d like to share
with you about one of our newest partners.
Youth For Christ (YFC) has recently
“moved into the neighbourhood” and
we are excited to begin a relationship
with them. Among their ministries they
have a Youth Centre in Vineland, and
one in St. Catharines with youth drop-in
activities, mentoring programs, programs
for young moms, etc.
The St. Catharines Youth Centre, known
as The Deck, was offered from a location
on Hartzel Road until they needed to
leave there. They are currently operating
out of a temporary location downtown
St. Catharines but a building has been
purchased which will give them LOTS of
room for all their current activities and
more. And, you guessed it, this new location is just beyond the Thorold town
limits.
Glen Sparks is the YFC Director for this
area. He and his wife Melissa and two
children have become part of The Village
and we are excited about how our relationship with them and YFC is growing.
We have helped out with clean up and
other activities on our RAKE Sundays
(Random Acts of Kindness, Everywhere).
And recently Glenn shared his vision for
the new Youth Centre, and we became even more excited. And it seems
that (God’s) timing is everything, because the District School Board of Niagara, after seriously considering shutting down the Thorold Secondary
School, voted to keep it open! This will
mean an increased enrolment at
Thorold Secondary, which is just minutes away from the new location of
YFC! The new YFC Centre on Merritt St.
is a large capital project, and requires
strong support from all.
So yes, this is an appeal - but not specifically for our cause, but really for all
of the agencies we are partnering
with. Many this year received less funding and support from their local communities and local government and
many, like YFC, have big plans for the
coming year. WILL YOU BLESS US SO
WE CAN BE A BLESSING TO THEM?
Thank you again for your continued
support and may all of you experience
peace and joy in celebrating Jesus this
Christmas.
The Finance Team of The Village
Church, Thorold