February 2016Vol 10, Issue 1
Family Picture Dec 2015
February 
   Newsletter 
Anticipation 
  
"... when the set time had fully come..." (Gal. 4:4)  In all of the passages talking about Christ's incarnation, that's one that always strikes me.  God is not in a hurry, He is not caught off guard, His plan will not be thwarted.  In this season, it is good for us to be reminded of that.  I am sure that many people thought that The Christ should have come long before or in a different way.  But at just the right time, God brought about the perfect solution.  

We are in a season of significant change for our church and our family, and though things may feel uncertain for us, we can trust that nothing is out of our loving Heavenly Father's all-sufficient hands.  He will bring about what He has purposed, in His time - and it will be just right.
Quick Links
Prayer Request
Pastoral Team Member 
Looking for a Campus Pastor
Moving into new space
Easter Egg Hunt
Interns - (future campus pastors)
June GCA
Renew Church (Ontario Churches)
Grasslands Church, Medicine Hat
Neighbors, especially Brian
Philip's role at CoH & GBCanada
Seizing the Moment

It's a unique thing to experience Christmas in a post-Christian context.  It's the one time of the year when, thanks to the fact that traditional Christmas music was almost exclusively written for churches, we often hear what we love resonating around us in the most unique places!  Because of Canada's "mosaic" philosophy on immigration, celebrating the European/Christian Christmas traditions is accepted - for instance, Elijah's grade 3 teacher has a manger scene set up in her class and they talk about how the pioneers would have celebrated Christmas.  It creates opportunities, and we try to buy up as many as we can.

 

One of the ways our church does that is by having a Christmas production a couple of weeks before Christmas and a Christmas Eve service.  Our kids did a great job this year with a "We Three Spies" production, and we were so happy to see many who have come to other connecting events come to this Sunday morning event as well!  

CoH is on the Move
Faith Lutheran ChurchOur last Sunday in the theatre will be February 28th and our first Sunday in the new space will be March 6th. We have just entered a formal agreement to with Faith Lutheran Church. A church just 2 blocks away from the theatre we have been meeting in since our beginning, 8 1/2 years ago. This is a really nice facility and the current church has 4 small congregations (English, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean). They were needing the financial means to sustain ministry in this area and we are looking for a place to call home. The ability to have 24/7 space. Space for offices, prayer meetings, outreach, counseling, discipleship and ministry in general. 

The plan is for their church family to use the sanctuary for their worship services and for us to use their gym. It is a nice gym and they have already done some sound padding to help the acoustics in the room. But we will need to install a sound system, add to the acoustical treatments, add lighting and get creative with video. We had a sound engineer come in and give us professional advice and a quote to get the job done. As you might imagine he quoted us for  $60,000 for everything. Wow - just a little church to get this done. So we went back and worked on his plan and we were able to cut that down to. $34,000. We are working to figure this out as we have $10,000 that the church has raised to make these purchases. Some of these items can wait and some we will build on. But there are two areas that are costly, but would make a huge difference. 
FLC Gym
1. Pipe & Drapes - We are looking to put up sectional curtains that will help break up the gym. Front area - worship Center. Back area - Fellowship Hall. The back is where people will be coming in and we are wanting this area to feel very welcoming and not gym like. We realized that having a 120 chairs in the front and leaving a  huge space behind makes the area look odd and unwelcoming. But these pipe & drapes are costly just over $5,000. They can be broken down quickly and set up quickly. But they have a cost to them.

2. Lighting is also the largest expense and though on the surface it appears we can get by without it. It would make a huge difference from being in a gym to creating a worship center environment. From side lighting to stage lighting. This comes with a $20,000 price tag as the rigging and lights are all expensive to purchase and to install from the ceiling and such.  Could you pray with us that God would meet this need. There are going to be many expenses to get into this building and to make it our home. But this worship space is our greatest priority. 
The gym has a full service kitchen attached and we look forward to fellowship meals and outreach meals and functions like a dessert theatre that can be done from this facility. 

We will be converting one of their rooms into a nursery for our babies and there is outside work to be done along with painting and of course a new sign. We are working hard to make it obvious we are worshiping at this space without overtaking Faith Lutheran. 

Pray for us as we work to communicate to our community that we are moving and this will be the opportunity for many, who have been considering joining us, to now come and learn to follow Jesus.  
There is a lot to be done in the next few weeks. We are thankful for the Auburn GBC who are working on bringing up a team to help us with our big move on February 28th.  And the churches in Washington State who are looking to put a team together the March 12th weekend to help us clean up the outside. Pray for these teams and for our church family as there is more to be done than we even realize.

But we are excited to find a place to call home and to do ministry from all week long. 

Early Bird Pricing - Extended to March 1, 2016 - Register Today
This summer you can be on the ground floor of us starting our 3rd church in the Toronto Area. 

We will also be working with several inner city ministries in downtown Toronto, spending a day in the mix of the world's most cosmopolitan city with over 160 languages spoken and a great need for God's love.

We will take some time to visit a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple and a Mosque, experiencing firsthand the world religions that are taking hold of many in our community.

 

And much more - you can register online at www.canadianadventure.org 

 

Please be sure to have your church place these in your bulletins. GCA 2016 Bulletin Insert or put up these posters at your church, ABF or youth group wall GCA GCA 2016 Poster. 


We would love to have you join us next summer in Toronto! 
CoH Vision 2016
CoH Vision 2016
The first Sunday in January I shared the vision for Community of Hope for this upcoming year. My challenge to our church family was to 1. Grow-up 2. Get Married 3. Reproduce. 
Grow-up - we as a church are ready to pay for our own leaders and as we search for the new Campus Pastor we need to be ready to cover his salary. As we move into this new space we need to be ready to carry the load. 
Get Married - meaning we need to add gifts by adding team. We discovered that we need the gifts to work in partnership with each other to experience growth and strength. We have identified the three primary gifts that we need to add to our team to make it stronger: Shepherd/Pastor, Teacher, and Administration. We need to get married and strengthen our team. So we are looking for a Campus Pastor. Pray with us as we search, look, pray, ask and seek for this leader to join our team. 
Reproduce - We need to be ready to start new campuses. In order to be ready we need to reproduce on all levels of our church ministry. Children's workers need to develop other children's workers; ushers, greeters, band members, - you name it every part of the church needs to reproduce so that we are ready to start new campuses with mature leaders in new communities throughout the lower mainland. 

God is at work in our church and as He has opened the door for us to share this space with Faith Lutheran, we are believing He has a Campus Pastor to send us that will complement our team and help us grow in our faith and reach our community. 
 
Continue to pray for us to reach our neighbors and to make disciples. We know that God is able and is willing to use even us. There are many personal things happening in our lives, in the lives our kids and their friends and in our neighbourhood, please pray for us and for those that God has kindly allowed us to connect with. We are praying for a harvest as we continue to work His harvest field. 

Yours for the kingdom,  


Philip, Beth, Lydia, Anastasia, Alissa, Elijah, and Josiah Bryant

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