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THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, September 17, 2009
A new beginning for city church By Rebecca Edwards Free Press Staff
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Gina Desrosiers is baptized in the Elk River by Fernie Mountainside Community Church pastor Shawn Barden on Sunday. Photo by R. Edwards
Taste of Fernie returns for tenth year By Rebecca Edwards Free Press Staff
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f your taste buds are tingling, that’s because they know it’s time for Taste of Fernie. This is the tenth year local restaurants have showcased items from their menus at the CP Station Square near the Arts Station, Fernie. All proceeds from the event go to local nonprofit groups, the Fernie and District Arts Council and the Rotary Club of Fernie. The main stage will have local talent throughout the day, finishing with an event concert by several bands, including Dayan Kair, Big Bubba Tres and B.C. headliner Barney Bentall. The Mountain Market returns to downtown main street Second Avenue for Saturday afternoon, bringing arts, crafts and market prod-
ucts. Advocates for Local Living are organizing an Applefest at this year’s event, including apple juggling, the Best Apple in Fernie award, an Apple Bake Off and a juicing demonstration. To enter your tree into the best apple contest you must bring at least five apples with you. Tickets for Saturday’s main event will be $5. Entrance is free for those aged 12 and under or 60 and older. Food tickets are $1 and items range from $1 to $5. If you haven’t already got your ticket for the barbecue challenge night on Friday from 7 p.m. you’re too late - all 200 tickets are sold out. Local grill chefs will be turning up the heat in a bid to be crowned the grill king or queen of the year. • For more information see www.tasteoffernie.ca
church is celebrating a rebirth after deciding it needed a new name to reflect its work. Fernie Fellowship Baptist Church has been renamed Fernie Mountainside Community Church and a 150-strong congregation celebrated the move at its “kick-off” service on Sunday. As part of the ceremony, six members of the congregation – Jez Wheeler, Leah Sanders, Katie Hopkins, Josh Acason, Gina Desrosiers and Sarah Birch - were baptized in the Elk River. Shawn Barden, who has been church pastor for the last three years, said the congregation decided to change the name four decades after the church was founded because they felt it didn’t reflect the way the church is now run. “A lot of people were coming here and saying ‘I can’t believe this is a Baptist church.’ We found the name was actually putting some people off because they thought it meant we were something we are not. “So we decided we needed to change our
name because we really want to be Fernie’s community church.” Barden said that, unlike a lot of Canadian churches, Mountainside is seeing an increase in numbers, and most of its community is aged under 30 with many families bringing their children. The average attendance is 140 but numbers peak in the winter when they can have up to 240 people at the Sunday service – they recently had to order more chairs so everybody would have a place to sit. Services are accompanied by a seven-piece band with Barden on lead guitar and there are plans to start broadcasting services on the internet so international visitors can carry on following the church after they leave Fernie. Barden added that in preparation for the name change the church also hired a media consultancy to create a new logo and a 13-point vision statement for the organization. “I think for so long churches have been defined by what they are against – we want to be defined by what we are about – hope, a love for life, helping people, living life to the fullest. “We are not moving
away from our denominational heritage but we have found in my generation and younger people they are less likely to commit to one particular brand just because of its name. “My dad drives a Ford, he has always driven a Ford and he will never drive anything else. Our generation doesn’t have that loyalty to a brand – they don’t care what name it has on the box. With their church, the faith is important but not what name it has. “We have people in our church who are Catholics, Presbyterians, people who have never been to church before but they have found us and they like what we do. “We want to take it back to the core values that determine how we do things – we are Biblically anchored but otherwise we want to be culturally relevant, we want to make it easy for people outside our church to connect with us. “The church has got so used to things that really don’t need to be there but which become obstacles to people coming to the faith. We are trying to take a fresh look at the faith, to take away the things that are unnecessary barriers to people coming to our community.”
Be Adventure Smart By Rebecca Edwards Free Press Staff
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ore people in the valley will soon be taught how to survive in the outdoors through the Adventure Smart survival skills program. Fernie and District Search and Rescue member Marilyn Robertson is coordinating the program locally with the help of Columbia Basin Trust grant funding The first “train the trainers” workshop at Island Lake Lodge last week saw 18 people from youth groups and search and rescue teams learn how to provide three courses for different age groups. “Search and rescue is in the business of going out to get people, but really the fewer people we have to get the better,” says Robertson. “The philosophy of Adventure Smart is letting people know that there are
Wendy Hetherington, Kimberley Search and Rescue Manager and Adventure Smart Instructor shows Shawn Stewart of Cranbrook Search and Rescue how to survive in the outdoors. Submitted photo
dangers of being in the outdoors, but you can prepare yourself and make sure you have the best chances possible.” The courses offered under the program are Hug a Tree and Survive for children ages 5-11 years, the Snow
Safety Education Program for ages 9-11 years and the Survive Outside Program for ages 12 and above. Some of the skills taught in the program are how to survive in cold or extreme weather conditions, how to make sure you will be seen
by people searching for you and what equipment to take with you into the outdoors. In the Elk Valley, Fernie Search and Rescue member Kat Robinson will be visiting schools and groups to provide training.