2021
Annual Report
CONTENTS 2021 ANNUAL REPORT Vision and Values
01
Pastoral Letter
02
Staff & Leadership Team
04
Board Report
05
Changes in the Church Family
07
Finance Team
08
GATHERING TOGETHER Worship Ministry
10
Prayer
13
Young Adults Ministry
14
Children's Ministry
15
Youth Ministry
17
Community Groups
20
Neighborhood Church
22
Facility Management Team
24
Senior's Lunch
24
Kitchen
24
GOING DEEPER Women's Ministry
26
IN THE COMMUNITY Alpha Online
29
Daybreak Point Bible Camp
30
Blenheim Lodge Outreach
31
Eyeglass Ministry
31
English Plus
32
Marriage Course
33
Community Meal
34
Meet The Need
36
Missions Team
37
VISION & VALUES SPIRITUALLY VIBRANT
community
TRANSFORMED BY GOD'S LOVE EXTENDING HIS KINGDOM
Christ-centered
and
in our city and around the world.
We pursue Jesus Christ as the model for our lives and the focus of our worship.
Spirit-led
We depend on God’s Holy Spirit to guide, transform, equip, fill, and empower us for Christian living.
The Bible
We believe Scripture to be the timeless, inspired Word of God by which He reveals Himself and His truth to us.
Prayer
Loving one another
Transformed lives
We experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit through prayer, both individually and corporately.
We provide a welcoming, safe and accepting place where people experience genuine community and extend our heavenly Father’s love in practical ways to those in need.
We desire to see all people experience Jesus’ transforming love, deepening their relationship with Him, and effectively living out His plan and purpose for their lives.
Unity in Diversity
We intentionally embrace and celebrate our diversity, woven together by God as a colourful tapestry of ethnicity, age, gender, marital and socioeconomic status.
Service
We encourage and equip each other to develop and to share our diverse God-given talents and spiritual gifts in our community and the world.
01
PASTORAL LETTER Paul Williams, Acting Lead Pastor April 1, 2022
A copy of this Charlie Mackesy illustration hangs in my study. Something in me longs to see the horse and his friends emerge from the forest into unhindered space where they can run. It’s messy; It’s uncomfortable; and it speaks to me of our journey this past year. In Exodus 17:1 we read:
All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord… I was caught up in these words recently as I read them. When the youth mission trip to Fresno was cancelled in the Spring Break of 2020, few of us imagined this “short disruption” would drag on as it has. Now, after two years, several waves and many challenging happenings later it appears that we are finally moving on from this wilderness. It might not feel as such, but we are ‘getting through’ - and we do so in stages, together, as
The Lord commands.
Illustration from Charlie Mackesy’s New York Times bestselling book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.
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Contained within the pages of this report are the testimonies to God’s faithfulness to His people, gently leading us all. The report also speaks to the faithfulness of God’s people.
Thank you, to everyone who has served and given where there has been a need. This has probably looked and felt different to what was expected for all of us. We have had to learn and adapt to a ‘new normal’, learn new skills, find new ways to connect, serve, worship and even plan - but as you will read, "we are getting through!” The staff team has learned to continually adapt, plan and improvise as new challenges have arisen. We had prayed and discerned the “deeper” theme for 2021/22, but none of us anticipated how The Lord would take us deeper in our faith and prayers. Andy’s sudden and unexpected medical leave has been hard for us all, but I believe Andy and Marlene’s prayers are being answered - that through this experience, God would be glorified.
Andy Writes:
We have such a deep appreciation for the ongoing care I am receiving. We have been blessed with many significant interactions in our home. We are very grateful. The day has not yet dawned when we have not seen God's care and compassion. We deeply appreciate everyone's care, prayer and love. God is with us all on this journey.
Blessings, Andy
This has been a journey through unfamiliar territory for our church family. I am particularly grateful to our Board of Directors for their commitment and leadership through this time. My thanks go also to you, our members, for your faithfulness in prayer, giving and support. I pray that you would be encouraged by the reports that follow, knowing that this represents only a glimpse of the deeper work that God is doing, and will yet do in and through all of us. We are moving on. We will do so in stages. Let us commit to do so together, as The Lord commands. In His love,
Paul Williams
Executive Pastor & Acting Lead Pastor
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STAFF & LEADERSHIP LEAD PASTOR Andy Perrett (on leave Aug. 2021) ACTING LEAD & EXECUTIVE PASTOR Paul Williams YOUTH & YOUNG ADULT PASTOR Mike Bennett WORSHIP & CREATIVE MEDIA PASTOR David Morgan CHILDREN’S, ESL & WOMEN'S MINISTRY Susan Robertson INTERNS Max Janssen - Youth Jerusha Lieow - Young Adults Christine Yeung - Missions & Social Media Tiago Williams - Worship
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OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Leidy Calderón de Vila (maternity leave since Nov. 2021) Sharon Wang (maternity cover from Nov. 2021) CUSTODIAN Tiago Williams CHURCH ACCOUNTANT Jan Quiring BOARD OF DIRECTORS Andrea Corbett Wayne Elderton Rebecca Janke (Vice-Chair) Sydney Archer Lee (Secretary) Merrill Leung (Treasurer) Andy Perrett (Lead Pastor) on leave Paul Williams (Acting Lead Pastor) Michael (Qing) Zhu Gustavo Santos (Chair) Vivian Scott Jan Quiring
BOARD REPORT THE BOARD EXISTS TO Fulfill the legal requirements and responsibilities of the Society. Establish the vision and general direction for Granville Chapel. Encourage and provide accountability to the Lead Pastor. Demonstrate spiritual support and leadership to the church. Directors also serve on various sub-teams and task forces of the Board which provide support in key areas including finances, personnel, building, policies and procedures, communication, nominations and membership, statistics, and special projects. We do this prayerfully seeking the Lord’s direction for Granville Chapel with wisdom, discernment, grace, and unity. As part of this journey, the Board establishes ‘Ends’ – basically, a set of goals we seek to achieve as a church from which our (Acting) Lead Pastor establishes the ‘Means’ in the form of a Strategic and Operational Plan.
Granville Chapel exists to be a community that reflects Jesus.
OUR ENDS The community will have opportunities to engage in leadership, worship, prayer, service and learning to deepen their relationship with Jesus and be transformed into His character. The community will have the support they need to engage the circle of relationships where they live, work, and play as ambassadors of Christ, to extend God’s Kingdom (Shalom). The community will have the leadership and support to form additional multiplying missional communities. Granville Chapel will collaborate with individuals, groups and organizations that align with our vision to extend His Kingdom.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Gustavo Santos (Chair) Rebecca Janke (Vice-Chair) Sydney Archer Lee (Secretary) Merrill Leung (Treasurer)
Michael (Qing) Zhu Vivian Scott Paul Williams (Acting Lead Pastor) Andy Perrett (Lead Pastor) — on leave
Andrea Corbett Wayne Elderton Jan Quiring
This has been a particularly challenging year for Granville Chapel. The Board is grateful to the Lord for His provision and guidance through these difficult months. On top of the (still ongoing) pandemic-related issues, our focus during the past year has been on caring for our leadership in three distinct ways:
1. Caring for the Perrett family. This includes the practical support required to transition Andy from short-term to long-term disability benefits. This transition is now complete; for now, Andy remains our Lead Pastor and his employment status remains unchanged while he undergoes treatment. 2. The Board has also been working closely with Paul Williams who graciously accepted the role of Acting Lead Pastor during Andy’s medical leave. Our focus has been on providing Paul with the support he needs to flourish as he leads our staff team and congregation. 3. Looking ahead, we have been giving increasing attention to the future of Granville Chapel’s leadership, particularly considering the effects of the pandemic and Andy’s illness. The Board established a Transition Team in early 2020 focused on discerning next steps in relation to the Lead Pastor role in anticipation of Andy’s eventual retirement but prior to his illness; this process was put on hold due to the pandemic but will resume in the coming months. As part of this process, the Board will also be conducting a review of our vision and values.
Please pray with us for clarity, humility and unity as we seek the wisdom of our Good Shepherd for Granville Chapel and its future.
- Submitted by Gustavo H. R. Santos
Granville Chapel Board of Directors, Board Chair
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CHANGES IN THE CHURCH FAMILY BAPTISMS Hannah Corbett Gabriella Kimsey Ava Kalyanpur Callen Bennett Daniel Rae Tiago Williams Ryan Manning Yen Meeng Chan Macy Larson Bryn McColl
BABY DEDICATIONS Eva Campbell Owen Campbell Santiago Natán Vila Calderón
DEATHS Beverly Richards (November 6, 2021)
NEW MEMBERS MARRIAGES Lesley-Ann Marriott & Stephen Small (December 30th, 2021)
BIRTHS Eva Fern Grace Campbell Maisie Rose Wiggins Santiago Natán Vila Calderón
Kathy Wang Merrill Leung Miriam Leung Janelle Xie Stephen Day Ngoc Day Rachel Dreger
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FINANCE TEAM Dear Granville Chapel, As we look back at 2021, we are grateful to the LORD for His provision. Thank you for faithfully responding to the LORD and making tithes to support the church ministries. These gifts are helping to enable the LORD’s work in Vancouver and across the world. Your gifts support the work of the dedicated ministry team, devoted missionaries and missions organizations, and important church programs. We are thankful to the ministry team for leading our worship, children and youth ministries, and adult ministries. Thanks also to our Facilities Team for keeping the church building in great shape – the new front doors look great! It has been an honor working with the Finance Team and Church Board to help navigate the church finances through these uncertain times. Church offerings are usually lower in the first half of the year. However, in first half of 2021 offerings were even lower than expected. After some prayerful consideration, the Finance Team and Church Board felt that the LORD was leading us to continue with the current scope of ministry. This would include staying with the expenses as budgeted. We communicated the situation to you the congregation. We are pleased to report that you stepped up and made tithes of $742,501. After including the Canada Emergency Wage subsidy of $33,692 and other revenues of $11,449, total revenues for 2021 were $787,642. These revenues were able to substantially cover the expenses of $789,456. A full and detailed financial review of 2021 will be provided at the spring Annual General Meeting. As we look forward, we rely on the LORD’s provision and the faithfulness of the congregation to continue to support the ministries of Granville Chapel. I would like to thank Paul Williams, Jan Quiring, Michael Zhu, Liz Becker, and Barry Jung for their work on the Finance Team. A special thanks to Barry Jung who will be stepping down from the Finance Team after 25 years of faithful service. - Submitted by Merrill Leung
Board Treasurer and on behalf of the Finance Team
1 Corinthians 9:8
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And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work .
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WORSHIP MINISTRY 2021 was another year full of change, experimentation, and continuous pivoting! As Covid realities continued through the year, we continued to press on with the worship ministry at Granville. For the first half of the year we continued to pre-record and stream our services online. This provided us with interesting opportunities, including our experiments with filming interviews for various series including the “Learning to Listen” series, and the “Listening to a World In Pain” series. Personally, I had the opportunity to take 9 weeks of parental leave in Feb and March, which was an incredible time to be fully present with Ardolyn as she neared the end of her 1st year! (As I write this now, she is turning 2! How time flies!). In September we made the transition to hybrid services, where services were held in-person, with a livestream still made available for those joining online. It has been a challenging process of both getting things going again, while also continuing to dream and build for the seasons to come.
STORYTELLING One key part on the “Creative Media” end, is that Jonatan Vila and I began to plot out what it could look like to better tell the stories of how God has worked and is currently working in the lives of the people in our church! In the fall of 2021, we put out the video of God’s work in Max’s life. Our plan is to continue developing this, and do more through 2022! We feel story telling is a key way for both remembering the ways God has worked, and for inspiring faithfulness and kingdom mindedness in us all as we look ahead to the ways God will work in the future!
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WORSHIP & PRAYER NIGHTS Another highlight from the year, has been the establishment of monthly worship and prayer evenings. In August and September we started bi-weekly prayer and worship sessions, as a response to the news received regarding pastor Andy’s diagnosis. We have continued these sessions on the last Wednesday evening of each month in the Fireside room at Granville Chapel. These have been incredible times of hearing from God, of rest and renewal for exhausted leaders, and of healing prayer for our church family, our city, and our world.
TEAM This year, we have had an amazing team of volunteers who have made everything possible! Worship leaders, musicians, sound and media techs, hosts, communion leaders, scripture readers, prayer leaders, our hospitality teams, and many more!
Worship Leaders: David Morgan Kiara Bennett Tiago Williams (new, 2021) Jerusha Lieow (new, 2021) Niki Jung (guest appearances)
Sound Techs: Kevin Rae Jane Saborio Eric Miller (new, 2021) Janelle Xie (new, 2021) Tiago Williams (new, 2021)
Media & Camera techs: Evan Larson (new, 2021) Chandehl Morgan Jade Saborio Janelle Xie (new, 2021) Jenny Tai (new, 2022) Calum Keys (new, 2022) Kathy Zhu (2021) Tom Wiggins (2021) Luke Mulder (2021) William Lim (2021) Jonatan Vila
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New musicians this year include: PJ Lee (bass) Lucas Van Es (guitar) Luiza Williams (vocals) Megan Lawrence (bass, 2022) Emily Lawrence (keys, 2022)
A huge thanks to those that made our prerecorded (PR) services possible through the first half of 2021! Of particular note are those who made it all happen while I was away on parental leave, February to April! These include: Jonatan Vila (PR Service editing, master) Tom Wiggins (PR Service editing, support) Octavio Fernandez Y Mostajo Saavedra (PR service, audio edit) Mike Bennett (Filming) William Lim (Filming)
Steve Hankinson (Filming) Kevin Rae (Film day audio) Jane Saborio (Film day audio) Yare Vargas (Worship leader, PR services) Niki Jung (Worship leader, PR services) Tiago Williams (Worship leader, PR services)
A particular highlight for me this year has been having Tiago Williams on as a Worship Ministry intern. Tiago has learned each facet of the ministry, and all the technical back-end, taking it all in stride. In conjunction with his experiences as part of the Worship Central Academy, his growth this year has been a joy to watch and be a part of! He has been an incredible blessing to our community. His internship ends May 2022. Whatever you do in life, Tiago, I know God will use you greatly in his kingdom work! While we continue to press forward into uncertainty, we continue to place our trust in our God who loves us, who leads us, and who uses us for his kingdom purposes. For this current year, and the years to come, we shuffle forward, palms open in surrender - for his kingdom, and for his Glory.
- Submitted by David Morgan
Worship & Creative Media Pastor
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PRAYER ”We experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit through prayer, both individually and corporately.” It is possible to measure the commitment to one’s values through their practice. I am pleased to affirm that prayer is indeed the foundation of our ministry at Granville Chapel. Our BLESS acronym reminds us that we “Begin in Prayer”. Given the importance that we ascribe to prayer, I am thrilled that we now have a dedicated prayer room thanks to the hard work and creativity of Chandehl Morgan, Jan Quiring and Andrea Corbett. In addition to a dedicated place for prayer, we have dedicated times and teams committed to prayer. I am very grateful to the team of faithful intercessors who form our ‘Prayer Chain’ and commit to bring the needs of our community to The Lord. Also for the important ministry of the Prayer Ministry Team who are called upon each Sunday during our worship services, as well as those who intercede on behalf of the church during our worship services. Prayer happens all the time and every time that we meet together, but we also have established times when we gather specifically to pray. As has become our tradition, we started 2021 with teaching on prayer accompanied by our 24/7 week of prayer that went “online”. Thank you to all those who signed up and committed to pray at home and at work during that week. In the Fall, we introduced an additional Staff Team Prayer meeting which takes place every Tuesday at 11:45am. On Wednesdays at 7am, we have “Prayer at the Foot of The Cross”
Mike Manning writes:
"Granville Chapel’s long history of the Wednesday morning prayer group has continued right through covid thanks to Zoom technology. A group of 3-5 typically join together and pray for Granville's ongoing services & programs, individuals/families in need as noted through the prayer chain, our missionaries and other concerns for our community and the world… all in order that His Kingdom would come and His will be done. New members are welcome and can contact the groups temporary host Mike Manning (subbing for Andy Perrett) at MMVANBC@GMAIL.COM for a zoom invite." In the Fall, we launched a new monthly worship and prayer evening, held every last Wednesday of the month in the Fireside Room, and as we resumed our in-person services, we did so with a new pre-service prayer meeting, that meets in the prayer room from 9:15-9:45 am each Sunday. As one Christian leader remarked:
True prayer is a way of life, not just for use in cases of emergency. Make it a habit, and when the need arises you will be in practice. We have certainly had much to pray for this past year, and I am thankful for the well-established habits that have prepared us for such a time as this. What a gift it is to pray! With great faith or faint hope, we have the privilege of being instruments of The Lord’s prayer. May He continue to teach us to pray. - Submitted by Paul Williams,
Exectuive Pastor & Acting Lead Pastor 13
YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY This year marked some new directions with Young Adults ministry. It is those aged 18 to early 20’s who can have the most difficulty transitioning to a sense of belonging and community in Granville Chapel and into the Christian faith generally. Like our teens in high school they are still navigating several rites of passage in the tenuous journey from childhood to adulthood and the pandemic has removed so many normal and healthy ways to do this. They are exposed to troubling news about society cracking along lines of racism and wars and media reminds them that the Christian Church of the past has caused tremendous harm. They are a community at a crossroads of many life decisions; schooling, careers and choosing lifelong relationships.
How to remain a Christian and how Jesus might encounter them with peace and answers to life’s alarms is the space we need to meet [Young Adults] in. Beginning in September, we began welcoming this age group to join HUB youth activities and to join our Fall Retreat at Stillwood. In February some joined our winter Ski Retreat to Mount Seymour. These connections began to rebuild friendships that had been lost during the 2 years of the pandemic. In January, Jerusha and I began gathering this group on Sundays for Bible study, prayer and social times. Several of our grade 12’s have also joined us. We began with using the 24/7 Prayer course, we studied issues of why God allows suffering, whether God endorses war and we’ve enjoyed several lunches out. My hope is that they grow as friends who follow Jesus together. Jerusha Lieow has continued on as our intern from Regent College and we work closely together. She offers excellent teaching and connects as a friend to those in our group. So we are walking with these amazing young people seeking to offer hope in the questions they face, courage and guidance in their questions and a place to simply belong together. .
We aim to be a community wrestling together with how to hold onto Jesus as our guiding anchor in the midst of the stormy seas of transition
I want to invite our whole church to notice them, and draw near to them with prayer, encouragement and friendship on this journey.
- Submitted by Mike Bennett
Youth and Young Adults Pastor
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CHILDREN'S MINISTRY The Children's Ministry serves and encourages the children and families of Granville Chapel. Our goals are to provide a nurturing environment in which children come into relationship with Jesus Christ and grow in their walks with Him, and to support and encourage parents in their roles as primary spiritual guides and leaders for their children. Our vision statement for Children’s Ministry is “To be a spiritually vibrant community, transformed by God's love, and extending his Kingdom in our city and around the world". Although 2021 has been a year affected in many ways by the continuation of the pandemic, KingdomKids continues in its role as our foundational Sunday morning program - whether on Zoom or in person! We guide children in understanding the "big picture" of God's love for them personally, in learning about and understanding the Bible and its truth and relevance to them, and in understanding what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus, and to follow Him.
We think of this ministry as a two-fold endeavour: "showing" God's love and "telling" the Good News to children of all ages - babies through elementary school-aged children. We want children to feel loved, as a reflection of Jesus’ love for them. From January to August 2021 we continued to meet online in two groups at ‘KingdomKids Meet Ups” (via Zoom) each Sunday morning. Beginning in September, we have had 2 gatherings on Sundays: (1) KingdomKids Meet Up on Zoom and (2) KingdomKids, in-person, at the church. Having two groups has enabled us to stay connected with all, particularly with those who cannot meet up with us in person due to distance or illness (like our faithful leaders Miss Marlene and Miss Pauline whom we get to see every week online!). God continues to work in and through the lives of His children and their families - pandemic or not! We have continued to get to know kids in different ways through our online gatherings, but are so thankful that we have been able to begin meeting again as a group, in-person as well.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2021 The Lord is our refuge and strength; an ever- present help in times of trouble! He has continued to help and guide us through this pandemic season.
1.
Service Sundays: About once a month, we focused on various missions, including Ratanak, Himalayan Life and Bulembu, sharing with the children the needs in these places across the globe and offering kids the opportunity to care for the children there, through their craft projects.
2.
Easter Season deliveries: A dedicated team of people helped put together Easter care packages with crafts and goodies for our KingdomKids children. We wanted to connect in a special way, since we were all physically isolated from one another. The care packages included craft items for 4 Sundays of Easter crafts which we then made with kids “online”!
3.
Grace-Based Parenting Course: we met with about 7 couples via Zoom for video, questions, and discussion around this Parenting series. It was a chance to learn new skills, be reminded of God’s grace for each of us, and connect with each other.
4.
“SonWorld Adventure Park” Kids Camp-VBS: July 7-9: We had a really fun few days at Maple Grove Park run by a team of about 20 Youth and 8 Adult leaders leading a group of about 28-30 energetic children! The weather was great, and it was so enjoyable to see kids running around outside together. The love of Jesus was shared through games, crafts, snacks, music, and Bible drama.
5.
Intern: Our Intern Christine Yeung, a Regent College student (who started with us in September 2020), continued her work with KingdomKids and English Plus from January to May 2021. We appreciated her continued contribution!
6.
Care Packages: Creation and delivery of Christmas “treat” Care Packages to families at Christmas 2021.
7.
Christmas Hampers: KingdomKids Families contributed toys and money towards Christmas Hampers for Community Meal families.
Thanks to the Lord for His Holy Spirit and sustaining power through it all. The pandemic has continued to challenge our usual ways of doing things, but has also pushed us to be creative and to connect in different ways. A verse that continues to have great meaning and hope for me is Lamentations 3:22-23: “...Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “ Thank you to all who have been involved this past year!
- Submitted by Susan Robertson
Children's Ministry Coordinator 16
YOUTH MINISTRY "Be With Jesus. Become Like Jesus. Do what Jesus did. " This is a phrase that Max and I have repeated often to Granville Youth and to each other as we imagine what we hope for our young people and for our team. As we enter the spring of 2022, we’ve just passed the two year mark when Covid-19 changed the path of our ministry, our church and our world. Its also been two years of racial reckoning, fearful signs of climate change, and devastating wars in Afghanistan, and now Ukraine. While Jesus’ promise that “in this world you will have trouble” has always been true, these two years have brought trouble into sharp focus, particularly for our teens who view troubling news upclose through social media in ways previous generations have never had access to. Into all of that challenge, 2021 was marked both by hope and by challenge in Granville Youth Ministry. Summer and Fall were times of hopeful return of youth activities after a winter of online connections. We met a lot in Vancouver's parks and beaches and experienced the simple joy of renewing friendships and practicing faith together rather than alone. We took over camp Stillwood in September for a youth and young adults retreat that felt really special. We began meeting indoors again at Granville in ways that the restrictions allowed. 2021 also contained many challenging times. The more I interacted with youth and parents, the more clearly I saw the losses that the pandemic has inflicted on our young people.
Recently the mother of a 15 year old recounted to me a comment by her son. He told her of hanging around the neighborhood one day with a few friends and buying some snacks together. He said
“Mom, I finally feel like a teenager”.
It struck me that something so mundane as being able to walk around with friends felt notable enough to impact this young guy. Healthy teens need to navigate several rites of passage in the tenuous journey from childhood to adulthood and the pandemic has removed so many normal and healthy ways to do this. So, we mourn that loss and we strive to meet them in this challenging space to rebuild and to restore what has been lost. As we guide our youth to be with Jesus and to become Like Jesus we remember that we are helping them approach a God who restores, heals and makes all things new. As the Lord said through Isaiah to his people facing ruin and loss: “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” (Is.58:12)
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I dream of this restoration and strengthening of young people to become a vision that our whole church holds and nurtures. As I spend time with youth aged 11, 12, and 13, I dream of them becoming young adults aged 21, 22, and 23. I ask myself, how will we walk with them through these critical next 10 years to shape them into people who follow Jesus deeply and embrace lives that “do what Jesus did?”. I ask myself, who will be the adults and youth leaders to walk with them on this journey? Will we navigate this next decade with them and help them take their places in God’s world? I hope so and I hope that many of you will pray to that end and even join in the work with us to see it come true.
I’m grateful for our team of dedicated youth leaders who spend many hours leading young people. Francesca Turner, Arman & Yeonjoo Fallah-Kim, Sophie Lim, Seth Lynch, Macy Larson, and Jade Saborio have all played roles in shaping our EDGE youth. Max Janssen (youth intern), Lyon Lin and Kiara Bennett have led our HUB youth. I really couldn’t do what we do without them. Please pray for us and pray also for an increase of youth leaders to join our team.
THE EDGE Our Junior High ministry includes kids from grades 6 to 9. The winter and spring was a time of on-line events and finding creative ways to stay connected during the pandemic. Easter 2021 saw 3 of our EDGE youth baptized at Jericho beach in a uniquely covid safe baptism ceremony. In summer 2021 Susan Robertson and I recruited 16 of them to help lead VBS which was held completely outdoors for the first time ever. Many young kids were blessed but our youth were also blessed by the joy of serving together. This week led me to seize the opportunity of welcoming Francesca, Sophie, Evan and Macy to commit themselves to helping lead a summer of EDGE youth ministry. This felt like a real gift and our summer together in parks and on beaches led us to a strong return in September. We returned to regular Sunday gatherings where we began learning about becoming servants of Jesus through using an Awana bible study book called “Trek: His Love”. These times are full of great questions, stories and discussions of our faith. Regular Friday gatherings in Granville Chapel also returned. Various active games running around the church have been a staple of our times together along with some times to lead discussions and prayers. Going forward we aim towards more times of fun, deeper interactions with our faith and more stories of how God is meeting our needs. I sense strong faith growing in these youth along with a desire to invite friends into the community.
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THE HUB Our Senior High ministry includes youth from grades 10 to 12. This is a diverse group of kids from many high schools in Vancouver and Richmond. Winter 2021 saw us trying to keep our youth connected through meeting online for games, prayers and bible studies. Sensing a desire for deeper faith we launched a course about baptism which 19 of our young people attended. By Easter 2021, 7 HUB youth got baptized at Jericho beach. Spring saw us celebrate the graduation of several youth from grade 12. Our fall youth season began with our retreat at Camp Stillwood began to re-establish many connections between these youth and young adults. Our Friday HUB events alternated between Social nights and Discipleship nights and they also included several recently graduated students seeking continued community with their friends in HUB. Tiago Williams has helped us worship on many Discipleship nights and Max and I have led them through many good faith discussions and spiritual practices. Social nights have included board games, occasional outings in homes, bowling, Chapel worship events and several outings at ice rinks (by far the biggest hit during the year). The youth year ended with a Christmas party and hopes for a better year to come in 2022.
- Submitted by Mike Bennett
Youth & Young Adults Pastor
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COMMUNITY GROUPS Our community groups vary in size, purpose, frequency and shape but it is our intention that these gatherings provide moments when we can be nurtured in our faith, grow in Christ-likeness and serve together in His Kingdom ministry. I was encouraged to “drop in” via Zoom to meet with our several of community groups earlier in the year. It was so good to reconnect with people, catch up and be reminded of the importance of these groups, and never more so than during a pandemic! Despite the limitations, there have been many benefits to the online format. The Living Room (led by Janice Elderton) was able to meet more frequently and provide additional support to its participants. Other community groups were also able to welcome friends who had moved away, but could still participate online!
Janice writes : THE LIVING ROOM provides faith-based support for those living with a mood disorder (E.g. Anxiety, Bipolar,
Depression, etc.). Despite the pandemic, the group has been going well. When the in-person groups were discontinued, we went to the zoom video format to meet.
Since there was an expressed need, it was decided to have a meeting every week instead of twice a month. Those that are living on their own feel isolated with not a lot of choices to interact socially. Having a mood disorder is already difficult, but adding on the stress of a worldwide pandemic can increase the challenges greatly. A benefit of using zoom is that we include people who live far away. We have had 2 members move away to Thunder Bay and Alberta and they are joining us again. We also have a lady who is joining us from Taiwan. For us it's Tuesday at 7pm and for her it's the next day in the afternoon. Now that the restrictions for the pandemic are being lifted we will start meeting in person again and also continue a regular Zoom meeting to include the ‘out of town’ people, or those who cannot make the in-person meetings. Please continue to pray for our group to be a support for those that need it.
For further information about The Living Room, please contact Janice at janiceelderton@gmail.com
In September we also saw the creation of a new missionally oriented community group gathering together those who have been praying and preparing to welcome refugee families.
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Mike Bennett writes:
Welcoming refugees has been an ongoing theme at Granville Chapel for many years. Our most recent experience was welcoming 10 people from Syria in 2016. They are all thriving as new Canadians and those members who helped were enriched by their involvement. 2021 bought two new opportunities to serve refugees into focus at Granville Chapel. In order to prepare our church to welcome newcomers to Canada we’ve begun a new missionally oriented community group called “Refuge”. “Refuge” is comprised of 18 people (and growing). We meet periodically and specifically to pray, to learn about issues facing refugees, and about how our church can position ourselves to meet their needs through support and connection to the many refugee services in Vancouver. This community group hopes to draw others from Granville Chapel into the many and varied acts of service required to welcome our incoming refugees. Beginning three years ago, Peter Foggin brought the case of an Afghani family to Andy’s attention. This family of 8 had fled the Taliban in Afghanistan and their oldest son had come in contact with Peter's son and daughter through a church in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Andy, Peter, and Suzanne Barclay began completing paperwork with Mennonite Central Committee to bring them from India to Vancouver. $49,000 has been raised so far for their support. In October 2021, a welcoming team, now up to 12 people, began gathering as the family’s arrival seemed more imminent. We’ve begun researching how to meet their needs and a basement suite has been made available as their first home upon arrival. Bev Richards’ family donated much needed household items. Covid-19 and now the war in Ukraine continues to delay the arrival of refugees to Canada. We continue to pray and wait. Beginning in early 2021 a Regent College couple named Samih and Katherine brought us an opportunity to sponsor refugees from Australia. Australia has an immigration detention system that intercepts all undocumented people arriving by boat. Detention conditions are reported to be poor and many have languished there for up to 10 years. Samih and Katherine introduced us to Ads Up, a new Canadian NGO created to join an international rescue effort for these refugees. We have gathered a group of 5 individuals who registered with Ads Up. We will receive one or two men from Australia in 2022. The Canadian government has provided full financial support for this program and our church, led by this team of 5, will coordinate the support of these people for one year as they integrate. Both of these cases will bring us the opportunity to welcome newcomers whose lives have been ravaged by war and displacement. They will likely be suffering many long term effects of their suffering and will require much grace and mercy to help them integrate into a new life of becoming whole again. They will be people from Islamic faith backgrounds, though some have become aware of faith in Jesus. This opportunity will invite Granville Chapel once again into the exciting, humble, cross cultural journey of welcoming newcomers to Canada. Specific requests to donate items and finances, along with joining direct support, will be extended to the church as the needs arise. We engage in this work following the example of Christians over the ages who have always given their lives in the cause of supporting vulnerable strangers in their midst. Thank you for your prayers and support.
Community Groups play a vital role in the health, well-being and mission of our church. I am especially grateful to our many leaders and hosts for their love and commitment to their groups. We have a good foundation and I am excited to see the growth, strengthening and expansion of this ministry. How will you get involved? - Submitted by Paul Williams
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NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCH As missionaries of Granville Chapel, we continue to joyfully extend God’s Kingdom in the Jackson Neighbourhood of Fresno, California through the gracious and loving support of our Granville Chapel Church family. Our ever evolving Neighbourhood Church is now potentially becoming a network of home churches across the neighbourhood. As Covid restrictions began to ease, our church started meeting for worship in our home and we love it! God has been growing our community in depth of relationships and discipleship, along with sending us new neighbors to love, care for, and welcome into God’s family. We are eager to see how God will multiply this community into more home churches across the neighborhood. Our non-profit, the Jackson Community Development Corporation, is now hiring its own Executive Director from the Jackson Neighbourhood, and it seems to be a never ending source of joy in the midst of a neighbourhood facing many challenges. Through it all, Granville Chapel has held onto us with regular connections to the staff and missions team and many many wonderful friends who send monthly support - we couldn’t do it without you (nor would we want to!). Your partnership in the gospel is one of our upmost blessings in life! Over the last year, we have committed to listening to our neighbours and experimenting with their solutions to solve some of our neighbourhood’s great challenges.
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Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is within you” so we think God’s best ideas for his will on earth are inside the mind and hearts of the people He’s placed here. We have been able to observe what can happen when people with no formal training work together to make things happen in Jesus’ name. We’ve seen neighbours work out of their Christian conviction to collaborate with others through coordinated efforts with City Hall to improve traffic safety. We’ve seen the growth of our Jackson Neighbourhood Association, a volunteer association we started, that doesn’t just gripe about problems or talks endlessly about “what needs to be done,” but takes strategic action that leads to transformation. Our volunteers are literally knocking on every door, just like we imagine Jesus’ disciples would two-by-two, sitting down with residents to empower them, and give them a place to feel connected, listened to, and valued. All of these connections are onramps to building trust and loving our neighbors as Jesus does. For instance, in the last five months our team has documented 80 one-on-one listening conversations with neighbours and have trained residents on how to do them with their neighbours. This is creating a wealth of information about resident strengths, assets, passions, and concerns that helps inform the work we do for Jesus’ glory.
We continue to maintain a strong and critical partnership with Jackson Elementary School and continue to bring important resources and support to students and teachers through a variety of programs and initiatives such as Off the Front (a fourth grade earn-a-bike program focusing on healthy eating and fitness), Literacy Mentoring of first grade students who are struggling in reading, and building staff morale and support through staff appreciations. Over the last several months our team has collected 200+ surveys from residents on issues related to issues they care about. We hope that when the Church steps up and meets these needs with the Holy Spirit’s solutions, people will see our good works and come to glorify God (Matthew 5:16).
Lives have been transformed, relationships have been deepened, and Jesus’ glory has been put on display! In Mark 16:15 Jesus said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” We have been given the privilege of doing this very thing because Granville continues to be a spiritually vibrant church transformed by God’s love. We are the outcome of your mission to extend His kingdom around the world. Thank you for trusting us with this call and thank you for continuing to extend God’s kingdom to Jackson! We love you!
- Submitted by Joe White
And finally, many of our Neighbourhood Church family have participated in an 8-week discipleship program this last year that helps us find feeling and freedom in our areas of greatest need.
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FACILITY MANAGEMENT TEAM It's been wonderful to have people making their way back into the building for Sunday morning services and mid-week activities and able to enjoy the remediation and upgrades we made during the COVID shutdown. In 2021, these upgrades included: completion of the new front doors creation of the prayer room (thanks to Chandehl Morgan), and installation of upgraded stage lighting in the sanctuary. While I am thankful for the ways technology has allowed us to stay connected through the pandemic, the return to in-person services has highlighted the gift it is to be able to gather, grow, worship, and serve in our building. - Submitted by Andrea Corbett
SENIOR'S LUNCH Health restrictions in place to protect our seniors during the pandemic prevented us from hosting our monthly seniors luncheon. We look forward to resuming these lunches when we are able to do so and will need to build our team. Perhaps this is a place and opportunity for you to serve?
KITCHEN MINISTRY The closure of the church and on-going Covid health measures required the suspension of kitchen use for most of 2021. - Submitted by Paul Williams
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ING O G
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WOMEN'S MINISTRY MORNINGSIDE Morningside is a gathering of women of all ages, which meets on Friday mornings for Bible study, conversation, prayer, and friendship. Through our gatherings, we are spurred on in our faith walks and build community. Our vision is:
“...to be transformed by God’s love, to mature in spiritual vibrancy and to extend His Kingdom, through: Bible study, fellowship, prayer, and personal application.” In 2021 our three Morningside gatherings continued mostly on Zoom through the winter and spring. We ran “Summer Spots” again from June 24 through the end of July, on Thursday evenings, at Montgomery Park. “Summer Spots” is simply a weekly gathering to read the Bible, have discussion, and pray together. Continuing to stay connected in faith and friendship has been important to women, particularly during this challenging pandemic period. In December 2021, Edith Rae and a team invited all women to a special in-person evening with Brian McConaghy of Ratanak International. His inspiring words helped paint a picture of the dire situation of enslaved and vulnerable people in Cambodia, and the amazing hope for new life found in Jesus Christ. The Bible studies we worked through in 2021 were: Jan. - Feb: “Paul’s Letter to the Galatians” -Timothy Keller (continuing from September) Feb.- April: “30 Days to Understanding the Bible” - Max Anders May - June: “Chasing Vines” - Beth Moore June - July: “Summer Spots” - outdoor meetings in the park Sept.-Dec: “Paul’s Letter to the Romans” -Timothy Keller SMALL GROUP LEADERS: Rachel Woods, Barb Schmidt, Liz Becker, Joanna Welter, Susan Robertson EVENINGSIDE LEADERS: Edith Rae, Heather Lim, Petra Anderson (please see their Eveningside Report)
Thank you, friends, for your preparation, facilitation, prayer, and leadership! - Submitted by Susan Robertson
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EVENINGSIDE 2021 has been another year of learning, growing, bonding, praying together as a group of women who love the Lord and who have decided that Biblestudy and small group fellowship Is essential and precious, and demands a central and consistent place in our lives, no matter what! We plowed right through the pandemic, meeting weekly on zoom when necessary, or in person in the Fireside Room at Granville Chapel. We used the first part of the year to finish our study of Galatians with Tim Keller. In the spring we tackled Max Anders “30 days to understanding the Bible”! We found this a really helpful overview of God’s story in history and HIs movement among us. In May we started a study in John 15, with Beth Moore, called “Chasing Vines: Finding your way to an immensely fruitful life.” Her teaching videos filmed inside beautiful vineyards made this teaching come alive for us. In June we celebrated another wonderful year together in God’s Word with a picnic at Maple Grove Park. (see pic).
For June and July we offered “Summer Spots”, a great opportunity to meet outside in the park for informal Bible study and fellowship. In September we decided to take on a huge project: to study the book of Romans in depth! We chose a 23-sessions study guide by Timothy Keller, who we have come to love as a powerful and gifted Bible teacher. In December we were excited to celebrate Christmas together in person at Granville Chapel, under the title “The Greatest Rescue”. We invited Brian McConaghey, the founder of “Ratanak International'' to speak. His talk was jaw-dropping and bone-rattling to the core, and left us stunned by the prevalence of the unspeakable evil of human trafficking, and the Kingdom of God breaking through to the most heinous and dark places to rescue, heal and restore! An unforgettable evening! Praying for each other and needs around the world is also an integral part of our time together, and we incorporate praying for specific local or global ministries God puts on our hearts. Eveningside is a highlight of the week for many of us, and we are excited to see what the Lord has for us this coming year. As always, women of all ages are warmly welcomed with open arms! May God’s Spirit through His living Word continue to equip and empower us to become more like Jesus. - Submitted by Edith Rae
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ALPHA ONLINE Covid has been a catalyst to help reimagine Alpha at Granville Chapel. Many of us have experienced first hand the exceptional content and experience provided through Alpha. It is a wonderful tool that God has used, and is using, to bring people to faith in Jesus and renew His Church. In the past we have hosted large Alpha courses, mobilizing many people in the church to serve. These have been great fun, but they require some “heavy lifting” limiting their scope and frequency. I was amazed at how simple and effective online Alpha can be! Under the leadership of Nigel Todd and Lynn DiMeo, our group met each week via Zoom. We spent a few minutes catching up before watching the video via the link then reconvened to discuss what we had seen and heard. Of course, practising hospitality is a key part of the Alpha experience and although we missed eating together, we were able to arrange a special delivery of tasty treats for each participant for our online version of the retreat! Alpha online is a wonderful means by which we can create more opportunities for people to experience Alpha throughout the year. Alpha is a great tool to help people explore and experience Christian faith, and the church. The ability to access and share the material online means that more people can run Alpha simply and effectively for their friends and neighbours. I pray we will see more Alpha initiatives springing up throughout the coming year.
Who will you invite?
- Submitted by Paul Williams
ANVIL ISLAND Daybreak Point Bible Camp
Camps will be back this summer! Registrations for staff and for campers are open and we are so looking forwards to a full summer season with happy kids and teenagers running around and the chapel filled with worship and teaching! Last summer we were able to run 4 camps in August with limited capacity with 50 (instead of 100) campers and shortened duration (Friday to Monday instead of a full week). I had the privilege to be part of the kitchen staff for the first camp and it was so great to see the camp come back to life – even at this reduced capacity and despite the Covid measures including masking, sanitizing, and keeping people in family groups for activities and meals. We used the outdoor gym for worship as this is a large open structure with good airflow and I fondly remember the “chapel time” on the first night, worshipping and singing together “in person” with 70 other people. It was very moving for me and a great reminder that even though we need to have personal time with God, there is so much joy and power in worshipping together as a group of believers.
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Yesterday I was up at camp as part of the work week. We had a great turn out of ~70 people volunteering their time to paint, repair and fall dead trees to get the camp ready for the summer. Please pray for Gods presence in all the preparations leading up to camps, for Covid not to flare up again, for safety for kids and staff and for God’s Spirit to be present in every cabin group and to rest on each and every staff member who will serve at camp next summer.
2022 ANNUAL FUNDRAISING BANQUET Our 2022 Annual Fundraising Banquet is set to be held on May 14th at 5:00 pm. We are very excited to welcome our community back to Bethany Baptist Church for our Annual Fundraising Gala. The actions of donors who have attended our Banquet have provided children and youth the opportunity for life changing experiences through Daybreak Point Bible Camp over the past 80 plus years. We are grateful for this beautiful community of supporters, and thankful for their long-standing commitment to the work taking place on Anvil Island.
ABOUT ANVIL As many of you know, Granville Chapel was one of the founding churches of Daybreak Bible Camp, also known as “Anvil”, over 80 years ago. Granville Chapel is one of twelve member churches and has a longstanding, supportive relationship with Anvil. Our mission at Daybreak Point Bible Camp is to encourage campers to encounter the love and life of Jesus Christ through: Christ-centred teaching and programs Christian Community Personal relationships A safe and fun camp experience Many thanks to all of you for supporting Daybreak Point Bible Camp on Anvil Island in 2021 through your prayers, donations and volunteer service at camp! For more information, please visit the Anvil camp website: www.anvilisland.ca or contact: Holger Janssen: Jim Galpin (Director of development): Terry Carabetta (Chairman):
hjanssen12345@gmail.com jim@anvilisland.ca chairman@anvilisland.ca
- Submitted by Holger Janssen
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BLENHEIM LODGE Covid restricted access and ministry activities at Blenheim Lodge (Sunday Services and Weekly Singing Fellowship) for 2021. - Submitted by Paul Williams
EYEGLASS MINISTRY According to World Health Organization, over 90% of the world’s visually impaired live in developing countries. Medical Ministries International’s (MMI) Vision Care Program provides all aspects of eye health care directly to patients and support residency training programs to assist local physicians and their development. Lack of vision care contributes to poverty and may impact generations of a family. Granville Chapel has supported MMI’s vision care program for decades by collecting used eyeglasses from Vancouver Eye Clinic and others. With the generous support of Bekins, hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses in dozens of cases are shipped to MMI warehouse in Ontario for processing, categorizing in preparation for their international programs. Despite Covid, MMI cared for over 43,000 patients in 2020, distributing 7,461 pairs of RX glasses, 6,339 reading glasses and 1,473 sunglasses. In January 2022, MMI’s Vision Project in Colombia alone saw almost 3,700 patients, distributed 3,000 pairs of eyeglasses, performed over 100 complicated eye surgeries and fitted 15 people with artificial eyes. Upcoming planned programs for 2022 include: Rwanda in May, Mexico in June, Peru in July and Bolivia in October. Granville Chapel will prayerfully continue to support this worthwhile ministry as long as used eyeglasses are being collected in clinics locally and within our own congregation. Please support this ministry by dropping off your no longer needed eyeglasses in our collection box in the foyer!
- Submitted by Marina Chang
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ENGLISH PLUS The English language program at Granville Chapel has been running for more than twentyfive years! We recently celebrated the life of Lila Davies, one of the original visionaries and leaders of the ELL program at our church. Through our current program, English Plus, our goal is to offer newcomers to Vancouver the opportunity to learn English and to build friendships with each other and with their teachers. We also hope to create a bridge to the broader community of Granville Chapel and an opportunity to hear the good news that God loves us and offers forgiveness and a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. We offer different levels of classes and also a more informal conversation circle called “Table Topics”, currently led by Sharon Pasivirta and Ava Yip. In 2021 we continued with a variety of English classes via Zoom through the winter and spring sessions, due to the continuation of the COVID pandemic. In September, we started a new season with “Hybrid” classes (some students came in-person and others joined via Zoom) and in-person Table Topics groups. It was great to finally be able to meet each other in-person, again. Whether in person or on Zoom, we really enjoy connecting with and getting to know students; we are thankful that we can share our language with them. Currently (March 2022), a new season is starting, with almost all students gathering inperson (for which we are very thankful). n the summer of 2021 we started conversing with folks at Kinbrace, with the idea of starting a beginners English course for refugee claimants and refugees. Granville has supported Kinbrace
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for many years through our Meet the Need committee, and we wanted to forge a stronger, hands-on connection with this ministry. LaVerne Adams started meeting weekly at Kinbrace in September, with a refugee claimant couple from Haiti, for English lessons. From this small tutoring session, we began planning a trial English class for this group here at Granville Chapel. As this report is being written, we have started a weekly class for a few Kinbrace residents, led by LaVerne Adams. We are excited about the potential of this group; it’s not always easy for these newcomers to make their way to the church, as they face a lot of daily challenges as they adjust to living in this new city, but we are hopeful that by offering this class, we will not only be helping equip refugees with an important tool for living here, but also sharing the love of Jesus with them. It’s a privilege to engage with newcomers from many parts of the world! We hope to see more students come to our programs in the future and find hope in Christ through our extended community. We would appreciate your prayers, particularly for the refugees who are invited to our class. We always welcome more people from Granville Chapel to get involved. Each of us has something to share with newcomers! - Submitted by Susan Robertson
English Plus Coordinator
MARRIAGE COURSE Richard and I were delighted to have 12 couples join us January 5th for seven sessions of the online Marriage Course series with Nicky and Sila Lee. We feel encouraged that many couples at Granville Chapel are so invested in using these great resource tools, and in having strong and healthy Marriage relationships as a result. This online series allowed us all to remain in the safety and comfort of our homes, and it enabled those with small children to work around bedtimes. Study notes and desserts were dropped off at each home during the day with a candle provided. The evening began with a short zoom welcome and we then watched the video together, shared remotely from our screen, pausing for several breaks for (muted) discussion time between each couple. Finding all the right settings for sharing video and muting and unmuting was eventually sorted, especially after we learned we had muted everyone else but not our own private discussion time!
These are the sessions we worked through together:
Strengthening connection The art of communication Resolving conflict The power of forgiveness Recognize how upbringing affects your relationships Good sex Love in action
We have benefited from this material greatly over the years, and it was our great privilege to partner with Granville Chapel in presenting this excellent course once again.
- submitted by Richard and Raewyn Reid
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COMMUNITY MEAL Thank you Granville Chapel for the ways you have cared for the families that are part of the community meal, albeit in a different mode than from spring of 2015 to spring of 2020. We’ve not put any wear and tear on the church dishwasher for 2 years now! Family Day weekend in February was a delivered comfort meal of meatloaf and fixings, along with some small gifts and gift cards that had been donated by several church members. The highlight of March was a wedding of one of the families on a back deck. The parents had experienced some difficulties that prevented them from being united as a family, but as these difficulties were assuaged, they indicated interest in becoming married. Andy was asked to officiate and of course he more than officiated! He met with them and had thoughtful interest, insight, counsel and care for the entire process – I was deeply impacted, as were they. It was a joyful event, made more so by the fact that they expected it to be a simple ceremony in an office. It was simple yes, but not that simple. The 5 year old son was so excited the entire day and thoroughly enjoyed his ‘family wedding’.
We met again as a group in the spring for outdoor picnics; sushi and pizza with popsicles being the usual menus of choice. This is always fun and feels like ‘old times’, as the kids can play in the greenspaces and playgrounds of the different parks we frequent. Stan and Marj Robinson were able to attend one of the picnics – what lovely ‘grandparents’ they have been for us!
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We informed the families about the summer camp organizations that were able to coordinate innovative ways to comply with restrictions AND provide camp experiences for family units. UGM regularly provides generous financial assistance for lower income families. One family, that we’re aware of, did register with UGM and Pioneer Pacific Camp and both the mom and son were exuberant about that week. We loved hearing about it. In October we had a ‘pop-up event’ for those who could make it. An after church hot dog lunch at a home with a school playground just a short distance away. It was a beautiful sunny day so we could hang out on the deck to barbecue the hot dogs and the windows and doors could be open while we were indoors. We’d made sure that everyone felt comfortable prior to the event with the numbers and parameters planned. It was wonderful; excellent connections. In December all the families that expressed interest in receiving a Christmas hamper did receive one. Generously provided by your financial gifts for the Meet the Need offering. Some hampers were delivered by Santa and his helper. How does that fit within a church report? Creative license I guess. Lol.
Thank you for your care for this ministry. Please continue to pray for us all as we seek to care for each other well through the hills and valleys of life and look for God’s divine interventions, purposes, blessings and live wholly within his love.
- Submitted by Beth Hankinson
(part of the team that includes Claire Tweeddale, Susan Robertson, and Debra Barnes.)
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MEET THE NEED The focus of the Meet the Need ministry is on Extending God’s Kingdom in our city. Our mandate is to administer the donations received in the Meet the Need offering, and to encourage the congregation in serving those less fortunate in the Vancouver area. We supported 8 different local ministries over the past year: Mothers Offering Mentorship and Support (MOMS), $350/month Kinbrace, $400/month City Gate Leadership Forum (Tim Dickau), $250/month Vancouver Crisis Pregnancy Centre, $300/month Just Work, $150/month Jacob’s Well, $150/month Granville Chapel Community Meal, $600 in total for the year * (Crossroads Community Meal) ** * Due to Covid 19 restrictions, Granville Chapel Community Meal only met for summer picnics during 2021. We will resume contributing to this ministry on a regular basis ($250 / month) as soon as it is able to provide regular community meals again. **Crossroads Community Meal was on hiatus during 2021 due to Covid19. We will resume our $250/monthly donation in the coming year as soon as they are able to resume their community meal.
We would like to celebrate these things from 2021: We finished 2021 with a surplus of $6000, thanks to generous donations received in December. Each of our ministries have had encouraging stories to share about how God has worked in their communities during this past year, despite the ongoing challenges brought on by Covid 19. We were able to provide Christmas care packages, consisting of gift cards, cookies and / or children’s gifts, to 30 families in need (in our Granville community and beyond). We participated in a virtual Operation Baby Bottle last spring in order to support the Vancouver Crisis Pregnancy Centre and contributed a small amount towards their $20,000 total. We are thankful to everyone from our Granville Chapel community who has continued to generously donate to the Meet the Need offering and who has also continued to pray for the ministries we support.
- From the 2021 Meet the Need Committee
(Claire Tweeddale - chair, Debra Barnes, Karen Harmel, Sally Law, Yardley McNeill, and Nellie Seeto). 36
MISSIONS TEAM The Missions Team, faithfully, and consistently serves the Granville community through its encouragement of missionaries and the stewarding of resources provided. Both of these we take seriously, and this requires that we balance accountability along with encouragement and support. We want to ensure that Granville is giving into fruitful ministries that are consistent with what they have planned, what they have informed donors, and have good ongoing communication with their supporters. Also, for those missions that have local presence, we desire to see more than one Granville member engaged in those ministries. The engagement in new ministries comes out of relationships. This typically means that these missionaries are known by us, or have been with us in community for a time. Also, it comes through a bubbling up of interest and action by a number of Granville members who are engaged in an emerging ministry. All of the above is covered in prayer and a sense of the movement of the Holy Spirit.
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Prov 16:9
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE YEAR THREE YEAR PLAN The Missions Team reviewed their three year plan (2019-2021) and rejoiced in the Lords blessing in accomplishing each of the goals outlined. As per our policy, this plan is produced every three years to guide the team in purpose of direction and decision making. This plan and results has been provided to Lead Pastor, and this year directly to the Board. We believe this is important for leadership to know where we are going, to sync to Granville’s overall vision and plans, and most importantly for accountability and transparency. The Team has missed Andy’s presence on the team, and are in holding mode in producing the next three year plan. HUMAN TRAFFICKING Granville continued it support of Ratanak and other organizations that are working to free those who are bound up in sex trafficking. Edith Rae led events with the leader of Ratanak speaking about the work anchored in Cambodia. Her son Brian and Arman form Granville were recognized for the anti-trafficking website they created with their team.
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THE WAY/CCLN Granville continued to support the fruitful church plants and ministries of The Way and the Canadian Christian Leaders Network under the able leadership of Jason Ballard and the remarkable team he serves with. This involved the collaboration of a number of ministries Granville is partnered with. Through our relationship with Strathcona Church, Terry was able to assist The Way in leasing the space to anchor two services at Strathcona that fill up each Sunday. Calling Ministries partnered with The Way in developing and participating in their Apprenticeship program. This 9 month program seeks to develop three young folks, interested to explore a church ministry path, to serve within The Way and at Calling’s Parkdale site. The Way effectively recruits from across Canada to find young folks just out of college or with 4 years of ministry experience. Calling will be partnering again for a second year in this program that also sees these young folks living at Parkdale and serving seniors 2 hours per week. The Way also established another church plant at one of Callings founding churches in North Vancouver. Sutherland Church asked The Way to come and lead the community. HIMALAYAN LIFE Granville continued to support Himalayan Life through their efforts to rebuild the Elementary School wiped out by the river flood in Nepal. Himalayan Life has offices at Granville, Board members from Granville, and many have travelled to be a part of the ministry in Nepal.
REGENT INTERN The Missions Team has been blessed with a Regent intern serving with us this year. Christine Yeung has been learning about our Granville Missions model, has attended talks by Terry provided to The Way apprentices, and has been responsible for having our missionaries pray each Sunday on screen or in person. It is so wonderful for our community to be able to connect with our missionaries around the world each Sunday via Zoom. Christine also started working on an updated missionary handbook which should be available in 2022.
- Submitted by Terry Robertson
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