March 2020
Quick Calendar WEEKLY Sun
9am-10am Bible Study 10am-11:30am Sunday Worship 11:30 Refreshments
pg 21 pg 21
Tues 10am-12pm Pastoral Team Meeting Wed 10am-12:00am Refresh, Women's Group
pg 21
Thur 12pm-1pm Lunch Together
pg 21 pg 21
Mar. 6
Youth Event: Sledding + Hot Chocolate
pg 15
Mar. 11 Mar. 13
Sledding and Fellowship
pg 11
Youth Life Groups
pg 15
Mar. 17
Youth March Break Event
pg 15
Mar. 20
Youth Life Group - Boys
pg 15
7pm-8:30pm ESL Café
1pm - 2pm Bible Discussion
pg 21 pg 21
See more on page 21-22 or on our Events page at www.springgardenchurch.ca/events.
Delve submissions are due March 23rd. Delve submissions are due on the MONDAY before the LAST Sunday of each month. To submit for the next issue of Delve, e-mail: delve@springgardenchurch.ca
For 2020 I thought I would
Features Lent’s Wake Up Call 3
Dear Spring Garden Family 6 End Poverty in all its Forms Everywhere 7 Only God Knows 9
Community Corner Spring Garden Camping Trip 2020 11 Sledding 11 Day Camp 2020 12 - Leaders in Training 12
Discipleship Ministries
Spring Kids 13 | Spring Youth 14, 15
Resource Centre
Resource Recommendations 17
More Info How to Give 19 Leadership Directory 19-20 Weekly Calendar 21 Upcoming Calendar 22 Colouring Page 16
Our Values
(back page)
Design, Cover & Editor: Dale Forder Contributors: Greg Kay Fiona Hui Mary Simpkins Carl Anderson Jeremy Ranasinghe Karen Cassel Darlene Boyd Copy Editors: Greg Kay Karen Cassel Esther Penner
Digging a little deeper into Spring Garden
Features
Lent’s Wake Up Call by Greg Kay
We adore you, Christ, and we praise you, because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world. This is the beginning prayer for each movement of the traditional Stations of the Cross—14 images and scriptures depicting Jesus’ final day, encouraging reflection and contemplation of each step of his journey to the cross and the tomb. We adore you, Christ, and we praise you, because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world. As someone who grew up in the church, I have heard this story of Jesus’ sacrifice over and over again for 45 years. 45 years to be awed, moved to tears, surprised, confused, transformed, and as is the way of human nature, too often to be dulled and numbed by the overly familiar.
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While I do not think there is a singular trick to break
one’s self out of the complacency that comes with familiarity and routine, I do believe that there is wisdom found in many Church traditions that have formed over the centuries—traditions that if done not with joyless mechanical and unthinking routine but with hopeful devotion and honest humility—which invite us to pause and enter into a deep and infinitely astounding and transforming relational experience of God. One such tradition is Lent—journeying with Jesus through his suffering and to the cross over 40 days (minus Sundays, for Sundays are always a day of Resurrection), moving from Ash Wednesday until Good Friday when we remember his death, Holy Saturday when we sit in the silence of the tomb, and finally Easter Sunday when Jesus rises again and we discover the redemption of all the suffering. Through the season of Lent we are invited to enter into the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross in a way that reminds us of the greatness of his love for us and the depth of sacrifice he made in order for the world to know that love. It is also a journey where each step Jesus takes towards his suffering and death reminds us, while Jesus lived a life of self denial, we in our complacency too easily fall into practices of living for self. Lent provides us a kind of loving wake up call to lay aside our unhealthy attachments and dependency on things which do not deserve our devotion, practicing forms of self-denial that realigns our heart, mind, body and spirit towards God and towards loving others and creation. A common practice of self-denial during Lent is to fast from something, often something that fights for your attention, devotion, something on which you find yourself overly dependent or finding your identity in—giving it up and, when you long for it, saying to God, “I don’t need that thing, what I need is you”. The most common examples are things like chocolate, coffee, alcohol, social media, amazon.ca purchasing, etc. Another common practice of self-denial during Lent is to take on intentional activities of serving others—self-denial by giving up personal time and/or resources that would normally be for yourself and instead giving them for someone else. I could give a long list of examples for both, but only you and God know what would be most meaningful for you. 4
I encourage you to prayerfully consider if this is a year where God is inviting you to enter into Jesus’ journey to the cross through Lent, perhaps simply as a personal expression of love for God and desire to enter deeper into him, perhaps to help break religious complacency from over familiarity to the story of Jesus. I began by mentioning the way some Church traditions invite us to enter into a deep and astounding transformational and relational experience of God. A hard reality, particularly when we are contemplating the certainty of suffering and sorrow, is that there are times in our lives where, even with all the hope and devotion and humility and desperation we muster up, that deep and infinite well of God’s love can seem out of experiential grasp. Yet I believe there is hope that in these times in life we, like Jesus himself, can find strength in the prayer “if it’s possible, let this pass from me! Yet not my will but yours”—a prayer that begs for God’s presence and strength, with the sometimes seemingly impossible hope that God’s will for us is always good, always, sure, always better than we can see or imagine. Way deeper than surface level warm fuzzies, the transformational experience of God through this prayer may be hard and sometimes painful. It goes deeply into the core of our being as we abide in the one who took on this hard and painful suffering with us and for us. As we journey with Jesus through his suffering towards the cross, and as we release our own dependency on and comfort in things which pale in comparison to loving sacrifice of Christ, may we find hope and strength in the holy cross of Jesus through our Lenten devotion. We adore you, Christ, and we praise you, because, by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
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Dear Spring Garden Family The date forever ingrained in my mind is January 16, 2019 when Ryan, our 15 year old, was diagnosed with T-cell Lymphoma. As you can imagine, our world dropped and we prayed to God for his protection and his strength. Our Spring Garden Family sent a chorus of prayers and support. The youth group sent their words of encouragement with posters; friends brought meals and visited with words of encouragement. Most importantly, we felt the strength of prayers from our parish standing behind us, holding us up when our knees felt like collapsing and sending healing hands over our son. We thank you for your unwavering love and unlimited compassion that you have spread like a shield over our family during this time. We wanted to give you an update and ask for continued prayer for his recovery. He is on a three year treatment which includes continuous chemo-treatment and lumbar punctures. But we have learned to look at the positives that we are “One year down, Two to go”. This traumatic journey has brought our family closer, made our faith stronger and our communication with God more frequent as we put our trust in the fact that He is always watching and guiding us. At SickKids, if Ryan comes out of a treatment 15min longer than I expect, I feel anxious and sick to my stomach, but it is then that I feel my faith needs to be strongest. My faith needs to be continuous whether days are rosy or days are dim. And so, we ask for continued prayers that the treatment regimen proves successful in this long road ahead, that Ryan’s immune system remains robust and vigorous to fight the cancer, that the Holy Spirit continues to light our strength and courage whether it is our “new normal” day or when fears cloud our mind and that we also have open eyes and remain present, to support you, our church family. Thank you for sharing in our journey with us, your prayers and support are appreciated beyond what words can describe. Ben, Ryan, Kiera, Athrun and Fiona Hui
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End Poverty in all its Forms Everywhere By Mary Simpkins
God has given us stewardship of the earth and, between ocean plastic, melting sea ice, and mass extinctions, we are not doing a great job. The problems seem vast and sometimes far away or beyond our influence but there are many ways we can help and drive change. In each article in these series we will look at what you as an individual can do to support sustainability using the framework of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) published by the United Nations. The first SDG is "End poverty in all its forms everywhere". Jesus instructed us repeatedly to look after the poor but I initially wondered what this had to do with sustainability. It was explained to me that people living in poverty do not have the luxury of making decisions that are good for society or the planet. If their only source of warmth is burning garbage, they have little choice but to burn garbage regardless of the toxins that creates. If putting food on the table depends on sending their children down cobalt mines instead of to school, the children go down the mines. 7
So what can we do? Here are some suggestions: Item 1 Item 2 tip: Clothing donations in the bins in grocery store parking lots are mostly sold and shipped overseas to be resold or shredded for new fabric fibre (see the CBC article link below) Instead, donate clothes that still have wear to organizations like New Circles which is a clothing bank and a neat place to take a group of friends or co-workers to volunteer for a few hours. Item 3 is particularly relevant to the 'fast-fashion' clothing industry which is a menace to the environment in its own way (see the Business Insider link below, that says it all). A shirt for $10 might seem like a great deal but after the cost of the fabric, paying the factory owner, freight costs from the other side of the world, and a healthy profit for the store you are buying it from, do you think the person who made it was paid a living wage? Were they paid at all? What can you commit to doing differently to impact poverty around you? Do research on one of these five actions and share your learnings with a friend. Further reading: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/donated-clothing-where-it-ends-up-1.4662023 https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2017/10/29/garment-workers-australia-fast-fashion-oxfam/ https://newcircles.ca https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-fashion-environmental-impact-pollution-emissions-waste-water2019-10#a-2017-report-from-the-international-union-for-conservation-of-nature-iucn-estimated-that35-of-all-microplastics-very-small-pieces-of-plastic-that-never-biodegrade-in-the-ocean-came-fromthe-laundering-of-synthetic-textiles-like-polyester-9 Graph is from: https://sdghub.com/goodlifegoals/
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Only God knows by Carl Anderson
I became engaged last week after 4 months of seeing Shirley and going out or getting together a couple of times a week. Shirley’s husband, Mac, was a principal with me in North York. We knew each other for nearly 30 years, but our wives were rarely out with us unless we were at a Principals’ Dinner. All 4 of us knew each other by our first names but rarely met. About 4 years ago the principals in the east end of North York began to meet and have lunch together every Wednesday. A similar group meets on the last Thursday of the month in the west end. Even though we are all retired, we still meet. Every year, for the last 20 years, Shirley and Mac went to a resort in Cuba, usually in January. They went again last year, and on their first day there, when returning from the main hotel to their cottage on the beach, Mac missed a step, and fell, hitting his head on some rocks. He was quickly taken to a small hospital at the resort where the doctors stopped the external bleeding, but were unable to stop the internal bleeding, so he was taken to a larger hospital 40 miles away. Shirley was told that he would need to be there for 5 days. She returned to the resort, but the next morning the hospital called to say he had passed away. Once back in Toronto, Shirley arranged for a memorial service and I was invited to speak along with a number of other friends. A few weeks later, Shirley asked if I would take her to a Wednesday lunch so that she could thank the men for their care for Mac over the past 3 years (driving him). The process was repeated for the Thursday group. Three of us who had lost our wives in the previous 3 years were meeting every Saturday night at the local Swiss Chalet for dinner. Shirley asked if she could join us, and if Carl would take her. One night in September, she invited me to watch the final Blue Jays game on TV. A couple of weeks later, the Leafs were playing and she invited me to watch again. We did a lot of talking and found we had a lot of things in common. She liked to go to the theatre but she and Mac stopped going after a year of bad shows, and did not resubscribe. Later, 9
Mac started going with me and then she purchased Thelma’s tickets for this year. In 4 or 5 months we went from “hello Shirley” “hello Carl” to regular dating and marriage this summer. Two people, 89 and 85 were going to get married. And we are madly in love. Please explain what has happened! I have a long time minister friend who knew Thelma for years. Here is his explanation. God knew Mac was going to have his accident 3 years after losing his license to drive. He also knew that I knew Mac, and that Thelma’s cancer would get her in 2 years, and that Shirley and I would get together, even though we only knew each other’s name. He also knew that I would be willing to pick up Mac for lunch and the rest of the story would unfold. God knew.
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Life in and around Spring Garden
Community Corner
Spring Garden Camping Trip 2020 July 9-12, 2020
This is our 4th annual camping trip. It is a great way to enjoy God's creation in community. Open to all ages and stages! This year it will be at Port Burwell Provincial Park. Last year we had to get two sites but this new location allows us to share one site together. Come for three nights or two, it's up to you. Last year the adults and children had a lot of fun, and this year it promises to be even better with nice beaches. If you do not have camping gear, ask around, others may have extra that they can lend you. This is a great time to escape the city and enjoy nature and get to know each other better.
Sledding - March 8, 2020
Please join us for a time of sledding and fellowship at Tyndale University & Seminary on Sunday, March 8, 2020 after our worship gathering. Please pack a lunch to eat at the church and hot chocolate will be provided at the event. This event is weather dependent. If we do not have enough snow, our second option is go to skating at Mel Lastman Square. 11 11
Day Camp 2020 - 4 Weeks of Fun! July 20th - Aug. 14th
Come join us for one, two, three, or four weeks of camp! At our day camp, we strive to create a safe, loving, and inclusive atmosphere where the children can engage in fun activities and learn about God’s love for them. We believe that this is done through intentional relationships and thoughtful programming. The camp runs from 9am to 3:30pm and are for children currently in grades 1 - 5 (ages 6-10). Please sign up for each week you choose to attend online through our Events page. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jeremy at jeremy@ springgardenchurch.ca.
SGC: Leaders In Training (LIT)
July 13th-17th 9:00am - 3:00pm (Lunch provided) Cost: $50 We are planning an LIT program that is designed for youth 12 - 17 years old. This program will offer an introduction to leadership techniques and Camp Counselling. LIT's will participate in a variety of activities geared towards enhancing their leadership skills and abilities. Youth who participate in this program will have the opportunity to volunteer in different areas within our church, however, the main focus for them will be our 4 weeks of day camp. SIGN UP FOR LIT online on our Events page under Daycamp. Any questions can be addressed to Jeremy Ranasinghe (Jeremy@ springgardenchurch.ca) 12
Partnering with Families
Discipleship Ministries
Spring Kids ROOMS IN OUR BASEMENT DROP OFF
PICK UP
Nursery (0 - 18 months) Purple Toddler/Pre-K (19 months - 3 years) Orange JK / SK Yellow Grade 1 Blue Green Grade 2 & 3 Blue Grade 4 & 5 Blue Red Grade 6-12 Youth Lounge Here is an overview of what we will be talking about on Sundays for Spring Kids.
Jr Curriculum: Pray
In this series, children will learn that God wants to spend time with us and one way we can do that is to pray every day. We can pray every day, anywhere, and any way. Prayer is how we talk to God, how we listen to God, and how God transforms our hearts. “Never stop praying.” | 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Elementary Curriculum:
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• • • •
God Blesses God is Trustworthy Remember and Celebrate God is Faithful
Spring Youth
February Recap: One of the highlights from February was our Sr. High winter retreat, Blizzard. We had 11 youth attend Blizzard, and it was a really great weekend. Mike was the name of our speaker and he challenged us to think about what “filters” have we put on ourselves, masking who God created us to be. Here is what's happening this March!
Sunday Morning Worship Gatherings: March 1 - Bake Sale **See Next Page** March 8th, 15th - We will have our worship gathering for youth in grades 6-12. Following the children’s blessing, youth will move to the youth lounge to continue in worship. March 22nd, 29th: Sunday Upstairs - Youth are either in the large worship gathering, or serving in other areas in the discipleship ministry. To serve in the discipleship ministry area, please contact Jeremy (jeremy@springgardenchurch.ca) for placement.
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Youth Life Groups: Life Groups will be held March 13th for the girls and March 20th - 21st for the boys. For more information for “Boys Life Group” email Jeremy (jeremy@springgardenchurch.ca). For more information on “Girls Life Group” email Kaitlyn (Kaitlynrenaa@gmail.com)
Youth Events:
March 1st: Art and Bake Sale: Last year our youth group was able to raise almost $1000 to help people coming out of the sex industry. On March 1st, after worship, we will be holding an art and bake sale where our youth will be selling baked goods and some art to raise money for Fight4Freedom. All of the proceeds from this sale will go to Fight4Freedom and their work with survivors of human trafficking. Please join us to help support our youth group as we work to help people affected by human trafficking. Time: After Worship on the Sunday March 6th: Archery Tag: Archery Tag is a high energy activity combining aspects of dodgeball, archery and paintball. We will be playing a couple rounds of this at Battle Sports Arena. Cost: $15 (includes rides, food, and game) Time: 6:00pm - 9:30pm (Tentatively)
March 17th: March Break Event: We will meet at Spring Garden’s building to hang out during the March break. Cost: $15 Time: TBD Staying Updated: To stay up to date on what is happening for your youth, please visit our google calendar which has all our planned events http://tinyurl.com/SGCYouth 15
Colouring Page
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Recommendations
The Resource Centre 17
Spring Garden’s online library catalog can be accessed at springgardenchurch.ca/library. If you know of books or DVDs that you’d like to recommend to the Resource Centre, please contact Karen Cassel (karen.cassel@bell.net)
As I recall: discovering the place of memories in our spiritual life
by Casey Tygrett
How we hold and carry our memories – good and bad – is a part of what forms us spiritually. In this book, Casey Tygrett explores the power of memory and offers biblical texts and practices to guide us in bringing our memories to God for spiritual transformation.
Remember me: a novella about finding our way to the cross
by Sharon Garlough Brown (author of the Sensible Shoes series)
As artist Wren Crawford struggles with depression and loss, Katherine Rhodes becomes her companion in sorrow. While Wren works on painting the stations of the cross, Katherine writes a series of letters, reflecting on the meaning of Christ's suffering and sharing the story of how she found hope. Includes a devotional guide with fullcolour art.
Storm
by Reg Grant
One man of God is about to change the face of faith forever. He is regarded today as one of the most influential figures in the history of the world. But to those who knew him intimately, Martin Luther was more than just the leader of an important historical revolt; he was a man of vision, commitment, and passion, determined to serve his Lord and purify the degenerate world church. From the outset, Luther's enemies-the corrupt ecclesiastical and political rulers of his day-joined forces to stop the spread of his radical ideas, ideas that would shake the church and the world's greatest political powers to their core. But God mercifully allowed Luther to resist the armies of the world, armed only with the sword of His Word. Now you can witness Luther's stand against Charles V and his surprising romance with former nun Kate von Bora, view the social changes that led to the Reformation and see how God equipped one extraordinary man to stand strong-though it often meant standing conspicuously alone-in the midst of the raging Storm.
Reclaiming faith: inclusion, grace, and tolerance
by Michael Coren
Christianity has largely been represented in recent social discourse by a relatively small minority of conservatives, and Christians are often viewed as obsessed with single issues such as abortion or sexuality, as saying “no” rather than “yes.” As a result, the perception of the Christian faith in North America and much of Europe is frequently a negative one. For the past five years Michael Coren has written articles and columns in many of Canada’s major newspapers and magazines trying to reinterpret the Christian faith, and to present it in its genuine, vibrant, and liberating form.
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Directories and What's Happening
More Info
Leadership Directory PASTORAL TEAM
416.223.4593 Ext. 224
Greg Kay Co-Lead Pastor
gregkay@ springgardenchurch.ca Ext. 227
Sam Lee Co-Lead Pastor
samlee@ springgardenchurch.ca Ext. 223
Jeremy Ranasinghe Children and Youth Pastor
jeremy@ springgardenchurch.ca Ext. 221
Dale Forder Office & Communications Administrator
daleforder@ springgardenchurch.ca
Spring Garden Church
112 Spring Garden Avenue, Toronto ON M2N 3G3 www.springgardenchurch.ca office@springgardenchurch.ca Prayer Line
Tel 416.223.4593 Fax 416.223.6126 416.223.4038
Giving is one of the ways in which we can
respond to a generous God. We give because it is a part of our discipleship and an act of worship. Please give as you feel led. For more information please go to our website at: https://www.springgardenchurch.ca/giving.
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DEACONS Krysten Cameron Vice Chair, Worship
Sam Chaise Finance
Martin Dewar
Community Life, Refreshment
Monica Kim
Pastoral Care, Membership
Joanne Laing Missions
Shannon Loewen
Chair, Children & Youth
Jeff McGee
Adult Discipleship
Peggy Moore Property
416.399.0493 krystencameron@hotmail.com 437.925.2813 sam_chaise@yahoo.com 416.229.2695 martin.dewar@sgbc.ca 604.710.3224 monicakim2000@gmail.com 416.617.6582 joannelaing@gmail.com 647.202.0701 shannon.loewen1@gmail.com 416.493.2102 jeff.mcgee@sympatico.ca 416.225.2406 peggylouisemoore@gmail.com
ELDERS Anne Barron Garth Barron Darlene Boyd
416.724.9329 anne.barron020@sympatico.ca 416.724.9329 garthbarron@sympatico.ca 416.385.2483 darlene.boyd@gmail.com
Koon Wah Leung Clem Lee
416.225.7092 koonwleung@gmail.com 416.508.7355 crazymonkeyfamily@gmail.com
Brad Sider
647.200.6853 ​bradsider@yahoo.ca 20
What’s Happening Life in Spring Garden
Weekly
y
Sunda
SUNDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY
9am - 10am
Held in the meeting room. Everyone is welcome. Bring your Bible if you have one.
SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP 10am - 11:30am
Join us Sundays as we journey with Jesus to the cross, drawing on the Stations of the Cross in reflecting on the Suffering Messiah. Children and Youth go downstairs. Communion will be held on the 1st Sunday of the month.
ay d s e u T
y da
nes
d e W
PASTORAL TEAM MEETING
10am - Noon
We meet in the meeting room every Tuesday. Please pray for us for wisdom and inspiration.
REFRESH 10am - 11:30am Friendship, care & spiritual growth for women; child care provided. Please see more on our Events page.
ESL CAFE
7pm - 8:30pm
We meet at Spring Garden Church in the East Lounge. A place to practice your English and meet new friends.
day
rs u h T
LUNCH TOGETHER
12pm - 1pm
Eat and share some laughs and conversation with others and words of prayer. West Lounge. Text or call Victoria @ 647 444 9320
BIBLE DISCUSSION 1pm - 2pm Bible Study that is open to the church and our neighbours. victoriashipmaker@gmail.com Text or call Victoria @ 647 444 9320
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You may find more info at springgardenchurch.ca, in the welcome brochure or call us at 416-223-4593.
What’s Happening Upcoming MAR
1 MAR
8 MAR
13 MAR
20
APR
5 APR
12
Art and Bake Sale See page 15.
Daylight Saving Time
Life in Spring Garden
MAR
6 MAR
Set your clocks forward by one hour.
11 6
Youth Life Group Girls
MAR
See page 15.
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Youth Event: Archery Tag See page 15.
Sledding and Fellowship See page 11.
Youth March Break Event See page 15.
Youth Life Group Boys
Boy's Life Group (two days)
Palm Sunday Baking Lasagna for the Marginalized
APR
Easter Sunday Sunrise Communion
APR
10 12
Good Friday Worship 10am.
Easter Sunday Worship Gathering 10am.
If you would like to receive a weekly e-mail update on what’s happening in Spring Garden, please visit the SGC website (www.springgardenchurch.ca) and add your email address on our home page to subscribe to our weekly e-mail. Also keep your eye on our Events page at: www.springgardenchurch.ca/events.
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Our Values We believe in a humble God who came not to be served, but to serve. Therefore we engage in sacrificial and active service to those around us. We strive to be good stewards of God’s gifts and talents by serving one another in humility. We aspire to regard others as higher than ourselves, which liberates us to creatively take risks in serving others for God’s glory. We believe in a God of grace who came to save the world, not to condemn it. Therefore, as we are continuously receiving the gift of God’s grace, we seek to grow in that grace and extend it to others. We strive to define ourselves by what we are for, not what we are against.
We believe in a God who knows us, and who desires to be known. Therefore we embrace a journey of faith that requires us to constantly strive for a personal, intimate and transformative knowledge of God. We strive to be led by God’s Spirit in supporting and encouraging one another in working out our faith.
We believe in a creative God. Therefore we are open to expressing our faith in new and creative ways that reflect the beauty and complexity of our creator. We are called to use our creative gifts in worship and service as we engage with our world. We take joy in the diversity of gifts that allow us to delight God and participate in His ongoing story. We believe in a triune, relational God who calls us to come together as a diverse community of believers. Therefore, we want to walk together, supporting one another physically, emotionally and spiritually. We strive to be a welcoming, inclusive family that goes through the joys and the trials of life together, acknowledging that God uses this community to deepen and mature our faith.
We believe in a God who loves this broken world and wants to reconcile us to Himself. Therefore we are commissioned by Christ to go out into the world, meeting the holistic needs of the local and global community. God calls us to participate in a redemptive work that he has already initiated; in humility, we will partner with others to work alongside and chase after Him.
We believe in a God who is our centre. Therefore where we are on the journey is less important than that we are moving towards a deeper relationship with Christ. We believe and participate in God’s redemptive work in all people, which gives us the freedom to come as we are, and to accept others as they are.
We each are on a unique journey to become who God has created us to be.