Foothills Growing Project Harvest Celebration

Sunday Oct 22, 10:30 am, High River Baptist Church - Our Good Soil / Canadian Foodgrains Bank project partners have invited us to join them for a time of fellowship, good food and celebration for the harvest!  They will be providing Beef on a Bun following the service. If you are able to bless their feast with your favorite family Thanksgiving dessert it would be most welcomed. Please meet Dennis S & Sharon L at the church at 9:15 am if you wish to carpool with them.  Pastor Judy will be travelling down after our service as well if you wish to join her.

Please note that we will still be accepting monetary and food offerings for CBM She Matters and the Tsuu T’ina food bank up to and including Sunday, October 15th.

High River Good Soil Update

Dawn G writes: It has been a very dry year for us and crop yields are just below average. Having said that we were pleasantly surprised at the yields...during the harvest.  ...To date we have crop sales of $17,000 from 90 acres of the 115 acres [that were] sponsored!!  We will have final numbers when the final canola comes in and we have our final costs in place.  It will still be a very successful project!!  Please plan to join our Good Soil partners for the Harvest Celebration which will take place at High River Baptist after worship on Sunday October 22, 2017.

Thanksgiving Offering

Our Thanksgiving offering this year will be giving to the Canadian Baptist Ministries’ She Matters 4 campaign. This initiative is raising funds to help with empowering women, through education and leadership training opportunities with a special concentration this year on Indigenous women in Canada and throughout the world. More information about this project can be found on the www.cbmin.org web-site under Get Involved/Campaigns.

As part of our Thanksgiving sharing, please also bring non-perishable food or household supplies as you are able. This year we are planning to support the start up initiatives of the food banks for the Tsuu T’ina and Morley First Nations. Please bring food items to the church on Thanksgiving Sunday, where we will actively give them to God and then others. Please choose from the following items and be sure to check that nothing is already out-of-date. If you aren’t going to be here at Thanksgiving, you can drop off your donation during regular office hours either before Thanksgiving or the week after.

Outreach Update

Many thanks to everyone who donated $1460 to CBM’s Sudan’s relief appeal, which will be matched by the Canadian Government. 

Our annual budget amount of $700 was sent to Inn from the Cold in May to take advantage of Claire’s Campaign, which was matched by three private donors.  The Campaign raised $1,018,752!  See the poster and note of thanks on the lobby bulletin board.

Family Focused Sunday Services

Throughout the summer we are going to celebrate families.  On the Sunday of each long weekend, July 2nd, August 6th and September 3rd, we will have an Interactive Family Worship Service. This means that all ages will worship together for the whole service. There will be no Sunday school or nursery, but there will be plenty of interaction together. Please do plan to
join us each Sunday.

Outreach News

Majd has been working with the CBWC for the past few years assisting with refugee support and settlement. He has been very effective in this role on so many levels, particularly because he, himself, is Syrian and speaks Arabic.  Majd’s role is entirely dependent on the support of the individuals and churches of the CBWC. Please consider if God is calling you to support Majd and allow him to continue his effective ministry. 

Last week our special offering on CBM Sunday went to help bolster the emergency relief funds of CBM, so that they can continue to supply emergency funding as needed. Right now, this is especially important for the South Sudan that is in crisis and famine.  (CBM South Sudan Video)

For more information on either of these needs, please talk to Sharon L or Pastor Judy.

Summer Drop-in for Children & Teens

Ages 6-10, Wednesdays, 6:30-8 pm, June 28th - Aug 23rd We have a great children’s summer program this year, where we will be diving into God’s word through looking at all of the amazing creatures that live under the sea.

Ages 11–16, Fridays, 7-9:30 pm, July 7th - Aug 25th

The youth this summer will take part in The Hunger and Thirst Games where they will learn
how to be well equipped to live a life that is rooted in trusting in God in all aspects of their life.

We need help for this program to run smoothly! Anyone 18 or over who can help on Sunday mornings during the service and/or on Wednesday and Friday nights, please contact the office. Even if you can only sign up for one or two days during the summer, we would sure appreciate the help!

Summer Picnic Lunches

Sundays, July 9 & 23, Aug 13 & 27

Enjoy visiting with your church family this summer!
Join us after the service on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of July and August for a picnic lunch! Bring what you need: food and drinks for your family and blankets or lawn chairs.  We’ll eat outside if weather permits, or in the gym if it’s rainy or too windy.  Brought to you by your Congregational Care Team; contact the office for more info.

On a sad note...

We extend our condolences to the family of Dirk Vander Vorst, who lived across the street from Altadore Baptist Church and passed away on May 4th.  He was a good and faithful neighbor for our church; keeping an eye out on the building and bringing over misdirected mail.  And his ski fence (pictured here) is infamous in the neighbourhood (and is Pokeman Gym!)  You can read his obituary here.

We are also sad to report the death of Rev. Dr. Roy Bell, who had a long and distinguished pastoral and educational ministry in the Canadian Baptist community in Western Canada.  He served as Pastor at First Baptist Church Calgary and First Baptist Church Vancouver plus many others.  He also served on the Carey Theological College Board and the BUWC Board.  We extend our sympathies to Jeremy Bell (CBWC Executive Director) and the rest of the family.

Altadore Informal - Community Service

On Sunday May 21st at 10:00 am we will be celebrating Altadore Informal!  The focus is community service.  Attire is very casual as we engage in practical ways to bless our neighborhood.  There will be three opportunities to get involved including doing some simple gardening at Alcove, baking cookies of appreciation for the fire station and our church neighbors, as well as simple card making for encouragement.  Please join us as we show God's love in very tangible ways.  See you there!

CBWC Assembly - The Gathering

May 25 – 27, at Westview Baptist Church.

The theme is “Creating Stronger Tomorrows”.  Our official delegates will be Pastor Judy , Sharon L, and Marilyn K.  All CBWC church members may attend as registered non-voting guests.  The Friday evening dinner and keynote address can be purchased separately for $20.00 through the CBWC website.  It should be very enjoyable.

Also, Westview Baptist would like to bless guests with some home baked cookies for their coffee breaks. Any cookies made could be sent along with anyone coming to the Assembly meetings or dropped off at the church the week of Assembly. They ask that they be nut free please. Thank you for considering this caring for those coming to Assembly.

Summer Staff Update

We were successful in our application for summer staffing grants again this year.  We have decided to fill only one position through the STEP grant, and have hired Dori as our Summer Child and Youth Coordinator.  Dori is a graduate of Ambrose University with her BA, and will be returning to Ambrose in the fall to pursue her teaching degree.  Dori comes with lots of experience in planning and organizing child and youth programs, and we look forward to having her join us for the summer.  You can meet Dori at the Spring Faire & she will officially start her time with us on May 23.

The youth have been blessed to have Phil working with them over the last year and although his contract for the youth position will be done the end of May, we are thrilled to have Phil remain on staff through the summer as our Worship Coordinator, filling in for Christy through July and August.  This position is for a few hours a week to plan, organize and participate in our worship services. We feel very fortunate to have Phil continue with us and share his passion and heart for worship.

A Letter from one of our Youth

Dear Church Family,

As many of you will know, last year I joined the Leadership, Training and Discipleship (LTD) program out at Gull Lake.  In my first year I attended a week of training, an out trip week working in Brownfield, a practicum week training as a Cabin Leader, and three weekend retreats throughout the rest of the year.  Thank you for your prayer and support.  I have learned so much already, my faith has grown and I am developing friendships and mentor relationships.  This summer will be my second year in the three year program.  I would again appreciate your encourage-ment and prayer and would once again like to offer to do odd jobs so that I can earn some money to help pay for the program.  Thank you for all your support,

Darson

Easter Offering Update

Thank you to everyone who gave to the Easter offering.  As a result of your generosity we will be sending $3,000.00 to the farmers of High River Baptist church to plant seeds and buy fertilizer for 12 acres ($250/acre)!!   Wow, what a great gift to them and a way for us and High River Baptist church to be a part of feeding malnourished families thru our partnership with CBM and Canadian Food Grains Bank.  “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…”  Matt. 25: 35

Missions Outreach Update

Please visit the Outreach Bulletin Board in the gym to read the latest newsletters from the Nachos, Das and Haddad families, and from the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary.  New updated prayer cards for our CBM Partners in Mission are also available in the lobby and the foyer. Elie Haddad recently wrote to us:  “Support for the scholarship of ABTS students has allowed us to equip many more leaders for the Church in the Arab world. As you know, this is a critical time in our region. The conflicts and instability continue. However, God is using this instability for the Gospel to penetrate into areas and people groups that were not previously open to the message. We are grateful to God that He has given us a role in this equipping ministry, and we are grateful for partners like Altadore Baptist whom God uses to empower us and enable us to fulfill this role.”

Mark your calendar for Sunday, May 28th when Terry Smith from CBM will speak during the morning service. The service will be followed by a question and answer session in the lounge so you can gain a better under-standing of what our denomination is doing and of their vision for reaching out to a “broken world.”  Muffins and cheese, coffee and tea will be served.

The Outreach Bulletin Board in the gym also has more information about the Good Soil project that our Easter offering is going towards. We are happy to report that thanks to you, through gifts like Fill a Stable, you helped CBM raise almost $25,000! (That includes 654 chickens!)

Holy Week Celebrations

Maundy Thursday, join us for a Passover supper, like the one that Jesus celebrated with His disciples on a Thursday so long ago. This family celebration starts at 6:30 pm. Please RSVP to the church office.

Good Friday, we unite together with the other Canadian Baptist churches in our city, to remember the death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  All are welcome at First Baptist Church at 11 am.

Then, Easter Sunday celebrations! We join together with Iglesia Emanuel for a truly international joint celebration of Christ's resurrection.  We are also celebrating believer's baptism on that day. What a joyous occasion! Rumor has it there might be hot cross buns and butterfly cookies, too.

Our Easter offering this year is a joint partnership with High River Baptist Church and the Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB). Some of the farmers in High River have donated significant acres of land to be farmed, and the proceeds of the crop sales from that land will go to the CFGB. We can help by providing funds for seed and fertilizer.  The grain sale funds are eligible for CIDA funding and so are matched 4:1 before being sent to the countries in need.  Please pray about how God would have you help. 

We are an Easter people!

And We Worship the Living Lord!

Summer Employement Opportunities

Altadore Baptist Church has two summer employment opportunities available for students; a Summer Children and Youth Event Coordinator, and a Summer Worship Coordinator.  If you know of anyone who may be interested, please feel free to have them contact Wendy F in the church office. Job descriptions can be found here.

2017 Lenten Devotional

Please find here the 11th edition of our annual Lenten Devotional; enjoy this gift of love from the people of Altadore Baptist Church! Printed copies are available at the church or upon request.

Alpha Starting Sunday March 12th

Alpha will be starting on Sunday March 12 at 6:30 in the evening.  We will meet weekly
until about the end of May.  Check out www.alphacanada.org for more info on this program.  Please email Wendy Burnham at burnhamp@telus.net if you would be interested in attending, have questions or would like to help by making desserts for the Sunday evening gathering.

Let’s Prepare for Lent!

Join us on Sunday February 26th at 10 am for Altadore Informal.  This will be an interactive time for us as a congregation to talk about the significance of Lent and how we can prepare personally.  Following the Informal we will enjoy a Shrove Pancake lunch.  Come and be challenged to make this a unique and memorable Lenten season.

We are planning to celebrate baptisms on Easter Sunday. If you are interested in being baptized, or just want to learn more, please speak to Pastor Judy and plan to attend baptismal classes after Sunday services for the month of March.