Update from the Spring Congregation Business Meeting

/

At the Business Meeting last Sunday, the membership welcomed Tony B into membership at ABC. The members also voted to hire a part time Associate Pastor to focus on Christian Education for all ages. The vote was 95% in favour. The Leadership Core has proceeded to advertise this position.
Alicia A was thanked for her service & creativity in leading the Sunday School program for many years. Alicia has retired from this position. The congregation also thanked Trudy for her service as Nursery Coordinator for many years. Lara was recognized & thanked for her service on the Leadership Core and contribution to the youth & children’s ministry and for decorating the sanctuary.

Flourishing Congregations Survey

/

Life. Vitality. Hope. Possibilities.
Our congregation will be helping the Flourishing Congregations Institute of Ambrose College to learn about qualities in churches across Canada. They are asking us to partner in a larger vision to see congregations, parishes, neighbourhoods, and Canadians flourish, by having us fill out an anonymous national online survey at https://tinyurl.com/fc055c. We hope that most of our adult attenders will take the time to fill out the 20 minute survey. With strong survey involvement, we will receive data unique to our church. Fill out the survey in the next month and you will be entered into a draw for some great prizes. Talk to Marilyn Kaiser or go to www.flourishingcongregations.org for more info.

Summer Youth Group

/

Lots of the youth will be busy this summer with family and camps, but they would like to get together a few times and are hoping to plan some events where they can hang out with some of their church family -maybe even another progressive dinner! If you would be willing to host the youth sometime this summer, please email the church office. Thank you everyone and have a great summer!

Supporting Our Youngsters

/

If you are planning to send your child/children to camp or LTD programs this summer, and could use some financial assistance, Altadore has subsidies available! Please complete the form sent out with this newsletter (or request one from the church office) and send it to abckids@altadorebaptistchurch.com. Deadline for subsidy applications is June 2nd, and all subsidy information will be kept confidential.

Taizé Prayer Service

/


This Sunday we will worship together in the Taizé style. The Taizé prayer service is a community prayer express-ion, using simple songs repeated several times as our joint expression of prayer & praise. The repetition of songs allows the meanings to seep deeper into our being, moving beyond words. In addition, silence, visual focal points, & spoken prayers with communal responses facilitate a thoughtful, but not “thought driven” experience of the presence of God. Some find this gives rise to emotion; others find it quiets emotions. Whatever your experience, let God meet you here!

Leadership Core Update

/

Dreams Team: Mark D, Val W and Paul H have agreed to join Pastor Judy on the Dreams Team. (Immigrant & Refuge and First Nations Ministry Research planning task force).

Staffing & Grant: We have received a Federal Grant for one student position for the summer, which will pay for a portion of the costs for our research consultant. Denis S has been hired for the position and he will be starting May 1st. Denis is enrolled in a Masters in Social Work at U of C. His current practicum is with Calgary Catholic Immigration Services (CCIS) which will be a source of information for the Immigrant & Refugee situation and assistance in Calgary. Denis and his wife came to Canada 4 years ago and while living in Vancouver attended First Baptist Church. In addition, there is a student at Mount Royal University that is enrolled in Indigenous Studies who is interested in volunteering with our First Nations research.

ABC’s 65th Anniversary: 2019 is the 65th anniversary of the opening of our original building which included a gym, washrooms, a small kitchen and offices on the main floor. An excerpt from the Altadore Baptist Church: The First Fifty Years publication, “On January 3, 1954 Sunday School began meeting in the new building …and on January 10 the new building was dedicated. It was a joyous occasion; we now had our own space. Having our own facility enabled us to add a morning worship service, which followed Sunday School.” We are setting up a Celebration Team to plan activities around the anniversary. 

A Note from the Leadership Core

/

God Dreams for Altadore Baptist Church - As we look to the future of ABC’s place in God’s ministry, the Leadership Core is putting together a ‘Dream Team’ to work with Pastor Judy & the outside research consultant approved by the membership last October. Major focus of this research will be on serving new Canadians (refugees, immigrants) and First Nation neighbours. Applications have been received for the contracted position and we are pleased that the Mount Royal College faculty has decided that our position qualifies as course credit for students in the Policy Studies program. We expect to hire later in April.

Worship Service Support - As noted at the Business Meeting on March 4th, Richard C has been hired to musically support Sunday morning services for up to 3 Sundays per month and Phil D has been hired to musically and/or vocally lead Sunday worship services for 2 Sundays per month. Pastor Judy will serve as the Sunday worship service coordinator. We are blessed with many individuals in the congregation who have various gifts to participate in our worship services.

Facilities Update - Work has been done around the church such as repairing one of the furnaces in the sanctuary, installing shelving in the new storage room, replacing expired fire extinguishers and testing emergency lights, and installing weather stripping around the exterior doors. Note that recently one our renters experienced some theft from the lobby while they were elsewhere in the building; we remind everyone not to leave personal belongings or keys unattended in the lobby or kitchen during the service.

Easter Offering

/

We would like to again bless High River Baptist church and their Foothills Growing Project with our Easter offering.  The Foothills Growing Project consists of local farmers donating a portion of their acres to go toward raising funds for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. It is an opportunity for us to come alongside them to help end hunger by giving money towards the cost of seeds and fertilizer which amounts to $250 per acre.  The 2018 Foothills Growing Project is 115 acres and the crops this year include:  30 acres of barley, 58 acres of wheat, and 27 acres of hay.  Last year the Foothills Growing Project raised $50,000 which was then matched by CIDA for a total of $250,000!

Holy Week Activities

/

During Lent we journey together toward the cross and remember the death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This year our Holy Week (March 25 to April 1st) activities are as follows:

Prayer Labyrinth, Wed 28 & Thur 29, 4-7 pm, Gym

Maundy Thursday Communion Service 7 pm

Good Friday Service First Baptist, 11 am

Easter Sunday Service, 10 am, followed by Hot Cross Buns & coffee in the gym

Mission Trip to Thailand

/

Dennis Shierman is leading a pastor’s mission trip to Thailand. There will be 6 pastors from across Canada including Pastor Judy.  Dennis and Judy would love your prayers as they go. They will be travelling Mar. 8 – 19th. The trip involves attending the graduation at the seminary in Chiang Rai (the most northern part of Thailand) and the team will be conducting continuing education workshops for the alumni from the seminary, for whom the week of graduation is like a home-coming week. Each of the 3 workshops will be offered twice, once in Thai and once in Chinese. In addition to this, the team will visit some of the churches in Chiang Mai and in Myanmar, as well as some of the social justice ministries that the Thai churches are doing in the region. Conrad and Fiona Kwok, our CBM missionaries on the ground there are coordinating all this and the team hopes to bless them as well. The Shiermans would appreciate prayer for safe travel, health and effective ministry while there.

Praying in the New Year!

/

Welcoming a New Year can be a time of celebration, but it is also an opportunity to remember and to plan.  We are looking for volunteers to help us with a 24 hour prayer vigil for our church family and future as we move into 2018.  Please participate in this by signing up for a 1 hour time slot between 12 pm on Dec 31 and 12 pm on Jan 1.  Each volunteer will be given a small list of names from our congregation and a few specific items of praise and petition to guide you as you spend your hour with God.

Advent Giving Opportunities

/

This year we, at Altadore Baptist Church, have chosen to share our blessings in support of the children who live at the Alcove Addiction Recovery for Women housing up the street. A Giving Tree has been set up in the lobby, which we will decorate with small toys, books, puzzles, diapers, baby wipes, toques or mittens.  Cash donations are also welcome but envelopes must be clearly marked Alcove, not just Advent.

We will also be giving to the CBM Hopeful Gifts For Change catalogue in the area of Children’s Education, to provide for school fees, uniforms & other school needs. For donations towards this project, please use an Advent envelope or one marked Advent.  Thank you for your generosity.  May God truly be with you this Christmas!