Keeping in Touch

Blogs are so yesterday.

Facebook is where the party's at.

To stay connected these days, join the facebook group "Murrayville Church Stays in Touch".

(There's 55 of us in this group so far.)

I was thinking of doing one last post listing all the churches that have benefited from the closing of Murrayville...

Send me an email letting me know where you worship and serve and what your family is up to these days: ojane@shaw.ca

Shalom, friends.

Happy Announcement from the Camster

"Greetings to many of you.
I bring you good tidings of great joy... Of which I am sure will leave you all happy, estatic, etc..etc..
As of February 16, 2008.... I am ENGAGED!!!! Yup. Finally popped the question to Nicole, who is now my fiancee(just when i was getting used to saying girlfriend....sheesh).
So yeah. Just thought I would pass that on to you guys.
Her name, if you didn't know, is Nicole Elisabeth Kroeker(soon to be NES...yeah Nintendo Entertainment System)."

Yay Cam!
Congratulations!

Wow. I go away, and people get all settled...

I recently heard from 4 families that have found new church homes. How awesome is that? Congratulations. I am envious. (errhm. Is that a sin? To be envious?)

Anyway, I've put the poll back up, so if you'd like to indicate where you're at in the 'find-a-new-church' journey, that'd be great.

Any youth out there looking for a place to go on Tuesday evenings? Aldergrove Alliance seems to have a pretty good group, and apparently some of "ours" attend. Max and Drew might give it a try if someone else goes too...

If you've had a really good experience in a church you've visited, let us know. Sharing info is a good thing.

Communion Sunday

Which church did you visit today? Did they have crackers or bread squares for communion?
:)

52 of us (No, I didn't do a head count; Phil did) were at Aldergrove Alliance this morning sharing cracker crumbs and grape juice. They ran out of 'elements' because of all the 'unexpected but welcome guests' in their midst. Some Murrayville families have already made this their new home church; while others of us are still shopping (or taking advantage of the freedom to do alot of church visiting...).

As you settle into a church, let us know. And if you haven't yet found the congregation that God is calling you to, don't feel pressured. There are still a lot of folks continuing to explore the possibilities. This isn't a race to see who gets connected first. Or best.

Can I just say though, that it did my heart good to see so many familiar, friendly faces this morning?

Visits

So, where were you on that Sunday before Christmas?
We tried Southridge Baptist. It was close to home. Started at 10:45. And was OK.
Drew recognized some familiar faces from his school. But Max didn't notice any other humans that would have been close to his age. I took sermon notes.

On Christmas Eve I went to Southgate for their candlelight service. It was lovely. Even with the banjo strumming O Holy Night.

Tomorrow I'll go to Gracepoint.

I've added some photos, courtesy of the Martens, to the slideshow on the sidebar. You'll have to click on the photo to open the album in full size.

While you're over there on the side bar, do the poll, would ya?

How to NOT be a rock star

One of my favourite bands has an amazing drummer that can recover from a broken stick so smoothly that it's almost an art. I had never broken a drum stick before so I thought to myself, "If I ever break a stick, I'm gonna make it look cool just like him!" Now before I continue further with this, let me back up a pinch.

Angela and I haven't been "looking" for a new church to call home, we've simply been waiting on God for some answers and in the meantime, been hanging out with fellow believers at various church gatherings. Mark Carroll and I had agreed that it had been far too long since we'd played together, so I made a short term commitment to drumming for him on Saturday nights at Cedar Grove.

After briefly acquainting myself with the new drum kit and making a few minor adjustments, our music practice was off to a quick start. And then, it happened. Halfway into the first song, my stick broke! Pausing only for a nanosecond, I tossed the stick into the air while reaching for a new one, and in a flurry of chipped wood, waving hands and consistent tempo, I had made a full and seamless recovery......this is what should've happened.

In actuality, I stared in awe and disbelief at the splintered and bent drum stick and then slowly proceeded to fumble about for a new one, all the while completely messing up the rhythm. All this was followed by uncontrollable giggling. I learned something that evening. I am not a rock star, I am a servant of Christ, the kind of servant that stumbles frequently but is preserved by grace. I believe that when we fall flat on our faces, God takes those moments and turns them into lessons. I don't have all the answers behind Murrayville's closing, but I do know that we can learn from that experience. -Trev

And another report card:

We have been to 3 different churches in 4 weeks. The first two weeks we went to Jericho Ridge. They had good worship and the kids enjoyed the childrens program. The one time we heard the pastor sermon it was very interactive and we will go back again in Jan to see if this is his normal way of doing things or not.

The next week we went to SLMB. We were warmly welcomed. It was also the snowy Sunday so they were only operating at less than 1/2 capacity. The worship was not bad. It seems to be an older congregation.

Last week we went to Pacific Community Church in Cloverdale. They had great worship and the interim pastor had a very good sermon. Their new pastor starts in Jan. We were only greeted by a few people.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.

Another Church Report Card:

We've only made it to 2 churches in 4 weeks due to various reasons butwe've enjoyed the services at both places (Gracepoint & Northview).This last Sunday we were at Northview and were blessed by the singing,prayer, readings and preaching. But...we walked in and out withoutstopping to talk to anyone. Not ONE familiar face (is that evenpossible in Mennonite circles??) Well, yes it is and my husband said"this isn't right, just leaving after the service without stopping totalk to anyone". So, how does one go about feeling at home where no one is familiar (assuming you haven't run into ex-Murrayvillepeople?!) Can't say we have that one figured out yet but we'll keeptrying, praying and seeking God's guidance for His place for ourfamily and trust that He has His hand in directing our steps each week.

Church Report Cards:

Report #1 -
On Sunday we went to our 4th church in 4 Sundays. It was the most interesting yet. Brad Jerzac pastors a church in Mouat Secondary called Freshwinds. It is an alternative kind of church. Many of the people who belong to the church work with handicapped people, and the church has a real ministry there. The coolest thing was seeing handicapped people wander onto the stage and strum a guitar, make music with a harmonica or sing along. When one older lady came to the mike and began singing Jesus loves me the congregation joined in and it was so beautiful it mad me cry. The church also has a prayer ministry called “listening prayer” where the emphasis is resting in Jesus and asking him to speak. Many people who have been hurt by the church and others recovering from addictions also attend there. It is noisy and unpredictable but the spirit of God was definitely present.

The Sunday before we went to Aldergrove Alliance. Because of the snow, they were only at about half strength so there was a nice cozy feel. People were friendly and the pastor seems like a real down to earth guy and very well liked. They also have a part time children’s pastor and a youth pastor and are starting construction on their own building soon. We plan on going back again.

Report #2 -
It was a Murrayville reunion at Aldergrove Alliance yesterday. There were six families there. You'd have thought we were all long lost friends the way we were all hugging each other.
It's hard to get a feel of what their real worship is like when it's Christmas carols, but they actually did them well. They did a few worship songs and we didn't know any of them, but the band was good. The pastor has a good Mennonite name, Doug Wiebe, and I noticed a few other Menno names in the bulletin. He was really good. Tons of youth there. Our kids knew several of them. They are meeting in the Aldergrove Seventh Day Adventist church on 28th Ave off of 264th.(at least I think it's 28th) but have just started this week building a new church 2 doors down. It had a real cozy, family like feel. People seemed friendly too. I think we'd fit in well there.

For Christmas Eve, they rent out the Aldergrove Ice Arena and have a service there. Then they take everything off the ice and go ice skating. This time of year the Arena is all decked out as if you are skating outside. So any of you Aldergrove people, this is a good one.

Church, anyone?

So?
Who went where?
Anyone got an idea of where they might end up?

Are there really only 5 of us going to the Christmas Banquet? (See poll on the right.)

In case you're wondering, two members of my family went to The Bridge church this morning. One went to youth Church tonight. And I stayed home in my pajamas and prayed.

Anyone else with teens finding it hard to keep the family together on Sunday mornings?