Pastor's Post
Dear Amazing Friends,
Warmest Christian greetings! Even though we have not seen you for many, many weeks you continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. I remember saying to one of our dear senior ladies who is now gone to be with the Lord: "I am praying for you." She replied: "You can't do a nicer thing than that!" It is good to pray for each other, isn't it?
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY - To all the Dads we reach out with a Happy Father's Day greeting! We hope that your day is filled with good family celebrations and quality time together. Your role and responsibilities as a father is huge. We pray that, above everything else, your godly example will continue to impact your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. None of us is perfect but, by the grace of God, we strive to exhibit the life of Christ in all we do and say. Our prayers are with you today, Fathers!
RELAUNCHING CHURCH - We are excited that June 28 @ 10:00 a.m. we will meet again in the church building! It will be so good to see you in person! We have crunched the numbers and are confident that we can accommodate up to 185 people, even considering the physical distancing. A few days ago we checked with the local fire department and ascertained the calculation of the seating capacity. If every pew was filled to capacity (allowing 18 inches per person) we could seat 450 people in the 3 sections. This does not include the 2 overflow areas and the platform so we are good to go and stay within the 30% allowable capacity.
I will be meeting with some volunteers on Tuesday evening, June 23, 2020 @ 6:30 p.m. at the church. This will be a briefing as we consider all of the logistics and move forward with caution. Following that meeting I will correspond with you again with much more detail as to best hygienic practices. Currently we are gathering information as to what others are doing so we can learn and compare our approach. I suspect we will probably go "the extra mile" to ensure we all stay well. We ask that you provide your personal mask and we will also have some on hand. We have contracted a company to provide disinfecting to all used areas of the building.
The last email listed many items related to best practices and we will, no doubt, add to these!!! Please refer to that email again. Thank you! Volunteers/hosts will be there to assist us as we enter the building and find a place to sit.
A major portion of our worship time when we get together is singing in worship to the Lord. It is recommended that singing should be kept at a minimum, if at all. Having said that, the worship team will be singing and we can all enjoy "...make music from your heart to the Lord." (Eph. 5:19). The service will be one hour or less.
For those of you who may not be comfortable to attend church yet, that is totally understandable. Please come back when you feel the time is right for you. In the meantime, be encouraged and reach out to us with any prayer need(s) you may have.
ONLINE CHURCH - Online church will now be "live-streamed" each Sunday @ 10:00 a.m. The format will be different since it will be "live" and not edited. We are still awaiting the arrival of some necessary equipment plus upgrading our wifi to accommodate the signal. Hopefully, we will have everything in place before Sunday, June 26. Please pray for us as we attend to all of the details.
I am deeply grateful to our worship teams and our technical support personnel who made online church a great blessing to those who tuned in each week. This is especially true of those who have not been able to physically attend church long before COVID- 19. We pray that live-streaming will be a blessing to each one.
RACE & MINISTRY: Some friends of mine have recorded a presentation that I encourage you to take some time and see. Dr. Josh Samuel hosts this forum. He is a professor at Master's College and Seminary, Peterborough, ON. Josh teaches Bible & Theology and serves as Director of Worship and Creative Arts. This presentation is focused on "Race and Ministry, Part One: Our Different Journeys" Josh says "I had the chance to interview 5 great leaders I respect on the theme of "Race and Ministry" for MCS Spotlight, Master's College & Seminary's podcast on life, leadership, and ministry. Check out Part 1: "Our Different Journeys" on both audio https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-
Continue to visit The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada website www.paoc.org<http://www.paoc.o
THANK YOU NOTE - Here is a note from Jon and Rebekah. We wish them God's blessing in the days ahead! "Jon and I would like to say thank you again to everyone who stopped by on Sunday and for all the gifts and well wishes. The support and encouragement we received truly felt like a blessing from God. As we begin this next step in our lives, your prayers are very much appreciated. Thank you and love always."
PRAYER NEEDS - The prayer needs list continues to grow. Please remember Wilma (recovering from surgery), a young man facing surgery, Rose-Marie (surgery soon), Tim, Lori (taking treatments), Laura, Olivia, Phyllis (bereavement), our seniors who are shut-in, Pat, Franz (recovering from surgery), Bonnie, Angela, Shawn (seeking employment), Ken's niece, Robbie (taking treatments), Allan (taking treatments), Elizabeth, Linda (physical and spiritual needs), businesses and business people, new pastor, unspoken needs, online church, Kids Sunday School and VBS (coming July 6 - 10). There may be others that we should add to this list. Please let us know if that is the case and we will gladly include them. Be sure to send an email or telephone us should you have a need. You may reach us at office@evangelnapanee.com<mail
PASTORAL SEARCH - I will be meeting with District personnel this week to get the ball rolling again as we continue our journey. We will certainly keep you updated. Thank you for your continual prayers.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL - Please note the dates for Vacation Bible School: July 6 - 10. Already many children have registered for this "different" online year. Tanya and her team have worked extremely hard to make this a fabulous ministry. You may register your children by visiting our website www.evangelnapanee.com<http://
ZOOM PRAYER MEETING - Each Monday at 6:30 p.m. we host a ZOOM prayer meeting. Please plan to join us. It appears that we will continue the ZOOM venue for now. I thought that we would soon meet at the church for the prayer time but that would possibly mean an extra cleaning/disinfecting. We will monitor this as the days go by. We look forward to seeing you online.
BIBLE READING - The Bible reading assignment for the month of June is the Book of Psalms. The challenge is to read at least 5 Psalms per day. Hopefully you are taking the time to spend in the word of God. The word of God will certainly strengthen you in your daily walk with God.
SUMMER MUSIC - Deseronto Pentecostal Church (Pastor Dan Rooney) approached us to request the use of Evangel's parking lot for each Sunday evening @ 6:30. Our church board readily agreed to this proposal. There will be singing groups presenting gospel music beginning on July 5, 2020 and concluding the last Sunday in August. You are invited to come along each time and enjoy.
ADMINISTRATION - Office hours are now back to the regular schedule: Monday to Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Tithes and offerings are tracking well and that is because of your faithful commitment. Thank you for your diligence.
ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING - Since our scheduled annual business meeting for March 22, 2020 had to be postponed we now have to reschedule as soon as possible. In a recent meeting with the church board it was agreed that we meet for a few minutes following the morning service on Sunday, July 12, 2020. The bulk of the meeting will be to accept the 2019 financial statements, reports and elect church board members. Please mark this date in your calendar and thank you for giving it your attention.
Be blessed good Friends! We look forward to seeing you real soon. Continue to pray and stay close to God in these trying times! We are praying for you!
Cal & June