Under Sail

Thanks for Your Prayers – “God is good…all the time!  All the time…God is good!  That’s so true.  I’m grateful that my recent trip to the hospital revealed that my heart is good, and that it is not the problem.  I am experiencing something that many others in our area are dealing with as well – a “viral thing” that causes me to have a gut-wrenching cough, literally.  My doctor said it lasts anywhere from two to six weeks, and you just have to see it through.  I can now have one-on-one conversations with much less difficulty, though a lot of them in the run of a day triggers the coughing.  I have had to change my weekend schedule for this immediate time frame.  I have a follow-up doctor’s appointment at the end of the month, and will be taking the next week (January 16-20) away from the office in order to help the whole process.  Again, thank you for your prayers. – DWL

The Atlantic District Ministerial is just under four weeks away!  February 7-9, 2012 at Kings Valley Wesleyan Church in Quispamsis, NB. The registrations show a good response and they are arriving in the office everyday now.  It’s still not too late to beat the late registration deadline of January 16th!  Dr. Tom Clegg is our guest speaker.  He will be speaking on: 1) Change, futurism, and the church 2) Leading from the future rather than out of the past 3) Spiritual vitality in ministry 4) Deconstructing evangelism, and building a Missional lifestyle.  A lot of other good things will be part of this time as the Atlantic Team comes together.  Lay Leaders, make sure your pastor is there!  The local church always benefits from those things that “fill the tank” of their pastor(s).  Detailed information is already in the hands of the pastors.

Elsie Morgan (wife of Rev. Bill Morgan) – Elsie’s life story (and Bill’s!) will be celebrated at the York Care Centre (YCC), 100 Sunset Dr., Fredericton, NB in a Narrative Ceremony on Monday, January 16, 2012 at 2:45 p.m. in the Friendship Centre.  This is approximately a 45-minute ceremony, and the 15-20 minute DVD narrative is part of that time.  When YCC does such life bio’s they invite friends and relatives to attend and participate.  So, anyone is more than welcome to attend as YCC’s guest to share in these moments with Elsie and Bill.  Many of the recipients of this message will know Elsie and Bill Morgan, an outstanding couple who devoted much of their life to mission work in Africa.

Congratulations to Sherry Robertson! Sherry is the wife of Pastor Dale Robertson, and they serve at Port Maitland Wesleyan in Nova Scotia.  Sherry started her own business a few years ago in Yarmouth, NS, Lifeskills.  She works with adults who are mentally and physically challenged.  This past November, Sherry was invited to a special presentation in Halifax, NS where she and her organization received from the Province of Nova Scotia, the “Lieutenant Governor’s Persons with Disabilities Employer Partnership Award!”  (The Honorable Mayann E. Francis is the NS Lieutenant Governor).  As a recipient of this recognition, Lifeskills is considered a role model for business excellence in hiring, accommodating, and serving Persons with Disabilities.  This award is designed so that Sherry may display it within her organization as a visible sign of their commitment to Persons with Disabilities.  The Nova Scotia government is now sending other groups to her organization to find out why she’s been so successful.  Congratulations, Sherry!

Caton’s Island Staff, under the direction of Caton’s Director, Dean Stephenson, just returned from Haiti where they provided a Kids Camp for 75 orphaned children.  Twenty-one “staffers” went on this trip (Dec. 28 – Jan. 7), and this is the second time that Dean has led such a group to Haiti for this purpose.  I applaud the commitment, passion, and compassion of the Team.  Thanks!

Pastor Rod Guptill (Woods Harbour), Pastor Jay Vienneau (Hammonds Plains-Cornerstone), Pastor Greg Dakin and Doug Findlay (Saint John First) are on their way to Cuba after a delay due to weather.  The purpose of the trip is to “Teach, Encourage, and Connect.”  They will have opportunity to visit different communities that can become potential projects to be adopted by a local church as partner communities for development over a period of time.   The Team will arrive in time to get in on a portion of the Cuba Annual Church Conference, and meet the Cuban pastors before they head back to their respective communities.  The Team will be visiting some of these communities next week.

Congratulations! Pastors Darren & Janel Clark are very pleased to announce the birth of their first child, Jaelyn Viola born Saturday, December 10, 2011.  She weighed 7lbs.  The Clark’s are church planters at the St. John’s-Avalon Church in Newfoundland.

Church Plant in Calgary – Jerry & Amanda Wurnig, Josh Hopkins, and Brock MacDonald, all recent graduates of Bethany Bible College (Kingswood University), have moved to Calgary, Alberta to plant a Wesleyan Church in the downtown area.  Many of our readers may know people in that area, and if you have any names and contact information please pass it along.  It would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance for your help.  Please send any information to Jerry Wurnig at jerry@mannachurch.ca

Pastor Dwayne Hopkins, Scarborough Coastal Wesleyan, shared an encouraging, personal health update.  He met with his Oncologist on January 12th for his most recent 6-month check up.  He reports that everything is going along just fine!  We’re glad to hear that!  It was four years ago this month that Dwayne began chemo (01/22/08).  PTL!

Christmas Reports to Celebrate!
Special Thanks – I want to thank all of the churches and individuals who responded to the special requests during the Christmas season to help two of our bi-vocational pastors, Rev. Scott Lewis (Lower Hainesville) and Rev. Nelson Koonce (Bangor-Pathway). These men, because of health issues, could not work their secular jobs, and not only lost the time on the job, they lost the income it provided.  The support was overwhelming, much needed, and gratefully appreciated by both families.  Scott is still facing surgery, and Nelson has to work with the dynamics of the U.S. health system, but God has provided, and continues to provide.  Thanks for being part of the answer to their prayers.

Bangor- Pathway had 98 (lya 65) in attendance for their Christmas Musical with several visitors returning who are expressing interest in Pathway.

Lower Hainesville had a great Christmas Eve service with 45 in attendance (lya 25).

Brazil Lake: Pastor Amy Corey reports that the Walk Through Bethlehem Christmas Production was well attended again this year.  Just under 300 people came to the presentation.  In addition, they raised $600 for an area family that has a family member undergoing cancer treatments in Halifax.

Pastor Denn Guptill reports that Hammonds Plains – Cornerstone had 641 out for Christmas Eve Services, and gave away over 200 copies of the Jesus Film DVDs.  Awesome!  On another note, Pastor Denn is well known for tracking his “historical and numerical” progress.  Did you know that in November, 2010 Cornerstone’s single highest-ever attendance for an ordinary Sunday was 273?  In November of this year they averaged 269 for the month (lya 241)!  This past Sunday (Jan. 8th) Cornerstone’s attendance was the single highest they’ve had for an ordinary Sunday and it was 340.  To put that into perspective, on the second Sunday back in January 2005, the church’s attendance was 52!  Pastor Denn, thanks for “hangin’in there!”

Pastor Jasper Rideout reports that North Head Wesleyan had 73 in attendance (lya 43) at their Christmas Program on December 18th.

Fredericton – Crosspoint had 1,100 for two Christmas Eve Services which were held in the Fredericton Playhouse.  The best news is…there were 80 decisions for Christ!  Pastor Tim Guptill is the Lead Pastor.

This is a smattering of a lot of other good stuff that is happening around the District!

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary can speak.” – Hans Hoffmann

“By removing those things that really aren’t a priority in my life, I will create space for the ‘necessary’ to speak.  I must trim the excess so there is room for the essential.” – Lance Witt

Christmas Greetings!

“[God] has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago.” Luke 1:69-70 (NLT)

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year as you celebrate the birth of the Savior in 2011!

Dr. L.D. Buckingham Retirement Announcement: On Sunday, December 11, 2011, Pastor L.D. Buckingham and his wife, Lois, stood before the Moncton congregation and gave early notice of their June 30, 2014 retirement.  Pastor Buckingham spoke of the importance and need of a well processed transition to a new Lead Pastor.  His early announcement is intended to accommodate that desire.  A Succession Planning Committee has been in place for close to a year now, and they are ready to move into a Search Committee role.  Never one to sit around resting, Pastor Buckingham enjoys excellent health, and looks forward to being able to travel more, continuing to work with other church leaders in an advisory and leadership development capacity.  He is well known for his inspirational speaking, and will be a tremendous asset as he serves the Kingdom in this new role beyond June 30, 2014.

Executive Pastor Kevin Matthews, Moncton Wesleyan, reports that MWC completed their 39th consecutive presentation (seven performances) of the Living Christmas Tree on December 4th, under the direction of Associate Pastor Don & Janet Ingersoll. Pastor Kevin says the Ingersolls did an “unprecedented and amazing job.”  In addition, scores of volunteers out front and behind the scenes made it possible.  This year’s combined attendance was up by more than 1000, with a grand total of more than 11,000 people present!  But most importantly, 257 people indicated a decision to accept Christ as their Savior!  Follow-up is now underway.  Several who had never been to MWC before showed up on Sunday morning, December 4th, to “check out” the church!  A passion to reach folks far from God and introduce them to the Savior has been in this church’s DNA for a long time!

Pastor Scott Prime, Kentville – New Hope Wesleyan, told me they had just under 800 people in attendance the weekend of December 4th to the three performances of their Christmas presentation and their two regular Sunday morning services.  This is the second year that New Hope has done a major Christmas outreach to their community.  It has heightened the church’s visibility in the community.  Offerings were up significantly, and many people were seeking God.  New Hope is the ‘talk-of-the-town’ in a good way!

Pastor Andrew Maves reports that Digby Wesleyan Church had 488 people attend their Christmas Presentation over three nights this past weekend (Friday through Sunday).  There were eleven salvations!  PTL!

Pastor Ryan Farrell, Nackawic Wesleyan, shares that they had their annual Christmas Presentation at the church December 11th with 96 people in attendance.  This is a “standing room only” crowd in their building!  There were many new faces present from the community and surrounding area.  It’s wonderful to see this positive momentum in our Nackawic Church.

Christmas at Kingswood: Bethany Bible College introduced a wonderful Christmas celebration four years ago that reaches out to the community of Sussex, and involves the community as well as those who are part of the College.  It has now become a much anticipated event in the area.  Though the celebration is in its fourth year, this year I attended the first ever Christmas at Kingswood (University) event.  Professor David Klob did an outstanding job in leading it, and the whole presentation was excellent.  The place was packed out for the afternoon performance, and again for the evening presentation.  This is a wonderful addition to anyone’s Christmas celebrations!

In the last couple of weeks, I sent information by email to our pastors concerning two bi-vocational pastors on the District who have both had health issues impact them.  They hold secular jobs to supplement their incomes and when they are working they are paid; when they don’t work they are not paid.  Rev. Scott Lewis, Lower Hainesville Wesleyan, has been off work (from his secular job) since mid-November.  He works construction and has a herniated disc.  Rev. Nelson Koonce, Bangor-Pathway, has a medical condition that requires a fairly expensive medication, and recently he had to be hospitalized for four days, a costly venture in the U.S.  I want to thank the churches, organizations, and individuals who have responded to the needs of both the Lewis and Koonce families during what are very stressful days for them.  This is much appreciated.  Those of you who would like to assist either of these families, and have not done so to date, please contact the District Office for further information on how you can help.  Thank you.

I was in the Lower Hainesville Wesleyan Church the weekend of December 4th.  There were 35 people in attendance (lya 25).  Pastor Scott Lewis was present, though he was limited in his involvement due to his back injuries.  The lay participation is always high at LHWC, and they stepped in with no problem to assist the pastor with the service.  I brought greetings on behalf of the District and gave the morning message.  After the service, we made our way to the Upper Hainesville Community Hall for the annual Church Christmas Party where the congregation honors their pastor and his family for their service to the church and the community.  Everyone enjoyed a home cooked turkey dinner with all the “fixin’s.”  This small congregation blessed their pastor in a big way.

I was in the Sussex Wesleyan Church yesterday to share in their Sunday morning service.  There were 272 in attendance (lya 239).  Jayme Hall and the Worship Team led us in meaningful worship.  I appreciated the attention the congregation is giving to community needs.  The church has taken on a needy local family in the community (through the Salvation Army) and is providing Christmas for them this year.  It was wonderful to see the Christmas parcels being placed on the platform.  The congregation’s involvement will make a difference for this family’s 2011 Christmas.  In addition, at the close of the service, a spontaneous offering was taken to assist the two bi-vocational pastors I mentioned earlier, Scott Lewis and Nelson Koonce.  Sussex has joined the ranks of others to assist both of these families in a time of need.  Thanks for caring.  Joanne and I enjoyed a lovely dinner and a good time of fellowship with Pastor Rob & Val MacCallum, and their family in their home.

Rev. David Way, Pastor of Care at Moncton Wesleyan, had a heart attack on Saturday while he was in Nova Scotia.  He was taken to the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Amherst, NS.  I spoke with him by telephone this morning.  His vitals are good, he is stable, and doing well under the circumstances.  He is waiting to be transferred to the Saint John Regional Hospital where they will do further tests before he is released.  Please pray for him and his wife, Debbie, and their family during these days.

Several of the Atlantic District Snowbirds have been asking me when this year’s Atlantic District Snowbirds’ Breakfast is going to be held at Brooksville.  It will not be in January of this year.  Other commitments have taken precedence and I will not be in Florida at that time.  No date has been determined at this point.  If it happens, it will be later in 2012, most likely March.  We’ll keep you posted.

The next Under Sail will come your way in January, 2012.

“Christmas is love in action.  Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.”  – Dale Evans