Changes

Nice pic from last summer.
Appacha enjoying his grand kiddies.

Well, it appears BIG changes are ahead for the Ninans.The past few months we have been really struggling with our beloved Urban Sanctuary church plant.

We love our little church, but despite a lot of hard work and sacrifice, it has simply not grown beyond the original small core group of people. On top of that, I have been part time for the past little while, which has led to some pretty intense financial pressure on our family.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a Mennonite Brethren church in Port Moody to consider candidating as their lead pastor. Heritage Mountain Community Church is a fantastic church located near the top of a mountain!

I have preached there 3 times previously as pulpit relief when their pastor was away. Every time, we have been warmly received and have enjoyed a warm response to my preaching. There are 2 couples that are very close friends of ours.

This weekend was a big one - brunch w. the leadership team yesterday. Today I officially candidated by preaching. After the service, Felicia and I shared our testimonies and answered some questions from the congregation. And then we headed down to this amazing park right on the water for some more relaxed time of meeting the church members. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I cannot recall a more amazing day.

The church votes next Sunday. So far, it seems likely we will be invited to join their church as their lead pastor. So..... the month of June will be a time of frenzied transition as we end our time with Urban Sanctuary and start our work in Port Moody.

In the midst of all this change, we are heading off to Hawaii for some much needed r&r. We're gone for 2 blessed weeks!!!

I feel a mixture of profound sadness at leaving downtown Vancouver and our beloved Urban Sanctuary community, and an incredible sense of excitement at what the future holds for us at Heritage Mountain.

Comments

Joel M-E said…
Congrats (early).

Have you picked a mennonite name? If you want to keep your initials, I would suggest Neufeldt or Neudorf.
8:15 AM
Jeff Logan said…
Keep us updated. It is the CBWC's loss but the MB's gain. I really enjoyed getting to know you at conferences and on committees.
9:54 PM
Anonymous said…
Wow, what a shift. I look forward to hearing about your journey into this new church. Keep us posted.

Peace,
Jamie
8:34 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Whine and Geez

Image
Last night we hosted a wine and cheese party for our floor. Out of the 11 other people that live on our floor, 5 came over. It was really fun. We had 3 kinds of cheese, crackers, red wnd white wine, baklava, fruit and other goodies. It was really great getting to know some of the folks on our floor. We have always talked about doing it so it was nice to finally pull it off. One of our neigbours is a concierge at the 4 seasons. She said one of the oddest guest requests was a guest from Texas who wanted 100 A&W ketchup packets. He said he really liked their ketchup - I guess. Finished " Joyful Exiles " so unfortunately no more excerts for you - buy the book. Have moved on to " A Grief Observed " by C.S. Lewis . This might seem like an odd choice - I'm not really grieving the death of anyone or anything like that. I just have a personal goal of reading everything Lewis wrote. In the past few weeks I've finished Miracles and Mere Christianity (sorry - I got ...
Read more

Coaster goes up (a little)

Image
Unused photo from the Globe and Mail shoot. So, last night and all day today I was on the top floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Vancouver. Quite auspicious surroundings for church council/pastors meetings! there were stunning views of the North Shore mountains, Stanley Park and the downtown buildings. The meetings were lengthy, exhausting and a lot of work. Basically, FBC has been on a year long journey of crafting its vision statement and core values - we did it with the assistance of a coach from Outreach Canada. We are coming down the home stretch and needed to hammer out everything for presentation to the congregation. Today was the first day that I have begun to feel lighter and ready to resume the work. Although still feeling wounded from this whole mess, I'm ready to limp on. It's true: Sunday,Monday - elation at finally reaching a goal of holding a first@night service in a trendy nightclub - excitement at getting press coverage - even thoug...
Read more

Oh no, Dr. Montgomery!

Image
"Healthcare in the heart of Yaletown - if you can afford it" For the past 6 years I have had the same physician: Dr. Brian Montgomery. We are quite close and I call him Brian. He knows me inside and out (literally). This is the longest period of time I have had the same doctor. We have quite a good relationship. I've invited he and his partner over to our place, but we've never been able to sync our schedules up. Well, I am sad to say our professional relationship is over. Brian will no longer be my doctor. I made the decision earlier this evening. As I was watching the news, Brian's face all of a sudden popped up - His clinc - the Mainland Clinic - is now going to start charging its patients to make appointments. The fees are going to be $30/appt. or $75 for the year to become a "member" of the clinic. The only motivation I can see is obviosuly money. The physcians obviously decided that the amounts they were billing the government was not enough. I hol...
Read more