heartbeat

HEARTBEATM C K E R N A N B A P T I S T C H U R C H

issue 2, volume 11

[email protected] | www.mckernanbaptist.ca |

FOCUS 3God moving and changing our leaders

FAMILY MISSIONSServing God with our families

GOD’S UNFOLDING STORY CONTINUES

As we move to McKernan School, what will God be doing and how should we be ready?

+RON YESKEEXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Women’s MinistryA journey through Esther, a Bible Study that impacts

Small GroupsBring Pastor Lyle to your small group

College & CareerLiving in a missional community

Children’s MinistryIt’s time for Summer Camp!Be ready!

2 | HEARTBEAT McKernan Baptist Church

Heartbeat

CONTENTS

3. RENOVATION OF THE HEARTPastor Lyle reflects on the past ministry year

4. FAMILY MISSIONS McKernan Baptist Church Families serve in Mexico

6. FOCUS 3A journey through our leadership development program

8. IT’S TOUGH BEING A WOMANStudying God’s providence in the book of Esther

9. AN INSTRUMENT OF WORSHIP The tradition of choir music at McKernan Baptist Church

10. GOD’S UNFOLDING STORY CONTINUESWe have moved to McKernan School, and God’s still moving

15. BRING PASTOR LYLE TO YOUR SMALL GROUPHow you and your small group can have Pastor Lyle walking with you

16. YEAR END BBQThe Youth Ministry celebrates another great year

18. MISSIONAL COMMUNITIES It’s finally summer, and what will our C&C do?

22. PEOPLE FROM MCKERNANIn this issue we interviewed Ron Yeske

HEARTBEATof McKernan Baptist Church

EDITORIAL TEAMLyle BuyerNaomi VossRobin HellewellJunior Figueiredo

PROOFREADERTricia Unsworth

PASTORAL STAFFLyle Buyer Senior PastorSam Nikkel Executive & Missions PastorDan Schroth Adult Ministries PastorSharon Harewood Pastoral Care PastorAlan Fiebich Children’s Ministry DirectorDaunavan Buyer College & Career PastorDave Schneider Interim Youth Ministries Director

Our Church would also like to acknowl-edge the invaluable help of all the article writers for their contribution.Copyright © 2013 McKernan Baptist Church

McKernan Baptist Church HEARTBEAT | 3

This has been an amazing minist ry year at McKernan Bapt ist Church. Last year at th is t ime we were in major p lanning mode as we ant ic ipated making some very s igni f i -cant decis ions regarding our fac i l i t ies . Now, one year later we are meet ing offs i te and we short ly ant ic ipate the demol i t ion of o ld min-ist ry space to make way for the construct ion of a new minist ry bui ld ing that wi l l enable us to more effect ive ly fu l f i l our miss ion in the coming years and decades.

As we have journeyed through this process of bui ld ing renovat ion, we have a lso recognized that God’s deeper interest is the cont inual spi r i tual renovat ion of our l ives. Thus, our theme this past year has been “Renovat ion of the Heart .” As we note the progress of our bui ld ing project , I bel ieve i t is important that we a lso pause and ref lect on the progress of God’s renewing work in our inner l ives.

Whi le so much can be said about the spi r i tual growth and development I see in our congregat ion, I want to highl ight three key areas. F i rst ly, I see God growing us as servants . Whi le th is has a lways been a volunteer- r ich church, I am amazed at how so many of you have ro l led up your s leeves and helped out in new ways, be i t packing up the old fac i l i ty, help ing us move into our tempo-rary school fac i l i t ies , or s imply keeping our current minist r ies effect ive. Secondly, I see God growing in us a new spir i t of generosi ty. I cont inue to be overwhelmed by your re-sponse to our capi ta l campaign which ra ised over four mi l l ion dol lars in cash and pledges. F inal ly, I see God growing our fa i th and sense of adventure. We have faced severa l d i ff icu l t and chal lenging decis ions in the past year and I have watched you respond with a deep sense of t rust that the God who is leading us wi l l a lso cont inue to provide for us.

As I ref lect on God’s work among us, I am reminded of Paul ’s prayer of thanks-g iv ing for the people of the Thessalonian church, “We always thank God for a l l of you, ment ioning you in our prayers . We cont inu-

a l ly remember before our God and Father your work produced by fa i th, your labour prompt-ed by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Chr ist .” Thank you for opening your heart to the renovat ing work of God’s Spi r i t !

By Lyle Buyer

Editorial | Senior Pastor

THANK GOD FOR HOW HE IS RENOVATING OUR HEARTS


I T WAS A PRAYERFUL AND EXCIT ING BEGINNING AS WE PREPARED FOR THE FAMILY MEXICO MISS IONS TRIP OF 2013.

was an exciting day as the Edmund-sons and Rempels packed our trailer, picked up the Neufeld family from the airport and headed off on our adventure.

The time spent in San Luis, Mexico on mission was truly special as a community of mexican believers embraced us as brothers and sisters. We were able to provide the hands and funds to turn brick walls into a home with safe electricity, running water into a sink, a clean yard and a finished look with windows, paint and cabinets. In turn, they were able to gracefully receive our love and give all credit to God as they have through cancer treatments and life struggles knowing how much they have been blessed.

There is now a common bond we share as a large group of 14. But this is only a minor unity we share because of a common experience. We now know each others stories and can look back to wonderful memories. The real bonds that are created on mission trips such as this are those within the nuclear fami-lies. People who are on mission are useful for God, and when couples get together even more so. But when the entire family is on board work-ing toward a common goal outside of themselves, much can be ac-complished. Family prayer time is strengthened, training children takes on increased purpose and time and money sacrifices are unifying rather than divisive. I watched as our families were able to serve side by side, work through conflict, and func-tion together all within the context of mission. We prayed for not only the immediate effects of our efforts, but also for the lasting effect our 2013 trip will have in 2033 when our boys are fathers themselves managing the family in the context of being on mission.

SOME MEMBERS OF THE FAMIL IES FROM MCKERNAN THAT WENT TO SAN LUIS BY ALAN FIEBICH

I travelled alone from Edmonton to Phoenix but it would be my last moment of having no one to talk to for a while, as I was about to immerse myself into a community of families on mission. After a layover in Seattle and hours of taxis, and shuttles schedules I finally arrived at our hotel in the late evening of March 22. I excitedly dropped my bags in my hotel room and quickly jogged over to the hotel room of the Rempel family who had arrived earlier in the day. Knock, knock, knock!!! Allen Rempel answered the door after about the time it would take for a man to try to decide if he was really going wake up enough and get out of bed to say hi to his overly enthusiastic Children Director. You can imagine we didn’t have a long conversation. The mis-sion team was much more willing to talk in the morning. It

FAMILYMISSION

Family Missions | Missions & Outreach


With the school I was teaching at slowly dying, I was also looking for a new job. Two weeks later I was hired as the Children’s Ministry Director. I could not stop smiling and prais-ing God for the opportunity that this was, and for the trust they placed in me to take on a respon-sibility like this. I received many opportunities in the following months, none more impacting than the responsibility to plan for and create the dynamic wave of church that occurs each Sunday morning. Previously, I had only a cursory involvement in creat-ing this wave of church, serving on a prayer team or helping to facilitate a ministry. This was different. I sat at the pastors’ table looking ahead to Sunday, as

we prayed, prepared, and then did everything we could to love the people that walk through our doors by presenting the gospel and allowing the saints to wor-ship the God they love. It was an exhilarating process each week. As I learned from the best team of people I have ever worked with, I also came to love McKernan Baptist Church more each week. I learned to love the parents who would gather in the nursery and exchange the clothes their kids had grown out of. I learned the importance of the word “mouthed”. I loved the nervous age 2 children who were not sure about staying in the room without mommy or daddy. I loved the elementary kids who would enthusiastically sculpt prayer requests out of play-doh

and sing like no one was listen-ing. I loved seeing a circle of kids, all with Bibles open on their laps talking about life. I loved preaching the Word to the kids, to the church and to myself week to week. I understand the impor-tance placed in this Director’s position and the desire everyone has to run a Children Ministry that functions at a very high level. I know I’m not that person right now. But I also know I want to be in on the creation of Sunday worship, the opening of Scripture and the preaching of the Gospel for the rest of my life. McKernan has been my whirlwind introduc-tion to creating this wonderful weekly event we call church and I will be forever grateful.

REFLECTIONS ON A YEAR IN

CHILDREN’S MINISTRYI T WAS AN UNEXPECTED YEAR IN MANY WAYS. IT STARTED IN MAY OF 2012 WHEN I SAT DOWN TO

LUNCH WITH PASTOR TERRY LOOKING TO JOIN THE YOUTH MINISTRY TEAM.

Reflections | Children’s Ministry

BY ALAN FIEBICH

High Adventure | Focus 3


Since last September, my hus-band, Cameron, and I have partici-pated in a Focus 3 group led by Dan and Andrea Schroth. As the first year of a multi-year leadership develop-ment program, Focus 3 explores three foundational questions: Who is God? Who am I? What does God desire to do through me? To ad-dress these questions, our group of ten people studied scripture, jour-naled, completed weekly workbooks, explored our values, developed personal Biblical mandates, wrote our vision statements, completed a strengths assessment (StrengthsFind-er), met regularly with our mentors,

and wrote and shared our life stories (called our narratives).

At the end of this nine month journey, I don’t have nice, neat answers to the three questions and a crystal clear idea of God’s purposes for my life. But those weren’t the goals of the course. Focus 3 facili-tated an opportunity to spend time in community drawing closer to God and preparing to continue walking the path He has prepared for me.

Personally, I’ve learned that God is our trustworthy Father, and I can trust Him because He loves me. Dur-ing Focus 3, I had identified that I wanted to trust God more, a com-

FOCUS 3ABOUT 48 HOURS AGO, HIGH ADVENTURE CAMP AT CAMP CAROLINE WAS DRAWING TO A CLOSE, MARKING THE END OF FOCUS 3 FOR THIS YEAR.

BY JULIE & CAMERON HILLER


monly stated desire among Chris-tians. However, I had never really given careful consideration to why I trust Him. During the last night of High Adventure Camp, a simple but profound understanding came to me. I trust God not because He is predict-able (which He isn’t) and not just because that’s what Christians are supposed to do. I trust Him because He loves me.

In addition to learning more about who God is, I’ve learned so much about who I am. Writing and sharing my narrative was a powerful experi-ence that showed me how God has developed me into who I am. In addition to the narrative experience,

I found that the exploration of values and assessment of strengths really helped me understand myself better. I now see this understanding as a crucial step in discerning how God wants to use me for His kingdom.

Some members of our group finished the year with a clear idea of a ministry they will pursue while others, including me, may not see the next step in the journey as clearly but feel better prepared to follow God’s lead. After completing Focus 3, I realize that whatever the next steps may be, I won’t take them alone. The importance of commu-nity, shared experiences, and men-toring was emphasized throughout

the course. In our group, a sense of community came alive as we painted one couple’s house and as meals were delivered to the parents of a newborn.

Although Focus 3 is now officially over, I see this not as an ending but as a time of launching into the rest of our lives with God and others. It has been a valuable year of care-fully considering the three questions posed in Focus 3. Whether as part of a formal course or over a cup of tea with a trusted friend, how would you answer these questions? Who is God? Who am I? What does God desire to do through me?

F3


IT’S TOUGH BEING A WOMAN

On January 23rd, 14 ladies made a commitment to study the Book of Esther together for 10 weeks. We came together with our hearts ready to receive what God would teach us from His Word. The unique thing about the Book of Esther is that we don’t find the name of God in the entire book. Beth Moore, our teacher, stressed over and over again that even though we don’t find God’s name in it, He is in the book and all over it.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND RECURRING CONCEPTS IN THE BOOK OF ESTHER IS GOD’S PROVIDENCE.

trust that we can be victorious in the above-named challenges that we face. Further she states “The most critical breakthrough of faith you and I could ever experience is to let God bring us to the place where we/I trust Him - peri-od”. This means to trust Him no matter what may come our way. Satan will try to attack us but we must remember that victory can and will be ours as we trust Him fully: “ the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”. 1 John4:4 Too often I find myself trying to solve things in my own strength. My prayer is that as a result of this study I will continually put my trust in Him. He is all I need.

In another wom-an’s shadow

He who dwells in the shadow of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

In a world where beauty is a treat-ment

He made everything beautiful in it’s time. Eccl. 3:11

In a mean world

… may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience … 1 Tim 1:18-19

Thrown a giant size weight

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. I Peter 5:9 Also Deut. 23:5

In the tight fist of fear

He is your shield and helper … Deut. 23:29Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome…Neh. 4:14See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hand. Isa. 49:16

Who can bal-ance passion and patience

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you, He rises to show you compas-sion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18

Many questions were asked during the study where the answer was that it was God’s timing and His providence at work. God’s provi-dence brought Esther on the scene “for such a time as this” so that God could use her to reverse the destiny of the Jews. She was able to save them from total annihilation. Beth presented seven scenarios that women find tough and how they can be reversed as we trust God in each situation (as shown in the sidebar).Beth is amazing in her teaching and brings out many challenging truths. I mentioned earlier that she emphasized that it is only through

SEVEN SCENARIOS THAT WOMEN FIND

TOUGH AND HOW THEY CAN BE REVERSED AS

WE TRUST GOD

Ladies Bible Study | Women’s Ministry

By Betty Mantay


Of course there are countless biblical examples, too, of the power of music to go beyond intellect and beyond physical realities. We could recall David, and his spirit-filled harp playing which soothed the troubled soul of King Saul, or the Psalms which encourage the musical expression of all sorts of emotion. But music, and the emotion that it elicits, is not an end in itself. The end purpose of choral music, as with all of God’s creation, is to bring glory to God and good to our neighbour. Two choir members recounted the upward focus of our uni-fied voices: “The songs of Good Friday all recounted the divine sacrifice made at Gethsemane.” “If I am able to contribute to making beautiful music there might be even a chance to help bring some-one else into worship along with me.” Clearly the music we sing blesses God, but per-haps less obvious is the blessing of music to others. In the book of Ephesians, Paul links music with loving one another: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God…. Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and mak-ing melody to the Lord with your heart.” As one of the Easter singers put it, “choir shares a love of God as well as love of music with the people around you.” Another reflected how “being a member of a choir is such a privilege. Not only can we use the talents God gave us, but we in turn can be a blessing!” This gift of music that God has entrusted to us must be handled with great care - with wise steward-ship. This requires cultivation and development, like a beautiful garden or a carefully crafted piece of artwork. As a lifelong musician, I embrace the cultivation of these skills, but I didn’t necessarily expect the choir mem-bers to find the same joy in the process of our Sunday afternoon practices. It shocked me that the choir totally embraced the practising and expressed how much they valued the hard work. “We are making music to help the congregation to celebrate events in a special way.

Even as this well-used, tired building is recon-structed and given a facelift, what will happen to the tradition of choral music that has always been a part of this congregation? The choral tradition at McKernan Baptist Church goes way back, before Leroy Hiller, before Sharon May-forth and Sharon Lang, back to the church’s inception in 1952. Choral music in the church goes as far back as the Old Testament accounts of the people of Israel. The most epic moments of God’s redemptive story are punctuated with singing and choral music, almost like a holy movie-script writer has appointed a mass choir as the aural backdrop. At the deliverance of Israel from Egypt - the people sang; when God rose up and defeated Israel’s enemies in battle - the choir led the attack; at the culmi-nation of God’s work throughout history, when Jesus, the Lamb of God takes His place, a huge host of singers will sing a new song together. As a choral conductor, I love finding evidence of choral music in the biblical record. It underlines choral music as a physical, material creation of God used for even the most significant of God-purpos-es - deliverance, victory, and worship in the very pres-ence of God Himself. Choral music has the ability to stir emotion and to transcend physical realities. Singers from this year’s Easter choir at McKernan testified to music’s transcen-dent nature: how the rhythms, harmonies, and shapes of melodies, conveyed so much meaning: “‘Oh Happy Day’ with its great gospel feel put words and rhythm to express the joy of Easter!” “’He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.’ The high notes of this phrase conveyed the intensity of the pain Jesus willingly accepted to pay for my sin.” “Singing harmony in a choir with the dynam-ics of expression fostering the meaning of the lyrics is always moving and brings a tangible sense of God’s Spirit and glory.” “I began thinking about travelling to the Holy Land when we sang ‘O Happy Day’ - I was reflecting on how meaningful it will be to walk in places where Jesus walked, preached and prayed.”

Easter Choir| Worship Ministries

AN INSTRUMENT OF WORSHIP

THIS PAST SPRING, L IKE EVERY SPRING AT MCKERNAN BAPTIST CHURCH, THE SOUND OF MANY VOICES COULD BE HEARD F ILL ING THE SANCTUARY AND DRIFT ING DOWN THROUGH THE HALLS OF A

BUILDING THAT IS SOON TO BE FOREVER CHANGEDBY AL ISON NORRIS


Many years ago when the process of remodelling our building started we were often praying and talking about what would be the best way to move forward with this project, and often we prayed that God would guide the whole process.

Now we’ve reached a point where the process will become more visible. Sunday April 28 was the last time we used our original building for a church service. It was a great and emotional service as we remembered those people who donated time, money and their tal-ents to build the church. These people were used by God to start a church and reach out to students in a newly devel-oped neighbourhood beside the uni-versity campus. It’s hard not to walk around the original building and feel a sense of gratitude for all they did so that we could have a great place where

ON OUR FIRST

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And we’re working hard to present that music in the best possible way. I think we are blessed by singing sa-cred music in a choir setting; and hearing it is a blessing to those in the congregation. Sing-ing and praising God in a choir is good for my soul.” Choral music as a vehicle for worship is much more than a refined, well-practised, beautiful sound. It gains a different sort of value. Like the perfume poured on Jesus’ feet, it becomes a love offering, bringing honour to Jesus, and filling the air with sweetness in the process. And the worship has a cleansing effect on us as well. As one singer noted, “through the rehearsals at church and practice at home, the songs with their particular truths set in deeper in my heart.” It is not that we could not exist as a worshipping church without choral music. As renowned author Robert Webber says, it is not that art is necessary for worship, but rather that it is “a worthy vehicle through which God can communicate to us, and we to Him”. The arts, in whatever form, help to bring expression to our worship, to communicate God’s redemp-tive story with depth and meaning. And as we move forward into the exciting future that God has for us as ‘McKernan Baptist Church’, let us be found loving one another and blessing God with the particular instrument of worship that He has entrusted to us.

continuation page 9


we can be accepted for who we are and be challenged to get closer to God every day.

In preparation for the Capital Cam-paign we rediscovered many docu-ments that marked McKernan Baptist Church’s history. We could see what God had done in this place - all the miracles, victories and challenges that the church had been through - and were able to contemplate that God’s story for this church is not over, but a new chapter is being writ-ten. In this chapter, since May 5th we have been meeting at McKernan School. On our first Sunday at the school the first volunteer arrived at

6:30am, since we were not sure how long it would take to set up every-thing that would be needed for our service. As the time for the service approached more people arrived, joining forces, asking to help, and even though nobody counted offi-cially, we estimate that more than 50 people came to help that day! From sound system, to projection, to set-ting up chairs, welcome centre, off loading everything from the trailer, to cleaning up afterwards, the congre-gation of McKernan is ready for this new chapter in the life of our church.

We are now a month into this new routine and are still fine tuning.

The church staff has worked hard to ensure that everything is falling into place. We know that all is not perfect and there are often problems, but we believe that God’s unfolding story at McKernan will continue .

We are so grateful for our volun-teers and everything that they are doing. As the weeks pass we realize that we will need more and more volunteers to help us set up and tear down everything at the school. We know that there are challenges; we are not in our own building and we are faced with some unique issues, but at the same time we have many new opportunities at this location. We are in a prime location which is more visible and more accessible to the general public. This new and temporary chapter should been seen as an opportunity given by God.

God’s unfolding story at McKernan will continue. God is moving in our church and we as a church family have responded in an incredible way. From the Capital Campaign, to serv-ing at the school, He will continue to do His work in us and through us for His Glory, so that many will find here a place to really belong.

Contingency | Cover Story

12 | HEARTBEAT www.mckernanbaptist.ca

WORSHIPOver 20 volunteers are in-

volved in our worship service every week, from musicians to technical areas, they have worked hard to make the transi-tion smooth as possible. They are the first ones here and the last out.

EARLY IN THE MORNING

7:30 am, is the time that our first volunteer starts every single Sunday. From the unloading of the mobile trailer to setting up the sound system and banners our volunteers are really serving with their hearts.

WELCOME CENTREDo you need any informa-

tion about any ministry? Are you a newcomer? Just stop by our Welcome Centre. There you will be able to sign up for events and get information about ministries.

CHILDRENOur Children’s Ministry is locat-

ed in the east side of the school. We are using the classrooms and we set up and tear down every week. We are always looking for volunteers!

www.mckernanbaptist.ca HEARTBEAT | 13

HIGHER GROUNDSStop by in the foyer area and

grab a coffee. Also, take some time to get to know a new per-son.

ONLINEIf for some reason you can’t

make it on a Sunday, you can still watch the service online. Just go to the church website and you will be directed to the livestream.

PREACHINGDid you know that in a given

year Pastor Lyle preaches over 126 times? This does not include Weddings, Funerals and Special Events.

PARKING AND CHAIRSTwo new teams had to be

specially created for the time we will be at McKernan School: the parking team and chair team. They are responsible for mak-ing sure we are maximizing our parking area and have adequate numbers of chairs set up in the gymnasium.

JOIN A SMALL GROUPBY BARBARA & DON WHIDDENON FEB 15, 2013 DONNA COLL INS HAD A STROKE. DONNA IS PART OF OUR SMALL GROUP AND NONE OF THE GROUP FROM OUR CHURCH WAS IN EDMONTON WHEN SHE HAD HER STROKE.

We have two members of our group who attend Ellerslie Road Baptist Church, Melanie and Rod Ridley. They had to fill in for all of us and they did! The rest of the group were praying, but the news we were getting about Donna was not good. We prayed more!! Within a few weeks most of the group were back in Edmonton and we all visited Donna at some point in her stay at both the U of A Hospital and the Glenrose Rehab Hospital. We were amazed at the daily improvements in Donna. God was clearly at work in her healing. Donna was advised to not return to her multilevel condo and also that she would be wise to choose a retirement centre where she could be around others and have assistance with meals etc. Donna chose to move into Whitemud Retirement Centre which was brand new and had space for almost immediate occupancy. Donna was also blessed that they would allow her to take her cat, Daisy. Although Evelyn and David Roethlingshoefer are on leave from our group while they are involved with the Focus 3 course, Evelyn is really our leader. Under the excellent guidance and organization of Evelyn, our small group rallied

and helped prepare Donna for her move. Donna herself had done a lot of preparing by purging her condo. There were many trips to Goodwill and other places that would take her giveaways! We were so organized that on the day of her move, a team of eleven gathered and had the things that Donna wanted moved to her new condo cleaned and put in place within four hours. The others in the group included Dennis (a very hard worker) and Danna Bowman and Florina Curran. Hazel and Justin Lee are also a part of our group and although they weren’t with us physically, they held up their end as prayer warriors. Marilyn and Gerhard Hiob also helped with the move as well as Donna’s nephew. At noon Danna and Marilyn showed up with pizza and fruit and we all enjoyed sitting down in Donna’s party room right next to her new home! Don and I have not been part of a small group before and we joined this group; we just asked if we could join! Ask Pastor Dan how you can join a small group. We highly recommend that you do, as you will be very blessed! We have not witnessed the likes of this before, but we knew when we joined McKernan Baptist Church that this is where God wanted us to be. Joining this very special small group has been the icing on the cake!

Small Groups | Adult Ministries


Small Groups | Adult Ministries

As you can imagine, this means lots of noise and gen-eral chaos, but we have still managed to create a group that can share in each others’ lives and grow together.

We always begin our evening with a meal. Since our group was established we have always put a high value on eating together because we can get to know each other better and build community. After the meal, the kids head off with a babysitter to play while the adults have a prayer time and then a short study.

One of the main purposes of our small group is to support each other. We pray for each other and provide other kinds of support for stresses relating to work, parenting, health and other concerns. We also share in each others’ joys, whether it is a promotion at work, the purchase of a new house or a child sleeping through the night for the first time.

With all the craziness that comes with a typical small group night (and sometimes in the days in between) we

don’t have the time or energy to go through a really in-depth study. However, we still want a meaningful study that gets us talking with each other and helps us grow spiritually. We have found Pastor Lyle’s video series for small groups to be an excellent resource.

For those of you who haven’t seen the videos, they build on Pastor Lyle’s weekly sermons with some addi-tional comments from Pastor Lyle and some discussion questions. Our group has appreciated the chance to build on what we’ve heard each week. The questions usually get a good discussion going on some of the im-plications of the sermon, helping us to understand it bet-ter. The videos also help us translate sermons into some practical actions and thoughts that we can use over the next two weeks.

If anyone would like to hear more about our group or about the sermon series, we’d be happy to share.

BRING PASTOR LYLE TO YOUR SMALL GROUP

BY SANDRA & LYNDON EPP

OUR SMALL GROUP HAS TEN ADULTS, SEVEN KIDS (ALL AGE THREE AND UNDER), MEETING EVERY OTHER SUNDAY NIGHT.


no better way to end the year than by bringing families together and celebrating the growth in the lives of each student. The evening opened with food—and lots of it! Throughout the meal you couldn’t hear anything but laughter and chatter as new rela-tionships were being formed and sto-ries were being shared. Afterwards, we played a couple of games includ-ing Lover’s Leap. This game involves ridiculous movements and hilarious poses! We ended the evening by celebrating and saying goodbye to the grade 12’s. We also welcomed the grade 6’s to F.I.T. in September. Dave Schneider, the Interim Student Ministries Director, gave a big thank you to the parents and leaders for being so supportive and making the youth ministry possible. From the perspective of a leader, I cannot express how valuable I find this time. There is so much to be treasured about the opportunity to interact with the families of the

students who we minister to. I can-not describe how grateful I am for the support you parents have given me and the other leaders too over the years. I look forward to getting to know your families more in the times to come.

photos by Megan Voss

BY KYLE KURTZ

Youth Events | Youth Ministry

The MOBY/F.I.T. Year End BBQ is an annual event that is eagerly looked forward to by leaders, stu-dents, and parents, and this year was not a disappointment. There is


A coach from Sportball will be joining us for the afternoon on Friday, June 14th. Dads, grandpas, and other special people, will be participating in a Sportball class together with the children. The children are busy working on their special surprises for dad and looking forward to their treat to follow Other special activities planned include: our Canada Day celebration (July 2) and our Teddy Bear’s Picnic (Aug 6) out in the McK-ernan Park. The children are very eager to take advantage of all the wonderful park upgrades that have been completed. Happy Summer!

ON MAY 13, THE STAFF AND CHILDREN AT MCDC HELD THEIR ANNUAL MOTHER’S DAY TEA.

MCKERNANMother’s Day |Daycare

As the moms arrived, they brought their child into the Light-house and the children presented them with their flower and gift. All day long the children were bouncing with excitement, waiting for the mo-ment when they were able to share their special gifts with their moms. It was a fantastic event filled with lots of smiles and great conversa-tions. It was a pleasure to spend time with all the ladies who are such a special and important part of the children’s lives. Moments like these make us realize how wonderful the MCDC families are and how fortunate we are to care for these children. Coming up this month, the daycare will be hosting their annual Father’s Day fun event.

BY KRISTY THOMAS

Every yeat, this is our most attended event. Moms and grandmas joined the children for a small snack and special surprise hand-crafted by their child. Annually, this event is the most well attended event at the daycare, giving opportunity for the moms to share in a special time with their children, and to meet other moms who are a part of the program too. This year we had an exceptional turn out.

CENTREMOTHER’S CHILD

DEVELOPMENT

CELEBRATES

DAY


Ah... It’s finally summer! In the past, College & Career ministries have taken a break over the sum-mer, but this year things are looking very different as, in a lot of ways, the summer is allowing us as Young Adults at McKernan to be even more intentional about gathering together and seeking to grow in our relation-ships with God and with one another. God is moving in an incredible way amongst our young adults and it’s an absolute privilege to be a part of it. Over the last semester, our Young Adults went through a Bible study called “Multiply.” This Bible study essentially looked at what it means to make disciples and how to build our lives around Jesus’ Great Commission. Though only a few students were consistently involved in this study, this core group of students became increasingly stirred that some things needed to change with how ministry was being prac-tised for College and Career. Along with this, in April I shared with the Young Adults at Converge about a “Resurrection Com-munity.” Essentially, I looked at the early church and how they respond-ed to Jesus’ death, resurrection, as-cension, and pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:42 provides a pretty in-credible glimpse of a group of people who were giving up everything for one another in order that Jesus’

that the Kingdom of God has come! This is the truth that we are seek-ing to build our College and Career around and we are doing this by launching what we are going to call missional communities. Essentially, a missional community is a smaller group of people (10-20) that has a unique calling (mission) to a neigh-bourhood, school, or people group in which they will seek to engage the people there with the mission of God (proclamation and demonstra-tion). Over the summer, we have one missional community and our mis-sion for the summer is that ‘no one would have need among us.’ We are using this time over the summer to raise up missional community lead-ers for the fall and to build a com-munity which will provide a strong foundation for what is to come (mul-tiple Missional communities). My hope is that we will have missional communities called to the University of Alberta, the McKernan neighbour-hood, those who are homeless in the Whyte Ave. area, and the Garneau community (just north of Whyte Ave.). There is a lot of excitement and vision amongst our young adults right now for this direction and I am expecting God to move in pretty incredible ways as we transition out of an events-based ministry. One of the aspects of this new direction that I am most excited about is going to

name would be made great: ‘and the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved’. This talk really seemed to light a fire in a lot of our young adults as we met a few weeks later to begin to practi-cally look at what it would take to form a community built on the same ideas and values of the early church: a “Gospel-Centred” community. It was out of these conversations as well as meetings with my mentor that we the C&C leadership decided that the direction of College and Career would have to change quite significantly from an events-based ministry (which has been really good and seen a lot of fruit) to a mission-based community. I was able to preach to the whole Church in the beginning of June and one of the main points of my sermon was that the mission of the Church is to proclaim (tell) and demonstrate (practically live out)

EXAMS HAVE WRAPPED UP, SUMMER JOBS HAVE BEGUN, AND MUCH OF L IFE IS MOVING FROM BEING A HERMIT BEHIND A DESK TO BEING OUTSIDE BEHIND A CAMPFIRE, IN FRONT OF A BARBECUE, OR ON A BIKE. .

WE MET A FEW WEEKS LATER TO

BEGIN TO PRACTICALLY LOOK AT

WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO FORM A

COMMUNITY BUILT ON THE SAME

IDEAS AND VALUES

BY DAUNAVAN BUYERMissional Communities| C&C Ministry

WE MET A FEW WEEKS LATER TO

BEGIN TO PRACTICALLY LOOK AT

WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO FORM A

COMMUNITY BUILT ON THE SAME

IDEAS AND VALUES


be something called ‘serve nights.’ On these nights the students will be organizing a service event that fits with their mission (for example, if my missional community is focused on the McKernan neighbourhood, our ‘serve night’ may be something like raking leaves in the neighbour-hood). I want to make these ‘serve nights’ an opportunity for the whole church to be on mission together. Be-cause of this, we will be inviting all of you to join us for these amazing opportunities. Our hope is that we can all work together as one church to really see God’s kingdom moving in a creative and profound way! I want to share one story with you: After I shared about being a ‘res-urrection’ community, one of our student’s car broke down. He did not have the money to fix it or to get a new car. Another one of our students took seriously the fact that a commu-nity built on the gospel is a commu-nity of sharing (Acts 2:44-45: All the believers were together and had ev-erything in common. They sold prop-erty and possessions to give to any-one who had need.) so he contacted a bunch of students and asked them to pray about giving a bit of money to help this student out. In the end, our young adults (many of them full-time students) managed to raise double the amount of what this student needed to fix his car! Praise

are when we are apart. Want to get involved? Please pray for us, pray for vision, pray for clarity, pray that the right leaders would come out of the woodwork. Pray that we would be filled with the Holy Spirit and His power--we cannot do this on our own strength. Pray for me as I do not want this to be just my dream and vision. I want it to be God’s and I want it to be birthed out of our community. Please join us on our ‘serve nights’ when these opportunities arise. Having the whole church behind this will speak

IN THE END, OUR

YOUNG ADULTS

MANAGED TO

RAISE DOUBLE

THE AMOUNT

OF WHAT THIS

STUDENT NEEDED

God! I believe this is the first of many stories that we will be hearing as we pas-sionately seek what it means to be follow-ers of Christ in the McK-ernan neigh-bourhood and wherever we

At the very heart of Con-verge, the monthly gathering (first Saturday @7:00 in the Lighthouse) hosted jointly by College and Career and The Crossing, are the comple-mentary desires to glorify God simply because He is worthy of our worship, and to grow in community. If we truly believe that God is who He says He is, then our entire lives will be lived out in worship as a response to Him who is wor-thy. Gathering together and lifting up our voices in music and prayer is one of the biblical expressions of worship that has been a tradition among the people of God throughout history; it is incredible to think of the privilege it is to add our voices to the eternal chorus of praises to our God. The second overarching goal of Converge is for there to be growth both as and within the community of Young Adults at McKernan (and a

few other Churches in our denomina-tion), incorporating times of shared testimonies, small group discussions and prayer, and even the opportu-nities to simply hang out with one another. These are all ways that we seek to build relationships and a sense of community, as well as being encouraged in our own faith by our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ. This focus on community carries through to the topics of the messages that are being shared every month. Taking our cues from Acts 2:42-47, we have looked at and will continue to explore different aspects of what it means to be a gospel-centred community. It is an exciting time to be a part of God’s church here at McK-ernan as there are many areas in which God’s hand is evident at work and it is a privilege to see how He is working through Converge all for the glory of His name!

volumes to our students. I would like to end by simply saying thank you. Thank you for your in-vestment as a church into students. Thank you for giving of your finances in keeping McKernan Baptist Church so close to the University. Thank you for supporting us as we passionately seek God’s will for our ministry. We are God’s family on mission together - let’s surrender all we are to Him and expect amazing things.

QUESTION: WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN? ANSWER: MAN’S CHIEF END IS TO GLORIFY GOD, AND TO ENJOY HIM FOREVER. (WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM)

Converge | The Crossing

BECOMING A GOSPEL-CENTRED COMMUNITY BY CALVIN EL IAS

CONVERGE

IN THE END, OUR

YOUNG ADULTS

MANAGED TO

RAISE DOUBLE

THE AMOUNT

OF WHAT THIS

STUDENT NEEDED

Going through a tough time? Fac-ing a major loss? Mckernan Bap-tist Church is a ‘Stephen Ministry’ church which means we have lay people trained to walk along side people and provide Christ-centred care and support. It is comforting to know that people in our church are using their God-given gifts and talents to fulfil the core mission of Stephen Ministry summed up in Ephesians 4: 12-13. I like what one person said about this minis-try: ‘If God can part the Red Sea, He can bring people alongside those who are hurting’. So true! Stephen Ministry just trained the 60,000th person! We truly are part of a very large Stephen Ministry family with over 11,000 congrega-tions, representing approximately 150 Christian denominations!


STEPHEN MINISTRYWORKSHOPBY SHARING OUR OWN JOURNEY, WE LEARNED THAT NO ONE’S L IFE IS IMMUNE TO TRAUMATIC OCCURENCESBY ELAINE TAYLOR

Who could have imagined that the date selected to host a prov-ince wide workshop in the spring of 2013 would coincide with the final pack up day of McKernan Baptist Church! As plans emerged, arrangements were made to hold the event in the Lighthouse and what a lovely event it was! Stephen Ministers from a number of church-es gathered together to learn new skills and fel-lowship with one another. A huge thank-you to Heather Allen for running our coffee and lunch set up and take down, and Christopher Dyer for man-

ning the sound booth!Dr. Ray Seutter addressed 31

Stephen Ministers on the topic of ministering to people suffering from trauma. We learned by sharing our own journey, that no one’s life is immune to traumatic occurrences and what is traumatic to one may not be traumatic to another. We can all empathize with those experienc-ing trauma in their life. Dr. Seutter addressed our personal responses to trauma and the need for good “self care” for those who care for others in this capacity. All in at-tendance appreciated his expertise and wisdom in these areas! We wish to acknowledge Cornerstone Counselling for pens and note pads

Stephen Ministry |Pastoral Care Ministry

and Blessings for gift cards for all the participants.

Stephen Ministry is planning to train more lay ministers next fall in cooperation with Greenfield Baptist Church. If you feel called to this ministry please contact Pastor Sharon, Elaine Taylor or Barbara Whidden and watch for more information in the upcoming weeks.

FINANCIAL UPDATE


FINANCIAL NUMBERS BY NAOMI VOSS

MAY 31ST 2013

BANK ACCOUNTBALANCE

GENERAL FUND BUDGETINCOMEEXPENSES

MISSIONS BUDGETMISSIONS GIVING

BUILDING GENERAL MISSIONS

$61

0,91

5$

434,

827

$48

5,652

$75

,481

$73

,956

$1,5

50,0

50

29 - C&C : FOOTBALL GAME (RIDERS VS ESKIMOS)

JULY 1 - CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED (CANADA DAY)6 - CONVERGE: YOUNG ADULTS WORSHIP NIGHT10 - IRONMEN BREAKFAST10 - YOUTH MINISTRY OUTDOOR FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT15-19 - VBS SUMMER CAMP28 - YOUTH MINISTRY POOL DAY

3 - CONVERGE WORSHIP NIGHT5 – CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED9-11 – CONVERGE CAMPING TRIP (C&C AND THE CROSSING)

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER 2 - CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED8 – KICKOFF SUNDAY

Financial Updates |Office

CALENDARJUNE


Heartbeat - How long have you at-tended McKernan?Ron Yeske - I have attended McKer-nan all of its 61 years of existence except for about 17 years.

HB - What are some of the Ministry areas you have been involved in at McKernan?RY - I was a Sunday School teacher, President of our Youth Group, on the Diaconate and Church Board. When we had a regular choir, I was a mem-ber and also sang in a male quartet. Currently, I am part of our Greeting Ministry.

HB - What are some of your fondest memories at the church?RY - My late wife, Nettie Anne and I met here at McKernan. We were married, and our children were dedi-cated to the Lord here.

HB - Were you involved in any of the previous renovations/building? What did you do?RY - Yes, I was involved. My memory goes back to the 1950’s when we built the original sanctuary (which later was renovated to become the Children’s Ministry wing). At that time most of the labour to build was

donated. Along with my parents, I helped lay tiles on the stairs going up to the balcony.HB - What was the atmosphere like during the renovations/building process?RY - The atmosphere was one of good fellowship and a sense of satisfaction as we came together to give of our time and abilities; the church was like our home.

HB - What were some of the hurdles that McKernan experienced during those times?RY - I cannot recall any hurdles other than times where God was stretching our faith to accomplish His purposes during our renovations and building.

HB - What would you like to see in the future of McKernan Baptist Church?RY - Once our property redevelop-ment is completed, I would hope and pray that it would kindle a sense of curiosity within the people of our community to check out what we are all about. They would enter our facilities, feel the warmth of our people and hear the gospel message of salvation.

INTERVIEW WITH RON YESKE

RON HELPED IN THE

CONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRST

BUILDING AT MCKERNAN.

HE LAID TILES IN THE ORIGINAL

BUILDING.

FROM ATTENDING WITH HIS PARENTS, TO MEETING HIS SWEETHEART, TO RAIS ING HIS CHILDREN, RON HAS SEEN WHAT

INTERVIEW| People From McKernan


THE CHALLENGE TO STAY IN COMMUNITY

On April 26th, 18 women from McKernan met at the home of Valli Elmgren and “plugged in” to an online women’s conference called “In Real Life”. We watched and listened as women shared their stories…stories of choosing to stay through difficult marriages, long distance friendships and hurtful relationships. We talked about why community is necessary for us, and why it is important to God. We reflected on our fears, the challenges of reach-ing out and what we could do to establish a sense of community around us. We shared a little about ourselves, and took time to visit and meet some-one new.

The timing was significant as we move into a new phase with the redevelopment of our facilities. The next couple of years may not be comfort-able or easy, but we challenged the women of our church to Stay in Community…volunteer, pick up the phone, introduce yourself, invite someone to go for coffee. God created women to need relationships: let’s all make McKernan A Place to Belong!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN COME TOGETHER, SPRAWLED OUT IN SOMEONE’S L IV ING ROOM FOR AN EVENING?

USUALLY THERE IS LOTS OF FOOD, LAUGHTER, SHARING AND MAYBE A FEW TEARS BY GAYLENE KLAPSTEIN

Staying in Community |Women’sMinistry

July 2013

for registration

mckernanbaptist.ca/summercamp

15-19

and volunteers

8:45am to 11:45am

AGES 4 - 11

Central Baptist Church9419 95 Street NW

heartbeat

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