In This Issue: Our Groups and Activities Planning for the Fall

CONTACT US: (604) 467 1715; haney.pc@telus.net; www.haneypreschurch.org; Minister: Gerard Booy - revhaney.pc@telus.net; Youth Minister: Paddy Eastwood - paddyathaneypres@hotmail.ca

In our fall Bible study, well be reading and studying Amos. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Amos, writes Walter Brueggemann. Amos is an interesting character. He is a visionary who saw the message of the Lord. His hometown, Tekoa, is 5 miles south of Bethlehem on the edge of the desert. There he worked as a shepherd and a caretaker of sycamore fig trees. His prophetic ministry is associated with the sanctuary in the north, Bethel, and the Northern Kingdom. Historically, Amos ministry took place around 760-750 B.C. This was a time of great prosperity for both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. But it was also a time that saw disastrous practices of injustice and exploitation, and flagrant abuses of religion. His message is stark. The Lord roars like a lion from Zion. His message, like the mighty roar of a lion, sends shockwaves through the night and chills down the spine. Amos message afflicts the comfortable. He testifies

against the corruption that sets in when people forget the Lord; when they use the Lords name to legitimize their sin. Will the shepherds message save us from the mouth of the lion? Reading the prophets is not necessarily easy or pleasant. But without it we may just have a false sense of security. In the roar of the Lion from Zion we also discover something else: Gods compassion for the oppressed; Gods own justice; Gods desire for his people to be a people in whose lives justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like an everlasting stream. (5:24) Come listen with me to the roar of the Lion in the words of the shepherd.

Thursday evenings from 7:00 8:30 pm, starting September 13, 2012 Gerard

Some of you may have heard of The Goon Squad, but you may wonder who or what it is. Well, it is a group of four men who get together most Saturday mornings and sometimes during the week, to do repairs and maintenance to the Church. Other jobs they do are the garbage, recycling, tending to the roses and shrubs, keeping the parking lot clear of litter, setting up for Sunday School and many other odd jobs too numerous to mention. In offering their services these men are serving God as well as saving the Church a considerable amount of money! A HUGE THANK YOU to Dick Lyster, Don Thain, Bill Groves and Ernie Streifel

THE GOON SQUAD

A few days ago I happened on this verse from Psalm19:14 which reads: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. As so often happens when I read a passage of scripture it raises questions in my mind. This time was no different and I began to think about how we, i.e., Haney Presbyterian Church worship God on Sunday mornings. The Psalms are sometimes called the Hymn Book of the Bible so they seemed to be a good place to start. Psalm 92 starts off: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High It is surprising (though I suspect it shouldnt be) how many times the words praise and thanksgiving occur in the Psalms. Got me to thinking about what a difference it would make if everyone came to the worship service with nothing on their minds but praise and thanksgiving. But how do we give praise and thanksgiving? Well, the Psalms have something to say about that too. According to Psalm 98:4 we are to Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. The following verses give some idea as to how this is done: Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody, with trumpets and the sound of the horn... Psalm 68:3 says ...Let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy. My dictionary says that jubilant means to shout with joy. Psalm 47:1 affirms this approach: Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. Psalm 81:1-3: adds to this: Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. Raise a song, sound the tambourines, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpets on our festal day. And then Psalm 150:3-5 says Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! I can hear some one saying: Wait a minute! Dont forget we are Presbyterians! We dont do loud shouts of joy, and our hand clapping, if it sometimes happens, is pretty subdued (and even so, sure to bring a few frowns). And I am not sure about this joyful noise business. Sounds pretty loud and disruptive to me and we cant have that. Besides, someone is sure to complain if it gets too noisy. And all those instruments! And clashing cymbals!? (next thing you know someone will want to play drums) And dancing? In the church? But that is not all. Psalm 134:1 says lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord. And in the first letter to Timothy the writer gives the directive that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument. (2:8) Raise our hands? In the church? (thats okay at a hockey or football game) Someone might think we are getting carried away in our enthusiasm and we certainly cant have that. If we get too carried away someone might think we have something to celebrate! Or even worse, getting too religious. And then there is Psalm 149:1 (and others) that instruct us to Sing to the Lord a new song A new song? When everyone (or most everyone) knows that the old familiar hymns are the best? Never mind that some of those old hymns are rather dated and have strange ways of saying things as well as being, in some instances, very poor theology. Something new too often moves us out of our comfort zones and makes us think and we cant have that in the church. We would rather be comfortable and dont like to be challenged or disturbed. Thats not why we go to church.....is it? God, forgive us. Submitted by

R. Dorne Cornish

We have 14 elders who, together with the two ministers, are called the Session. The elders are called by God, elected by the congregation and ordained by the church to provide leadership and exercise spiritual oversight over all the members and ministries of the congregation. Our monthly meetings include an extensive time for pastoral care where we pray by name for the people in our congregation and for various the ministries of the church. We have recently started with circle discussions where we discipline ourselves to listen carefully to the wisdom of one another. We hope that building the Session up in this way will enable us to lead with wisdom and vision. One of our elders, Richard Newman, was commissioned by Presbytery as an elder representative to the 2012 General Assembly in Oshawa. Another one of our elders, Dennis Howard, is a student at VST in preparation for ordained ministry. Dennis is doing summer ministry in Winnipegosis, Manitoba. We are waiting to receive the final report of the church visitation, and will share the findings of the Presbytery visitation with you when it is available. One of the comments that we have heard is that some people do not know who their elders are. We are working on an attractive way to display photos of the elders with the names of the people in their districts. Our priorities over the last two years have been to get our youth ministry established (with the appointment of Paddy) and also to establish a cell-church ministry to enhance our discipleship and foster spiritual growth through relationships. Well continue to work with you to grow our youth ministry and to work towards the time when we can call Paddy as an ordained minister to the congregation.

The Board of Managers is responsible for the temporal and financial affairs of the congregation. The Board consists of 9 elected members, 1 from session, the Minister and the Treasurer. It meets the third Monday of the month at 7:30 from September to June. Meetings during July and August are called by the Chairman when needed. The Board works closely with Session.

Some Updates...

Church roof: If youve parked along the side of the church at the beginning of June, you would have noticed a pile of shingles. We finally managed to get the leaky roof fixed. Weve replaced the large low-slope part of the roof over the sanctuary with a torch-on roof. We still have to replace the stucco on the tower (where the skylight is) with siding. And the ceiling will be painted, probably during the summer. The paint has been generously donated to us. The cost for the work and material for the roof amounted to $3900 Pre-Authorized Remittance: You now have the option of giving your monthly offering by means of preauthorized remittance (PAR)/automatic withdrawal. The system is up and running and the first remittances should go through in June. Pamphlets and registration forms are available in the narthex. You could also speak to Larry Eastwood or Susan Reaveley if you want to find out more. We hope that this would give us a steady, reliable stream of income over time. Youth Minister Fund: The balance in our youth minister fund at the beginning of the year was $18091, enough to cover about 2/3 of the stipend for the youth minister for this year. We are drawing on the fund at the moment, but when the fund runs out Paddys stipend will just become part of our normal budget. And from next year on her whole stipend will be paid for out of general funds. It will be a big jump. We dont have a formal pledge campaign at the moment, but we have an ongoing commitment to financially support this ministry which is invaluable for our church as a whole. Some people kept up their extra giving when the pledge campaign finished, but many didnt. We are writing to encourage you to keep that in mind when you plan your giving to the church. Please help us to keep our commitment and to grow this ministry for the glory of God and the good of our children and youth.

Saturday 29 September 2012

The Mens Group meets for breakfast every second Saturday of the month in the lower hall. The breakfast is prepared by the men. The men start gathering about 8:30 for coffee and conversation, with breakfast being served at 9. We start with an opening prayer. After eating we sing a hymn and then have a devotional prepared by one of our members. Following this the men discuss the content of the devotional. We then go into our business meeting, where we discuss Garage Sales, Golf Tournament, Mens Retreat and any other item brought forth by the men. The funds we raise from our different activities go to supporting our Youth Ministry and Camp Douglas.

8:30am 3pm BCIT Woodlot Training Centre Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge Speakers: Trevor Connor, Craig Mitchell Theme: Pursuing holiness at all times Goals: Examine self through the Scriptures, Develop strategies for walking in obedience, Enjoy victories when trials strike and Breaking habitual sin cycles.

Program Outline: There will be 3 sessions, each approximately 1 hour in duration that will engage participants through rank and reason activities, mining for spiritual gold, storytelling, self-assessment and testimonies. Retreat fee of $25.00 include lunch and refreshment breaks. Retreat brochure and registration form will be available at the end of July. For further information contact John Bell, Retreat Planning Committee Coordinator, at 604 467 8538 or e-mail bellfamily33@telus.net

I would like to begin a theology reading group in

September where we could read and ponder great works

of theology. Does this sound too serious for you? Consider

this. Theology is best done in congregations by people who live daily in the tension of being Christian in the world. Theology is

literally just words about God, and it is far too important for us to consign it to the so-called professional theologians of our time. It is our spiritual work. My idea is that we meet on the 4th Monday evening of every month in the church library around a cup of coffee/tea and a theology book. Well gradually work our way through each book at a pace that we all can manage. For the fall, I would like us to read The Jesus Way by Eugene Peterson. I have benefitted greatly from Eugenes wisdom over the years and would like to share some of that with you. Eugene is a pastor theologian whose passion is that everything in the Scriptures should be liveable. The Jesus way is one of the books in his series of conversations on spiritual theology. In this book, Eugene writes about that which

is unique to the Jesus way. He looks at the ways of those who came before Jesus Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, and Isaiah Herod, the Pharisees, Caiaphas, the Essenes, Josephus, and the Zealots. He calls into question common ways followed by the

and how they revealed and prepared the way of the Lord. And he compares Jesus way with the ways of his contemporaries contemporary North American church, showing how what we have chosen to focus on consumerism, celebrity, charisma, and so forth obliterates what is unique in the Jesus way. (from the back cover) Please let me know if you want to participate so I could order copies of the book. Gerard

Come and meet Daniel and learn about his adventures in Babylon, visit the many shops like the Astronomy shop or Hanging Gardens, participate with your tribe in fun games and much more! To register or for more information, contact: Paddy - paddyathaneypres@hotmail.ca or Sue - haney.pc@telus.net There is a lot of help needed during the week (for example people to serve as shop keepers and tribe leaders), but also to help with preparation.

The Missions Committee meets every second Tuesday in the library at 1pm for approximately one hour. Our purpose is to encourage our congregation to be interested in and support worthy ministries that reach beyond our church familys needs. Some of these outreach projects are in our communinty and some are further out, even overseas. We monitor carefully how the funds are spent and make monthly reports to the committee. Each individual in our group is responsible for an aspect of our ministry and program. We would like to welcome more members to join our group and add their vission to what we are trying to do.

Alice Chambers (Chair)

Jesus told his disciples, You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Well, I tell you, this group of young teens have been the light of my world on Sunday mornings. This year saw our first run at a new church school class for 11-12 year olds. We met early on Sunday mornings (from 9:00 am to 9:45 am). Kudos for the parents who brought them faithfully and got them early out of bed! Why do we have this class? These young teens are at an age where they ask many questions about their world, life, and God. They are starting to form their own opinions and often make important decisions about faith and lifestyle in this period of their lives. Many adults today would tell you that they first heard Gods call when they were young teens. Their spiritual formation requires more solid food than what we can give them during regular Sunday school where they are mixed in with all the little ones. And they are also at an age where they desire to be integrated more fully into the worshipping community of the church. Worship will be a major part of their ongoing Christian journey. Together we are on a journey to discover WHAT WE BELIEVE. The basis of our study is the Scriptures but we highlight Reformed doctrines in a deliberate way, drawing on catechisms which summarize the faith. Essentially we want our children to think more about what we believe about God, about humans and about the relationship between God and humans. How does it work? This semester they met on Sundays from 9:00 9:45 am in the Upper Room; first for a class with Gerard about aspects of our faith and then for 15 minutes with Paddy to help them prepare for worship. Paddy also took them out during the last part of the worship service for a sermon discussion. The format and time may change a little in the fall. We would like to include 13 year olds in the group, and would contact the parents with children in this group to find out what day and time would suit them best. Watch out for the next WE BELIEVE experience when we dive into Gods work.

Join our team and help expand the minds of tomorrow. Our inventive team method of teaching means your services are required

four Sundays in a row three times per year.

Please consider this as we are in real need of more teachers and helpers for the 2012-2013 Church School Year. Thank you! Contact Lynda Gaudiuso at 604-463-9454 or email flgaudiuso@telus.net

For young children we offer the following during the Worship service: For babies and toddlers (downstairs) Following the children s story, children ages 5 10 go to the gym downstairs to learn about God and the Bible.

The Youth and Young Adults Group is for high school and university students. The fall will start with a visit to the Corn Maze on Friday Sept 14 and our regular meetings will start Sunday September 16 .
th th

Each Friday night between 30 and 40 children and youth meet at Haney Presbyterian, participating in four different groups: Chicklettes for girls aged 6-8 HPC Boys for boys aged 8-12 Gods Girls for girls aged 9-13 HPC Guys for boys in high school The programme for the two boys groups includes bible study, snack and games. The two girls groups have a bible study, crafts, snack and games. The fall will kick off with the Corn Maze on September 14th and then regular meetings will start on September 21st , Friday Nights 5 7 pm Wed love to welcome new members! If you have any questions, contact Paddy.

We meet for lunch and then bible study each Sunday 11.30-1.30. Other activities include Fast for Change in October, a monthly games night, leading occasional evening worship services and attending SS7 (Second Sunday at 7pm a youth and young adult evening worship service held at St. Pauls Mission). New members are always welcome! Contact Paddy for more information.

1 Timothy 4:11-12 Dont let anyone put you down because youre young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.

HPCs Youth and Young Adults held its second annual Camp Douglas Work Party and MiniRetreat on May 25-27. Fourteen youth from Haney, Richmond and Langley were joined by more than 50 volunteers (including several from Haney) on Saturday to spruce up the camp ready for the summer. When you have that many hands working, you get a lot accomplished! All in all, 26 different chores were completed. It was a wonderful weekend. It was satisfying to accomplish so much for the camp and when we were not working, we were able to relax at a beautiful ocean front camp.
Mowing the field and grounds Repairing the ramp on Cedar

I hope you can join us next year: May 24-26, 2013 for the youth, May 25 for everyone else! PADDY EASTWOOD

cabin (Haney Presbyterian adopted Cedar a few years ago and is responsible for maintaining it) Painting the bunks, walls and floor of Cedar cabin Removing the moss from the roofs of six cabins and Lone Pine Removing ivy Protecting the pipes in the stream with a rock cover Trimming trees, bush-whacking and weed-whacking Replacing the lid on the creek water tank

The purpose of a church library is to promote the Spirits work in the lives of people through the written word. Christian literature ought to be an active, viable ministry within the life of a church. Reading entertains, admonishes, consoles and comforts, instructs and edifies its readers. Gayle Howard and I have been purchasing current and relevant books to enhance the collection of our church library. We invite you to partake of this literary feast! In a multipurpose room we are trying to emphasize the library aspect of this room by creating more shelf space and a display area for new titles. We would like to create more structure to the borrowing and lending of books such as, for example, having a three or four week borrowing period as does the public library. Many books have been borrowed for such a length of time that they have been declared missing. We are willing to put book reviews or author reviews in the bulletin or newsletter to pique your interest and would encourage other

readers to do this too. We have removed childrens video tapes from the library and would like to gradually replace them with DVDs, though this is expensive. In this area, donations would be appreciated. Actually, the childrens section is used very little so we would encourage parents to bring their children with them and to make use of this resource as a family.

In short, this library belongs to all of us, as a church family. We covet your support and encouragement.
Read, learn and enjoy!

Marla van Hilten

During the school year, the book club generally meets on the last Thursday of the month at 6 : 15 pm for about an hour and a quarter. The majority of the year, we pick a Christian non-fiction book on a relevant topic, or a biography on an individual; and the remaining time we pick a fiction book that has issue's which can lead to a good discussion in the group. Occasionally, we watch a short video and then discuss it. Everyone in the group is free to offer recommendations for the book choice and we try to share books and get the best price for them when we need to buy them. Sometimes we are able to borrow them from other libraries. Over the summer we plan to read a fiction book by Lynn Austin and meet in September for the first discussion. At present there is a group of 6-7 of us meeting regularly, but we welcome anyone who loves a good read and a chat. If you are interested, please talk to Susan Reaveley in the church office.

Susan Embree

The Soup and Sandwich luncheon is served on the last Wednesday of the month at noon. Anyone is welcome to come and many of our Church members bring friends.The luncheon is by donation and the resulting funds are used for many of the smaller items that are needed in the day to day running of the Church. They also fund the Banner Group. We do not serve lunch in July, August or December.

Flora Thain

MEXICAN TRAIN:
The Banner Group meet every Wednesday at 9:30am to around 11:00am. Some days we just discuss future plans other days we are in the midst of making a banner so are very busy with all the component parts. At the moment the members are Margaret Peck, Shirley Lyster, Janne Van Noort and Flora Thain. We will be finished at the end of June and start up again in early September. This past year we have been meeting on Thursday nights occasionally with Ellen Lewis on a project for the balcony and hope to have that finished soon. May 28th was our last night for the summer, we have had a very good year. There has always been enough of us for 2 tables, sometimes 3. We will resume again on Monday Sept 24th @ 7pm. Hope you all have a good and safe summer. See you in September.

Our name says it allwe meet Monday mornings from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. (except on holidays) upstairs to work on crafts which are sold at the annual Haney Presbyterian Family Bazaar. After our summer breakJuly and Augustwe will start up again September 11. Anyone is welcome. The fellowship is great. We always welcome new ideas and skill level is not a requirement. Theres always something for everyone.

The Ladies Evening Fellowship has been an integral part of Haney Presbyterian Church for many years. The membership is open to all ladies of HPC. We meet the first Tuesday of every month from September to June in the fellowship/library room of the church. We meet for fellowship and we also meet to pray, discuss and make decisions as to where the Lord wants us to serve. We plan projects of many kinds because We meet the 1. We like to organize first Tuesday 2. We like to be busy and of every month from 3. We feel this is an important ministry in the church. September to June We are involved simply because we want to be. We are all appreciated for what we in the fellowship/library share of our time and our talents. The fun and fellowship that we share is truly amazing room of the church. and there is a special bond that cant be matched. The gift of Gods presence calls to us, unites us and supports us. We work hard throughout the year. We all contribute according to our capabilities, we are proud of our accomplishments and the sense of community that is encouraged. During the past year we sponsored our successful Family Bazaar last November, the Congregational Christmas Dinner in December, and the Irish Stew Dinner in March. We invited all ladies of the congregation to a social evening to watch the DVD Bad Girls of the Bible. In May we prepared and served the dinner for people attending the regional Presbytery meeting. We arranged Memorial Teas when requested. We assisted with the Soup and Sandwich Wednesday every month; we helped the Mission Committee with preparing and serving refreshments after their concerts. We cleaned the kitchen, we made pies, and we took our turn at Coffee Hour after church. We have a special dinner meeting in December and June filled with fun, food and fellowship and the spirit of God who dances among us and calls to us to appreciate and enjoy life. Since 2003 through the proceeds from our Bazaar, the LEF have contributed over $54,000.00 to vital church projects. With a donation of almost $43,000.00 we helped the congregation to pay off the Synod loan and the church mortgage which now leaves us mortgage free. By paying off the mortgage early, the church was refunded the interest of approximately $12,000.00 . We have also given over $11,000.00 to assist with renovations to the washroom facility in the narthex, to purchase a new refrigerator for the church kitchen and to pay for a new boiler for the church. During the summer we slow down considerably and recharge our batteries. But you will find reminders and subtle hints that the Bazaar will be here before you know it and summer projects will be encouraged for any member of the congregation who would like to help. You will find many of us volunteering at VBS where we are needed the most. And, if an emergency comes up that needs attention, Rev. Booy knows he just needs to telephone or email one of us and we are more than willing to rally round to assist. Having said all that, by September we will be getting itchy feet and will want to be busy again. Many of the activities mentioned at the beginning of this report are traditional events in the life of HPC and so we will once again be organizing the Family Bazaar, the Christmas Dinner, and looking forward to 2013 projects. We are a congregation that is fortunate to have people from many nations. We have been contemplating an International Pot Luck Dinner where we could come together to share our national dress, our culinary specialties, our traditions, our music and dance. We will let the congregation know when this dream becomes a reality. To all ladies of our congregation, we extend a sincere invitation to join us for devotion, fellowship and the sharing your time and talents.

Sharing our national dress, culinary specialties, traditions, music, dance...

International Potluck Dinner?

Hello all you Newcomers! Guess the initials and you too will be asked to contribute time and things on November 17. Just about everybody in the church is involved in some capacity. And the summer is a good way to get a head start for the Haney Presbyterian Church Family Bazaar. Oh dear, I gave it away. Well now that youve circled the date on your calendar, its time to consider what to do this summer. We always have a: 1. Silent Auction: New or exceptionally good items. So you got an almost new bike taking up space in your garagewait a few months. Well take it off your hands. And that antique mantle clock with the chimes that drive you crazy? Have we got a deal for you! 2. Bake Table: Picking berries or fruit? Freeze a few extra bags to bake up some muffins or contribute to the ladies who make the pies. 3. Knitting and Sewing: We often put donated materials in the craft box in the narthex or just create things from what you have at home. 4. New to You: Planning to clean up the attic this summer? We can always use good used itemsespecially those with a Christmas theme. But please box them up and hold on to them until November. 5. Books, CDs, DVDs and Records: will be needed. 6. Christmas Crafts: Make them at home or come on Monday mornings to our craft groupstarting up again in September. 7. Woodcrafts: We love those!!! 8. Jams, Jellies & Preserves: what are summers for?

17 November

Therell be more information in the fall - but for now - well, we hope this will keep you from getting bored this summer. And oh, yes, did you remember to circle that date on the calendar? Its Saturday, November 17.

1. All those envelopes and pre-paid postcards are worth money to the Ladies Evening Fellowship. Instead of throwing them out, collect the ones that are pre-paid with a Canadian address on them, and bring them to the church. Put them into the lovely basket on the right hand credenza in the foyer (narthex) and the LEF group will be able to get a % refund on the postage. Now thats easy! 2. Save-On-Foods has re-started its gift certificates for till slips. Every time you shop at Save-On-Foods, save your till slip and bring it to the church. Put it in the same basket as the pre-paid post-cards. When we have $2,000.00 worth of slips, we get a $50 gift certificate which helps keep up the kitchen supplies. 3. And dont forget to save the stamps from your letters and put them into the blue stamp box above the coat racks. The women teachers group Karin belongs to uses them towards money raised for 3 scholarships for high school students.

Now Thats Recycling with a Purpose!

We were founded when several women in the church believed that God called us to reach out to our community with the Good News. Our sole purpose is to host 2 womens breakfasts each year on a Saturday morningone in spring and one in the fallwhere we can invite women from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows to enjoy a morning of fellowship with music, one or two speakers, and a light breakfast with friends. We are a loosely connected group of women volunteering their time to plan, invite, prepare, serve and clean up. Many women from our church have been part of the Harmony Workers, giving a morning or a couple of hours of their time, sharing their ideas, their gifts and their service. There is no long term commitment. We meet twice before each breakfastmeeting time is printed in the bulletin a week or two in advance; women decide what they would like to do and then do it. If you would like to participate, come to our first planning meeting Tuesday, September 18 at 10:30 a.m. or come earlier and join in the Tuesday morning coffee group for a cup-a before the meeting. If mornings dont work for you, e-mail Karin at breuerka@telus.net and you will be included in all mailouts including job-openings. If you dont have e-mail, phone Karin at 604-460-0182.

On Sunday September 23 well have an OPEN HOUSE where you could interact with the cell-group leaders and sign up for a group of your choice.

rd

About 16 people have come forward to participate in the Leaders-in-Training group. They will meet weekly as a cell-church during the months of June, July and August after which theyll make the choice whether they want to continue as leaders of their own groups or not. Cell-church ministry is something new for us. The idea is not that it replaces existing groups. It is just another ministry opportunity for those who want to be part of a small group of believers who get together regularly to study Scripture, pray with one another, and serve one another in the love of God. Our hope is simply to bring people together in Christian relationships to foster discipleship and spiritual growth. We believe that it would positively enhance every aspect of our church life. We also hope that there would be daytime as well as evening groups so that everyone who wants to can participate.