The Gathering Place

Leading Women 2008 (A National Christian Leadership Conference for Women)

February 28, 29 + March 1, 2008

Toronto ON

MB Leading Women Scholarships Available at www.mbconf.ca

Join us on Sunday July 22nd @ 10:00 a.m. at Madden Community Hall for our famous Church Picnic/Baseball Game.  Please bring a salad, or dessert, a lawn chair, baseball glove and some sun screen.  We will be traveling out to the Madden Community Hall. 

Directions to Madden. Travel West on Highway 567 from Airdrie.  Turn north (right at Golden Rod Community Hall) on Highway 794. Travel 21.7 kilometers north to hamlet of Madden. Continue travelling north through Madden. Baseball diamond is on the left hand side of the road (west side) before Madden Community Hall.  If you pass Beaver Dam Golf Course you have gone too far.

All Youth are invited to Nose Creek Park on Friday June 22nd @ 6 pm for a Free Concert.  The bands who will be performing are The Clay Weiler Band, Traced Image, Steve Hazeltine, Ilythia and more.  Come and bring your friends.  Check out www.youthflood.com

“Without vision the people perish,” so goes the proverb. It is amazing to me that many churches do not have a vision to reproduce themselves. It is a simple plan “multiply and fill the earth” is one of the Lord’s first commands to mankind. It is kind of like watching my wife plant her garden. She asked me to rototiller the soil, we threw in some fertilizer and softened things up and then she simply put seed in, covered it with soil, put on the water and waited until the sun came out. The all by itself principle took place. The greenery is breaking through the soil and we can’t wait for our yummy vegetables to grace our table.

So our church, in it’s DNA has a multiplying gene. We are not content to have one church or even mega church, we know and believe and trust God that we will be a partner in Him in reproducing ourselves. We are so excited by Vision 2012-24, our denominational credo to have 24 new initiatives by 2012. Our personal goal is 2010. By 2010 we believe that God is calling us to begin a new initiative in Airdrie or beyond. What is a new initiative? A new initiative is anything that God will birth from within us: a new church plant, a multi cultural effort, a youth initiative. I am so looking forward to see what God will birth in The Gathering Place for his glory!

I was thinking about our Vision as a church this afternoon and it was reaffirming to me why we exist. Our church was put in place to share God’s story and our story within the context of our Airdrie community. For my own personal vision and we as a church, it is so vitally important to be the church in action. God’s love is not just meant to be “love in words” but “love in action and in truth” as I am reminded in Scripture. I trust that as this next week builds with momentum for Love Airdrie that we will shower our community with love, so that they will say, “Maybe God really does love me?”

Join us on Sunday July 1 at 10:00 a.m. for our first Outdoor Summer Service at Mac and Gina Horwood’s new home. The address is 777 Luxstone Landing SW. In case of rain, we will meet in their basement.  If you are new to the community we would love to see you there. Please bring a lawn chair.

Join us Saturday July 21 @ 7:00 a.m. for golf at Tooth of the Dogpound Golf Course. Cost is $30.00/9 holes (Powercart $15.00), $38.00 for 18 holes (Powercart $30.00). Walking is free!

Join us Friday September 14 to Sunday September 16 for our second annual church family retreat at Camp Evergreen. The Gathering Place will cover the cost of your attendance…all we need from you is a $20 deposit/individual or $50 deposit/family to secure your spot.  Please check out www.camp-evergreen.com for more information and directions for Camp Evergreen.

Please mark your calendars for Sunday June 24th for Love Airdrie. Love Airdrie is a random act of kindness day. In the past we have had a concerted effort on behalf of the churches to do a big event. This year each church is responsible for their own day’s events. Let’s start to dream about how we can partner with God in serving our city.

Ladies, please mark June 14th on your calendars for our next Ladies Evening. We have a gardening theme and will be taking a drive to learn from an avid gardener in her own yard. Please confirm attendance with Bev or Tandy so we can arrange car pooling. We’ll be leaving at 6:30 pm from St. Martin’s School parking lot. A small cost will apply.