Church Leadership Planning Day

On Saturday, November 8th, the leadership of Calvin CRC gathered together to consider what the next year(s) might bring to our congregation. We reviewed a survey filled out by the leadership team of Elder and Deacons, and from that narrowed down two items that we hope to work on in the coming year. The upshot was the desire to increase in our spirituality through prayer and to look at what outreach truly means for us as a congregation. It was truly a privilege to be part of the day. This church has always been a place where open and honest dialogue occurs and people are not afraid to talk about things, even if they are difficult or uncomfortable. I am proud to be part of a congregation such as this. I look forward to seeing what God will do with these two items, seeing that we know he brought them to our attention in the first place.

The leadership team gathered to interpret the results of the survey.

We break into smaller groups to discuss in more detail our two objectives. Some lively discussions took place : )

Relaxing in between sessions.

Classis Fall Retreat

On October 31 - Nov 2, Classis Eastern Canada's Youth Ministry Team hosted its annual fall retreat at Camp IAWAH. Fifty youth and leaders assembled for a weekend away in the country. The weather was cool, but beautiful. Sunny both Saturday and Sunday. These weekends consist of a speaker, lots of games, taking the challenge of high ropes and rock climbing, fellowship, singing, and lots of great food. This year was another good year for the group. Mr. Smith was our speaker this year. He's been with us before. He always has great stories to tell of his ministry endeavors. He challenged us this weekend to examine our friendships and how we make them, foster them, and keep them. Always good to hear from him. Andrea and her team once again did an excellent job in the area of games. They have the gift (which I don't have). See some of the pictures below. All in all it was a great weekend of fellowship and challenge. See the pictures below to get an idea of what we did.

We spent some time in the cold outdoors doing some games from a long time ago. Here Shawn shows off his skills in the good old sack race.

You Look Cold Chris.

Here they had to take an egg on a spoon put it in their mouth and walk a course. It was fun to watch.

In groups of 4 they also had to make a statue out of newspaper. This is the end result of Christopher's group.

Here's Ken just trying to stay warm by soaking up the rays.

We eventually moved indoors for some games in the gym. Here Ken, Shawn, Chris and others get ready to lock arms in a game that requires others to unlock you as a group. LOTS of fun !!

This is the viewing gallery for the games. I'm tempted to call it the Seniors corner... : )

Here's the group getting ready for another of the many GREAT meals that were served to us at IAWAH.

On Saturday afternoon the group enjoyed Rock Climbing and High Ropes. Both challenging. Here Shawn shows us how to walk the course with no hands. He's about 4 - 5 metres up here.

I couldn't do this.

Here Chris and Zack tackle a course that requires some teamwork.

Chris decided to try this course blindfolded.

Some relax time playing cards.

A snapshot of the rooms. This is still neat compared to what it looked like at the end of the weekend.

Cornwall Youth Service

On Sunday, October 9th, 6 YP and myself made the trek to Cornwall to enjoy an evening of fellowship, food, and faith building at another of our Classis wide youth services. Though the numbers were few (due to the Classis Fall Retreat just happening the week before), the fellowship was good. Our van of 7 sure was interesting. Three boy math geeks and three hyper females. As the km's passed, we all had fun listening to Sam and Shawn recite from memory movies they had seen. I don't know how they do that. : ) The girls kept fighting amongst each other and complaining about not enough room in the back seat. They sang songs and talked about the movies that were being recited. Not a quiet moment during the ride up to Cornwall, or home again : ) Once we arrived we were shuffled to a school gym next door and enjoyed a time to play some volleyball, and other games. I taught Hannah, Rozzy and Megan how to play Sequence. They caught on pretty quick, but Rozzy, remember to pick up a card after your turn is up, eh!! The girls played some Twister, and then, somehow roped me and Shawn into this as well. I think I pulled a muscle in my back doing that. After the games, we enjoyed a great meal of spaghetti. We ate and ate. GREAT food. Then we enjoyed a time of praise and worship in the youth service. Cornwall has some talented musicians, for sure. Our group decided we needed to add some life to the service, so we clapped when we felt like it, and even used some rhythm stuff. It was quite fun. Pastor Herb reminded us that being a Christian doesn't mean you have to grumble about what you can't do, but celebrate what you can and are doing in the world. Then it was back in the van for our return trip home. More movie recitals and lots of fun. Below are some pics of the evening. Enjoy.

Here Sam is ready for anything when it comes to Volleyball.

The girls enjoyed a couple of games of twister. You sure need to flexible in this game.

Shawn and I proved we are not. OUCH! Hey, I just noticed I'm balding too.... : (

Cornwall CRC provided us with GREAT food. Here Hannah takes a Gerbil's portion.

We gathered around the table and enjoyed some food and fellowship together. Megan seems to like smiling for the Camera.

Here, however, she has that deer in the headlight look. Notice how she dissects her ice cream bar. She just can't eat it like others do. : )

That's the thanks I get for taking her picture.

Now Rozzy, well, she doesn't like me taking her picture because she says I always take bad pictures of her. Eye's closed, etc. Hmmmm, maybe she's right!!

Ahh, but this is a much better one, eh Rozzy ?