Elder update

“He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

 – Luke 24:6-7

 

GENERAL MINISTRY UPDATE

  • Spring at Redemption is such a wonderful season – ministries are all busy, our Women’s Radiant conference is coming up, and most importantly, we get to celebrate Easter.
  • We are so thankful to God for how He is obviously at work in our church. Our Sunday service attendance continues to be on the rise, which means people are hearing the Gospel and the Word is going out. Praise God!
  • Our attendance over all three services on Easter Sunday (including kids) was 1724.
  • A number of people have expressed a desire to be baptized, so we are planning two baptism services this spring. Please pray for those who are writing their testimonies and preparing to be baptized.
  • With our Sunday attendance increasing, and these special services coming (when we typically have a lot of guests), please remember to arrive on time, and be gracious with our ushers as they try to seat everyone.
  • We will be taking a pause on our Genesis series through the summer but look forward to picking it back up in September.
  • Our small groups will be wrapping up in the coming weeks for the summer, so if you are looking to join a small group, you may need to wait until September.
  • Please mark your calendar for Sunday June 23, when we will be having our Annual General Meeting. All are welcome – watch the e-bulletin for more details in the coming weeks.

 

FACILITY UPDATE

  • We are in the process of wrapping up things with the city for our renovations. We continue to thank God for enabling us to transform our lower level to have such a wonderful space for fellowship.
  • The biggest need in our building at this time is classroom space. Our Kids Ministry is maxing out on Sundays, and having to turn families away.
  • We are looking at plans to make the gym a more usable space on Sunday. This is very preliminary, but the goal is to make that space usable for classrooms, both for Kids Ministry, and to possibly hold other classes during second service on Sundays. Watch for more details as we figure out a plan.
  • We previously communicated the plan to have a Men’s multi-use washroom on our second floor. The space we were looking to use is not large enough, so we have had to put a pause on this project for the time being.

 

 

 

FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • We are currently a little behind budget for our year-to-date general donations. While it is normal for us to be behind this time of year, we would encourage you all to give generously and regularly. We would love to see a surplus, so we can be generous with ministries outside of our own, seeking to better advance the kingdom of God.
  • The bulk of our work for our 2023 financial audit will be happening in April. Financial statements will be sent to our members prior to the AGM.

 

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

 

Radiant Women’s Conference

  • Our annual Women’s Conference, Radiant, is coming up on June 7-8, and tickets are now available!
  • The main event is held in Oakville, but we will be hosting the conference here in London as well. Main sessions will be livestreamed from Oakville, with our own live worship.
  • This year, there are three main session speakers – Andrea Thom, Lydia Brownback, and Sarah Dobrenski.
  • Women, this conference is a wonderful opportunity to take time out of the busyness of life and focus on your relationship with Christ, and with other women at Redemption. We would strongly encourage you to come to this conference and bring a friend. You will leave encouraged in your walk with the Lord, and with deeper friendships.
  • Visit www.rbclondon.ca/women for more information and to register.

 

Redemption Marriage Conference

  • We are excited to announce that Redemption will be hosting a marriage conference this fall on September 27-28, with Dave Harvey.
  • Dave has written several marriage books, including “When Sinners Say I Do” and “I Still Do”.
  • Dave is also the president of the church association we are a part of – the Great Commission Collective (gccollective.org).
  • Dave will be here, in person, and we expect this conference will sell out. Mark your calendar now and watch for details in the coming weeks.

 

“And he believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness.” – Genesis 15:6

GENERAL MINISTRY UPDATE

  • Happy New Year Redemption! As we begin a new year together as a church family, we are reminded of God’s kindness and faithfulness to us – He is good, all the time.
  • We enjoyed a wonderful time celebrating Christmas together and the birth of our Saviour. While some of you were missing having a “White Christmas”, we were thankful that the roads were clear and safe, as we had over 1700 join us for our services on Christmas Eve – praise God for His stirring in the hearts of many!
  • We continue to see many new families attending Redemption, so we would encourage all of you – even the introverts, and those of you who don’t serve in Guest Services – to say “hi” to someone you don’t know each week. Let’s all be loving God and loving others.
  • Our Sunday attendance has been consistently on the rise, so we’d like to remind you – if you want your choice of a seat, or a guarantee of seating in the Worship Centre, remember to come early.
  • Many of you like the “aisle seats”, which we completely understand, but if you are someone who is just as happy in the middle of a row, it would really help our ushers if you could fill up the middle of rows first and use every seat. We’d like to be able to fit as many in as we can.
  • We have been continuing our study through the book of Genesis this fall, and after a brief break for Christmas, have picked it back up. We are excited for what God will teach us through His Word.

FACILITY UPDATE

  • We are excited to have our new vestibule in use! When you are entering and exiting the building (including during the week), please use this as the main entrance as it will help keep the winter weather out of our lobby.
  • There are a few remaining touch ups on the vestibule, which we plan to finish in the coming weeks and months.
  • As you may have noticed when you are here, we’ve added some acoustic panels in the lobby, and hopefully you’ve also noticed, this helps reduce the overall volume on Sundays. We are hoping this project will wrap up in the coming weeks as well.
  • We have a few other projects for 2024, including a new storage area for the lobby, as well as a new accessible washroom on the second floor, with a renovated multi-use washroom where the current accessible washroom is.
  • As was announced in our e-bulletin and you may have seen on Sunday, we’ve recently changed the format of our Step 1 event, to take place after both services in our upstairs lobby. One of the blessings of a busy ministry is that we are short of rooms to use, so this was the only location that worked. We would ask you all to refrain from walking through the upstairs lobby on Sundays for 20 minutes after both services, on weeks where Step 1 is taking place. Also, if you are looking for any of our staff on those weeks, that is likely where they will be.


FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • We are so grateful to God, for all of you, for your amazing generosity. As a church, we were able to collect $47,079.15 towards our Christmas Offering! This is the highest amount we have ever collected for our Christmas Offering – thank you! These funds (100% of it) will go to bless the three ministries selected for our 2023 Christmas Offering. Next month in one of our services, we will give an update on how God has used your generosity to bless these other ministries.
  • Again, we are thankful to God for your generosity, as we were able to end the year strong with donations to our General fund. While some 2023 expenses are still coming in, we are confident that our 2023 giving will cover our 2023 operating expenses. Thank you!
  • Our annual audit will begin in the coming weeks – please pray for our Finance team.


MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

  • We continue to see an increase in membership applications, which is very encouraging. We are so thankful for the many new people who have chosen Redemption as their home church, and to commit to serving and being discipled as a part of our church.
  • Just a reminder, you may think you are a member, but if you haven’t formally applied and been accepted into membership, you might not be. The requirements to become a member at Redemption are:
    • Profess faith in Christ
    • Be baptized
    • Attend Step 2
    • Be serving in an area in the church (sometimes, due to different seasons of life, this may not be possible, or possible within our church)
    • Be in discipleship (small group), if able
    • Complete and submit a Membership application form
    • Be approved for membership by our elders
  • If you are a member at Redemption, you are invited to join us for our Members-Only meeting on Sunday February 25 at 6:00pm here at the church.


OTHER UPDATES

Church Planting

  • The Lord enabled us to send a team to Romania in November to connect with Deo Gloria, a GCC church plant in Sibiu which we are financially supporting.
  • The trip was a wonderful time of building relationships with the leadership and church in Romania, as well as attending the GCC Eastern Europe conference. Please be praying for Pastor Betuel, his family and elders, as well as the church.
  • We will have an update in one of our upcoming services, where you will hear from a few of our team members. We praise God for the work He is doing in Romania.
  • We are also continuing to work with Iglesia Biblica Redencion – the GCC church plant in Belize. We had looked at sending another team this summer to help with some practical needs, but instead, we are looking at taking a different direction this year and sending a smaller team to do more leadership building. Please be praying for pastor Pedro and the church.
  • We also continue to financially support the GCC plant in Edmonton. They are just over a year into their launch, and growth has been slow, however they had a very good fall with many new families plugging in. They are hoping to be self-sustaining in another year or so. Please be praying for Pastor Kyle and their team.

“But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.” – 2 Timothy 1:12

 

GENERAL Ministry UPDATE

  • Spring is here, and we are very excited for Easter. Don’t forget to come early for our Good Friday services on April 7 at 9:00 and 11:00am, and Easter Sunday at our regular service times – 9:00 and 11:15am. We are expecting it to be full, so plan to arrive early!
  • This ministry season has been a very encouraging time at Redemption. We have seen God’s provision and working in our mid-week ministries and Sundays. We are seeing lots of new people plugged into discipleship, serving, giving, and worshipping.
  • God graciously continues to save many, and the regular baptisms we saw through the pandemic has continued into 2023. We are planning three more baptism services this May and June. With these three baptism dates included, we will have close to 40 people baptized already in 2023!
  • Our Soul Care Ministry, which is still a relatively young ministry, continues to grow. We currently have seven certified counsellors, with four more in the process of certification. Since we started this ministry two years ago, we have had close to 100 people receive biblical counselling. We are thankful to God for the discipleship that has happened and lives changed through the Soul Care Ministry. Please pray for faithfulness in this crucial area.
  • Our Free Indeed Men’s conference was held in February, and we saw about 260 come out to our London location and be fed from worship and the Word. Our Women’s Conference, Radiant, is coming up June 2-3. We will be simulcasting the main sessions from Oakville, with our own live worship and workshops. Registration opens April 1 at rbclondon.ca/radiant.

 

FACILITY UPDATE

  • Thank you, God, for the lobby! It is such a wonderful sound on Sunday to hear our people gathered together in fellowship. This is just what we had in mind when we started down the path of renovations, and it has been wonderful to see the outcome.
  • In recent weeks, we have opened up a new Information area in the lobby, specifically for new guests. If you are bringing someone new out on Easter, or anytime, please bring them by the Information area. We will continue to have an elder at the front of the Worship Centre following each service for any of our regulars who would like to talk about the sermon or ask a question.
  • Work on our vestibule has been delayed, and may run into early summer, but it will get done!
  • We are also still planning to do some renovations to the washrooms on the upper level, to provide a multi-use Men’s washroom and a new location for an accessible washroom. It will likely be late 2023 or early 2024 before we get to this project, but it’s on the radar.
  • If you are eager to get outside this spring, and looking for something to do on a Saturday, we would love your help on our clean-up day, to do some lawn care, look after the gardens, etc. We are still firming up a date, but would love to hear from you inf you are interested. Or, if you’d be interested in joining our regular lawn care team, we’d love to hear from you too. Contact lawncare@rbclondon.ca.

 

Financial Update

  • After seeing a wonderful, miraculous provision by God to close out our fiscal 2022 year, we are thanking Him for a healthy start to 2023. We are falling behind budgeted income, but that is normal for our first quarter. There is not as big of a gap as previous years, so we are thankful.
  • In March, we did a one-week Benevolence offering. These funds will be used to help people who have hit a season of suffering and have practical needs we can help with. We are thankful to God for your generosity that brought in over $16,000 to use for benevolence. Thank you!
  • Our annual audit is underway. The audit takes several months, but by late May or early June, it will wrap up and our members will receive our audited financial statements.
  • Our Annual General Meeting is scheduled for June 11 at 6:00pm and will be open to both members and non-members.

 

OTHER UPDATES

Knollwood Baptist Church Update

  • We asked Knollwood for an update on how things are going, and their Lead Pastor, Nate Klahsen, responded, “God has been and is good and kind.”
  • Knollwood is a church in our city that is in a revitalization, and we have partnered with them and provided some support. Although Knollwood is not a GCC church, nor do they have any intention of becoming one, they are a gospel church who we are joyfully aligned with.
  • God is at work at Knollwood. They have recently had a baptism service and look forward to another one coming up with four more people who are professing Jesus Christ as Lord.
  • Redemption was able to provide support to Knollwood to be able to (among other things) hire a new Associate Pastor, Chris Wood, who started in early February. Chris and his family have been a huge blessing at Knollwood as Chris oversees their Adult Discipleship and Evangelism.
  • Chris, has been able to put an increased focus on evangelism as they have started a street evangelism ministry. A few of their Young Adults, including those new to the faith, are expressing a desire to participate and have gone out with Chris.
  • Since the beginning of this new year, Knollwood has been blessed to bring in seven new members, and more are coming. Their Sunday attendance averages around 140. They are blown away by what God is doing and are humbled to be used by Him.
  • As a church, they continue to pray for us and are thankful for Norm, the Elders, and members of Redemption.

 

Heritage College and Seminary Update

  • Redemption is a partner church with Heritage, and it has been wonderful to see them also having a strong school year. God is at work in many ways through the school and in the executive, faculty, staff, and students.
  • We rejoice that Heritage has received approval to start (Lord willing) construction on a new seminary building sometime in 2023 to allow for continued growth and expansion of the seminary.

 

GCC UPDATE

  • GCC (Great Commission Collective, gccollective.org) is the church association we are a part of, and we now have 26 GCC churches in Canada.
  • Additionally, there are 47 GCC churches in the US, and another approximately 40 internationally located GCC churches in the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Nepal, East Africa, South Asia, and Scotland.
  • GCC is actively planting churches around the world and numerous churches are transitioning in to join our network, including three just in the past month – one in California, one in Michigan, and one in Florida. GCC Canada is in conversation with numerous Canadian churches praying about joining our network.
  • GCC is also beginning to train pastors and help churches who are in a revitalization process, which is exciting to us at Redemption London as we have seen this as a key area in the city of London where we could come alongside and prayerfully as well as practically help churches in undergoing a revitalization themselves.
  • Our GCC network is healthy and growing and we are especially thankful for the wonderful relationships and partnership we have with other GCC Canada churches.
  • This coming October the GCC National/International conference will be held at Hope Oakville, October 23-26. We are expecting a packed building, so watch in the next months for when we let you know tickets are going on sale as we would encourage you to consider attending. There will be some amazing main sessions of worship and the Word, as well as many workshops and a chance to see what God is doing in our association world-wide.

 

NEW MEMBERS

The following people were excitedly welcomed into membership in the first quarter of 2023:

  • Galia Brown
  • Tim Brown
  • John Champ
  • Pamela Champ
  • Sara Griffioen
  • Andrew Hill
  • Clarey Hodge
  • Steve Hodge
  • Paul Karpovich
  • Shira Krieger
  • Tim Landry
  • Doug Mercer
  • Ruth Mercer
  • Diana Prokhor
  • Robbie Sparrow
  • Rebecca Vanderform
  • Scott Vanderform

GENERAL Ministry UPDATE

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” – Lamentations 3:22-23

  • Happy New Year Redemption! Join us in thanking God for His faithfulness as we look back on 2022 and ahead to what He has in store for 2023.
  • We began preaching through 1 and 2 Timothy in the fall and are on schedule to finish these books by the end of May or early June.
  • We also have our Men’s Free Indeed conference coming up February 3-4. This is a highlight every year and we have seen God do miraculous work in the hearts of men at this conference. We will be simulcasting the main sessions from Oakville, with our own live worship and workshops. Register now at rbclondon.ca/freeindeed
  • Easter will be here before we know it, and our team has already started making plans. We will have two services on Good Friday (April 7), and our two regular services on Easter Sunday (April 9).
 

FACILITY UPDATE

  • We knew the work on our new vestibule would extend into the spring, but some things are still getting done. The following will be done sometime between now and late spring:
    • Steel frame installed
    • Poured cement floor and in floor grates to trap snow and water
    • Windows and new doors (two sets of double doors)
    • Roof
    • Rubber membrane on roof
    • Heating system
    • Siding around top
  • In the meantime, we are very thankful for Big Top Tents (bigtoptents.ca) for lending us our temporary vestibule as this helps keep the weather out of our lobby and makes a nicer entrance.
  • In the new year, we will also be moving our Welcome area – renamed to “Info Spot” – to our new lobby downstairs. We hope this will allow us to better connect with first-time guests.
 

FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • We, like many other churches, had our challenges in 2022, but we are very grateful to God for the many things He continues to do.
  • We have seen so many new people coming to our church and join our existing people in faithfully supporting the ministry, which is exciting.
  • By God’s provision, through your faithful and generous donations, we were able to finish the year with meeting our budgeted donations. While we still have some expenses coming in for 2022, it’s looking like we will be able to cover all our operating expenses from our General fund donations – praise God!
  • Inflation soared in 2022, and there has been pressure on jobs, uncertainty in the markets, housing going crazy, and a financial recession happening. Through all of this, God continues to provide, for which we thank Him and are encouraged by your generosity.
  • Aware that we are in a difficult season financially in our country and province and seeing its press on our finances, we decided it would be prudent to seek to reduce our 2023 budget. So, we are bringing in our new 2023 budget with a reduction of 3.5% from our 2022 budget.
  • At a member’s meeting in January, we will present our 2023 budget. Our annual audit will be commencing soon, and we will have audited 2022 financial statements available for our Annual General Meeting (members only) in June.
  • Not only were Redemption givers very generous to our general fund this Christmas season, but we also saw a wonderful response to our special Christmas offering. Every year we collect a Christmas offering to give to other ministries, outside our church, as we think this reflects the heart of Christ, to be generous to other gospel ministries. We are thrilled to announce that just over $35,000 was donated this year to our Christmas offering and our elders discerned God’s leading that all of this (as we announced before Christmas) would go to the GCC Doxa Eglise Biblique (Doxa Bible Church, eglisedoxa.ca) church plant in Brossard Quebec, which is a suburb of Montreal. We will be sending them this money in the next few weeks, praying it will both bless and encourage their work in the gospel in the wonderful city of Brossard.
  • Your 2022 donation receipts will be available in the coming weeks. Watch your email for a notification when it is ready to download.
 

NEW MEMBERS

We are in the process of reviewing and revamping membership at Redemption. We want to increase the emphasis given to this, as we think membership is both Biblical and beneficial to our congregation and ministry. We will be implementing a number of new efforts related to membership in 2023 and are excited to welcome the following individuals into membership in the last quarter of 2022:
  • Tara Attrill
  • Vonne Harlette Valeroso
  • Helena Morgan
  • Cathy Carrier
  • Kirsty Ng
  • Don Klassen
  • Sharon Enwright
  • Dan Charbonneau
  • Susan Nelson
  • Mike Nelson
  • Lauren Wiebe
  • Camilo Uriza

GENERAL MINISTRY UPDATE

  • Fall is here and along with a crisp breeze, there is a lot of excitement in the air about all that is happening around Redemption. After the last three years we have had, we can all agree that it is wonderful to see our ministries bustling with activity.
  • We’ve had a wonderful fall-kick off, with many new people coming out and getting involved.
    • Sunday service attendance has been on an upward trend, starting to get closer to pre-pandemic numbers (both services, including Kids Ministry)
    • Our Men’s ministry had a wonderful kick-off with approximately 110 men registered.
    • Our Women’s ministry has just over 200 women registered in total (including morning, evening, and online).
    • Young Adults groups are back in full swing, with six groups meeting each week in various homes around London.
    • The first night of youth was a night full of excitement and energy (and a lot of candy), with 141 youth attending.
    • Our Kids ministry never stops, but attendance on Sundays this fall has been around 150 to 170 kids each week (with more volunteers needed to help out J).
  • This is our first full ministry year with the addition of Scott Vanderform to our preaching team. Scott will join Norm and Ian in preaching through 1 and 2 Timothy this year. We are excited about what God will do through the preaching of His Word.
 

FACILITY UPDATE

  • Judging by the flurry of activity in our new lobby on Sundays, you are all enjoying this new space! The lobby, for the most part, is complete. Our HVAC is still to be installed, but that will only affect air conditioning for next summer. We are still finishing up some things on the technology side, but the space is done and many of you are already enjoying it, not only on Sundays, but also in our mid-week ministries.
  • This fall, we will be moving our Guest Reception/Welcome area down to the lobby as well.
  • Work on the vestibule will continue over the coming months, and it could be completed before Christmas, but it may run into the new year.
  • Other projects around the building are on our radar as well – including better Men’s washrooms on our upper level.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • Through the summer, the gap between our budgeted donations and our actual donations had grown, at one point reaching a double-digit (percentage) deficit. Some shortfall is normal through the year, and we are usually able to catch up in December, however, this is a larger shortfall than normal, and we know finances are tight for everyone, so we are praying about this.
  • We are encouraged, however, that the past month has seen an increase in giving.
  • We have been able to completely fund our renovations out of the proceeds from the sale of our land on Colonel Talbot a few years ago, and therefore, thanks to the provision from God of both these funds and many volunteers who have done a lot of work, we have not had to use our general budget for the renovations.
  • Our total cost for the renovations, to date, is approximately $610K. This includes:
    • $248.3K for asbestos removal (mandatory by the government prior to renovation)
    • $41.5K for the portable (The Market ministry uses this)
    • $51.9K for the folding partitions in rooms 103 and 104 (to make up for lost classrooms due to opening the back of the building for the new lobby)
    • $268K in remaining costs (architectural, mechanical, and electrical drawings, electrical work, flooring, permits, furniture, technology, etc.)
  • Many of you are taking advantage of our new option to give via E-Transfer. Just please remember to include your name (and address, if we don’t already have it) in the comments section of your transfer. Several people have a name on their bank account that does not indicate who they are (for example, initials), so we have no way to attribute the donation to you for tax receipt purposes, as we don’t know who the donation is from.
  • Giving via online banking, credit card, cash, or cheque is still an option as well.
  • We are praying for you all, as we know between the pandemic and inflation, many are hurting financially. We would ask, if you would, to also please pray for us, that God would provide and we would be able to reduce or eliminate our deficit, by the end of the year. Thank you.
 

CHRISTMAS AT REDEMPTION

Our staff have been making plans for Christmas this year, so we wanted to give you some information. Christmas Eve Services: Saturday December 24 at 4:00pm and 6:00pm. We are looking forward to gathering together for a traditional Christmas Eve service. Christmas Day Services: Sunday December 25 A pre-recorded, on-demand service will be available to watch on our website. There will not be any in-person services. Please enjoy this day with your family, celebrating the birth of our Saviour, and enjoying the service we provide for you to watch together at home.

NEW MEMBERS

Our Elders have been praying and discussing our approach to membership over the past year and have determined that we should increase the visibility and commitment to membership.  We think this is Biblical and helpful to our congregation.  We will communicate more about membership in the coming months, as well as revamping the process for becoming a member and for welcoming new members into the church. The following individuals were approved for membership this quarter:
  • Paul Yu
  • Vanessa Acevedo
  • Tiago da Silva Ferreira

GCC CONFERENCE

  • Great Commission Collective Canada (the church planting association we are part of) is hosting a dynamic, soul-stirring conference called, “Press On”, this fall at Hope Bible Church in Oakville. We are expecting this to be a can’t-miss conference.
  • For anyone who has been to these conferences pre-covid, you know what an encouragement it is to join with hundreds of others from GCC churches for time in worship and the Word.
  • If you are new to Redemption, this is a great way to discover the large and healthy fellowship that we are part of. Take this opportunity to feed your heart and soul on some wonderful teaching and workshops.
  • The conference is October 25-27 (a Tuesday evening to Thursday noon) and tickets are now on sale. For more information and to get your ticket, visit gccollective/events.ca.
  • We know of many from Redemption who are already registered and are hoping there will be many more! Let’s pack it out with many Redemption London people; call a friend and go together!
 

GENERAL MINISTRY UPDATE

  • We’ve had a wonderful close to the ministry season as things continue to return to normal, post-pandemic.
  • Many, many new people and families are attending our church, and attendance is slowly increasing to pre-pandemic levels.
  • In addition to the many new families joining our church, we have been blessed by the testimonies of those who have been baptized this past ministry season – almost 40 people since September and many more in 2021 and 2020! What a blessing to hear stories of God at work.
  • We wrapped up our study in the book of Matthew early this spring and followed with our Soul Care series. This Soul Care series has been a blessing and encouragement to many. We would like to remind and implore all of you – in times of trial and difficulty, turn to the Word of God as it is sufficient for all we need in our lives, including times of sorrow, suffering, loss, and pain.
  • The summer was kicked off with the first of three “Summer Sunday BBQs”. This event was a huge success – what a wonderful opportunity to fellowship together this summer. Our next BBQ is on July 24, and we are looking forward to seeing even more out.
  • Finally, this summer we introduced our new E-Bulletin. This has replaced our paper bulletins and will be sent out weekly. If you are not already receiving the E-Bulletin, use the QR code below to subscribe.

FACILITY UPDATE

  • Our renovations are progressing well and a few weeks ago we received the full permit from the city. Praise God!
  • We are now waiting on our first rough-in inspection from the city before we can drywall the end walls. Once that is complete, we will finish all the painting, then install carpet.
  • All the technology in our new lobby will be installed late this summer. At that point, other than the vestibule, the new lobby will be complete.
  • Work on the vestibule will likely begin late July and take two to three months to complete. The vestibule will help keep the weather, and mess from the weather, out of our new lobby.
  • We are excited about the many options this room provides – primarily as a gathering place on Sundays, but also for some of our mid-week ministry events.
  • We are hoping to, sometime before the end of the year, turn a storage area upstairs into a new accessible washroom, converting the existing Men’s/accessible washroom upstairs back into just a Men’s washroom with multiple stalls.
  • Be sure to check out rbclondon.ca/renovations to stay up to date on what’s happening in the building. This page is updated regularly.
 

FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • We are thanking God for a great AGM (Annual General Meeting) in June, and the wonderful report back from our auditors regarding our 2021 financials. Thankful to the Lord for His provision and for the excellent assessment by our auditing accountants.
  • We are a little further behind in our 2022 finances than we would normally be at this point in the calendar year, so are looking to cut some out of our 2022 budget in areas that do not impact, in any manner, the ministry we are seeking to do this year.
  • This summer, we were able to get set up to accept E-Transfers as a new vehicle for making your donation to Redemption. If you have not previously donated to the ministries at Redemption, please be sure to include your name and address in the comments section so we can send you a donation receipt. The email address to send your E-Transfer to is give@rbclondon.ca.
  • We are thankful to God for all of you who give so faithfully, allowing us to continue with all the ministries at Redemption. If you are new to Redemption and haven’t started giving regularly yet, we would encourage you to take this step of obedience in putting God and His work first in your finances.

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

– 2 Corinthians 9:7

GENERAL MINISTRY UPDATE

  • “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven”… we are so thankful that it seems the season of the COVID-19 pandemic may be slowly coming to an end. It has been wonderful to be able to remove all the restrictions and gather together for worship. We pray that this would continue, although the rising case counts in “wave 6” and the increased calls for masking by many are something we are watching.
  • As we get back to a “new normal”, please remember that if you would like to wear a mask to services, we welcome you to do that for as long as you need to, but they are not required. Also remember that if you are ill in any manner, to stay home and not come to services or mid-week ministries until you are better.
 

MID-WEEK MINISTRY UPDATE

Men’s Ministry
  • Men’s ministry was hit hard by the Covid restrictions but we’re starting to see more men come out.
  • We just started our study in 2 Thessalonians and have ten groups, with nine in-person and one online.
  • In all we have over 80 men involved and asking the Lord to bring more!
  • We have a Men’s Breakfast scheduled for Saturday May 14.
Women’s Ministry
  • 150 women are registered in the spring Bible study session – offered in the morning, evening, and online.
  • 160 women attended our Spring brunch on Saturday April 6 – Betty VanRees from Heritage College and the Canadian Biblical Counselling Coalition was the speaker.
  • Radiant (our Annual Women’s Conference) is coming up on May 27-28. Invitations have been sent to 28 churches, and over 140 tickets have been sold already for our simulcast location.
  • Please pray for Linda, our Director of Women’s Ministry, as she has been asked to serve on a newly formed Women’s Ministry committee with the GCC (our church association).
Small Groups and Discipleship Ministry
  • Small Groups up and running: 3 Discipleship Groups, 4 Growth Groups, 5 Language Groups (with 3 potential new Growth Groups starting May 2022).
  • Coming Up: “How To Pray with Others” Training Group, Sundays at 1:00pm starting May 15th.
  • Please pray for new leaders for more groups (both finding and training). We’d love to have everyone in our church family connected to others in regular group ministry.
Hispanic Ministry
  • There are currently four Hispanic Small Groups running, as well as a Prayer Group, Theology class, and a group doing Biblical Counselling training.
  • We had a great Women’s Breakfast with 64 women.
  • Please pray for the next Spanish service coming up on May 14.
  • Also pray for the many new Hispanic families coming to Redemption.
Soul Care Ministry
  • Our Soul Care ministry is developing, and the needs continue to grow.
  • We are currently running a consistent waiting list of about 10-15 people waiting for a counselor to be available.
  • Please pray for the counselors, counselees, and those still in training.
  • We’re asking God to raise up more people gifted in this area.
Kids Ministry
  • Our first service attendance is usually between 90 to 100 children (the maximum we can have is about 120 with current volunteers), while second service has been around 50 (the maximum is 54 with current volunteers).
  • We have had several ages combined in one classroom during second service, but we have recently opened two new classrooms, which will increase capacity.
  • Praise God – we have about 12 new volunteers and some existing volunteers have increased the number of times per month that they are serving.
  • Please pray for more volunteers, as we still need approximately 30 more to cover all open positions in this ministry.
Youth Ministry
  • We are finishing Colossians, then into our last series, “MythBusters” where we will tackle an issue and answer it with Scripture each week.
  • We just had a successful Lock-in (an all-night social event) with close to 100 students.
  • The attendance each week is about 105 students.
  • We have three special events left for this ministry season: Small Group Night Out, a Prayer Night, and Grad.
  • Pray for our existing leaders and for more leaders for the fall.
Young Adults Ministry
  • Our Young Adults Ministry will be finishing the year just before the May long weekend.
  • We have been hearing a lot of positive feedback from many members and leaders about the new format of meeting in Small Groups on various nights of the week.
  • We plan on doing one or two summer events (watch for more details).
  • Pray for Jeremy as he leads this ministry, and for more couples to lead small groups.
 

FACILITY UPDATE

  • There has been a lot happening with our building these past six months. The asbestos removal began last fall, and from there, things have progressed, and we are so thankful for where we are at with the renovations.
  • For those of you who are new, the end goal is/was to have a nice, big, open lobby on the lower level when you walk in the back doors, which will be used on Sundays for a gathering space but may also be used for special events. This renovation will include the construction of a new vestibule outside the main entrance.
  • On Saturday March 12, we had a team of about 30-40 men come and help with the demolition to open up the new lobby space. THANK YOU to each and every one of you who came out to help – you know who you are!
  • We are already enjoying having the new lobby opened, even though it still looks a bit rough.
  • We have just finalized our drawings (architectural, electrical, mechanical, etc.) and filed for a city permit, which we are hoping will only take a few weeks to get back.
  • Our next steps are to complete the electrical and HVAC work, then the ceiling will be painted black, just like in room 104. There will also be a few other minor projects, such as drywall around posts, wall treatment, etc.
  • We will then put in new flooring, and do the last touches before finishing the space with screens, furniture, etc.
  • The final major phase of this project will be to build the vestibule, which we hope to have done by the fall, but it will depend on when we can find a contractor with availability.
  • This has been a huge undertaking and would not have been possible without the help of the many volunteers for countless hours on this project. THANK YOU, to all those giving so generously of their time, energy, and skills.
  • Be sure to check out rbclondon.ca/renovations to stay up to date on what’s happening in the building. This page is updated regularly.
   

FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • Our YTD (Year-To-Date) donations are behind our YTD budget by approximately $100,000 (to an annual budget of $1.776M). While it is normal to be a bit behind in the first quarter, this is a little higher than other years.
  • We are trusting the Lord in this and are thankful for the healthy financial position we are in but would encourage you to remain generous and regular with your giving. Please help us make up some of this shortfall.
  • We are very thankful for the many new people who have been coming to our church (hundreds) and how many of those have started giving already. Praise God for this encouragement.
  • If you are new and would like to get set up for giving through online banking, please email give@rbclondon.ca. You can still give by cash, cheque, or credit card, but giving through online banking is the most efficient and secure, especially if you already do online banking.
  • Thank you for how you have been so generous towards our special Ukraine Crisis Support fund. To date, we have raised over $20,000! These funds will be routed through GCC (the church association we are affiliated with) to Eastern European churches to be distributed to help those in Ukraine as well as with the care of refugees who are fleeing.
  • Our 2021 audit is fully under way, and we have scheduled our Annual General Meeting (AGM) for Sunday June 12. If you are a member at Redemption, you will receive an email in the coming weeks with more information.
 

CHURCH PLANTING UPDATE

Edmonton, Alberta
  • Effective January 2022, we have transferred our financial support from the Red Deer church plant (which is now self-sustaining) to the Edmonton church plant, led by Kyle Hunter.
  • Kyle and his family have been staying with his mom, while renovations are taking place on their home. They are hoping to be able to move in May.
  • They are very thankful to now have a core group of 31 adults, meeting at a church they are renting from, and this church has been very kind and accommodating with them – praise God!
  • Within their core group are three couples who are starting Freedom Groups.
  • The launch date is September 18, and they are hoping to have fifty couples by then.
  Sibiu, Romania
  • God is at work in Romania! The Sibiu church plant has continued to show steady growth, even in this pandemic.
  • Their church is currently housing 20+ Ukrainian refugees, mainly women and children, providing food, clothing, and all sorts of practical needs. They also have started translating their services into Ukrainian for these folks and others, almost 60-70 in total as God has opened a huge door for gospel ministry as most of these fleeing the war in Ukraine are not saved.
  • The Sibiu church is just celebrating their third anniversary as a church. There is so much to be thankful for, but many needs as the ministry opportunities are plentiful in so many ways.
Belize
  • We are planning to send a short-term mission team to Belize this summer (late July/early August). This would be a team of 10-12 people.
  • The purpose of the trip will be to help with VBS, church upgrades, home visits, and we’ll try to make time for an excursion.
  • We are working on a budget for the trip, but if you are interested in being a part of this short-term team or would like more information, please contact info@rbclondon.ca

PANDEMIC UPDATE:

  • Our government announced on January 3 that the province will be going into a “Revised Step 2” of reopening to help combat the surge in cases due to the Omicron variant.
  • Under these new restrictions, religious services are allowed to continue at 50% capacity. Since we have already been adhering to the physical distancing maximum, which for us, is about 30% capacity, this will not change anything for our weekend services.
  • In addition, our mid-week ministries, except for Small Groups, will continue as they have been over the fall since they can do so and still abide by the guidelines given to churches.
  • Since Small Groups, when meeting in private residences, would better be classified as a social gathering, these need to move to either virtual, or meeting in the church where larger groups for religious services are allowed.
  • We’d like to remind all our people, that if you are ill, in any manner, please stay home. Even if you know it is not COVID, please stay home if you are not well.
  Mask Reminder:
  • Why now? Perhaps you are thinking this – why are we pushing on masks now? We have realized we dropped the ball regarding the importance of mask wearing in our services and we are seeing more and more without one. So, we are rectifying this situation, for the well-being and health of all involved.
  • There are an increasing number of attendees not wearing masks at all or taking them off (or pulling it down) during the service. This needs to be reversed.
  • We recognize and want to respect that some have legitimate medical reasons they can’t wear a mask. For some, who we know a few personally, they are able to wear it in and out of the building but cannot sit for an hour and a half wearing it. Others cannot wear it at all. Some have chosen to wear one of the clear face shields instead, due to medically being unable to wear a mask on their face.
  • For those who medically cannot wear a mask (at all or just for the service itself) we want you to know you are always welcome here and we understand. We and our government allow for this. We ask all of you, if you see someone without a mask or taking it off for the service, please assume they have a legitimate medical reason.
  • For those who don’t have a real medical issue, but just find them uncomfortable, or don’t think they help or protect, or think they may be unhealthy, or believe this is some government overreach – whatever your reason for not wearing one or taking it off, we require you, as does our government, to wear your mask.
  • We are serious about this and will follow up, if necessary, if we do not see this situation corrected.
  • Besides the call to come under our government mandates and our Elder requirement, think about others.  There may be more than you think in our congregation who have been seriously ill as a result of COVID and/or have lost loved ones to this virus. Still others are constantly concerned, understandably so, about the spread of this, so we are asking you to remember that Romans 14 reminds us, out of a love for one another we should wear our masks. As well, remember Paul’s advice in Philippians 2:3 “In humility count others more significant than yourselves.” So for the sake of the many who believe this to be very beneficial and needed, never mind legally required, please wear your mask.
  • Let us be clear – masks are required in all Redemption Ministries. This is mandated by our government, so according to Romans 13:1 and 1 Peter 3:13-14, we must submit to this requirement. Our Elder team is requiring you to wear your mask, so according to Hebrews 13:17, we must submit to this request. Thank you.

GENERAL MINISTRY UPDATE

  • We had a great fall kickoff, rolling out “The 5G Life”. We would like to remind and encourage all of you to be practicing your God Time, Gather Time, Group Time, Give Time, and Go Time – The 5G Life!
  • After a season of rebuilding, we are excited that our Mixed Small Groups will be starting up a small number of groups in January. If you are interested in joining one of these groups, please contact our office.
  • We also have our Men’s and Women’s studies starting up again in January, as well as our Young Adult small groups. Be sure to get connected for discipleship and mutual encouragement.
  • Our elders gave an encouragement this fall for any of our people who live in the northeast part of London, to consider switching to Knollwood Baptist Church. Knollwood is not a GCC church, but they are a faithful Bible (Gospel/Great Commission) church that we have established a friendship with, and they are growing as God is doing a revitalization work there. We’d encourage you to pray and seek God’s leading, that perhaps He would cause many of you to transfer to Knollwood, plugging in worshipping, serving, helping, praying, and giving to advance the kingdom in that part of the city.
  • Remember, with the snowy months approaching, watch our website and social media for any inclement weather cancellations.
 

FACILITY UPDATE

  • Begin with the end in mind! Our facility renovations began this fall, and we are all learning, during the inconveniences, to remember the end goal – a big open lobby for gathering at our back entrance!
  • Part of our renovation plan was to move our Market to a portable. As you can see, we have the portable and work is being done to prepare it to house The Market. Once the work is complete and we have the permit in hand, our Market will move into the portable.
  • Another component of our renovations is to add folding walls to the two large classrooms in our lower level. Lord willing, these will be installed in February. This will give us the ability to keep these as two large classrooms or divide them into four classrooms when necessary as we are losing three classrooms to our new lobby.
  • The soundproofing in our gym is complete, so this space can be used by Kids Ministry during services, if needed.
  • Our asbestos abatement is nearing completion, with Phase 3 is finished, Phase 4 – our last and smallest phase, started this week. Phase 4 involves our nursery rooms. We are hoping Phase 4 will be done in a few weeks.
  • Our engineers are starting, this month, to revisit our lobby plans to ensure they are up to date.
  • Once the drawings are finalized, we will apply for a permit with the city.
  • We are anticipating that the permit could take four to six months, or more. So, while we would love to see these renovations completed for our September kick-off, it may be year-end or later.
  • We appreciate your patience during this season of renovation and are looking forward to the finished product.
  • To stay updated on what’s going on with our facility and the renovations, head to rbclondon.ca/renovations. This page is updated regularly.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • While we are still working on our final giving numbers, it looks like we will finish 2021 approximately $12,000 – $13,000 above our budget of $1,781,552. Praise God!
  • Our 2022 budget has been approved and is set at $1,776,063, which is a slight decrease from 2021.
  • Our 2021 pre-audit is under way. We will set a date for our Annual General Meeting in the coming months.
  • We are thrilled that we received just over $44,200 towards our Christmas Offering! Thank you for your generosity towards these other ministries! We are excited to be able to bless other gospel-focused ministries.
  • Please continue with your “Give time” – putting God first in all areas of your life as we begin 2022. The first few months of each new year are difficult giving months.
  • Copies of our 2020 audited financial statements are available at the Welcome Desk if you would like one.

CHURCH PLANTING UPDATE

Red Deer, Alberta
  • The Red Deer church plant has new families coming each week with current attendance at just over 100!
  • They also have been overwhelmed with God’s provision, finding themselves, less than a year old as a church, being financially independent from outside support, praise God!
  • Therefore, our financial commitment to them ends as 2021 comes to an end. We would ask you to continue to pray for them, for faithfulness, needed staff and elders, facilities to meet in, and gospel fruit.
  • We will be, effective 2022, transferring our financial support to a new church plant happening in Edmonton Alberta. If you would like more information on this plant, please contact our office.
Sibiu, Romania
  • God is at work in Romania! The Sibiu church plant has continued to show steady growth, even in this pandemic.
  • We have been praying with and seeking to financially help their Planting Pastor, Betuel, and his wife Sanda, as they work toward building their own home (they are currently living with Betuel’s parents).
  • Please be praying with us for this need, but also for this healthy, growing, yet still young church. You could pray specifically as they begin the process of praying and working toward their own elder team.
Belize
  • The pandemic has hit Belize hard, including the area where this church plant is located.
  • They have been locked down, unable to have services since mid-August.
  • Please be praying for the church and their pastor, Pedro Reyes, as this has been a difficult time for this church plant.
  • Despite all of this, they continue to see God at work, and they are asking the Lord to allow them to begin meeting together again, as a church, soon.
  • If the Lord allows, we hope to send a short-term mission team to Belize to grow our relationship with this church plant August 2022, so please be praying with us that this would happen.

GENERAL MINISTRY UPDATE

  • We have entered another fall ministry season and are thankful to God for His continued provision for our 22nd year.
  • We never would have thought 22 years ago, of all that God has done in His church, so all the praise and glory go to Him.
  • As Philippians 4:4 says, we are to “rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice!” So, we rejoice in the Lord even in this season of the continuing pandemic.
  • We rejoice with all that God is doing, both in our Sunday services and our mid-week ministries, as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission mission!
 

PANDEMIC UPDATE

  • Many of you have asked what our current maximum capacity restriction is. The answer is that there is no hard number for our capacity limit. The wording of the restriction on religious service capacity is “indoor and outdoor capacity limited to permit physical distancing of 2 metres”.
  • So, we can fit as many as we can get in, with physical distancing. We don’t have assigned seating each week, and we don’t know how many groups will come, which impacts our capacity – the more groups that can sit together, the more people we can get in.
  • Our registration numbers are based on an estimate of how many we can get in with physical distancing.
  • So, we would ask you to continue registering before attending, sit with people who are in your “social bubble”, and please continue to wear your mask as long as you are inside the building.
  • We are starting to sense more of a return to normal, so please be praying with us that this would continue through the new year.
  • We would urge you through this season to think according to Acts 20:24, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
  The 5G Life:
  • We kicked off our fall ministry with the introduction of “The 5G Life”. A Christ follower Abides (God Time), Connects (Gather Time, Group Time), and Shares (Give Time, Go Time).
  • We are excited not just about this Sunday sermon series, but about how we hope and pray “The 5G Life” will permeate all our ministries and everything we do.
  • We urge all of you to live “The 5G Life” – be a true follower of Christ!
  • We are looking forward to our mixed small groups starting back in January, but there are plenty of other opportunities to connect in Group time before then through various other ministries; or, just reach out to someone!

SOUL CARE UPDATE

  • Over the past few years, we have been planning and working on starting a Soul Care ministry in our church.
  • This started with some introductory training in February of 2019 with Ken Gentzler.
  • We had approximately 180 people attend this training, and from that, a group of about 50 continued with Phase 1/introductory training to Biblical Counselling.
  • Many completed Phase 1, and about a dozen from that group have continued to pursue full certification with ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors).
  • That brings us to today. We currently have three people in our church who are fully certified with ACBC as biblical counsellors. There are 3-4 more who are in the final phase of certification, which involves supervised counselling under the direction of an ACBC “fellow”. Then we have a few more who are in the process or writing their exams, and even more still in the training phase.
  • We have been receiving many requests for biblical counselling – so many that we cannot keep up with our current counsellors, so have had to put some on a waiting list for a few weeks until we have space.
  • We are excited that this ministry is growing so quickly, but there is much to figure out, so please be patient with us. We hope that within a year we will have a fully functioning Biblical Soul Care ministry, but until that time, availability of counsellors may be sparse.
  • Our vision is to have the Soul Care ministry integrated into all other ministries of the church, as biblical counselling is just providing focused, one-on-one discipleship for a season of more intense trials or suffering.
 

FACILITY UPDATE

  • We are excited to announce that plans are underway to have a new, larger lobby for gathering!
  • Over the past few years, we have been looking at and praying about what our most pressing needs are with our facility. We had determined that the most crucial areas of need for our facility are: 1) A bigger lobby/gathering space, 2) More classrooms, and 3) More office space.
  • We have been through a few ideas and plan revisions, including at one point, looking at converting the gym to two levels of classrooms. However, this option is very costly.
  • Instead, we have decided to purchase a portable to place in our parking lot and move our Market out to that location. We will then open up the lower level by the back doors – removing the Market and three classrooms, each side of the back door, and convert that space into an open lobby.
  • This will satisfy our need for a larger lobby, and to adjust for the loss of the three classrooms, we are looking at purchasing portable/dividing walls for our two largest classrooms (103 and 104).
  • In addition, we have been working on soundproofing our gym so it too can be used as classroom space on Sundays while the service is going on upstairs.
  • We are expecting that the portable will be delivered sometime in the next few weeks, so you may see it in our parking lot. We need to do a bit of clean up in the portable and build an access ramp, as well as run hydro out to it.
  • The next step inside is to have an asbestos abatement done in our lower level where the new lobby will be. We are expecting this work to take place sometime mid-fall.
  • We have savings from the sale of our property a few years ago that we can use to finance these facility projects.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • Our current YTD giving is approximately $90,000 behind our YTD budget.
  • While it is not abnormal to be behind in our budgeted giving at this time of the year, this is a significant shortfall.
  • We normally play “catch up” in December, as December is historically our highest giving month of the year.
  • God is always good, always kind, and always faithful, so we are trusting Him in all of this.
  • Please continue with your “Give time” – putting God first in all areas of your life.
  • Copies of our audited financial statements are available at the Welcome Desk for anyone who would like one.

CHURCH PLANTING UPDATE

Red Deer, Alberta
  • The Red Deer church plant had a great summer going through the Psalms, with new families coming each week – current attendance is just over 100!
  • Please be praying for a Worship Leader and Youth Leader for this young, but growing congregation.
  • The Planting Pastor, Chris Girvan, is working with some men to do some elder training.
  • In addition, small groups are starting this fall.
  • The church does not yet have a place to meet on Sunday mornings, so please be praying that God would provide a location that would fit their ministry needs.
Sibiu, Romania
  • God is at work in Romania! The Sibiu church plant has continued to show steady growth, even in this pandemic.
  • The Planting Pastor, Betuel, and his wife Sanda have been living with Betuel’s parents for many years. This has made it difficult for them to show hospitality to their growing congregation.
  • They own a small property to build a home, but their finances have not allowed them to complete the build.
  • They were recently able to complete the shell of the home and are hoping to get the roof on before the cold weather comes.
  • Please be praying that God would provide the means for Betuel and Sanda to be able to finish their home and move in as well as for continued health for the church.
Belize
  • The pandemic has hit Belize hard, including the area where this church plant is located.
  • They have been locked down, unable to have services since mid-August. Thankfully, those in their congregation who had COVID-19 were able to recover, but they are still under very strict restrictions, including the closure of churches and a 7:00pm curfew.
  • The church and Pedro Reyes, the Planting Pastor, are still encouraging one another through various technology, but it has been a difficult time for this church plant.
  • Prior to the current lockdown, there was a lot of encouraging activity at the church, with child dedications, Evangelism classes, and baptisms. There is a strong desire with their people to be able to start meeting again.
  • Also, prior to the lockdown, the church was able to run a Vacation Bible School (VBS) program with the children, with the theme being “The Fruit of the Spirit”. The VBS was a great success, and the kids were able to do a presentation/graduation to their parents on the Sunday.
  • The Youth ministry has also been growing with over 20 youth attending prior to the lockdown.
  • Please be praying that restrictions would soon ease up in Belize, allowing this young church to meet in person once again.

MINISTRY UPDATE

  • First, we want to give all glory to God for His sustaining power and presence through not only the last 16 months, but the last 21 years as a church. God is faithful. God is good. God is kind.
  • At the time of writing this update, Ontario is currently in Step 1 of the re-opening plan. Step 1 allows for indoor worship services at 15% of room capacity, so we have been having indoor worship services under these restrictions. It has been wonderful to see so many of you back at church!
  • It looks promising that by July 2, Ontario will move into Step 2, which allows for larger indoor worship services, but still with a reduced capacity. We are looking forward to being able to take another step towards normalcy.
  • Under Step 3 of the re-opening plan, the overarching strategy, according to the government website, is to “expand indoors where face coverings can’t always be worn”. The restrictions under Step 3 are vague, so we are unsure at this point what this will look like, but if things continue progressing as they are, we would be in Step 3 by late July.
  • Our hope and prayer is that we can have a kick-off in September that is somewhat “normal”, including all our mid-week ministries. Please join with us in praying to this end, but that God would be glorified in our response to whatever restrictions lie ahead.

STAFF UPDATE

  Staff Send Offs
  • As we announced earlier this year, Jake and Danielle Van Gelderen have been working hard with us and with their sending organization, Pioneers, to raise the needed support to head off to mission field training in August.
  • We are thrilled to report that Jake and Danielle have reached their fundraising goal, so they will be proceeding with their training and departing London in August. This will be an intensive 11-month training course in another country, providing rigorous and in-depth preparation for their planned mission work after successful completion of their training, Lord willing.
  • We join them in giving thanks to God for the generous and needed financial support for this year of training, from family and friends and our wonderful church family.
  • This means Danielle will be leaving her staff role with us as Receptionist/Administrative Assistant. Please join with us in wishing Jake and Danielle all God’s best as they prepare to leave for this training.
  • We also wanted to update you that our Kids Ministry Assistant, Julie Hunsberger, transitioned off our staff, discerning that God was leading her in this direction, so she resigned as of June 11th.
  • Julie has been part-time on our staff team since 2017 and has done a wonderful job supporting our Kids Ministry in countless ways, for which we are truly grateful. Julie and her husband Jay and their kids will continue being an active part of our church, and this is just a transition off staff for Julie. Please join us in thanking Julie for her many contributions over the past four years.
  Welcome Aboard!
  • We are thrilled to welcome Raquel Meza to our staff team. Raquel will be starting on July 19 in the role of Ministry Support.
  • This is a new role on staff, and Raquel will be working to support our ministry leaders, providing administrative support for all our mid-week ministries and Hispanic Ministry, as we have done a bit of a mini restructuring in our administrative department.
  • Raquel previously worked at Compassion Canada for 11 years, and has been involved in our Youth, Women’s, and Small Group Ministries, so she is joining us with a proven record of experience and service to the kingdom.
  • Raquel brings many skills to this role, with a deep heart to help and serve others, using her administrative experience at Compassion to help further the ministries of our ministry leaders and their areas of responsibility.
  • Raquel also has a degree in literature and significant writing skills so will be helping us using these skills in various areas as well.
  • Plus, an added bonus, she is fluent in Spanish! So, we are finally able to provide some much-needed administrative support for Hernando and our thriving Hispanic ministry!
  • We are also pleased to announce that Chris Wood will be joining our staff team effective July 5 for a 10-month internship.
  • This internship is a requirement for Chris to complete his MDiv at Heritage Seminary, so Chris and Heritage requested that we consider this and our elders where happy to be able to help provide Chris this temporary training vehicle to help complete his work on his MDiv degree.
  • Chris will be developing and teaching in the area of Evangelism, something he is very experienced in as well as helping shepherd a small group of men, and teaching occasionally, as opportunities arise, in some of our mid-week ministries.
  • Chris and his wife, Filomena, and their two kids have been long-time members of Redemption, and we are excited to have him join our team as an intern. We know he will be a blessing to our church and team.
  • Finally, we are grateful to God for the provision of two new weekend Custodians – Adriana Arias and Angelica Gomez. Adriana and Angelica will be rotating working on Sundays, keeping our building clean and sanitized.
  • We are very thankful for Adriana and Angelica, and their willingness to serve in this role. Our building is kept in impeccable shape, and it is due to the hard work of Adriana and Angelica, as well as David Steele (our mid-week custodian). If you see them on Sunday, please say “hi”, thank them, and welcome them to the team.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

  • Redemption was incorporated towards the end of 2019. This was a prudent and long overdue step required to provide extra legal and financial protection to our elders, staff, and congregation. One of the requirements of incorporations in Ontario is that an external, professional financial audit is now required on an annual basis, so 2020 was our first fiscal year with an audit.
  • The audit process began in the fall to prepare for our first audit, and the actual audit was conducted in the spring and finished early in June.
  • The process is very detailed (hundreds of hours combined between our staff and our accounting firm), with all areas of our financial processes looked at. In the end, our auditor needs to be able to say with confidence that our financial statements fairly represent the financial position of the church.
  • At the end of the audit, our elders were presented with the audited financial statements, as well as an auditor report. These documents were reviewed at our Annual General Meeting (for members) on June 27, 2021.
  • The results of the audit were very favourable for Redemption. There are always processes to improve and refine, but we are thankful to God for our staff, our bookkeeper, Fil Wood, and our Treasurer, Brad Young Sr. who are above reproach in their handling of church finances. We are also thankful for our auditor, Grant Thornton, who was a pleasure to deal with and very helpful throughout the whole process.
  • If you would like copies of our audited financial statements, you can pick one up at the Welcome Desk.
  • We continue to thank God for His provision, and for all of you and your faithful giving, as it reflects a healthy statement about the spiritual vitality of our mission and ministry.
 

CHURCH PLANTING UPDATE

St. Thomas
  • In the fall of 2019, it was our joy and privilege to launch Redemption Bible Chapel, St. Thomas.
  • Since then, we have been closely involved, providing oversight to our St. Thomas plant.
  • After giving some financial support in 2019 for some renovation needs, we are thankful to God as they have needed virtually no other financial support since then, as they have been self-sustaining. Praise God!
  • Our elders have decided to move RBC St. Thomas to be fully independent. They have a wonderful and experienced elder team, a wonderful staff team who is gaining experience with every month, and a healthy church body.
  • This means they will be completely governed by their own elder team by the end of the summer (while they are still a part of the Great Commission Collective, as are we).
  • Please join us in continuing to pray for the elders, staff, and congregation of RBC St. Thomas, as well as to thank God for the amazing work He has done and is doing in that ministry.
Red Deer, Alberta
  • The Red Deer, Alberta church plant launched this spring. There were about 80 attendees (adults and kids), and this was without advertising due to pandemic restrictions, so a gracious provision and startup by God!
  • The Planting Pastor, Chris Girvan, started preaching from Colossians for their first series as a church.
  • Since their launch, they have had more families visit, and have also found a new place to gather until the fall.
  • Please be praying for the right place for them to meet in the future, and that their capacity for ministry would expand as more people are added, as this is a difficult season to be planting (due to COVID restrictions).
  • Please also be praying that God would provide a worship leader to join the team.
Sibiu, Romania
  • The church plant in Sibiu, Romania, celebrated their second anniversary this spring. We are thanking God for the growth and work He is doing in this church plant, and we are thankful to be a key partner church with them.
  • Redemption’s financial support has been vital for their senior pastor, for their church ministries, and even for a new and growing Biblical Counselling ministry God has begun this year.
  • We count it a privilege to be partnered with such a godly, gifted, and committed pastor and church.
  • Lord willing, as restrictions allow, we hope to be able to begin having small, short-term teams visit them, and have their pastor/wife and key leaders visit us, from time-to-time and as it helps advance the ministry and build relationships.
  • For more information and to see a great video of the church, visit www.deogloriasibiu.ro/.
Belize
  • We are seeing wonderful progress with the church plant in Belize, under the leadership of Pedro Reyes. The church was able to complete its registration as a charity in Belize, which is a huge step for them.
  • The church is grateful to have an enclosed structure to worship and gather. It is a very basic structure, but they are very thankful to have these needs met.
  • They are currently meeting Sunday evenings, and each week they are seeing more and more people come, to the point where they do not all fit in the building they have!
  • They have already had five people baptized this year, ten others recommit their lives to Christ, and many more God-At-Work stories in people’s lives all just in 2021, under all the same type of restrictions due to COVID we have had. God is at work in Belize!
  • God has also been growing their Kids Ministry, Youth Ministry, and Worship Ministry. Please continue to pray for Pedro, his family, and their young and growing church.