Happy New Year, Family.
It’s January 4 and I have a bit of a gratitude hangover, thankful for the year that we have just experienced together. God so faithfully and firmly led us through a year of transition and change with grace. We’ve all dug deep and stretched way past what’s comfortable, and it’s been a joy to watch so many servant-hearted leaders grow in capacity. We’ve grown more in love with Jesus, we’ve grown in community, and we are just getting started.
On January 27, our family will throw open the doors to welcome many more people home as we launch Sunday gatherings at Relate Church Valley in Abbotsford. This new family room will be full of life, preaching hope and making a big deal of Jesus every Sunday morning at 10 AM at the University of the Fraser Valley. Two cities, two locations - one long harvest table that stretches across the valley with room for more. We’ll keep making room and pulling up chairs to the table as creatively as we can this year!
AN ANNOUNCEMENT:
On that note - I am really excited to let you all in on a new service and a new opportunity to gather that will begin in February 2019 - a Sunday Night service. The Sunday Night is a weekend service, a 6 PM gathering at our Surrey campus. We see it as a fun, loud, young expression of our House. It’s a service where our young worship team and communicators will have an opportunity to develop and grow, alongside our pastors and seasoned team. The Sunday Night will be purposefully geared toward connecting with this emerging generation. And here’s why - we deeply honour all generations, and together we are forever fiercely loyal to the one that is coming up. As a legacy-minded, future-invested church, we must be.
Last February Pastor John declared that our word for 2018 was GENERATIONS. And was it ever. Our Kids Camp was full to capacity and full of the Spirit in a fresh way. Our crew launched Relate Youth weekly services on Thursdays, and they’ve grown in number and relationship. And our young adults are just itching for more. Our young people know how to serve - they’re amazing. We’d love to keep creating opportunities for them to invite their friends along, as well. So we’ll roll out the Sunday Night on February 10 at 6 PM. I know it will be something special. I want to invite you to build with us.
This new service opens up all kinds of opportunity to serve, for all ages. If you’ve been considering getting involved in the Dream Team, now’s the time! We need you, and the best way to experience Church is as an owner. Perhaps you could sit in service on Sunday mornings and serve on Sunday night, or vice versa. (It’s also a chance for our Surrey campus and Valley campus family to gather together and celebrate after a morning of worship. We love any excuse for a party.)
So - is the Sunday Night a weekend service? Yes. Is it a young adults service? Yes. Is it a family service? Yes. It’s both/and/all. It’s going to be fun, anything could happen, and we’re pumped for February 10.
With love and really big dreams for 2019,
Angela Doell
Lead Pastor
