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A MESSAGE FROM OUR SENIOR PASTOR AND BOARD
In John 17:20, Jesus said this prayer for His followers: “…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” Unity is God’s will. It’s essential to the mission God has for His church. We’ve seen how fragile unity is with the pandemic among other political divisions, and how quickly even long-term relationships can be fractured. Achieving and maintaining unity is hard but it matters to Jesus and therefore it must matter to us.
In John 13, Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another. This would be the litmus test of their devotion to Him. It was no small challenge for Christians in that day! The early church consisted of people who were natural enemies rather than natural friends. Imagine the relational dynamics that likely took place between Jews and Gentiles, slaves and slave owners, rich and poor. Undoubtedly, they disagreed on many things. But they chose to love one another in such a profound, and counter-cultural way, that many were amazed and drawn to the church community, ultimately putting their trust in Jesus.
What motivated the early believers to love in this radical way? Was it because they wanted to? I believe it was due to their love for and devotion to Jesus. It was simple obedience to the One who loved them first and saved them by His grace.
This is instructive to us, especially for those who have suffered the pain of fractured or strained relationships. Christ calls us to humble ourselves, forgive one another, to put aside differences that have divided and distracted us, and to pursue the mission He has called us to.
Even though Satan has attempted to use political divisions to destroy our unity in Christ, he
hasn’t succeeded! Because of your steadfast faith and commitment to follow the Lord in your living, praying and serving, God continues to move powerfully through us. This past year, 343 people embraced Christ for the first time as their Lord and Savior. PTL!! Despite gathering challenges, 299 missional community groups met and over 1400 people volunteered. Every month our Compassionate Ministries serves over 3300 people, our New Canadian Friendship Center serves an average of 142 people, and our Pastor of the Day Ministry has helped and prayed with over 400 people this past year.
Last year, we opened our new Bearspaw Campus building and our attendance has nearly doubled. We are making good progress with construction of desperately needed space in our Central Campus expansion and look forward to completion next year. We still have approximately $6.9 million left to raise toward our $9.8 million dollar goal. Thank you once
again for continuing to support our journey to BUILD more room for God, by giving over and above your regular giving to our mission and ministry fund.
Enclosed are stories of how God has been changing lives through our sacrificial giving of time, talent and treasure. Behind every statistic is the story of someone’s life. Thank you for your partnership in sharing the gospel. As we serve together to introduce people to Jesus, I pray that a year from now, we will not only be more in love with Him, but we will experience the reward of knowing that our investment into HIS Kingdom is eternal and NOT IN VAIN! (I Cor 15:58).
I love being your senior pastor and serving alongside you!
Blessings,
Pastor Henry Schorr
As a Board of Governors, we continue to seek God’s will for His purposes and for His glory in all we do at Centre Street Church.
* Ed Beaman absent in photo
Our Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. This has been another exceptional year; we have seen the opening of our Bearspaw Campus, tremendous progress in our journey to BUILD more room for God, and a congregation and staff that have navigated difficult times with grace. The Lord calls all of us to work together in unity for His Kingdom purposes.
Our prayer is that we continue to do so, that He will give us the strength and endurance for what lie ahead, and that He pours out His spirit and brings revival!
Melanie Nelson, Board Chair
WEEKEND SERVICES
Our passion, hunger and pursuit of God has not changed, even during a year of transition from the challenge of COVID restrictions back to in person ministry. During the last two months of this ministry year, we saw a sharp growth in our in-person attendance. We see a strong desire to gather again and pursue intimacy with God, be filled with the Holy Spirit and to live in obedience to Him.
NIGHT OF WORSHIP
Night of Worship is always an exciting high-energy worship experience – an opportunity to praise Him with all that we have and all that we are! In spring 2022 we did a series called WHY? – Why Me? Why Pray? Why Worship? Why Go? We explored why we exercise these important spiritual disciplines in our lives.
At one Night of Worship in 2022, Dinah baptized at NOW shared that she was in a dark and challenging place in her life, but God met her powerfully right in the middle of it!
“At the tenth time of trying to take my life, I started to see a pattern, and I began to see that God didn’t want me to take my own life. He had bigger plans for me. I always grew up believing in God. My parents are born-again Christians and always instilled that importance in faith, but I had a very bitter relationship with God. I always felt I was here to be a ‘not so great project.’ By the sixteenth and final time, I saw what I thought was an angel when a car was coming at me. Seeing is believing; if I saw that, I knew I had to believe in His plan. I started seeing the goodness of God in my life and His refusal to let me quit. The questions I have always had about life led me to read the Bible more. Living for Jesus is the one thing that makes me feel happy and joyful! I am no longer led by anxiety in my life.”
“We worship Him because we love Him. We’re designed to worship something – and as believers it’s Him. If I truly love God, I’m going to spend time with Him. I’m going to be thankful for every breath that I have. I’m forever free from the power and the penalty of sin. So I sing my thanks to Him.”
-Worship Pastor Mitch Osmond
REVIVE US AGAIN
In revival times, the people of God are not only hearers of the Word but doers of the Word.
This spring featured a powerful four-week series called Revive Us Again. We came together at prayer meetings to eagerly wait on God to meet with us, fill us with His Spirit and to partner with God in what He is doing around the world.
“Revival is a divine visitation that infuses spiritual life in our Christian experience. The word revive means ‘to bring back to life’ and denotes the awakening of Christians and churches to a renewed, vibrant relationship with God.” – Pastor Ashwin Ramani
“During the revival series we had over 25 percent of our congregation come forward for prayer. Many were visibly touched by God. One gentleman started weeping and mourning as He was being filled with the Holy Spirit!”
– Pastor Lawrence Irwin
DISCIPLESHIP AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
“We can only imagine how many people have recommitted their life to Christ. We celebrate every time a prodigal son or daughter comes back home! And we are offering to walk alongside each one so they can discover more of who they are “in Christ” and experience living in community with other Christ-followers.” – Pastor Greg, reflecting on Resurrection Weekend when 36 adults and 68 children made decisions for Christ.
PRAYER
“We are witnessing miracle after miracle at our Healing Prayer evenings. People from other churches have been coming for prayer and we’re seeing people walk in freedom after receiving prayer at the Altar, Inner Healing and Deliverance ministries. We are praying for a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit to move, and that as we pray, revival would break out, prayer would be taken to even greater heights and CSC would truly be known as a Praying Church, a House of Prayer for all Nations.”
– Pastor Jacob George
This year bridged from a long and challenging season of restrictions and then back to in-person gatherings again. We heard from many in our church family that pursuing relationship online was challenging. But that didn’t stop us from connecting with each other (either online or in person) through missional communities, ministry groups, camps and retreats and other fun events.
YOUTH MINISTRY
We are praising God that our Youth Ministry is experiencing a new season of renewal and growth. It has been exciting to transition back to in-person gatherings as our Youth Summits have seen over 30+ NEW youth students coming. Our youth are very hungry and passionate to invite their friends to experience what they have been missing – community! We do life together, serve together and grow together!
YOUNG ADULTS MINISTRY
YA ministry is on fire. We had a big group of our young adults fast and pray this year with the intention to be bolder about sharing their faith. They shared many stories that week about how God used them to share the gospel to others in their everyday lives. This past August a group of young adults went door-to-door in Bridgeland handing out plants, gospels of John, and asking people if they needed prayer. Two weeks later one of those people showed up to Bridgeland Campus for the first time and has continued to attend our Sunday services.
“During COVID I was grateful for my steadfast CORE group. We learned to adapt quickly to the changing regulations, whether it was meeting online, in a park, or sitting in a giant circle in the Bridgeland Campus gym with our masks on. During this tumultuous period, my sense of community and spirituality was deepened along with relationships with new lifelong friends.”
– Alyssa, participant of Young Adults.
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY | GRADE 5&6
We are engaging children in a new way – having children work with consistent leaders and groups each week to allow for deeper more connected discipleship, leading to more authentic faith conversations. As we focus on the invitation Jesus gave us to live in community and spiritual family, we are seeing them ask deeper questions and hearing directly from God on a personal level!
“In Matthew 18:3 Jesus says: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Seeing these kids’ simple but genuine faith is such a beautiful reminder to us all. It was also special to be present with my kids and get excited about what they learned each day. And let’s not forget about the games, adventures, songs, field trips, skits and of course band aids!”
– Maryse Doner, CSCamps volunteer
“During the Night of Worship we challenged the students to silence their hearts and seek God for forgiveness, healing, guidance, and understanding. God poured out His spirit that night and we witnessed revival in many hearts.”
– Pastor Jigs
“I served as the nurse for Crossover Sports Camp for a week. We prayed for Jesus to open hearts for non-believers to come to camp. Two of our boys’ friends came to camp, one accepting Jesus fully and the other opening his heart to Jesus…
the absolute joy of being with
God’s people in that serving
capacity filled our hearts!”
– Diane, CSC volunteer
“Something that has become even more evident over the past year is that people are hungry for connection and community. This past year we have grown in our understanding of what true biblical community and spiritual family are as we have watched others connect, grow and serve together in missional communities. Through our Taste and See experiences, Men’s, Women’s, and Singles groups, Seniors gatherings and groups, people are truly experiencing authentic spiritual family as they grow in Christ, love and support each other, and share God’s love with those around them. Groups are walking through life together as they grieve loss with one another, and celebrate a loved one or neighbour accepting Jesus.”
– Pastor Wes Gorman
“Greetings from Ukraine. God has prepared HART and our partner churches in Ukraine for such a time as this. The Christians and evangelical churches were at its best since the war started. Within days the churches removed the pews and replaced them with mattresses, blankets and pillows and they became places of hope for refugees running from the war zones.”
– Kostya Voloshyn, HART European Director
GLOBAL MINISTRIES
COMPASSIONATE MINISTRIES
Despite the challenges of gathering, we seized opportunities to get to know people as they came to enjoy the boxed lunches and experience a sense of community during a very isolating time. Our provision of food, clothing and help to people in need, led to dozens of people choosing to take further steps toward deeper life change as we point people to Jesus, our source of hope and the one from whom we experience fullness of life in the spirit of John 10:10.
“I started going to compassionate ministry for boxed lunches, and something told me to keep going… Sooner or later, I knew that somebody was going to try to tell me about Jesus. So one day, I bit the bullet and said to one of the volunteers, ‘alright. Bring it on. Tell me about Jesus.’ Between attending church and all those volunteers I got to know, at one point I felt comfortable enough to make a commitment to Christ.” – Rod, Boxed Lunch recipient from Compassion Ministries.
THE WELL CAFÉ
Our desire is always to offer true welcome and belonging in Jesus’ name. We recently re-opened The Well Café so we can provide more in-person opportunities to enjoy hot meals, worship music and meet new friends.
We built a physical café with walls so people could have a sense of place, dignity, community and welcome.
NEW CANADIAN FRIENDSHIP CENTRE
NCFC welcomed increasing numbers of refugees from South/Central America, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
We recently launched the Refugee Friendship Program, inviting CSC congregants to join us in walking alongside refugees throughout the city, and build long-lasting relationships with them.
We challenged others to open their homes for short-term placements for newly arriving Ukrainians. Because of the faithfulness of our volunteers, we increased the number of morning English classes offered, to our full facility capacity. We re-opened our Café and Childcare spaces, and once again celebrated life events and seasons with shared meals.
Luisa, from Colombia, joined our Spanish Bible Study out of curiosity. Initially, it was “strange” to her, coming from her faith tradition where she “repeated prayers incessantly, but knew almost nothing about God.” She was unmotivated at first, but began to look forward to prayer each week as she understood more about who Jesus is and her identity in Him. In the midst of anxiety about her immigration process, she discovered a God who was very present to her. She says she once was blind, but now has new vision. Her life is being transformed as she is being discipled to grow in His word. We celebrate her new life in Jesus!
Because of the trusting relationship established over several years, when a much-loved newcomer friend in a difficult situation scheduled an abortion, she came to NCFC staff for guidance and prayer. After we prayed with her, she canceled her appointment! We pray that this baby will be a gift to her, that she would experience miraculous provision in a hard season, and that she would know God’s unconditional love and grace towards her.
MISSION TRIPS
Below is just a small sample of many mission trips and inspiring stories coming out of last year!
FAMILY ON MISSION
Six families from CSC partnered with Richmond Faith Fellowship to serve the church and the community in Richmond and Vancouver, BC. Families shared testimonies, led worship and devotions in chapel services, taught lessons, and shared Jesus’ love. With local partners they fed over 1000 people in downtown east side Vancouver (called ‘Canada’s poorest postal code’).
“Serving with Family on Mission required us to fully trust in Jesus to keep us safe and healthy… Jesus met us there, opened our hearts, molded our minds, and humbled us. The real blessing is how Jesus grew our family and filled our hearts with His richness as we served Him. We made many new friendships that will continue to grow. My husband and our three boys all chose to be baptized in the ocean on this trip as an act of obedience in their faith.” – Diane, CSC Volunteer
YOUTH LOCAL MISSION TRIP
CSC Central Campus youth partnered with other youth and ministries in Calgary. A youth pastor shares his memory of a Monday Night Evangelism “Treasure Hunter” in the back alleys of downtown Calgary to minister and pray over the homeless and addicted:
“Within minutes of meeting people, our youth were offering nourishment, both for the stomach and the soul through food, prayer and sharing the Gospel. All of our lives were transformed as we served in being the hands, feet, ears and voice of Jesus.”
– Pastor Tomas Ruhland,
Young Adults
“Earlier this year I was sick with COVID and had to miss a few gatherings. At one event my group of girls were spotted praying during their pizza dinner. They were praying for healing for their leader (me) because they missed me and wanted me to come back to youth! I was touched to hear that these girls were going to God together to pray for healing for me. On days when I’ve had a long workday or don’t feel like volunteering, I remember that and it gives me the perseverance to be faithful to what God has asked me to do! “
– Mahabba, youth leader (volunteer)
BUILD More room for God
CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND GIVING
We’ve given $2.9million.*
$6.9 million remains to raise towards
our $9.8 million goal.
*total giving as of August 2022.
2021-2022 WAS AN EXCITING EVENTFUL YEAR IN OUR JOURNEY TO BUILD!
BEARSPAW CAMPUS:
• We opened the doors to our new Bearspaw Campus and shortly after we moved to two services, drawing strong regular attendance with lots of new faces!
• This fall we celebrated our one-year anniversary followed by a NW Community Fun Day to get to know our neighbours!
CENTRAL CAMPUS:
• Construction of the Central Campus expansion advanced significantly!
• We toured and prayed in the rapidly developing expansion space. Construction is anticipated for completion toward the end of 2023.
• We drew pictures and wrote prayers, poems and scriptures on the foundational walls, sharing what God was placing on our hearts about the future of CSC.
Be inspired and watch a more detailed update.
City and Global Mission Giving
2021/2022
$11,993,000
95.94% of Budget
Thanks to the generosity of time, talent and treasure among God’s people, He is moving through our church during challenging times to strengthen each other in our walk with Jesus while making a huge impact for God’s kingdom both locally and globally. Even as inflation continues to rise, we continue to trust Him to provide so we can continue the mission to which He has called us.
Throughout the challenges and triumphs of the last year, our community has had a renewed vision for focusing on what really matters. Making space to pursue God, mission, relationships and generosity means choosing to live simply.
“The Holy Spirit wants me to remember that Jesus is already there – He’s already pursuing. My job is to just be available. Lately, I’ve been carrying a heavy burden for our neighbours at Airdrie Campus. The mother is young and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Every time I go to the mailbox and walk past their house, I pray for them. Last night as I walked towards their place, their garage door was open and the husband was inside cleaning his vehicle. We ended up having a brief chat about similar interests and about his wife’s health. He shared she is doing quite well, all things considered.
A few days later, I remembered what God impressed on me. ‘I’m already there Les, I’m already pursuing them, just be available to Me…and you were, last night, it’s as easy (not heavy) as that.’”
– Pastor Les Surkan, Airdrie Campus