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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-02-09, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017. Chapel sends group of 11 to Manitoba church renewal Renewing the church Eleven members of Huron Chapel traveled to Steinbach, Manitoba last week to join hundreds of other church representatives from across Canada and across the globe to bring the focus of the church back to the biblical basics according to Pastor Mark Royal!. (Photo submitted) PEOPLE AROUND AUBURN By Mark Royal! Call 519-441-2223 Last week, 11 of Huron Chapel's finest made the trek out to Steinbach, Manitoba. We joined a few hundred other people from various churches across Canada including, the Alliance, Pentecostal, United, Anglican, Evangelical Missionary, to name a few, for an event called Church Renewal. Church Renewal is a movement coming out of the Southland Church in Steinbach which has a regular weekly attendance of 4,000 people. For the past few years I have had the amazing privilege of being mentored by Southland Lead Pastor Ray Duerksen. When I began attending Church Renewal a few years ago there were about 20 lead pastors, including myself, who were involved from across our country. As of last week there were 172 of us with many coming from places like Uganda, Mexico, Spain and South America. Church Renewal is calling the church back to the biblical basics in the following areas: 1. "Confession". The Bible tells us, "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16). 2. "Deliverance". We read in God's Word, "Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up." 3. "Hearing From God". We also read these words from the Bible, "Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say,"This is the way you should go," whether to the right or to the left (Isaiah 30:21). This past Sunday, I had those who went out to Church Renewal from Huron Chapel come up to the front and share with their church family what kind of impact the weekend in Steinbach had on them. Each person could point to a place where God had worked to help change them towards a better and more productive life. One person in particular experienced freedom in an area where he had been trapped for many years. The Church Renewal weekend consists of several different parts or seminars: 'Set Free', `Hearing From God' and the `Prayer Summit'. Here in Auburn we are presently offering a Prayer Summit every other month and we have done one `Hearing From God' seminar. Around Easter, Huron Chapel is going to offer the 'Set Free' component followed by another `Hearing From God' seminar. Our desire is for more and more of the dear people in our communities to come to know personally the freedom God offers us. There so many self-help books and conferences because so many people are lost and need help. But there is something hugely powerful when you seek the help from the very source of life itself... namely, the God of the Bible. He created us and He sent His Son to give us life abundant and eternal and He alone can heal us. People often ask me why does Huron Chapel grow? How can a church in a small village of a couple hundred people have a couple hundred people in their morning service week after week? Why will people drive from other communities to come to Auburn every Sunday? The answer is simple, we point people to Jesus. He does the changing and the saving. Jesus once said, "When I am lifted up I will draw people unto myself..." So... we lift Jesus up and we let Him draw the people. We just give the people a place to call home. Our church is a family and, like all families, we are not perfect. But like healthy families we love each other and we try to encourage and help one another grow in their relationship with God. All of us at Huron Chapel have things in common, we are all broken and we all need the healing that can only come from God through Jesus Christ. FROM AUBURN Morris-Turnberry hires interim public works director Continued from page 1 this expense, but we do recognize the need for his qualifications still exists. In two -to -three years time, we need to focus on infrastructure management for long-term sustainability specifically with our road network and water and sewer infrastructure." Chambers said Molenhuis will be able to provide detailed information on infrastructure and, while it will be an additional investment for the municipality to make, she said there is a significant risk in not sustaining existing infrastructure or spending wisely. "We need detailed asset management plans for funding opportunities in the future," she said. "Looking at additional costs and finding operational efficiencies to offset those costs will be part of building long-term sustainability from a staff perspective." As far as feedback on existing North Huron services are concerned, Chambers said that once Molenhuis concludes his time as director of the shared services public works department on Feb. 17, he will be looking at a long-term review of the department. That will include options to address ratepayer concerns. "I don't think he has had a chance to analyze operations as to what the work plan is going to be going forward," she said. "One of the things that came to our attention when we blended crews and moved expertise around was that there are different levels of services in areas that wasn't documented. We have to work in that regard to formalize our level of service so council can understand it and so we can communicate the expectation for levels of service." Molenhuis said ratepayers won't see much change on the ground right away. "We still have an operational mandate, and, certainly from an operations perspective, it will be business as usual," he said. "We're going to analyze what efforts are being done over the year, and make that part of the plans going forward." Molenhuis said there was a lot of `framework' that needed to be developed in North Huron and that the steps he could take so far have been good ones. He went on to say there is a lot of work to do in North Huron to develop work programs within the municipality. "My focus is to stabilize and build into the future to help manage our assets and opportunities," he said. "We need information from the public, like with the recent garbage and recycling survey, to develop work programs to meet the needs of the public." For Molenhuis' part, he said that pursuing the position with North Huron was an opportunity to continue to pursue a "unique opportunity." "We're going to try to build out with long-term planning that didn't seem to be here before," he said. IMPACT ON MORRIS-TURNBERRY The announcement of the disbandment came shortly before Morris-Turnberry council accepted Molenhuis' resignation. Council also accepted the resignations of Fire Department of North Huron Chief David Sparling and Fire Prevention Officer James Marshall who both were part of the shared services initiative for fire prevention services. The announcement also followed the presentation of Morris- Turnberry's draft budget which included documentation on the shared services project showing that both municipalities had spent tens of thousands of dollars more than they would have had the project not been pursued. Mayor Paul Gowing said, in an interview with The Citizen after the announcement, Morris-Turnberry's representatives on the shared services committee expected the announcement, but it was not exactly a welcome one. "We were notified they were stepping away," he said. "We were left to wonder what we do as the other partner, and this forced us to carry forward and look to rehire to fill the position. "It was disappointing in that we are trying to do the right thing and recognize efficiencies, but we didn't get it implemented," Gowing said. "We weren't far enough on to realize savings. The project was still in the preliminary stages, so we were still having costs of implementation. We have to get things in place to get further down the road to see the savings. A press release from Morris- Turnberry sent on Monday announced that Wray Wilson, the retired Director of Public Works from Howick Township had been named Interim Director of Public Works until a permanent replacement is recruited. As for Morris-Turnberry's permanent director of public works, Gowing said they wouldn't be looking for someone like Molenhuis with a background in engineering but wouldn't dissuade applicants with similar experience. "We certainly would entertain applicants that would have an engineering designation, but we're not specifically looking for an engineer," he said. "There will be a description for that position going out very soon." While there was little discussion regarding the dissolution at the Morris-Turnberry Council meeting, council did make some decisions based on the fact that the program was changing. Primarily, a landfill operations report that requested the action of council was deferred until Molenhuis' replacement could be put in place. "I would have our new hire, along with collaboration from people working at the site, work together," Councillor John Smuck said. "I don't think this is a job of the director, but a collaboration of the people at the site doing the work." Gowing said if there was to be a change in how the site is managed, having staff work on it would be a good idea. Obituaries WILLIAM "BILL" CHARLES SOUCH William "Bill" Charles Souch of Blyth passed away peacefully Friday, Jan. 27. He was in his 77th year. Bill is survived by his son Gary and his wife Cheryl of Brussels, his daughter Lynda and her husband Randy of Clinton, and his son David and his partner Sherri of Stratford. Bill was the dear brother of Mildred Golley of Wingham, Leota King of Wingham, and Murray and Joanne Souch of Blyth, and the dear brother-in-law of Don Gower and his wife Joan of Clinton, John Gower and his wife Ruth of Goderich, Sue Gower of Goderich and Mary Ellen Gower of Lucknow. Bill was predeceased by his wife Delores, brother Murty, sister-in-law Shirley Jolley and her husband Don, and brothers-in-law Jim Golley, Bill King, Bill Gower and Dave Gower. He will be sadly missed by all of his grandchildren and great- grandchildren. Cremation has taken place and there will be a celebration of life on Feb. 19 from 1-4 p.m. at the Blyth Legion.