The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2015-03-26, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015. 8By Pastor Mark Royall Huron Chapel Evangelical Missionary Church, Auburn I still think of myself as a student, even though my classroom days are far behind me. I still continue to read books from people who know and have more experience than I do. I attend great conferences every year where I am hugely inspired and infused with powerful ideas. I have visited many growing churches for the purpose of learning from them. I have even brought my staff and church board members along with me, sometimes halfway across the country, to spend time learning from pastors, staff and church boards of these successful churches. I have sought out personal mentors for myself who are further ahead in their ministry experience and success than I am. Right now I am being mentored by Ray Duerksen, who is the lead pastor of Southland Church in Steinbach, Manitoba. I was there this past October, and I will be going out again in May. Meanwhile, I meet with him online weekly to learn and grow because I want to and I need to. I am also quite excited to share with other churches and believers what I am acquiring in the way of new insights and knowledge. I know our Blyth area pastors possess the same desire, for when we get together we always spend time sharing and helping each other out with what wisdom and new understandings we are gaining in our own lives and ministry. At one of the recent conferences I attended I received a book entitled, Top 100 - The Best Leadership Articles, Practical How-to’s And Features Of The Year. The book is full of insights, observations and helps from today’s most influential church leaders. I just ordered enough copies for our elders and our church board at Huron Chapel so we can spend the first portion of our respected monthly meetings reading and discussing the information and ideas from this book. One of the articles from this book is by Thom Rainer who loves to study churches. Recently he researched 2,000 churches in North America and complied a list of what he calls, “The Seven Secrets of Healthy Churches”. Healthy churches, like healthy bodies, tend to grow and become stronger so I was interested in reading and learning what he had discovered. Quickly, here are the seven secrets he unearthed: 1. “The church’s leadership and the laity hold to a high view of scripture.” Rainer’s findings concluded that where scripture is not held as being authoritative that the health of the church diminishes significantly. 2. “The churches and their leaders seek to be relevant.” By relevancy Rainer means that healthy churches have leaders and laity who are more concerned in making the Scripture relevant to the spiritual and physical needs of others. Rainer found that members in unhealthy churches tend to be more concerned with their own comforts rather than making the necessary sacrifices to reach those who are not yet following Christ. He gives examples by listing peripheral issues, such as music styles and the physical facilities which tend to distract the church from its call to minister effectively. 3. “The churches and their leaders hold to the primacy of preaching.” I have found this to be true as well and it is one of the reasons why I will spend 15 to 20 hours a week researching, praying, writing, editing and knowing my sermon for Sunday morning. Rainer says he found that sermon preparation time and study is lacking in unhealthy churches. The unhealthy churches tend to see preaching more as a Sunday morning requirement instead of treating it as a powerful way to communicate God’s powerful truth to the lives of their people. Thus he writes of the unhealthy churches he studied, “There is preaching, but it has little power.” Rainer discovered that with pastors who preached every week, those in healthy churches will spend five times as much time in sermon preparation than those who preached in unhealthy churches. Thus he concluded that church members must give their preachers sufficient time to focus on prayer and to the ministry of the word. 4. “The churches have a small- group structure.” Again I have learned this truth in my own quest for leading healthier churches. I strongly promote small group ministry at Huron Chapel. Why is THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph’s Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N. CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS MINISTER Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div. All Welcome MUSIC DIRECTOR Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224 Sunday, March 29 ~ Palm Sunday - Sunday School Pageant Friday, April 3 ~ Good Friday 9:30 am Brussels United; 11 am Blyth United Sunday, April 5 ~ Easter Morning, Communion, “Unbroken” Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m. MUSIC DIRECTOR Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed. Children Welcome Join Brussels Mennonite Fellowship for EASTER WEEK SERVICES March 29 - Palm Sunday at BMF; Huron Lea 2pm March 30 – April 1 - Community Services at Melville Presbyterian 12 noon April 2 - at St. John’s Anglican 12 noon April 3 - Good Friday Service at BMF 10 a.m. Holy Communion April 5 - Easter Sunday Service at BMF 10 a.m. Special Music - Church Choir Drama - Easter Forgiveness www.bmfchurch.com a 2pm . .m www bmfchurch com ...... Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, March 29 Brussels Business & Cultural Centre at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday School for children 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Rev. Elwin Garland SUNDAY, MARCH 29 Nursery care available 519-887-9017 Worship & Sunday School - 10 am Coffee & Snacks - 11 am We invite you to join our church family in: Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00 am Evening Service is Palm Sunday Walk with Blyth area churches You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH WALK THROUGH HOLY WEEK 6:30 pm Huron Chapel, Auburn - Palm Sunday Parade 7:00 pm Blyth Christian Reformed Church - Anointing 7:30 pm Living Water Christian Fellowship - Last Supper 8:00 pm Blyth United Church - Garden / Trial 8:30 pm Trinity Anglican Church - Cruciﬁxion huronchapel.com 3:6 RHTK ALWWA lepahCnrouHm p03 YLLYOHHGUO nSum lParnubAu EEK WY edraPay adn 3:6 0:7 3:7 0:8 3:8 lepahCnrouHm p03 naistrihChytBlm p00 m p03Cr etaWgnviiL CdetinUhytBlm p00 cailgAny tinriTm p03 rouh nSum lPa- rnubAu, rchuhCdrmeofeRn pishwolleFnaistrihC riT/nerdaG- rchuhC oﬁxiciruC- rchuhCnca mco.lepachnro edraPay adn gnitnioAn- reppSustaL- lari no BRUSSELS WORSHIP SERVICE AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 10:00 am All Welcome United Church Minister: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M.Div. Bulletin notices: 519-523-4224 blythunited@tcc.on.ca Church bookings: 519-887-6377 Other concerns: 226-963-1175 From the Minister’s Study Royall reveals seven secrets to a healthy church getlivingwater.org Living Water Christian Fellowship 10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God) Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848 March 29: Gen.2:15-25 Evangelical Missionary Church Small Groups Weekly in Blyth & Wingham Palm/Passion Sunday “Foster Faith” Good Friday: FREE COMMUNITY BREAKFAST 8:30-10:30 a.m. at Memorial Hall 6:30-9:00 pm: Inter-church “Walk Through Holy Week” starting at Huron Chapel EMC, Auburn (LWCF 7:30 pm) Continued on page 22