Gary loves being the lead pastor at Broadway Church. His work brings him into the very most important places in people's lives - the difficult and the happiest events. 2005 started with the funeral of our good friend, Helene Contant, who had fought a battle with cancer for several years. The church was packed with people who loved this beautiful 45 year old french canadian scientist.
Following Helene's funeral, Gary and I attended the National Pastor's Conference in San Diego. We had a 10-day adventure that was a highlight of the year. Many thanks to Art and Lois Loewen as well as Neil and Sandra Leonhardt who took care of our kids! The speakers at the Conference were incredible, the environment was challenging and we both came away from the conference refreshed.
After the conference, we rented a car and drove north to San Fransisco enjoying hours and hours and hours of ocean coastline and each other. A special song to us at that time was Chris Rice's Untitled Hymn which had just been sung at Helene's funeral. Chris did a concert that included that song at the National Pastor's Conference that was particularly meaningful.
Our church met in the gymnasium for the summer, primarily because it is air-conditioned - and the sanctuary was renovated (this picture shows how they covered up chicken-barn fans with beautiful woodwork). No, this empty church is not how it looks on a Sunday morning!
Gary preaches 4 out of 5 Sundays and enjoys it thoroughly. His preaching has improved with experience and understanding the ethos of Broadway Church. Both Christmas Eve and Christmas morning sermons (2005) were incredibly meaningful. He was privileged to join with our church in raising $15,000 for our Christmas Project this year. Ken and Yvonne Wiebe of Christians In Action were hoping to raise $4,000 to finish a school in Sierra Leone. The $15,000 raised will enable them to build another school and develop a Board of Trustees.
Last Christmas, the church raised enough money to support an Indian girl through nursing school - this girl's Indian parents work in a hospital for minimum wages and would never have been able to afford her schooling.
This is the kind of church family that we enjoy - a generous, visionary, multi-generational group of people who love to follow God's heart.
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