Calling all Next Kids leaders and would be leaders. If you’re interested in or are already helping raise our kids to love God on Sunday mornings, please join us at the church Tuesday evening (November 24) at 8pm to review policy, curriculum, planning and more. Snacks will be served.
Ben Platz is up this Sunday, October 20th, to talk about how the Trinity makes a difference in our relationships as neighbours. Invite all thy neighbours! Here are a few more things happening in the ‘hood which you might want to check out:
Geneva Lecture . Wednesday . October 16th . 8pm
Robert Sutherland Building, Rm 202, Queen’s University
Dr Ian Barns, who spoke at Next last Sunday, will give a lecture on ‘Sustainability and the Good Life’ tomorrow night. Ian is visiting from Melbourne and recently retired from his role as Senior Lecturer in Ethics and Technology Policy at Murdoch University in Australia. He is currently doing research for his latest book on theology, sustainability and the good life. A former staff worker for Inter Varsity, Ian has been described as “Australia’s foremost public theologian”.
Ian has co-authored, edited and contributed to a number of books and book collections including: Challenges to Einstein’s Children, God Down Under; Connecting Christian Faith and Legal Practice and Poststructuralism, Citizenship and Social and Social Policy. He also convened The Newbigin Project (on aspects of public theology). Ian has produced materials for two church-based programmes: Hot Gospel and Creation Care and Christian Discipleship. He is married and has three adult children and four grandchildren.
Autumn Art Exhibition . Saturday and Sunday . Oct 19th – 20th . 10am-5pm
215 Victoria Street
What better time than crisp fall days to see beautiful pottery, fibre art, jewelry, and silk screen prints? This exhibit will definitely be a feast for the eyes so make sure you spare a few minutes of your weekend for it. Our very own, Sue Lyon, is participating in this event; don’t forget to drop by and say hi.
nextLuck: CAN you make it?! . Sunday . Oct 20th after service
89 Colborne Street
This theme was carefully thought of by the Neighbourhood Squad which is also facilitating our section of the Halloween Harvest. Halloween Harvest is the time of year when several volunteers go trick-or-treating for non-perishable goods to donate to the Partners in Mission Food Bank. In line with this, we invite everyone to reflect on the reality that eating out of cans is an everyday occurrence for so many people around us. Please bring a dish – made from canned (amongst other other non-perishable) goods – to share. Also, if you can, please remember to be generous with your portions because we open our potlucks to people in our community who are unable to bring food to share.
Dear folks,
There are several exciting things coming up in our Next community such as Thomas Peters speaking on 1 Peter 2:4-12 at our morning gathering this sunday, a summer foods potluck (aka nextluck) after THE SERVICE, a tuesday breakfast after prayer time at 7am (aka prayerogies) and more.
There is ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING, however, that needs highlighting and here goes it:
The nextChurch Board, along with the Teen Girl Squad (TGS, also known as the Pastoral Leadership Task Force) is asking Nexters to participate in a day of prayer and fasting as we consider the future of leadership at Next.
As a community gathered by God, we desire to seek God’s direction in our decisions regarding future leadership. The early church set an example for us in the Bible to pray and fast before decision-making and commissioning leaders, so we will do likewise.
Our vision is to see what God is doing, and join in however we can.
Monday, June 17th will be our day of communal prayer and fasting. Please join with the community together in prayer and fasting using the prayer guide and fasting guidelines provided. Monday night (time to be determined) there’ll be an option to gather with other Nexters at 89 Colborne to pray and listen to God together.
There’s a lot of topics to cover in prayer! Mostly we want to listen to hear what God wants us to do regarding leadership at Next. As you probably know, The Teen Girl Squad has been praying and considering implimenting an elders based spiritual leadership model, following the New Testament model of leadership in the early church. We’re also in the process of trying to figure out if and when we can hire a paid pastor, and what that will look like for us at this time. Another big issue is finances – we’re currently behind on our budgeted giving for the year, leaving us short on the money we had hoped to put aside to be able to hire a pastor. We’ll be talking more about our plans and process on Sunday, so you’ll know where we’re at with all that stuff, up to the moment.
So pray for wisdom and discernment, pray for folks currently in leadership, pray for the Board and the TGS in the planning process. Please pray that we will grow together as a community, in knowledge and grace, that we will grow mature in faith and our church community will grow in numbers as we live out our calling to make an impact in the lives of others. Pray that God will continue to show us clearly how to move forward as a community, and how to join in as best we can with what God is doing.
We’ve included some verses below for you to pray through as you consider these things:
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out labourers into the harvest field.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
As we prayerfully move together through this process, we are planning to begin implementing the eldership plan and posting the job application for the potential pastor hire in the next few weeks. If you have any concerns or questions about this or anything arises from your time of prayer and fasting that you’d be willing to share with us, please contact the Teen Girl Squad (Lesley & Brendan Lorimer, Steve Schmidt-Stutzman, or Josh Lyon) at next.tgs.feedback@gmail.com. If you’d like a copy of the presentation regarding eldership from the community meeting, please contact Scarlete at infonextchurch@gmail.com. We feel very strongly that we all need to move forward together in prayerful unity regarding in this plan for leadership at Next, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch before we officially launch the elder model, or post the pastor position, if there’s any part of it you want to discuss.
Have a great weekend!
Next is having a COMMUNITY MEETING on Wednesday, April 17th, 8pm @ nextChurch, 89 Colborne Street
The Teen Girl Squad (aka Pastoral Leadership Task Force) is getting very excited to update the community on our thoughts and plans for how we are hoping to move forward in the pastoral leadership task we have been given. We have been very encouraged by the responses from the TGS Survey and can’t wait to share some of that vision and encouragement with you as well.
Before the meeting, please continue to pray for the TGS, for wisdom and discernment in this weighty task, and for our church as we move forward together as the body/bride of Christ, nourished and cherished by Christ!
Our vision is to see what God is doing, and join in however we can!
