New Life News
May Serve Focus: Garbage Pick Up
Let’s serve our city together by walking streets, bagging garbage and praying for our neighbours this month of May. You can get started by emailing Mike. He will get all you need, garbage bags, safety vests, garbage picker-uppers and gloves (courtesy of the City of Abbotsford). Pick your own route near your home or one that you know needs prayer or has a lot of garbage. You can do this by yourself, or with family, friends or your Life Group. Our New Life Prayer wall on the New Life app will have prayers to pray during your prayer walks. When you are done let us know by email or on social media what neighbourhood you covered, with whom, and with a picture of a filled garbage bag.
Facility Upgrade Project
Dear New Life Family,
We are inviting you to participate in an exciting, long awaited project within New Life Church.
We are in the process of upgrading our auditorium and today we are asking you to prayerfully consider giving to this project. Your help will enable the church to move into the future to fulfill the ministry God has called us to.
New Life’s facility was built in the mid 1990’s. Over the years the auditorium has mostly remained the same and recently we have begun some of the long-awaited upgrades.
Last summer we began with upgrading our stage lighting. We removed the old stage lighting system and replaced it with new lighting that has been a wonderful improvement for the church. Most recently we upgraded our video projection system to a larger and clearer screen. We are very thankful for these upgrades and we are blessed that they were paid for from the church’s savings.
Currently, we are focusing on painting the walls, improving acoustics and changing all the house lights. The dark colored walls with the dim house lights will be changed!
We are also eager to update the original bathrooms and change the flooring in the auditorium and we will pursue those projects at a later date after this current phase of upgrades is complete.
The Board of Elders wanted to move forward with this project as soon as possible because it is convenient to do the work when the church isn’t meeting in the auditorium.
We are asking you to prayerfully invest into New Life’s future by giving today to help offset the costs of upgrading our auditorium.
If you donate to the Facility Upgrade Fund, all your funds will be used towards these long-awaited upgrades.
Blessings,
Mike VanderKwaak
Executive Pastor
OUTSIDE Abide
Abide is going outside! Abide is typically a live streamed worship and prayer night on the last Sunday of every month. This month we won’t be live streaming, but will be hosting a outdoor in person gathering. We can only host 50 participants so register quick. Grab your chair and experience a wonderful night of worship and prayer in the back parking lot. Please enter through the west green gate. This event will proceed rain or shine at 7:00PM. Follow this link to register: https://new-life.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/129/responses/new. Hope to see you there!
COVID Update – March 31, 2021
Dear New Life Family,
We celebrate the risen Christ with you this week. This Friday is Good Friday and once again we have joined together with other Christian Reformed churches in Abbotsford and Mission to compile a joint online service to commemorate the great sacrifice of our Saviour. You will be able to view that video on Friday morning.
On Easter Sunday we will have a very special online service that we are excited to present to you. At the same time, we are sad this will be our second Easter apart. We had so hoped that this year it would be something more. Our staff team was making exciting plans to host in person worship services on Easter and the weeks to come. Then this past Monday we heard the difficult news that health officials reversed their initial allowance for indoor worship events. We were so terribly disappointed of the news. For Easter, we had planned three consecutive times to meet together in groups of fifty and other special ways to make the Easter service a celebration together. Despite our disappointment, however, we stay the course and continue to be diligent while we are in the pandemic.
We are also suspending youth and young adult ministries based on health official recommendations. We had been continuing these programs with in-person gatherings, and will re-evaluate for the week of April 12. Our priorities at New Life during this pandemic have been to do ministry safely and sustainably. At this time, when Covid cases have surged, especially in the age-range of young adults, we want to be extra careful. The health of our ministry volunteers, participants, and all our members are an important concern.
In the midst of these set-backs, the New Life auditorium is undergoing some improvements and we can’t wait to show it off. Right now, we are focusing on the stage area, with a new projection system that will be larger and clearer. Work has also begun to replace sound panels throughout the auditorium and give it all a fresh coat of paint. The next major piece of the project will be a new lighting system for the auditorium. A loan of $170,000 has been approved by the congregation at the last New Life LIVE meeting. To contribute money for these improvements, we will be promoting donations to reduce the loan amount. Watch for an up-coming fund-raising campaign.
Thank you for your support and encouragement throughout this time. It is trying for all of us. You are in our prayers. If there is anything we can help you with please don’t hesitate to call the church office or a pastor. Please keep staff and ministry volunteers in your prayers as we continue to adjust and adapt ministry to different conditions. We remain filled with hope in our resurrected Saviour, and anticipate that God is at work through all of our circumstances. To him be all glory.
Blessings,
Pastor Nathan and Pastor Mike