INFORMATION SHEET

Here is the information sheet that was available at church this last Sunday. Please feel free to call me with any questions you have about this arrangement. On Sunday, September 17 there will be a congregational meeting after church to further discuss this issue, and at the meeting the membership will vote whether to accept or reject this proposal. It is my hope, however, that if you have any questions or concerns, you would talk to me or someone on the leadership team before that meeting. This is an exciting and anxious time of transition for College Park and we as a church seek to serve them in this time. Thank you for you attention to this issue.


Shared Pastoral Arrangement with College Park Covenant Church

Here are the main points of the proposal that Pastor Steve sent to College Park Covenant Church (CPCC). Before this proposal comes into effect there will be time for people from BCC and CPCC to express their concerns. There will also be a time for the membership of BCC to come together in a formal way and vote on the proposal.

1. 30% of Pastor Steve's time would go toward CPCC and 70% of his time would go toward BCC. At CPCC Pastor Steve would help organize and plan worship, visit members, administrate programming, and facilitate a connection between CPCC and BCC.

2. Pastor Steve would preach at CPCC on the first Sunday of every month. Kelly Graham will preach at BCC, when he is available, on the weeks that Pastor Steve is at CPCC. Our Sunday morning worship time would still be 11am at BCC and the worship time at CPCC would be 10:30

3. Pastor Steve would have an office in the CPCC building that he would use two or three days a week. Some of the work that he would do at the office would be work for BCC as well as CPCC.

4. The interim arrangement would be for a period of one year. However, the arrangement is flexible and could end or change within the one year time frame. If at the end of one year CPCC would like to consider extending or modifying the arrangement then the board at CPCC and the Leadership Team from BCC and Pastor Steve would need to renegotiate.

5. Pastor Steve's priority will always be BCC, and he will not consider working at CPCC full time. He will continue to live in Dundurn and travel to Saskatoon to fulfill his commitment to CPCC.

Our goal as a church is to love God and love people around us. It's that simple. This proposal seeks to utilize Pastor Steve in a way that would be beneficial to CPCC. We as a church would be serving CPCC in their time of transitions.

If you have an questions about this information sheet or the proposal please ask Pastor Steve, 492-2301, or any member of the Leadership Team: Kirsten Lester, 492-4913; Vivian Fehr, 492-4649; Mark Anderson, 492-4787; Clint Wasmuth, 544-2925; or Greg Pauli, 492-4970.

Kernels of Hope Update ... it's looking good

Greetings fellow farmers !

Just a brief note to let you know that all three fields have now been harvested. We did well ! We'll soon have final numbers but I can say this much so far.... Minnedosa was done first with about 43 bushels per acre of #1 CWRS wheat .... Norquay then amazed us again... last year they had a 62 bushel per acre yield of the same hard red spring wheat. This year they are guessing it ran ... drum roll ... 80 bushels per acre of # 2 cwrs ... not many farmers have ever done that! ...

Now picture yourself in Wetaskiwin, Alberta yesterday Monday August 28 as Lorne rolls down the field in the combine with the grain rolling into the hopper. Much of the growing season was very, very dry there and there was some concern as to what the yields would be... Lorne is guessing (scientifically) that it went a little OVER 80 bushels per acre! ( It is a CPS red wheat so it has a little different uses and is a slightly lower price per bushel.)

The Sask and Alberta crops haven't been hauled to the elevator yet. As many of you know the yields sometimes shrink a little once they actually get to the elevator ;) but we will soon have the final numbers to let you all know exactly how it went.

We can say for sure that God has again blessed this harvest and we pray that he blesses the results of it.

Thank you all for making a difference to so many.

Till next time,
Ray the Grain Guy

Prison Letters Series: Prison

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The Lost Sermon

Here is the sermon from last Sunday (Aug. 20). My voice recorder didn’t work at church so I re-recorded at home. It’s in two sections because the phone rang while I was recording and I didn’t want to go back and start over. So ... to listen to the whole sermon you have to listen to six minutes of part one, that's the top audio player, and then listen to the thirteen minutes of part two, that's the bottom aduio player. If only I knew how to edit audio files to combine the two ... but I don't. The sermon loses something because I recorded while sitting in front of my computer instead of in front of all of you Blackstrap Covenant people. But here it is. Enjoy.


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Beate Epp at McNally Robinson

This evening I went to hear Beate Epp read from her book The Magical Horses. It was a great reading. McNally Robinson set up the reading in the café. I was able to eat dinner and listen to Beate at the same time. Continue to pray for Beate as she works to place her work in the public eye. If you are unfamiliar with Beate’s work check out her website … HERE.

Prison Letters Series: Philippians

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In this sermon we examine the purpose behind Paul's letter to the Philippians.

Prison Letters Series: Colossians

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Kernels of Hope Update

The hot weather you all have been experiencing has also been at all of our fields. The wheat is coming in much earlier than normal. We had better soil moisture reserves in Minnedosa and Norquay than we did in Wetaskiwin. We no longer are expecting bumper crops but excellent quality is still possible along with good yields. You never know until it's in the bin tho! The picture is of me up to my neck in wheat, yesterday in the Charles field at Minnedosa. I'm actually on my knees of course. The crop is of average height and nearly ready to swath.

As mentioned earlier we'd like to do a prayer walk and now is the time! Anyone who can join us at one of the fields in person or who can join us in your thoughts and prayers at 7 pm August 6. We want to pray for the successful harvest of the crop and ask for a blessing on all the things the harvest can do in restarting peoples lives in Liberia with seed, tools and food!

Thanks so much for all you have done so far and stay tuned for Harvest reports over the next few weeks. This may be a year where Alberta doesn't have the biggest yields!

Till Next time,
Kernel Ray