Elder Update

It is a joy to report to this dear church family some of the things that the Lord has done in our midst during the third quarter of our ministry year. We give God all the glory! He is forever worthy!

Sermon Series

The Word of God is foundational and central to all we do and decide here at Redemption Bible Chapel St. Thomas. Pastor Jake continues an excellent, practical, expository sermon series in Mark’s Gospel. Our Director of Soul Care, Cody Unger, gave two superb messages on the critical dynamics of this needed ministry. “Who We Are” is the title of our pastor’s most recent three-part topical sermon series on our Mission, Vision, and Worship. God is blessing His Word to our hearts through His servants!

LEADERSHIP & STAFF UPDATES

Elder Team

Bernard de Vries has just begun six months of internship on the Elder team. We ask the Lord to grant us wisdom and discernment as we seek the Lord’s leading in this important matter. Please pray with us. 

Over the summer, the Elder team completed a full performance review of our Lead Pastor Jake Klassen. Jake has found this to be a profoundly affirming experience in his life and ministry. It was long overdue and is proving very valuable. 

Staff

As Elders, we are deeply grateful to God for the excellent church staff we have in place: 

• Jake Klassen (Lead Pastor)
• Natalie Paterson (Office Manager / Executive Assistant) 
• Pete Bergen (Director of Worship and Integration)
• Thomas Fisher (Youth Pastor)
• Cody Unger (Director of Soul Care)

Please continue to uphold each of them and their dear families in fervent prayer. They are counting on our support!

Board of Deacons

In September, the Elders installed the Board of Deacons. Included are: 

• Bernie Adamache
• Mark Currelley
• Sheldon Dyck
• Brad Mantyka
• Natalie Paterson
• Paul Westendorp

We anticipate many blessings from this particular servant/leadership team in property, facility, finances, and benevolence. 

MINISTRY UPDATES

Kids

The Kids’ ministry is bursting with growth! Many more children are now part of this vital discipleship ministry. God’s precious Word is being lovingly and earnestly communicated through our directors, teachers, facilitators, assistants, and jr. helpers. 

Royal Oak Senior Living

The ministry of outreach to seniors at Royal Oak Seniors Living residence is going very well. A core ministry team of five church volunteers is presently involved in this monthly chapel service on Wednesday mornings. The residents who do attend have expressed genuine appreciation for this service. 

Men

Much time, thought, and prayer has been given by the Elders’ team to the prospect of having a vibrant men’s ministry in our church. As of this report, we have found no man willing and available to lead this worthy venture. We believe it to be a matter of prayer and time before this becomes a blessed reality. 

Young Adults

We are giving due consideration to a ministry to young adults. There are approximately 80 people in the range of 18 – 30 years old in this church family. That number surprised us. We are sure they would appreciate this opportunity for social interaction and spiritual growth. Let us make this a matter of prayer.

Small Groups

Small groups are resuming this September. The key purpose of small groups is purposeful discipleship. We will continue with the “pulpit curriculum” for the discussion portion of the Bible study at the group gatherings. We cannot over-emphasize the importance of this type of personal and corporate spiritual growth and fellowship opportunity. 

The Elder team is also working on developing the concept of “elder wards,” where an Elder will provide spiritual care for church members in the congregation who are not presently part of a small group. 

Missions & Evangelism 

The Elders are giving concentrated time and attention to the matter of launching a Mission & Evangelism committee. This will take some time to fully implement but will help us turn our spiritual gaze in an outward direction to those who, like us, need to trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. 

We have been in contact with several Christian ministries to help build networks of mutual relationships for the purpose of fulfilling our mission. We want to be more intentionally outward-focused than we have been in the past and are seeking to impact our community for Christ through His gospel and for His glory!

Youth

The Youth ministry started up again in mid-September under the capable leadership of Thomas Fisher and the youth volunteer team. It is crucial that young people have a program specifically geared and suited to their needs! And we have one right here at Redemption!

Women

Women’s ministry started up again in September. The fall study is now able to provide both a morning and evening session with childcare available in the mornings. Laura Platt and the table leaders are providing great spiritual leadership to this key dimension in our church. 

The Elders wish to sincerely thank everyone for their financial support of this ministry at Redemption Bible Chapel St. Thomas. You are showing great generosity and demonstrating strong backing of what we are about as a local church in this area.

May God bless you each for your timely and tangible investment in this Kingdom work!

The Elder Team

Hello Redemption!

There are many exciting things to share and happenings to report to report to you looking back at Q2 of 2022. We do this with genuine hearts of gratitude and praise to our great Saviour and exalted Lord Jesus Christ himself!

Church Constitution

The Redemption Bible Chapel St. Thomas constitution has been recently revised and updated by the Elders. This is a major document which helps to guide us in our daily congregation life and strategic ministry plans. Feel free to view it here.

Deacons

A brand new board of Deacons has been established and is about to be officially installed. The Elders have interviewed each candidate individually for the position of Deacon. We are anticipating much more being accomplished in our facility, on our properly, and through benevolence as the Deacon board takes on these items.

Members

We have received more church attenders into official church membership. This process is done through a formal application and then an interview with an Elder couple. It is so encouraging to hear the testimonies of how people have come to repentance and to place their personal faith in Jesus Christ. If you are interested in becoming a church member, the process starts by filling out this application.

Guest Preachers

Several men have preached while Pastor Jake Klassen was on medical leave and then transitioning gradually back to full ministerial load. The congregation has been blessed through the ministry of God’s precious Word. We are in a wonderful expository sermon series currently through the Gospel of Mark. All of our previous sermons can be found on our YouTube channel here.

Elders & Staff

A prospective addition to the Elder Team is in the works. The current Elders have prayed, interview, evaluated, and planned on this very crucial matter of adding more spiritual leaders to this local church body.

The two latest church staff personnel have been able to increase their ministry time, with Thomas Fisher coming on at 75% and Cody Unger increasing to two days a week. We want to thank Redemption Bible Chapel, London for their generous financial support in making this possible.

Ministries

A new outreach to seniors at Royal Oak Seniors Living residence has just begun with many people from our church family showing interest in joining this ministry. This is a monthly mid-week service at the seniors home that the staff at the seniors’ home have invited us to.

Small groups are taking a break from regular meetings over the summer months. Over this past year, we have had five groups (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). A stronger sense of spiritual fellowship and keen fervency are emerging as a result of this vital discipleship ministry. If you are interested in joining a small group, you can register for the wait list here.

Plans are now underway to appoint three Trustees for the congregation and to recruit four people to facilitate an upcoming pre-service Sunday prayer time. This will be open for anyone to come and participate. This will be launching in September.

Many ministries are expanding in various ways under God’s good hand of blessing. We have been able to open the Grade 4-5 room in our Kids’ Ministry and more people are joining the worship teams (both at Youth and on Sunday morning) to help lead us in praise and proclamation.

If you are interested in signing up to serve in any ministry at Redemption, please fill out this form!

Financial Update

We are thankful for the giving trend that we have been seeing in the congregation throughout 2022. Weekly giving in the second quartre is increasing. the staff and ministry leaders have been limiting expenditures to align with our income.

To the end of May, approximately $30 000 of budgeted expenditures have not been made. It is the desire and prayer of the elders that as a congregation we meet our total budget requirements independent of any other source of income.

Total Budget requirement, 2022                                   $486 114*

Total Projected Income, 2022                                       $438 074**

Current estimated shortfall for 2022 is $48 040 (or $925 per week).

Please note that these numbers do not include support received from Redemption London that is earmarked for salaries.

*The budget presented at the annual meeting was increased by $20 000 to help towards the costs of increasing hours for Thomas Fisher and Cody Unger.

**The projected income amount is based on giving trends up to May 31, 2022 and does not include income from other sources outside of donations.

We are meeting and greeting new faces every single Sunday in this local “gospel lighthouse” and “spiritual embassy”. We do thank the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is building His Church, just as He said He would (Matt. 16:18). Let us praise His name together for He deserves all the glory!

On behalf of the Elders of Redemption Bible Chapel St. Thomas,

John Scorgie, Secretary
Henry de Waal, Chairman

There have been many exciting changes happening here at Redemption Bible Chapel – St. Thomas since our last update. 

Pastor Jake has completed a practical and powerful sermon series entitled, “Who We Are” in late August and through September. Feel free to take a listen to this series online. 

Small groups also started up in September using “pulpit curriculum” as the basis for group discussions. Lively discussion, open sharing of prayer requests, and fervent intercession for one another are taking place.

From a staffing perspective, we were happy to bring on a new staff member. Thomas Fisher has started his role as the Director of Youth Ministry and has assembled a team of leaders to help with this area of service. 

Current ministries within the church are:

• Kids’ Ministry (Nursery and JK – Grade 1). We were able to open our next room (JK – Grade 1) in September. This runs during the Sunday morning service. 
• We have almost 60 youth who have registered for youth ministry and gather together on Tuesdays to worship, learn from the Word, and participate in small groups. Currently, the youth ministry is going through the book of Genesis.
• Soul Care Ministry. After a prayerful and in-depth interview process, the elder board has identified Cody Unger to head up the development of a soul care ministry at RBC St Thomas. We are thankful that Cody Unger has started a residency with Hope Oakville in their Soul Care Ministry. This will allow Cody to see how a Soul Care ministry runs within the context of a local church and provide essential resources and training. We ask that you be in prayer for Cody as he commits time to this. Also pray with us as we look to continue developing this essential ministry at this church.

We are having a Step 1 class – a helpful introduction to the staff, elders, and ministries at Redemption –that will be presented on Sunday, October 17 after the morning service by the staff and elder team. Those wanting to know more about our church or who are interested in becoming members are welcome to attend. Lunch will be provided.

Please register in advance here. 

On August 31, 2021, the elders of Redemption Bible Chapel – London released us from their authority and care. Redemption Bible Chapel – St. Thomas is now fully independent from their leadership and is being cared for solely by our own elders.

We have been blessed to add John Scorgie to our elder team, and we will be interviewing another potential candidate shortly.

We are thankful for the ways that God has been moving and growing us here at Redemption St. Thomas. We ask that you join with us in both prayer and praise for our church. 

Some ways that you can be praying with us are:

• Volunteers: We are so thankful for all that they sacrifice to allow our ministries to run. Pray for them as they disciple our children and youth. Pray that God would be working mightily in their lives and that they would seek to glorify God in their serving here at the church. 
• Elders: Pray for the elders for wisdom and humility as they seek to lead in a Biblical direction that would glorify God and fulfill our vision of reaching, discipling, and sending.
• Staff: Pray for our staff as they oversee the day-to-day operations of the church.
• Church Body: Pray for our church body. Pray that Christ would be evident among us and we would seek to encourage and build up one another in the faith. 
• Gospel Impact: Pray that we would all seek to share the gospel within our community. Pray for opportunities to witness to those around us.

Sincerely,

The Elder Team at Redemption Bible Chapel St. Thomas 

Jake Klassen 

Henry de Waal 

Will Ong 

John Scorgie