We need to begin with a word of gratitude. We are so thankful for the spirit of humility, kindness and servitude that we are seeing within the church. There are many volunteers who serve faithfully and joyfully on a weekly basis. In spite of everything that has happened in the world this year, we continue to see people volunteer in varying ways so that God might be glorified.
We are grateful that we have been able to continue to gather for in-person services since June 14, 2020.
We have received regular feedback that the church is being blessed by the preaching of God’s Word. We are truly thankful to our faithful God for this blessing.
We recognize there are differing viewpoints within our own church and in the community regarding COVID and the government’s response. We thank the Lord for the opportunity he has given us to show our community that despite our individual convictions we do not need to be divided. We desire to reveal to the community that the Lord is sufficient to sustain and uphold us through all seasons.
Ministries
Kid’s Ministry
We have been able to start to reopen our children’s ministry.
We have offered Nursery and Toddlers (ages 0 -3) since mid-November during the first service.
We are thankful for the volunteers who make this ministry run.
We are currently working on getting the next age room (JK – Grade 1) up and running.
The goal is to have this before the end of January 2021.
Please consider if this ministry may be a place where you may be able to bring glory to God.
Pray also for strength and encouragement for those who serve in this ministry and Kim Unger as she directs this vital ministry.
Youth
We are planning on starting our youth program in Q1 of 2021.
Please be in prayer for our leaders, staff and volunteers as they start planning and training to get this ministry up and running.
Elders
We have been in the process of identifying men that are qualified for eldership within our congregation.
These men are currently going through the rigorous application process for eldership and the elder team will be conducting evaluations.
Two Services
We have implemented two services (9 AM & 11:15 AM) since the start of in-person services in June 2020.
With the current 30% gathering limit for places of worship that is implemented by the province of Ontario, this allows us room for everyone who wishes to attend.
We are presently looking ahead, thinking through and assessing post-covid church services as to whether we would return to a single service or continue with two services. Pray that we as elders would be filled with wisdom as we consider this matter.
Financial Update
We are so grateful for your tremendous generosity and continued giving throughout 2020.
Our average donations since returning to in-person services has increased by 7% to what the average donations were before the COVID shutdown in March.
Our goal for 2021 is to be financially independent from Redemption London. London is still available and willing to help if the need arises.
Copies of our 2019 financial statements are available to those who would like a copy. To receive a copy please contact info@rbcstthomas.ca.
Q3 2020
RE-OPENING PLAN
June 14, 2020 was the first opportunity to meet again in-person. Government and health unit restrictions have limited places of worship to 30% building capacity. We are thankful for our staff who had a plan ready to execute which enabled us to open right away.
We would also like to thank our serving teams (worship, ushers, custodial) without whom we would not have been able to re-open the building.
Our staff continue to assess, evaluate, and adjust plans on both a daily and weekly basis as new information is released by our government.
Implementing two services on Sunday allows us to safely accommodate all people into an in-person service while maintaining proper social and physical distancing measures.
As things evolve, please continue to pray. Our staff is currently assessing our next steps which include the proper time and protocol to reopen our children’s ministry.
CHURCH MINISTRIES
The shutdown curtailed our momentum of establishing the needed ministries of the church. We are picking up steam again and moving ahead.
We are currently assessing the ministry teams we had in place prior to our transition including our benevolence ministry team, our board of deacons, and our missions’ team. Our desire is to see what these ministries will look like in our present structure.
Although we are limited as to the different ministries that can operate at this time, we would encourage you to consider your giftings and abilities and in which ministries you can bring glory to God.
We are working towards strengthening our children’s ministry. God loves children, and we want to minister to them and teach them of their need of our beautiful Saviour. This is a great ministry through which God is glorified. Even though it is not running at this time, we would like to encourage you to already consider volunteering so that when we are able to open, we will have a strong and healthy volunteer base for the children’s ministry.
We are working towards implementing additional small groups in hopes of having them ready for the fall kick off. If you are not in a small group, we would like to encourage you to prepare to become involved in one this coming fall. If you have not applied to be in a small group, please do so on our website.
We are excited to announce that Steve Waugh will be serving as our small groups’ director. We praise God for Steve and his heart for our small group ministry.
We are still praying and looking for a youth director and volunteers. Please join us in prayer as we continue to seek a youth director. To start a youth ministry this coming fall, we would need to have a director over the summer to work out and plan the fall ministry.
Once we have our kids, youth, and mixed small group ministries established and flourishing, we will start working on our men’s and women’s ministries.
GCC AFFILIATION
We are happy to announce that as of June 17, 2020, the Great Commission Collective Canada board (GCC) voted unanimously to approve the acceptance of Redemption Bible Chapel – St Thomas as a part of the GCC.
A few distinctions of GCC are:
It is not a denomination or a franchise that promotes a particular brand.
It does not function as a top-down hierarchy of church control, but influences through relationship.
Its member churches are autonomous in governing themselves.
It is intentional in assisting churches to plant churches and strengthen leaders.
We are grateful to Redemption Bible Chapel – London, the leadership of Norm Millar, the RBCL elders, Karen Plantt, and the many staff who have given so much in helping us get to where we are. Glory to God. May God continue to build his church and make us effective in displaying the glory of God in St Thomas as we labour to bring the gospel to our community.
FINANCIAL UPDATE
We are so grateful for your generous and continued giving in this season. We thank God for your heart. By your generous donations, you are a vital part of the work of God.
Over the lockdown, the weekly giving only reduced by seven percent. With the reduction in some of our operating expenses, we are still on track to meet our budget with the help that we are receiving from Redemption London.
We are grateful for the very kind and generous financial assistance from Redemption London because of whom we were able to do some renovations and updates throughout our building.
RBCL is also committed to assisting us financially through 2020-2021 should it be necessary.
Our desire, Lord willing, is that the Lord would grow this church and use our church so that we would not need the financial assistance for Redemption London for the time they have committed. Let us be faithful in what God is calling us to.
Copies of our financial statements are available to those who would like a copy. To receive a copy please contact info@rbcstthomas.ca.
