Elder Update

Twenty-twenty has been a year like no other. With all the restrictions, limitations, and adjustments there is a very real sense of disconnection. We are all feeling it. But God uses all things for His glory.

God is revealing that he will and is building his church. As we look at what God has done in the past year, we hope to be able to provide you with some encouragement and motivation to join with us as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.

Financial Update

• We are thankful for God’s continued provision financially through the faithful giving of His church in 2020.
• As many of you know, Redemption Bible Chapel London has graciously agreed to supplement our income as part of the transition process. We praise God that we did not need to use this in 2020.
• For 2021, our annual budget is around $400 000 with a weekly donation need of $7 700.
• As a reminder, if you want to give online please reach out to Natalie Paterson at natalie@rbcstthomas.ca to get that set up.
• Copies of the 2020 Financial statement are available at the office.

Facility Update

• Bernie Adamache is our new Property Manager and has been working to maintain and update the building. We also want to thank the many people that have been in and out of the church working on updating multiple areas of our facility over the past year.
• Some updates include: Additional updates to the kid’s ministry area, completing some unfinished rooms, replacing toilets and sinks, transitioning the gym to a multi-purpose room, adding sound paneling to the kid’s area and worship centre, and continuing the improvement of the front lobby.

Mission / Vision

• One thing that has become clear to us is that unless we as a church are clear and intentional about what our mission as a church is and the vision on how to get there, we will be in danger of becoming inward focused and forget the purpose for which we exist.
• Our mission as a church as commanded by Jesus is, “To fulfill the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.”
• The vision by which we can accomplish this is simple: Reaching | Discipling | Sending

Transitional Elements

• Membership Update – 2020: Over the past year, we saw 6 people close their membership and 22 new memberships open.
• One of the ways that we are seeing God moving here at RBC St. Thomas is how God is bringing people to the church. A typical snapshot of our demographics on a Sunday morning consists of 27.6% former GFC, 26.8% former RBC London, and 45.6% from other sources. This is not including the people who are regularly watching our online service.
• We officially became a GCC member church on June 22, 2020.
• We are in the process of updating some of the former GFC ministries specifically under the office of Deacon. We have completed the Board of Deacon Mandate and the Treasurer / Assistant Treasurer Mandate. We are working on the Benevolence Mandate.

Kids’ Ministry

• Kid’s ministry is currently running ages 0 – 4 in the first service with an average of 6 – 10 kids and 3 workers.
• We are now looking to expand to the older children’s areas, and we require more volunteers for this ministry. We plan to not start until we have the adequate number of volunteers needed to run a 4- week schedule.
• The purpose of this is to make sure that the volunteers are not serving to the point of burnout. This allows us to maintain a vibrant and healthy vision of reaching, discipling, and sending.

Youth Ministry

• We are in the process of assessing a youth director.
• Youth ministry will look like our Sunday morning service: worship and the word coupled with small groups for the intentional purpose of discipleship.

Prayer Ministry

• Currently, we have intentional prayer happening in small groups, Sunday mornings, and our quarterly praise & prayer nights.
• We are looking to develop a prayer ministry with a team that is committed to intentional prayer. This would include praying through the week for requests received, and praying during the service for the service, our community, and the church.

Soul Care

• As the church grows, it becomes progressively difficult to provide adequate soul care solely through church leadership.
• We are in the very beginning stages of working with Hope Oakville to develop a soul care ministry within the church that would be led by certified biblical soul care providers.
• We ask that you join us in prayer as we look to develop this essential ministry.

Elders

• We praise God that Will Ong has officially joined us as an Elder here at Redemption St. Thomas.
• We are in the process of assessing two additional men for the position of elder.
• In keeping with our constitution, elders have the option every two years to renew or step down from
  the position of elder. Neil Banman has decided to resign as an elder at the end of March 2021. We are extremely thankful for Neil’s faithful service over the past four years.

CHURCH TESTIMONY

• 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.

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.