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Table of Contents

Statistics for 2015 Fiscal Year .........................................................................................................................4

Children Born in 2015 Fiscal Year...................................................................................................................5

Average Attendance for 2015 Fiscal Year ......................................................................................................6

Administrative Assistant Report ....................................................................................................................7

Board of Elders Report ...................................................................................................................................8

Chair Set-Up Team Report ...........................................................................................................................11

Children’s Ministry Report ...........................................................................................................................12

Cradle Care Ministry Report .........................................................................................................................15

Deacon Ministry Report ...............................................................................................................................16

Decorating Ministry ......................................................................................................................................17

EMMCO (Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference of Ontario) Report .................................................18

Fall Harvest Celebration ...............................................................................................................................20

Finance Team Report ...................................................................................................................................22

German Pastor Search Team Report ...........................................................................................................23

Kitchen Report .............................................................................................................................................24

Lead Pastor Report .......................................................................................................................................25

Leamington Mennonite Home Report .........................................................................................................28

Library Report ..............................................................................................................................................29

Maintenance Ministry ..................................................................................................................................30

Men’s Ministry Report .................................................................................................................................31

Missions Report ............................................................................................................................................32

Ushers & Greeters Report ............................................................................................................................33

Vacation Bible School Report .......................................................................................................................34

Women’s Ministry Report ............................................................................................................................36

Worship/Sound Ministry Report ..................................................................................................................38

Young at Heart Singers Report .....................................................................................................................39

Youth Ministry Report ..................................................................................................................................40

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Statistics for 2015 Fiscal Year

Baptisms Couples Married

Henry Wall Bennie & Trudy Banman- January 24, 2015

Jacob Fast

Kevin Fehr Kevin & Rebecca Wall- February 21, 2015

Judi Dyck

Leana Goertzen Henry & Elisabeth Banman- May 23, 2014

Susanna Dick

Jessica Fehr Ben & Susie Wall- May 30, 2015

Linda Klassen

Tina Klassen David & Eva Friesen- August 7, 2015

Joseph Friesen

Erik Letkeman Will & Katie Friesen- June 26, 2015

Anne Penner

Peter Unger Phil & Charlotte Brandner- July 11, 2015

David Klassen

Jonathan Neufeld John & Eva Fehr- August 1, 2015

Adam & Rebecca Martens- September 19. 2015

Membership Deceased

Amy Klassen Benjamin Wall

Danny Klassen Elisabeth Wiens

Sarah Fehr Willy Janzen

Susano Valda

Elena Valda

Sydney Klassen

Henry Braun

Jolene Braun

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Children Born in 2015 Fiscal Year

Name Parents Date

Avery Alena Tyler and Judy Gillanders November 16, 2014

Felix Victor Ben & Kathleen Quiring, Lydia November 19, 2014

Sophia Grace John & Nancy Enns, Joshua November 26, 2014

Levi Jacob Jason & Jessica Hillman, Bentley January 8, 2015

Lindsey Ella-Marie John & Tina Klassen, Lillian, Lauren, Larissa January 16, 2015

Curtis Jacob Jake & Tina Unger, Haley, Chloe January 24, 2015

Casey Willy & Susie Knelsen, Vanessa, Isaiah, Devon February 22, 2015

Zachary John & Melissa Sawatzky, Ethan, Joshua April 6, 2015

Teagan Ryleigh Herman & Annie Bergen April 28, 2015

Lucas Peters Fernando & Nancy Goertzen, Tyler June 27, 2015

Stella Rose Henry & Sara Reimer, Sadie, Summer August 29, 2015

Myles Benjamin Jake & Chrissy Klassen, Spencer October 29, 2015

Dalton Wyatt Henry Henry & Martha Friesen Adoption date: July 9, 2015

(Born March 31, 2010)

Ryder Bennett John

(Born April 5, 2011)

Maxwell Alexander

(Born March 19, 2014) Mike & Jen Morin, Amber, Isabel, Emmett Adoption date: August 4, 2015

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Average Attendance for 2015 Fiscal Year

Average Attendance Statistics 2000-2015 Year German Service English Services Combined Total

2003 121 266 387 2004 126 260 386 2005 130 286 416 2006 129 323 452 2007 124 321 436 2008 115 328 443 2009 111 360 471 2010 90 58 327 475 2011 87 67 322 476 2012 93 73 333 499 2013 99 75 342 517 2014 82 223 155 460 2015 70 251 89 410

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Administrative Assistant Report

Many changes have taken place in the office in 2015. This has kept me very busy, in a good way. It is

a constant reminder that we must be willing to change in order to grow, and I anticipate the ways

our church will continue growing in the future.

Purpose

Leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

As the Administrative Assistant, it is my job to assist the pastors, Board of Elders, and ultimately the

congregation in whatever capacity is needed.

Many of my responsibilities include: answering the phone and e-mails, ordering office supplies,

completing and printing weekly bulletins, taking congregational and Board of Elder meeting

minutes, distributing mail into church mailboxes, compiling annual reports, editing documents,

creating and distributing baptism, child dedication, and membership certificates, completing and

distributing the quarterly worship schedules, involvement in recording Sunday morning video

announcements, and organizing and booking facility rentals.

Hours

The church office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

I am extremely blessed that the staff and congregation entrust me with the role of Administrative

Assistant. It is an honour to serve in this way.

Submitted by Rebecca Wall

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Board of Elders Report Members: Staff Members: John Knelsen – Head Elder Lead Pastor - Ike Unger Judy Buhler – Vice German Pastor - vacant Pete Dyck – Secretary Youth Pastor - Peter Klassen Pete Neufeld Children’s Ministry – Annie Bergen / Olga Friesen Jake Wall Administrative Assistant – Rebecca Wall Will Froese Henry Regier - moved Purpose: The Board of Elders (herein after referred to as the BOE) exists to oversee all areas of ministry within the church, to exercise pro-active servant leadership in membership matters and to provide pastoral support to the pastors. Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV) 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Members of the BOE have meetings regularly with volunteers who serve in ministry. The BOE meets monthly to discuss the ministries and happenings within the church. All decisions are made by consensus. Judy Buhler reports on the Women’s Ministry. Pete Dyck reports on the Hosting Ministry. Will Froese reports on the Missions Ministry. John Knelsen reports on the Finance Team & Maintenance. Pete Neufeld reports on the German service & Men’s Ministry. Henry Regier reported on the church staff. He has moved and his position is now vacant. Jake Wall reports on the Deacon Ministry & Pastor Search Team. Overview of 2015: It has been a very busy year, so many firsts for us as a board. ~Hiring Olga Friesen as interim Children’s Ministry coordinator has been a huge blessing for the church. She fits right into this position and has become a great addition to the staff. ~Henry Regier moved to BC. This has left a big hole on this board. His wisdom is greatly missed. ~Changing the church name has been taking up more time and effort than one could have thought. Incorporating and changing our year end is still not complete. We are waiting on the government to process the paper work. ~Baptism and member growth is a highlight every year. It shows that people are accepting Jesus, and are acting on those decisions. ~Hiring Quentin & Christina Unger as associate pastor. Quentin will start in January 2016. He will lead the German service. We look forward to his energy and his desire for this service to grow. He has been asked to come with new ideas for this service. We eagerly await their arrival from Alberta. We are very thankful for the men that have served in the German service during this time of

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transition. They have gone above and beyond what we could have asked of them. The German congregation is truly blessed to have men with these gifts that are willing to serve. We have had great people filling in for the time being and we thank the Lord for them. ~At the opening of our monthly meetings, the BOE has been watching a video series on leadership development by John Maxwell. ~The BOE with the Finance team have been working on a new rental form and policy. It is difficult to satisfy the insurance company and also be open to the community. ~Great response has been received about the sermon series covered this past year. Many people want to meet with the pastors during the week, usually in the evening, leaving the pastors very busy. ~The focus for the Fall Harvest Skate & Swim this year was to get out into the community. What a blessing this event turned out to be. Olga and the Remix team did a great job putting this together. To God be the glory. ~Many volunteers who willingly work together to fulfill God’s purpose for LEMMC/Deer Run Church to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. What are you doing for your church? Where are you serving? Let’s all get involved for 2016 and celebrate together what God has done.

Considerations for 2016

1. Resurface the parking lot 2. Update the Sunday School wing 3. Hire someone to assist pastors with counseling (there has been an increase in counseling

requests from people within our community over the last few years) Open Ministry Positions that need to be filled: 2 BOE member positions are open for 2016. The BOE is working on filling these spots. In closing, the relationship between the staff and BOE is strong. I believe that we communicate well with each other, we are both open and honest with each other, sometimes not agreeing about everything but we do agree on the purpose, leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Often, our agenda has so many administrative items, not leaving us enough time to support our staff. The BOE members are very thankful for Pastor Ike and his openness with us, his leading within the church and staff, Ike has a heart for this church and a desire to see the staff stretch and learn new ways to lead their ministry. Pastor Peter, for his continued energy and willingness to serve as youth pastor and the many video announcements he has made. His heart for missions is more and more evident every time he returns from Jamaica. For Olga’s genuine heart for children’s ministry, every kid thinks that they are Olga’s favourite student. (Is that a gift or are they all her favourite?) Rebecca has the gift of knowing what we are all trying to say and then can actually put that on paper, it’s great to also see her serving on the worship team. Peter and Maria Knelsen are the church custodians; their willingness to come back to church and clean after so many late evening events is much appreciated. To all of the staff, we say thank you for your willingness to serve a. LEMMC/Deer Run Church. Thank you for the many people that faithfully pray for the BOE and offer encouragement. Please continue to pray for us, as we are only an instrument for God to build His church.

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Ephesians 2:19-22 (ESV) 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

On behalf of the BOE, John Knelsen Head Elder

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Chair Set-Up Team Report

Members

James Dyck Pete Wolf John Boldt Henry Wall

Andy Unger Abe Fehr Abe Wall Ben Wieler

Jake Unger Henry Froese Peter Fehr Jake Klassen

Al Ringrose Peter Dyck Jason Deelstra Ben Banman

Judy Banman Isaac Wall Jake Friesen Dave Froese

Ben Froese Ben Epp John Fehr Henry Friesen

Pete Peters Pete Redekop Ben Friesen Isaak Neufeld

Kevin Wall Willy Froese Jason Wall James Friesen

Overview

Regular church functions kept us busy this year.

We are grateful for people that exit the gym quickly after services. This allows us to clean up the

chairs more quickly and safely. It is also great to see many extra willing people to help out often.

A special thank you to those dedicated volunteers that have been working on a chair set up team

There are people that have asked for a break. We are looking for new volunteers to fill these

spots. Please let us know if you would like to serve in this ministry.

Thank you to those that serve. I am very blessed to be in this ministry with such a dedicated group.

Submitted by John Friesen

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Children’s Ministry Report Remix Kidz

Mission

Leading children to become fully devoted followers of Christ

At the beginning of this year, as Annie was preparing to go on her maternity leave, I began to

wrestle with the idea of applying for the interim position that would cover her absence. At first,

whenever I began to think about applying, I would quickly brush it off, telling myself that I wasn’t

nearly qualified enough. I mean, I was an introvert. If I were to take on this role, I would be expected

to stand in front of a big groups of people, and actually talk. The thought of this terrified me.

However, I kept on feeling the Holy Spirit gently pushing me towards this idea. So, I did it. I stepped

out of my comfort zone and I sent in my resume; praying that God’s will would be done. I trusted

that if this was His calling for my life, He would not leave me abandoned. He would give me

everything I needed to fulfill my duties to the best of my abilities. When I was called for an

interview, and then eventually got the position, I took that as confirmation of God’s will for my life. I

knew that I needed to proceed down this path. Everything fell in place so beautifully, as my boss at

my previous job agreed to give me a leave of absence. I am so blessed that she understood that this

was something that I needed to do, and supported me in this decision.

I officially began my position as the interim Children’s Ministry Director on April 1st. I underwent

three weeks of training under Annie’s guidance so that she could give me a rundown of everything.

These last 8 months have been an incredible learning experience for me. I am constantly humbled

as God has used me in ways I hadn’t thought possible. I have also been filled with so much joy! I

have always had a passion for children, and that passion has only intensified since I’ve began here.

I’ve been reminded of how important it is to have a solid children’s ministry, because this is where

the foundation of faith begins. I have loved building relationships with all of the children, and hope

that these relationships last even once my term is over.

Thank you so much, church, for trusting me in this position. It has been an incredible blessing!

Children’s Ministry Director

It is difficult to accurately explain my role here as the Children’s Ministry Director, since there is so

much that is often overlooked. However, my overall role is to oversee all the programs and events

that are family related. This includes running the Sunday School program, planning and

implementing larger events, including the Sunday School picnic, VBS and Fall Harvest Celebration,

recruiting and training volunteers, and connecting with families.

Sunday School

Each Sunday, I lead large group for the children in small groups 6-10. My favourite part of this is

connecting with the children as they arrive. I love to hear about the exciting things that are

happening in their lives, and feel honoured to be in a position where they know they can approach

me and talk to me. I feel that it is so important for each child to feel like they belong in the house of

God. I want them to know that even if they may be struggling with things at home or at school,

church is a place where they can feel safe, loved and accepted. As much as I would love to connect

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with each child individually, I know I can’t reach every single child every week. That is why we

choose to lead small. We have an incredible group of small group leaders who are dedicated to

leading their children to discovering God. We have around 225 children registered (including

visitors), and anywhere from 70-95 children that come each Sunday. It is so amazing to have such a

thriving children’s ministry. With having a large Sunday School program, lots of volunteers are

needed. We have 34 small group leaders and helpers, 4 sound/media techs, 2 check-in

administrators, one large group leader for the preschoolers, and 8 dancers for worship.

We held another “Bring Your Parents to Sunday School Day” at our Kick Off event in September.

Parents were invited to join us in large group, to get a glimpse of our vision and to see how we run

our Sunday School program. On this day, we also held our annual Bible promotion for the children

entering small group 6. This is the age when children enter grade 1 in school, and really begin to

improve on their reading skills. There were 6 children who received their very own Bible this year.

Something new that we implemented this year is worship for small groups 6-10. We have two

dance teams that rotate every other week to lead worship for the children. This addition has

enhanced our large groups, as children are given the opportunity to dance and sing in worship to

their God.

In September, we also began a class for the one year olds. We recognized that there were many

parents missing out on church services due to tending to the needs of their infants. Now, these

parents are able to drop off their children in the nursery to the care of some gentle and loving

caregivers.

Training

I was able to attend my very first Orange Conference with Maria Unger at the end of April 2015. The

timing couldn’t have been more perfect since I was new to my role as the Children’s Ministry

Director. The theme of the conference this year was “It’s Just a Phase.” They did a breakdown of all

the phases that children go through, preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school, and

highlighted the importance of each phase. We learned about how a child learns and develops at

each of these phases so that we can properly minister to the children in our ministry in a way that is

effective long term.

On October 13th, I joined a group of seven other small group leaders at Orange Tour in Detroit. This

tour was a one-day event that summarized most of what was taught at the Orange Conference. It

was great watching this group of young leaders in our church get excited about Children’s Ministry,

and to remind them of how important their role is.

Remix Team

On the second Thursday of each month, I meet with our Remix Team. This team consists of Maria

Unger, Leona Knelsen, Linda Ringrose, and me. We meet to continually evaluate all of the events

that we plan, and our overall ministry. Together, we plan some of the larger family related events

that take place at our church, including the Family Movie Night and Church Picnic. I am so thankful

for this incredible group of ladies. They are so passionate about sharing God’s love with children,

and share so much wisdom to help our ministry grow. They have been a huge support in helping me

transition into my new role.

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Connecting With Parents

The strategy that we use as our children’s ministry is called Orange; combining the love of the

family (red) and the light (yellow) of the church to create a greater impact (orange) with our

children here at Deer Run Church. We recognize that parents have the greatest influence in the

development of their child. That is why it is so important for us to partner with parents. When we

partner with parents, the things that are being taught in Sunday School each week can be affirmed

each day with their parents, therefore having a greater impact on the child. We connect with our

parents through a Facebook page where we share information of upcoming events, and post things

that are related to Sunday’s lesson. Each week, parents also receive a Parent Cue page that gives

parents ideas of ways to affirm the lesson throughout the week. We also like to connect with

parents through a weekly email, bi-monthly newsletter, and by inviting them to join us at Sunday

School a couple of times a year.

Submitted by Olga Friesen

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Cradle Care Ministry Report

Who We Are The cradle care ministry seeks to provide support to both pregnant moms and adopting moms physically, spiritually and emotionally. We seek to provide these moms who consent with prayer mentors; they have someone to share joys, difficulties, and concerns in all aspects of their pregnancy. The relationships between the mentors have ranged from very little contact/communication to monthly emails/talks - depending on what each pregnant mom feels comfortable with. The Gifts The cradle care ministry has partnered with several women in the church as well as Superstore in providing gifts to both the mom, and the child. The prenatal gift consists of 2 frozen meals, 1 photographer’s discount card, a prayer card, and some community information. The postnatal gift consists of a gender specific baby blanket, hat, booties & mitts, the book “Parenting is Wonderful,” and baby dedication information. The postnatal gift we have provided in the past for those who have lost babies within the church consist of a hat, booties, & mitts, the book “Grieving the Child I Never Knew,” and on a needed basis a free counselling session with one of the Christian counsellors in Leamington. This year we have also been able to provide adoption gifts to a few families in our church. These gifts consist of a family pass to Colasanti’s or the Sherk, as well as a toy suited to the child being adopted. The Numbers This year 12 newborns have been born into our church. We have also been able to welcome 3 children into the church who have been placed with their forever families through adoption. Unfortunately, we have also seen 3 miscarriages in our church - these are only those that we were made aware of. People We Wish To Thank Again, this year many people have helped us make this ministry successful and we wish to thank each one of them. Meals have been provided by Margaret Neufeld and Nancy Redekop. We still have photographers discount cards provided by Amy Klassen, Alina Wall, Susan Redekopp and Evah Nelson. Blankets continue to be made by Maria Dyck, and Margaret Friesen until now has made the hat, booties, and mitts. Superstore continues to donate $10 gift cards to each family, and finally, the many prayer mentors whether official or unofficial are appreciated as well. Thank you to everyone who makes this ministry possible. Future The future of cradle care is exciting. We are in the process of putting together a team that will be responsible to mentor the moms as well as stay on top of distributing the gifts. Our greatest challenge has been that I have solely been responsible to both find prayer mentors and distribute the gifts. Together with Olga Friesen, we came up with the vision to develop a team. As a result, there will be more awareness, causing us to hopefully not miss anyone in the church that could use the support. Together we can do what we can’t do alone.

Submitted by Maria Klassen

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Deacon Ministry Report

Members

Jake & Maria Dyck

Isaak & Nancy Friessen

Bill & Helen Wiens

Jake & Kathy Wiebe

Jake & Nettie Guenther

Peter & Maria Knelsen

Purpose

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” – Galatians 6:2

Overview of Activities

We meet monthly for support, encouragement, and prayer.

At our meetings we reflect on needs in the church.

The Deacon Ministry serves at communion.

There are always needs in the church.

Many blessings come from serving in the Deacon Ministry.

Goals

To find meaningful ways to connect with other people in the church family.

To bring glory and honour to God in everything we do.

Submitted by Jake Dyck

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Decorating Ministry

Member

Annie Froese

The purpose of this ministry is to decorate for the different seasons of the year.

One of the highlights of this year are we updated the fellowship hall. I look forward to seeing what

God will continue to do through me in the coming years. I enjoy serving with my sisters and

brothers in the Lord to further his kingdom.

Submitted by Annie Froese

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EMMCO (Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference of Ontario) Report

Members:

Leamington – John Dyck, John Knelsen, Ike Unger

Blenheim – Dave Fehr, Pete Neufeld

Aylmer – Michael Krahn, John Wall, Albert Wall, Willy Fehr

Purpose

We meet to encourage each other in our Local ministries and discuss EMMConference/Go Mission

agenda items.

EMMCO

This year the Bi-annual Gathering was held in Aylmer Ontario from July 7-10, 2015. Aylmer did the

hosting and planning of the event. Since this was the “Big” gathering, members from all the

conference churches were represented during the weekend, including missionary reports. Aylmer

also had their 50th anniversary celebration that weekend.

As EMMCO we met only 3 times because of the Gathering in Aylmer, knowing that it takes a lot of

energy to plan and host it. Aylmer did a great job.

One of our goals for 2016 is to look at Blenheim church and find ways to encourage them to hire a

Pastor full-time and see what is needed to get there. Blenheim is located about 1 hr East of

Leamington and 1.5 hrs West from Aylmer. Blenheim is a growing congregation that we need to

continue keep them in our prayers.

EMMC Conference/Go Mission

As a Conference, we are part of the overall ministries that are located in Canada, Mexico, Belize and

Bolivia. We are expanding in Bolivia, Alberta – Vauxhall, Mexico. It is very exciting time to be part of

the work of the conference. We have partnered with Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission again and

hoping this will open doors for our Young Adults. We are looking at expanding in northern

Manitoba to reach the natives there.

Staff changes: Lyn Dyck is hired as Executive Director; he started his new role in September 2015.

Jonathan Schmitt is hired as a Full-time Secretary. We currently have a full staff in Winnipeg , MB. It

has taken over 2 years to fill these positions; we want to praise God for calling and also for willing

people to step up to these roles.

As a conference we have 5 regions, with each region sending up to 5 delegates, to 2 meetings per

year in Winnipeg and every other year at different regions. In November 2014 we met in Belize and

in July we met in Aylmer, Ont. To discuss the day to day operations of the conference and look at

where we are going in the future.

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Goals for 2016

Make the conference relevant to the local church. Such as partnering with churches through

1. Associate Missionaries, partnering with similar organizations (EMC, CMC, AIMM, YFC, etc.)

that already have open doors in different parts of the world. Find ways to encourage young

adults to get involved in non-Mennonite mission fields. $3090.00 per year

2. Domestic or international ministry trips

- this type of an event typically takes the form of a 1 week to 1 month outreach to provide

participants with an opportunity to experience ministry to another culture. This program

requires the involvement of the local church of the applicant. groups or individuals are able

to request funding only up to the amount provided by the home church,

a. Funding will not exceed 30% of the total amount required and will not exceed $500 per

person

3. Conference solicited short term assignments

- this type of event typically includes personnel needs in areas of Conference missions

activities.

- assignments will usually be from 3 months to 1 year in length

- it is anticipated that financial support for this assignment will be shared somewhat

equally between the Conference (30%), the home church (30%) and through fundraising

effort (40%) of the candidate

Conference Finance Committee

I am the conference Treasurer in the Finance Committee. This is involves monthly meetings, review

of all the finances of the conference. It has been a very good experience to learn how faithful all the

churches are in supporting the conference and when giving a chance, churches are sending out

missionaries through the conference. Our church is supporting Elena Fehr in Bolivia and supporting

Tarija Church plant in Bolivia. Aylmer has sent Abe and Margaret Harms to Bolivia this year.

John Dyck

EMMCO Chair

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Fall Harvest Celebration

Date

October 31st, 2015

Ministry

Children’s Ministry

Remix Team

Maria Unger, Linda Ringrose, Leona Knelsen, Olga Friesen

Purpose

To reach out to the community by providing a fun and safe, Halloween alternative event.

For as many years as I can remember, our church has provided a Halloween alternative event by

providing carnival-styled games for children to participate in, and ending the night with candy.

Although there was nothing wrong with this approach, we believed that we could be more

intentional in reaching out to the community, and felt led to change the location of our event.

Instead of inviting the public to our building, we decided to go out into the public by renting the

Leamington Kinsmen Recreation Complex, and offering a free open swim and skate.

When we first began preparing for this event, we knew a lot of advertising would need to be done to

get the word out to the community. Therefore, we spread the word through the local radio stations,

put up flyers at some local businesses, handed out invites to the children in our Sunday School

ministry to share with their friends, and made postings on Facebook. We hoped to reach as much of

the public as possible.

To top off the open swim and skate, we included a large inflatable slide, which was a huge hit for the

children. We also offered free cookies (donated by the Real Canadian Superstore), hot chocolate,

and face painting from some very talented volunteers. These stations were open all evening for

everyone to enjoy.

We had a simple registration table set up at the entrance so that we could keep track of how many

people were in attendance. In total there were around 705 people! Incredible! I was thrilled to see

such a full house! There was huge support from our congregation at this event, but also many new

faces. In fact, there were so many people that the pool was at its capacity for most of the evening. It

was unfortunate to have people wait to go swimming, but also a blessing, as it proved the success of

the evening. If we proceed with hosting the Fall Harvest Celebration at the complex again, we will

need a system in place that limits the amount of time spent in the pool, to ensure everyone gets an

equal amount of swimming time. Renting the gym in addition to the other rentals would be an

added bonus, so that we could provide more activities to even out the large crowd.

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This night went way beyond my expectations! Besides a couple of minor falls on the ice, everyone

was safe, and everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves. It was our mission to reach out and love

the community, and I believe that’s exactly what we did.

Submitted by: Olga Friesen

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Finance Team Report Members: John Knelsen – Head Elder Dan Klassen – Secretary Abe Wall - Treasurer John Froese Helen Andrade Purpose: The Finance Team exists to oversee all areas of finance within the church. Members of the Finance Team meet monthly to discuss financial matters within the church. All decisions are made by consensus. Overview of 2015: ~Have been working on a new rental form and policy. It has been difficult to satisfy the insurance company and also be open to the community. ~Have been working with the banks regarding online donations ~In the process of adding PayPal to the church website for donating options ~Approved the gym roof replacement with a steel roof by church volunteers ~Paying off the church mortgage was a big highlight. It is exciting to think that Deer Run church will start without a mortgage. ~Created a new Expense Policy ~Working on the 2016 budget ~Special thanks to Abe Wall who has been serving as church treasurer for many years and has been willing to share his wisdom with the team in regards to rules/regulations for church finances! Considerations for 2016 ~Resurface the remaining parking lot ~Purchase cemetery plots in Kingsville on behalf of the church. When the name change for Deer Run Church gets finalized, Helen Andrade will take on the responsibility of treasurer. Abe Wall will continue to assist in the area of donations coming in.

On behalf of the Finance Team, John Knelsen – Chair

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German Pastor Search Team Report

Members

John Dyck, Jake Wall, Judy Banman, John Knelsen

Purpose

To find:

Associate Pastor for German Service

- We spent a lot of time praying, placing ads on the EMMC conference website, MB Herald, and

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada website

- Quentin Unger applied in early 2015. He and his wife agreed to visit Leamington in August,

2015 to candidate, and after successful candidacy, the congregation affirmed them. They are

planning to move to Leamington in January, 2016.

Associate Missionary for English Service

- The congregation agreed that we need to hire another Pastor to help in the English Service

- Depending on the gifts, this person would serve in that capacity

- The main area of need is discipleship/teaching, missions, media/worship

- At this time the BOE has decided to wait to hire another Pastor until Quentin Unger

has arrived and see what gifts he will bring

- In the future we will look at hiring more staff.

Submitted by John Dyck

GPST Chair

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Kitchen Report

Members:

John & Justina Friesen, Maria Knelsen

Ministry Task

To provide well balanced, cost effective meals for various functions as well as to keep the kitchen

stocked with supplies.

Some Highlights and Statistics for the Year

We organized and cooked for various functions:

- Ladies Night

- Sunday School Picnic

- Lots of coffee

- Funerals

- Thanksgiving

New Kitchen Committee will include: Margaret Neufeld Margaret Froese Nelly Quiring and

Cristina Klassen

Our goal is to continue to provide good meals and be available to help with refreshments for

meetings and where ever else needed.

Submitted by Justina Friesen

Food Committee Chair

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Lead Pastor Report

Our mission statement: “Leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.”

I try to use this statement as often as possible, because I never want us as a church to forget why we

are here. What an amazing opportunity we have to impact our community and friends with the

message of Jesus and be changed ourselves in the process!

Family Life

Every family has those seasons when there is a lot of maturing and growth, and 2015 was such a

year for our family. Not only do we have our first teenagers in the house, but we’ve also seen our

kids grow as they continue to pursue what it means to live for Christ.

Maria and I enjoy doing ministry together. We are committed to being obedient to whatever God

calls us to. I am so grateful for my wife and children who are such a great source of strength to me.

Leadership

I am part of the Board of Elders (BOE) and am very thankful for the support of the BOE. This board

desires to see Jesus made known in Leamington and abroad. It is a difficult thing to lead a church

and I am grateful for every member and the sacrifice they make to lead the church together with

me.

Preaching

Working with sermon series helps me to focus and I also feel that it helps the church to know where

we are headed. I am very appreciative of Pastor Peter working with me on these and also being

willing to preach. I also had the privilege of preaching a series together with my wife Maria. She

brought such a fresh voice to the stage.

In 2 Timothy 4:2 Paul’s says this to Timothy. “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of

season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.” That is the goal

with every sermon; to open up to what the Bible has to say to us. Here is a list of the series we

covered this year.

Multiply Part I

Study of Malachi

Essential

This is Love: John 4:10

Multiply Part II

Our Confession

Rest

Portal

Pray

Serve

Family Matters

and our Christmas theme is

Born.

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Staff

As in previous years, I am very thankful for the great staff I have the opportunity to work

with and lead. Each person brings something dynamic to our church family. They have a

love for the church and for Jesus and want to see him made known more and more. We

meet every week on Tuesday mornings for a time of Scripture reading, prayer and lots of

laughs.

This year Olga Friesen joined the staff to fill in for Annie Bergen who is on maternity leave.

Olga has done a great job continuing to give leadership to the children’s ministry. I love that

we all care about each other and want to see each other be and do the best we can.

Mission Team

Currently Iliana Fehr is on the mission field in Bolivia as a teacher. I’m excited that our

mission team is working at sending more people. We as a church need to intentionally

focus on connecting willing people to the international mission field. This year, three

people went on short term mission trips. We continue to support Alex and Leah Perez,

missionaries in Belize.

One highlight I had in regards to missions was going to Belize to spend a week with the

team that is working in Belize City. This gave me a great opportunity to connect with Alex

and Leah and also with their core team and the the Belize Camping Experience Board.

Those days were pretty intense as we wrestled with organizational structure and worked

to develop a stronger team. It was so good to see how the team there is working to reach

the kids of Belize.

In November we had a short two-day workshop to help the mission team and BOE re-work

how our mission team and church focuses on missions.

Counselling

This year, like other years, I have had the opportunity to work with many different people

as they struggle through different stages in their life. I am always surprised by how many

people from outside our church come for counseling, but it is a blessing to be used in this

way. As much as possible, Maria and I try to do the counselling together, and it is something

that we both enjoy doing. Maria does a lot of visitations with the ladies of all ages in our

church which is a very important ministry.

Café

The question that I hear repeatedly, and not only from the younger generation is, “When is

the café going to be put in?” So, I say it happens in 2016! This conversation has lasted long

enough; it’s time to get it done.

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Young Marrieds

This was an area where I really hoped to put more energy into this year and unfortunately

it did not happen. We had one get-together with 12 couples. This ministry has so much

potential and there is such a need for young couples to meet together and be mentored at

the start of their marriage journey.

This year nine couples were married from our church -with a few already lined up for next

year.

Pursuit (Young Adults)

Maria and I feel so blessed to play a role in the lives of the young adults in our church. This

group continues to meet every Wednesday. There are so many young adults serving in our

church. 58% of our Sunday School teachers are single and under the age of 25. Most of the

people on the worship teams are made up of the young adults. We also had a number of

them go off to Bible College this year.

Recap

As I think back to 2015, I close this year with a profound awareness of the goodness of our

Saviour and what a privilege it is to serve him. As with other years, this year has seen its

share of hardship and challenges, but also, many victories. We’ve seen people give their

lives to Christ, people receiving baptism, people gaining victory in areas of their lives,

people healed from illnesses, we paid off our debt, and I could go on.

All of this is because of the incredible blessings we continue to receive from God. Let us

continue to have a “Compassion for people and a passion for God.” The best is yet to come!

Submitted by Ike Unger

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Leamington Mennonite Home Report

The Leamington Mennonite Home is a privately run seniors home in our community.

LEMMC has been and continues to be a supporting church of the Home. The Home operates

under a board of directors; LEMMC has a member on the board. Because the Home is

privately run, they don’t receive government support for equipment or for updates to the

building. With the support that many of the Mennonite churches in Leamington, Harrow

and Windsor contribute, the Home is able to continue to be not only effective, but thrive in

the service they provide. Government policies and standards continue to increase the work

load for the administrative team there. If not for the ongoing financial support of its

Mennonite churches, this Home would not be able to continue providing the service it does.

The support that the local churches bring to the Home is invaluable in the way of visits,

providing the Home members with a birthday party once a month, a Thursday night bible

study for the residents, and when our pastors do the opening devotions before our monthly

meetings. This is what makes this Home unique.

The Home has plans to build a new 26 unit complex at 1 Pickwick Drive. When the units

are sold the building will be started. If you are interested in looking at a floor plan or cost,

please call the Leamington Mennonite Home for more info.

Submitted by John Knelsen

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Library Report

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35

Members

Agatha Neufeld

Helen Hiebert

Annie Neufeld

Ann Bolt

Nelly Guenther

Kathy Wiebe

Ministry Task

We provide educational books and DVD's to help our congregation in their spiritual

growth. We have something for everyone.

Overview of last year's ministry

It has been another exciting year in the church library. Many people have taken time to visit

the library and borrow material. This encourages us to keep expanding and searching for

new books and DVD's.

Some highlights and statistics of this past year

From the donations of many people, we have been able to purchase many new items this

year. We would like to thank everyone in the congregation that has supported us by

donating to the library. This year we were able to go through our entire inventory and

discontinue all of the VHS movies along with some of the older books that were no longer

being borrowed. Although we discontinued many items, we were able to replace them with

numerous new books and DVDs. We would also like to thank the church for generously

donating $600 to the library this year.

Income in 2014/2015

Donations $361.85

Total Income - $1054.32

Expenses - $1089.30

Total - $-34.98

Submitted by: Agatha Neufeld

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Maintenance Ministry

Members:

Dave Froese (chair)

John Hiebert (vice-chair) James Dyck

Abe Enns John Rempel

Adolf Froese Pete Bartsch

Ben Quiring Pete Wolf

Ben Friesen Vic Andrade

Purpose

The purpose if this ministry is to repair and maintain the church building and equipment as

needed.

Highlights

Highlights of the past year for me include working with the men in this ministry and

building long-term relationships.

Some of the jobs that we do include:

-fixing tables and chairs when they break

-replacing lights throughout the church building as needed

-maintaining heating and cooling equipment

-maintaining fresh water and sewer water equipment

-maintaining yard equipment

-clearing snow in the winter

-staying current with permits and certificates as required by the municipality

-researching and updating equipment to stay efficient and cost effective

-maintaining all aspects of the church building

For this coming year I look forward to working with the team to serve God and the church.

Submitted by Dave Froese

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Men’s Ministry Report Members Abe Buhler, Pete Bartsch, Abe Unger, Peter Redekop(Until January 2015) Ministry Purpose Our ministry seeks to minister to and build relationships and mentorships with men in the church and our community. We do this through planned events, bible studies and hands on ministry matching skills with needs in cooperation with other ministries and accountability to the church leadership, Board of Elders and Pastors. Overview of Last Year's Ministry We started our Monday night Bible studies again on Nov 3rd 2014; our first study was called Gods at War by Kyle Idleman. In this 6 week study Kyle took us through some of the gods that fight for our attention and how to overcome the gods of pleasure, money, power, love and me, and to surrender to God in these different areas of life. Just Say the word by Sam Ingrassia was the next study; although this was a short 2 week study it was filled with many suggestions and ideas on how we as men can increase our passion for God and our wives. Stepping Up, A call to courageous manhood by Dennis Rainey was a 10 week series filled with many speakers such as Bill Bennet, Matt Chandler, James MacDonald, and Stu Webber just to name a few. This study looked at the 5 steps of manhood, starting from boyhood to adolescence, to manhood, to being a mentor and finally a patriarch to the men around us. It also challenged us to come up with a strategy for our lives as men and to set goals for ourselves to keep us looking towards God. The men’s ministry helped out at the Church picnic this year by constructing “Sampson’s Playground” again. This year we made it a bit more difficultby adding a few more obstacles for the participants to concur. We had a great time watching the different groups try and tackle the course. Oct. 5th 2015 we started our fall Bible study called 33 Series, Authentic Manhood, A Man and His Design, created by Dr. Robert Lewis. This is the first of 4 studies in this series. In this series we look at what God had originally designed a man to be, and how from the first man Adam we fall short of that goal. We are looking forward to facilitating the rest of the series to learn more about who God designed us to be as men. Looking Ahead We are going to finish all four of the 33 Series studies. We are excited to see what God will reveal to us through this study. We together with the rest of the ministries in church want to fulfill our mission as men of God to continue to “Lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ”. We also want to pay tribute to Willy Janzen as he led many of our Bible studies, and was our go-to guy when it came to many questions about the history of any given subject we were discussing. His loss is deeply felt in our group.

Submitted by Abe Buhler

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Missions Report Mission committee members Abe Unger Ben Dyck Katharina Knelson Bill Unger Will Froese as B.O.E. representative Pastor Ike Unger. This was an exciting yet challenging year. With Pastor Willy resigning and Joy Cunningham moving away due to medical reasons we were left missing two people who brought a lot passion to the committee. None the less, we have been able to witness God’s greatness through this ministry. We wanted to do more then send out money to the mission field and this year we sent out 4 missionaries. Iliana Fehr went to serve in Bolivia at the Villa Nueva School as a teacher. We also sent out Evah Knelsen to Belize to serve in the B.C.E. under Alex and Leah Perez. Two young ladies, Jennifer Fehr and Selena Redekop approached us with a willingness to serve in the mission field. Joy and Katherina work closely with them and connected them with opportunities to serve. Jennifer went to Madagascar with Teen Missions doing Motorcycle Missions and Selena went to Fiji with Y.W.A.M. serving with Marine Reach. We were also able to Send Pastor Ike and Maria to Belize to provide training and support for Alex and Leah. On the onset of this year we had great ambitions of working with the High School to support a lunch program. The goal the school had was that it could be a self-sustained program and run by mainly school staff as a form of mentorship with the students. Pastor Ike remains in continued communication with the staff providing assurance that our church is willing to help its community out in this way. There may be need for future assistance from our church and we feel it is important to show the love of Christ in this way. This did leave a large portion of money unused and after having meetings with Abe Giesbrecht from Go Missions, we are sending to representatives from our church to Tarija, Bolivia to connect with a church plant by the Fortaleza Church based out of Santa Cruz. We hope that through this partnership one day we could have a missionary from Tarija come to Leamington to work with the Spanish migrant community. We had the opportunity to support the Jamaica mission trip and our conference's Go Missions financially. We have continued Metals for Missions this year. It has been a good source of fund raising but due to the decrease in scrap prices it has not been as significant this past year.

Submitted by Bill Unger

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Ushers & Greeters Report

Ushers

Ben Quiring Jake Klassen

Lisa Hiebert Abe Fehr

David Friesen Henry Wall

John Boldt Tina Knelsen

Isaac Friesen John Rempel

Henry Wiebe Jake Berg

Pete Redekop Susano Valda

Abe Wall Pete Bartsch

Pete Thiessen Corny Wall

John Hiebert Jake Unger

Annie Froese John Friesen

Our responsibilities include welcoming people, handing out bulletins, seating people,

showing newcomers around the facility, and helping where we see a need for assistance.

We also take care of the offering.

Greeters

John Froese

Justina Banman

Ben Wieler

Margaret Neufeld

Our primary focus is on visitors and newcomers.

Our responsibilities include welcoming people, handing out bulletins, showing newcomers

our facility.

Submitted by John Rempel

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Vacation Bible School Report

Coordinators

Susie Fehr, Maria Peters, Olga Friesen

Dates

July 20-24, 2015

Purpose of VBS

To reach and minister to the children in our community in a fun and safe atmosphere

during their summer break.

I was privileged to team up with two wonderful, God-fearing ladies to plan and implement

this year’s vacation Bible School. Taking on this role was something completely new to all

of us. We had so much fun with the theme “Bible Blast to the Past,” where children would

“travel back in time” to explore God’s everlasting love. Each night, the children would focus

on a new attribute of God’s love. They discovered that God’s love was incredible, faithful,

invincible, unconditional, and real, by rotating through the Bible story, snack, game,

mission and craft station. A highlight for the children, as always, was the worship during

the opening and closing. This is also always one of my favourite parts of VBS as well. There

is something so special about watching children get excited to sing and dance in worship to

their Creator.

There were two other local churches who held their VBS program during the same week as

our church. This was a bit unfortunate, but we still had 132 children registered in total, and

around 100 children attend each night. Although the numbers were a bit lower than we had

originally anticipated, we had a great time! Since we had 55 volunteers, the children were

able to receive a lot more personal attention, which was awesome!

As we also do every year, we had our leaders keep an eye out for children that came from

unchurched homes, and were able to hand out 5 Bibles. It was such a blessing for me to see

the excitement in the eyes of these children as they received their very own Bible.

For this year’s fundraiser, we decided to donate all proceeds to an organization called

Back2Back Ministries. This organization provides spiritual, physical, educational,

emotional, and social care to orphan children in Mexico, India, Nigeria and Haiti. We

decided to add a twist to our fundraiser by holding a “Pie Smash” competition. Children

were encouraged to bring in money to place in jars representing Pastor Ike, Pastor Peter

and myself. Whichever jar received the most money by the end of the week would get

“pied.” The children were thrilled as they were updated with the new totals each day. By

the end of the week, Ike had the most money in his jar. However, a couple of leaders

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stepped it up, by “pieing” all three of us. As exciting as this was for the children, we

continually reminded them of where the money was going, and how they were making a

difference in the lives of many children around the world. In total the children raised over

$800!! How incredible is that?!

Susie, Maria and I are so thankful for all the hard work of our volunteers. Because of them,

we had another successful year of serving the children and teaching them all about God’s

love for them!

Submitted by Olga Friesen

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Women’s Ministry Report

Members of the Ladies Ministry leadership team

Judy Banman

Maria Unger

Annie Froese

Trudy Enns

Trudy Banman

Judy Buhler

Anna Unger

Purpose

The purpose of the Women’s Ministry is to lead women to become fully devoted followers

of Christ. We do this by planning different outreach events, by doing Bible studies together,

by offering up prayer for one another and by mutually encouraging each other in our

personal relationship with Jesus.

One of the highlights of the year is always the Ladies Christmas party in December. For the

past few years we encouraged the women to support Gospel for Asia by donation instead of

buying gifts for one another. This has been very successful; we’ve raised a lot of money, and

last year had an attendance of about 140 women. The money went towards 44 water

filters, 49 blankets, 7 pairs of sheep and $1065 to care for widows and abandoned children.

The best part about all of that is not just the fact that people on the other side of the world

will be so blessed with these helpful materials, but knowing that they will also be told

about the greatest blessing of all time - Jesus Christ!

We also hosted the Women’s Day this past April. We enjoyed incredible speakers, inspiring

testimonies, touching skits, music, and of course good food and great fellowship (our

favorite part).

The most important part of our ministry is the Bible studies, which approximately begin in

September and run through April, every Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. We watch

videos as a bug group and then break into small groups to discuss homework and

everything we've learned.

This past year we've done 3 different studies altogether. We started January 27th and 29th

with one called Captivating by Stacey Eldredge.

After that we started a 6 week Beth Moore study on May 5ht and 6th called Sacred Secrets,

which we closed on June 16th with a Roll-Kuchen night open for all ladies. We had an

awesome time in fellowship while eating some very yummy homemade Roll-

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Kuchen, followed by a short devotion about what it means to have our own personal

relationship with God in our "Secret Place" as Beth pointed out in the study.

We are currently going through a 12 week study by Matt Chandler on the book of

Philippians: To Live is Christ, to die is Gain. Through this God is teaching us all about

mature Christianity - what it means and also what it looks like on a day to day basis.

The attendance varies from 20-30 women on Tuesdays and 15 on Wednesdays. It’s really

awesome to see different women in different walks of life strive after God as their hunger

for Him grows.

Some of the women recently attended a Women's Conference in Toronto:

"What an opportunity for the Deer Run women to be able to take part in the LPL YOULead

Training Event for leaders (21 women were able to attend!). Though many of us would

have eagerly sat in all sessions (we were only allowed 4 out of 19), we are grateful to have

been a part of the ones we joined.

The training provided to us will now be another tool (or tools) we are able to put into our

ministry tool box to draw from with a greater ability to serve more effectively.

As well, what an honour to be able to sit in on a teacher of God's Word whose Bible studies

have so greatly taught and impacted us, permanently changing our hearts for the Lord. As

Beth Moore so clearly stated this weekend, God's Word Works!" - Trudy Enns

Goal

Our goal is to provide an opportunity for women of all ages to grow in their walk with God

as they develop relationships and bond with other Christian women.

Submitted by Trudy Banman

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Worship/Sound Ministry Report

Worship Ministry Report

Purpose

To provide the congregation with music and an atmosphere where they can freely worship

God, in whichever manner they feel best.

Overview

There have been more changes in some of the groups. We still have 3 full groups working

very well together to provide us with the worship we need for every Sunday, and special

events.

Goals

We are always looking for people with gifts in this area, who are willing to share those gifts

and serve in this church.

Sound Ministry Report

Members

Abe Unger

Anna Unger

Bernie Friesen

Pete Thiessen

Bennie Banman

Jake Klassen

Purpose

This ministry exists to provide audio needs for the church, whether it be Sunday morning

services, special events, weddings, etc.

Overview

This year we did a major upgrade to our sound system. That upgrade includes new

speakers, wireless microphones, monitors, subwoofers, soundboard, etc. It is a big change

with lots to learn, and we are learning new stuff all the time. I believe it has been a huge

benefit, and has already proven to be more efficient than the last system we had. With a bit

more training, this system should simplify the lives of those using it, and make it easier to

recruit people.

Goals

To have a bit more professional training on this system so we know it inside and out. We

are always looking for more people who are willing work with the sound team.

Submitted by Jake Klassen

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Young at Heart Singers Report

Young at Heart Singers is a ministry directed towards the Low-German speaking people in

our community. It is a time of fellowship as we take part in devotions, singing hymns, and

praying. We consistently meet in the Fellowship Hall every second and fourth Saturday of

the month. There are usually around 10-20 people that attend.

Submitted by: Cornie Rempel

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Youth Ministry Report

My theme in life is ‘Embrace the Chaos’, which immolates the idea that instead of worrying

about tomorrow and all the stress it could bring, one must jump and embrace that which is

daunting. As a youth pastor that means trusting this ministry to God. Being a youth pastor

for over 6 years here at the EMMC has taught me how small I am in ministry, because God’s

ministry is larger than I could ever imagine. I have learned so much over that last several

years and consider myself blessed to the brim! Thank you for letting me do what God has

called me to.

This year has been a wonderful year for me and my family. As of last year, God has blessed

my wife Maria and I with 4 beautiful children and we have been loving it! However, it

makes for a busy and sometimes overwhelming life. With Maria and I having such a young

family, we were not able to go to our Youth Specialty conference that we have been

attending a few years in a row now. It would have been great this year because it’s the

second year I haven’t been able to go. I have come to realize more and more the importance

of rest.

I have really enjoyed working with the staff here at church and feel like the encouragement,

and direction they give has helped me immensely in my ministry.

I’m truly excited to see what God will do this coming year!

Bridge

Programs run on Wednesday from 7:00pm until 8:30pm.

I love serving our Jr. High ministry here at our church! Statistics show that this is one of the

most crucial and important periods in a person’s life. Chances are they will decide whether

or not they will live for the Lord at this age so I take it very seriously.

We have had a great attendance this year, but more importantly signs of spiritual growth

are evident as we explore scripture and prayer deeper and deeper.

Two years ago we were crazy enough to appoint student leaders in our Jr. High program

and it turned out to be awesome! We watched as these hand-picked, natural leaders

engaged their ministry in a whole new light by helping with event planning, running games,

and Bible studies! Yes, I said Bible studies!

God has truly blessed us with a solid team to run the programs and help grow passionate

Jesus lovers in our church.

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Echo

Programs run on Friday from 7:00pm until 9:30pm

This has been a wonderful year for our youth ministry. We have seen some great spiritual

growth in our group, as so many of our teens are making commitments, getting baptized,

and getting involved in our church.

One of the key things we did this year was a series on Salvation and spiritual growth. We

engaged with some apologetic studies that allowed students to wrestle with their faith,

along with a series that explored where the Bible actually came from. We did a mission trip

to Jamaica for ten days and grew some wonderful relationships abroad.

We went to a camp this year in Grand Bend called the Pinery. This is a beautiful place

where our youth group not only experienced God closer though His gorgeous creation, but

through community with each other through the sharing and fellowship that we had. I

challenged the group reminding them that they are valued, and that we are called to be

transformed.

Jamaica Mission Trip

The Jamaica mission trip was a wonderful experience as usual. We grew closer to our

Jamaican brothers and sisters as we worked together to help bless their communities. We

did everything from visiting orphanages, to painting playground equipment and schools!

Our relationship with the people of Jamaica has grown so much that I am being asked to

return to fellowship with some churches this winter, and they are sending a missionary

from Jamaica to us early in the next year as well! God is on the move!

Sunday School

Our Sunday school program for our youth ministry is always striving to not just entertain,

but train. We practice this by implementing teens into different facets of our children's

Sunday School program. eg. small group leader, media tech team, security team. etc. The

vision for this concept is to give these teens ownership over some of the cool things God is

doing in our church, to plug them in so that they may mature in experiences as well as

knowledge. Statistically, people are much more unlikely to leave the church when they are

involved like this.

One of the outcomes of this approach is that it shrunk our Sunday School class to 2-3

people. The rest of the teens either sit in the service or they are involved in Sunday School

on some level. We have made the decision to cancel the Sr. Youth Sunday School and keep

the Jr. Youth one for it is attended extremely well!

Submitted by Peter Klassen

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