LEGACY MINISTRY OVERVIEW

THROUGH EVANGELISM, DISCIPLESHIP, FELLOWSHIP, WORSHIP AND SERVICE,
DISCOVER HOW TO DEVELOP A LEGACY THAT WILL LAST FOREVER!

With the lingering effects of Covid-19, 2022 was off to another challenging start. Many of our ministries were hindered and volunteers were sick. That being said, by summer/fall, we started strong. With the help and ministry of over 98 volunteer positions and 76 different volunteers, I’m proud to share with you some of our ministry highlights.

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EVANGELISM

RESCUE CAMBODIA

In 2020 the Legacy Ministry adopted Rescue as one of our evangelism projects. In August, a couple dozen of us were privileged to have Marie Ens visit us and share what God has been doing at rescue over the last couple years. For more information on Rescue Cambodia, click HERE.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

Each year the Legacy Ministry oversees our contribution to OCC. We are the regional collection centre for SE Alberta. We had another great year collecting boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We had 18 people volunteer for a total of approximately 90 hours and we collected 1559 boxes (117 more than last year). For more information on Operation Christmas Child, click HERE.

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DISCIPLESHIP

WIDOWED AND SINGLES

Our leadership team:

·         Pat Anderson

·         Melita Leng

·         Ruth Moerman

·         Carol Kulhavy

·         Betty Kramer

We continued our first Thursday of the month Bible Study/Fellowship with about a dozen or so ladies. We studied Psalm 23 and began a study on the book of James. We also spent time in prayer and fellowship.

On the third Thursday of each month the ladies gathered with their bag lunch to encourage and bless each other. This ministry happened less often as food was not allowed but a few ladies continued to meet for a time of Bible reading and prayer.

We also had a couple of gatherings at Kin Coulee Park.

AFTERNOON BIBLE STUDY

Our Legacy Bible Study (Thursday evenings) led by Richard Buehler concluded in 2022 and was moved to Tuesday afternoons to help individuals who had difficulty traveling at night (especially in the winter). It was led by Ron Prosser. They studied end times, heaven, and the Gospel of John and averaged 20-25 people.

LEGACY GRANPARENTING SUMMIT 2022

We had a fantastic Legacy Grandparenting Summit Oct 20-21 with 47 registrations. This Summit was the catalyst for a grandparenting ministry that will begin in the fall of 2023. It will provide small groups, Bible studies and events, etc. for grandparents with the goal of providing tools for grandparents to share their legacy with their grandchildren (and children). For more information about our next Legacy Grandparenting Summit, click HERE.

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FELLOWSHIP

THE VISITATION MINISTRY

Our leadership team:

·         Lynn Schellenberg

·         Melissa Toth

·         Darlene Hjelte

·         Ruth Moerman

Lynn Schellenberg continued to help me lead and evaluate this vital ministry. She continued to inspire me and help me care for our team. We held an evaluation and encouragement meeting in September and were blessed to have Melinda Bensler share with us about visitation and end-of-life conversations.

Some of our visitees went to be with the Lord in 2022 but we were blessed to add some new visitees as well. We continued to visit approximately 32 people in our church family and had approximately 23 visitors visiting them. With Covid restrictions lifted we resumed physical visitations as well as continuing to write letters and to call visitees on the phone.

Four times a year we sent out hand-made cards by Ruth Moerman to all our visitees. We sent cards with words of blessing, Our Daily Bread Devotionals, bookmarks, and this year I added a personal Christmas letter which included a picture from one of our seniors, Clarence Knodel (see above).

YOUNG AT HEART

Our leadership team:

·         Lance Duncalfe

·         Stella Friesen

·         Phil and Annalora Horch

·         Florence Schorr

·         Mary Ann Westgard

Y@H was finally able to resume in 2022. We held a Hillcrest ministry presentation describing all that the Legacy Ministry does, two grandparenting training sessions and a Christmas production. We averaged 20-30 people from inside and outside of Chinook Village.

LEGACY CHRISTMAS BANQUET

It’s been my intention since starting as Pastor of Legacy Adults to offer intergenerational ministry opportunities in our church. I strongly feel it’s important for our seniors to connect with our children, youth, and adults and to give them the occasion to share their spiritual legacy with those who follow. The intent is not only to bless those younger than them with their faith, history, and heritage but for them to be blessed and encouraged in return.

With Covid restricting much of our fellowship activities, 2022 marked the return of our Annual Legacy Christmas Banquet. I wanted something different than the traditional turkey or roast beef dinner, and after much deliberation, Karen and I came up with a “Mexican Christmas Dinner”. Several Legacy volunteers helped prepare and serve the food (Carol Kulhavy, Margaret Johnson, Jan Rattai, and Betty Kramer). It was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s and well received. Karen is amazing!

There were approximately 118 people attended.

For several previous events, Pastor Alisha and I have worked together to bring the Youth and Legacy Adults together. Once again, she organized and brought in 10 youth to help set up, serve, and clean up. They were wonderful and the Legacy Adults were once again thrilled to be able to interact with them.

I want to recognize Val Seitz who came in to decorate for us and for her willingness to allow us to reuse the decorations for the Youth Christmas Banquet. She’s wonderful to work with and does such a great job.

For the last couple of years, my wife Jamie has been studying Jazz Piano and was excited to provide an hour of jazzy Christmas music during the meal. People really enjoyed the freshness of the music and Jamie’s willingness to provide live music for them.

We intentionally scheduled the banquet for Saturday night so that it fell on the King’s Kids production. I have often thought of bringing in an artist or providing our own program but again wanted our Legacy Adults to bless and be blessed by other ministries in the church. They genuinely enjoyed the production and thought it was a wonderful addition to the night.

Finally, over a dozen of our Legacy adults blessed the kids by providing/sharing homemade cookies or treats with the kids and those attending the event. I was so pleased and excited to see all the generations interacting during the fellowship time. It was a joyful noise and there was a beautiful spirit in the room!

THE HUNGER GAMES

For the second year, Pastor Alisha and I combined our Legacy Adults and Youth. On a Monday night, several of our Seniors taught several youth to make desserts that we could all share. The next night the Legacy Adults and Youth were invited to enjoy their dessert creations and play board games for the evening. They had a blast!

SENIORS’ DAY CAMP

This was our first camp since 2019. The weather was wet and the ground was very soggy but we had great attendance and our Seniors were thrilled to finally be back at camp. We has several individuals who attended for the first time and we also provided bussing from Hillcrest for about 25 people. I spoke on 1 Corinthians and encouraged our Seniors to run well, right to the end.

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WORSHIP

CHAPEL SERVICES

With the help of Ruth Pahl, Jamie Deibert, Esther Weeks and others we provided monthly chapel services to:

·         River Ridge

·         Meadowlands

·         South Country Village

·         Meadow Ridge

·         St. Joes

·         Valleyview

·         Afternoon Chapel and Hymn Sing at Hillcrest Church

·         Masterpiece

·         Chinook Village (occasionally)

Attendance has been roughly 6-40 in attendance (depending on the facility).

We continued to send out copies of our Sunday services and HEMC chapel services to several facilities. Recreation directors used them weekly. We were even able to send over our Christmas Eve Service and Christmas Day Service for them to use. The response was excellent.

We continued to live stream the Hillcrest Chapel service to several of the facilities listed above and/or send DVDs. I estimate we had roughly 40-50 in attendance at each Hillcrest Chapel and after consulting the recreation directors, close to that number again watching online.

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SERVICE

FURNITURE MINISTRY

This year I worked closely with Christy Wonnenberg as we navigated the numerous challenges of pickup and deliveries around the city. We did 162 pick ups and 168 deliveries in 2022. Be sure to read Christy’s Furniture ministry report.

GRIEF SHARE

With the leadership of Terrill Wiesner, Sherry Larter, Carol Kulhavy, and Ron Prosser we were able provide two sessions, one in the Spring and one in the Fall. We had 20 people attend in 2022. For more information on Grief Share, click HERE.

PALLIATIVE CARE BAGS

In November, St. Joe’s restrictions relaxed and we were able to resume sending Care Bags. These bags contain all kinds of snacks and other items (including cards, Gideons Bibles and magazines, etc.) and are given out by the Palliative nurses at St. Joseph’s Home to all families of patients in their ward. They again are being made and delivered by Sarah Mellish and her children.

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PASTORAL CARE AND OTHER

I continued to spend a considerable amount of time with in-person and phone visitation throughout 2022. I love and appreciate the time I’m given to spend with our church family, hearing their stories as they share their heart and the opportunity to pray with such faithful servants of Christ.

I was privileged to officiate at the funeral of Laverne Seitz, Gisela Anderson, and Dave Letkeman.

Each year I send out letters and booklets called “Journey Through Grief” to encourage and support those who have lost a spouse. Each book describes the issues and feelings we tend to encounter at various points during the first year after experiencing a loss. In 2022 I send out 21 letters and booklets.

I enjoyed preaching in May and November and was privileged to lead/host the Christmas Day Watch Party.

Lastly, I’ve also been helping the tech department on Sundays in the role of Production Manager, Worship Centre Sound, Online Sound, and covering for Alexis once a month to give him a much-needed break.

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