Sunday Mornings

Believe it or not, at the start of 2022 we still had restrictions due to the pandemic. It was definitely a little more tough to freely lead and engage in worship with masks and spacing. So… it was so awesome once these restrictions were lifted in the spring! It was so great to see people’s smiling faces and to be able to see them singing praise to the Lord.

Twenty-twenty-two was a bit of a re-growth year as we saw people slowly return to coming to church in person. It also felt like there was so many new people to the church. I am so grateful for the worship and tech volunteers that we have that faithfully served through so many different scenarios. For the most part our teams remained quite constant through the year. Not a lot of people coming or going. There was however, a couple of key worship leaders that moved on to other opportunities in the fall of 2022. We were so blessed to have these worship leaders, and were sad to see them go, but wish and pray the best for them in their future ministries.

This did leave us with a gap on some of our teams, and although this was and is a challenge it actually provided an opportunity for others to step up and into a greater leadership role. It is so cool to see people step out of their comfort zones and into what God has for them! There is still plenty of room for more musicians, worship leaders, and tech team members.

Worship team members generally start thinking, praying, and preparing for a Sunday over a week and a half in advance. We begin by asking God what He has in mind for that Sunday, and then prayerfully consider the songs that we will choose. Worship leaders and musicians have given many hours before what is seen and heard on a Sunday morning. We are so thankful for their hearts to serve.

One old newer thing we have started back up is a very informal choir that sings on special Sundays. These have been so fun and life-giving. We had this expanded worship team on Easter and Thanksgiving. It’s awesome to get more people involved and to hear so many voices singing praise to God. It also seems to really encourage the congregation to join in with the singing. We plan to continue to do these, and even do them more often.

Our goal remains to use music and technology to lead and facilitate an atmosphere of attention to and affection for God.

Thank you so so much for your prayers as we do our best to continue to chase after what God has for us. If you’d like more info on anything worship related or would like to get involved, don’t hesitate to reach out.

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Young Adults

Twenty-twenty-two was a great year for Young Adults at Hillcrest! As with all ministries I’m sure, it was amazing to be done with the pandemic restrictions. Through the winter and spring months we had several points of connection with our young adults including: Sunday morning coffee, attending the 11:20am service together, and our monthly Worship & Testimony night.

We had a couple of volunteer leaders host coffee time around 10:45am and promoted and encouraged young adults to come early to the 11:20am service. We gathered together in Hub 2 and took part in the church wide coffee and cinnamon buns. There is always new younger people coming to the church and usually the don’t know anyone or very few people, so getting to know them and making them feel comfortable and at home is so important. There was lots of people meeting each other for the very first time. We then would invite everyone to attend the service together, so that no one would have to sit alone. We definitely need more growth in this area, so that those who are connected make a habit of reaching out to those who are not.

Our monthly Worship & Testimony night took place on the last Monday of each month in Room 8 (off the gym). These were awesome nights of continuing to get to know each other, fellowship, worship, testimony, and coffee/snacks. Each month a small band would lead in worship and a new person would share something that God was teaching them in their lives. We would then break into small groups and have a time of discussion and prayer. Personally I found these nights so encouraging. It’s so amazing to hear what God is up to in the lives of our young people. It’s also cool to see them step up and out of their comfort zone to share with their peers. It’s such a growth experience.

Through the summer months we did a few more Worship & Testimony nights, usually outside around a campfire, and then also hosted some fun nights! We did mini-golf, games night, and outdoor movie night to name a few. I love seeing young people find good community.

In the fall we decided to make a shift and move to more of a small group format. We felt that the young adults were asking for something more consistent. We began weekly bible studies, that were hosted at Jeff & Janna Hickey’s home every Wednesday night at 7pm. Pastor Steve led a bible study and discussion time 3 of the 4 weeks of the month, and on the last Wednesday of the month I (Pastor Wade) led a Worship & Testimony time. Janna always had amazing snacks for us.

Please continue to pray for the young adults of our church. They are the near future leaders. We need to encourage them and make them feel at home and that they have something to offer, because they do! God has amazing things in store for this generation.

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Youth Worship

This was the first year in a few that we did not have a staff member directly and consistently involved in the worship that takes place at Youth Group on Tuesday nights. While this may sound like a negative thing, it was actually an amazing opportunity for more volunteer worship leaders and band members to step up into leadership roles. Between Levi helping with some of the more technical aspects of worship every Tuesday night and myself (Pastor Wade) taking on more of an indirect leadership role we were able to provide the support needed for volunteers to take on the bulk of the worship leadership. I was able to mentor and help through meeting with the worship leaders, taking on the administration of scheduling, and occasionally attending band rehearsals to help, guide, and see how everyone was doing.

We had 2 full teams and an acoustic type team through the year. These teams are made up of youth, youth group leaders, and other young adults from the church. There is some cross-over between Tuesday and Sunday worship band members. Tuesday nights are the perfect opportunity for young adults and youth to learn about the heart behind our musical worship and some of practical skills involved in leading worship. After setting up for rehearsal we often take time to see how everyone is doing and to pray together. We then work through the songs that we will be using that evening, and then of course lead the time of worship including some prayer and speaking.

There are a few more special times of worship through the year. One is when I get a youth band to help me lead worship on a Sunday morning. These are youth and young adults who have really embraced our vision and get a chance to step up. They get a bit of a taste of what it means to lead on a Sunday morning. We also have a baptism night in the worship centre on a Tuesday and those nights are so cool. The team leads worship and then we get to hear testimonies of youth and youth leaders who are committing to live for Jesus the rest of their lives. One other cool opportunity is when the youth goes out to Whispering Pines for a weekend retreat and a band is asked to lead worship for the entire weekend. This is such a great learning experience to be able to lead their peers in worship to God.

We would love to get more young people involved in worship! It is an awesome chance to serve and grow together, to learn some skills, and most importantly to give God the glory that He deserves.

If you know of any young people who might like to get involved, let me know!

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Kings Kids

In twenty-twenty-two, we were again very blessed to have an amazing children’s choir program with great volunteer leadership. Between myself (Pastor Wade), Alexis, and Michelle we were able to offer Sheila Reinheller and her team the support they needed to offer a successful year of kids choir.

We are incredibly blessed and grateful for Hillcrest to be able to offer this type of program because of volunteer leaders. We cannot do this without them!

Our goal with the children’s choir is to teach kids from a young age how important it is to worship; to give thanks to God in all circumstances. We want the times that the kids are involved to be more than a performance or a special number, but to be a time of young believers leading our church in a time of worship. We believe that there are life-long lessons being learned, and that these kids will be the future worship leaders in our church. Our desire is that they learn just how amazing God is, and who they are in Him.

The Kings Kids were once again a part of our Easter services and led us in worship with the song “Jesus at the Cross”. There were many weeks of rehearsals leading up to this Sunday. But as always, the main event for the Kings Kids was the annual Christmas play. With weeks and weeks of preparation of sets/stage design, technical components, choreography, memorized lines and musical practice the kids performed the musical “Dude, You Hear What I Hear”. This took place in early December with hundreds of people experiencing the passion of the children and the message of Jesus over two nights. There were snacks to follow and an amazing time of fellowship so fitting for the season.

Please continue to pray and support these future leaders. I am so excited to see what God has in store for them!

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