DECEMBER 2014

JOURNEY TO CHRISTMASWe have spent a lot of time reflecting on the past this season at North Park. With our 50th Anniversary celebration in November, we took some time to intentionally remember the ways that God has been at work through his church and his people over the past half a century. It was a wonderful and encouraging time as we celebrated God’s faithfulness through the years.

It is good to stop and remember sometimes. I don’t think we do it enough in our culture. We are too busy moving on to the next goal, the next accomplishment, the next best thing; that we seldom slow down and ponder what the past has taught us or what we are learning in the moment.

Interestingly, the Christmas season seems to be a natural time to remember as well. At Christmas, many of us are taken back to our childhood, where nostalgia and tradition are not only celebrated but encouraged. Just think of it. Over the next few weeks (if you haven’t started already!), some of us will decorate our homes and Christmas trees with sentimental heirlooms that have been in the family for generations. For others, our hearts will be stirred of memories of days gone by when we hear our favourite carol being played in the mall, on the radio or sung at church. Many of us will go through a litany of activities and routines this Christmas with the simple reasoning that we have always done it like that and therefore we will continue to do it that way because after all, it is tradition! Sentimentality is a trait that seems to grow stronger the older we become. If you don’t believe me, ask your mother!

In the midst of the busyness of this season, could I encourage you to do something? Take time with your family this year to ponder the traditional aspects of your Christmas. Reflect and remember the reasoning behind why you put the star on the tree at the very end of decorating it or why you open your gifts youngest to oldest or why you attend a certain Christmas Eve service at church or why you_______. You fill in the blank. Individually or as a family, take time to reflect, reminisce and remember this Christmas. It reinforces your beliefs and unites you together.

You may also notice that we have many traditional aspects to our weekend services at North Park during the Christmas season. Year after year, we go back to the story of Jesus. His birth in the manger, Mary and Joseph, the star, the angels, the three wise men and the animals. We revisit the themes of advent; Joy, Love, Peace and Hope and we sing those familiar songs and carols and we even have a choir! There is something about these familiar stories and traditions that reinforces our beliefs, grows our faith and unites us together as a church.

My prayer for our community this Christmas is that in the midst of the chaos of the season, we are able to find time to simply be still and be present before God. To move beyond some of our spiritual traditions and invite God to reveal his joy, love, peace and hope to us in fresh and surprising ways. I pray that our lives will be open to be touched anew by the miracle of the birth of Jesus and what his life, death and resurrection means to each one of us.

And I pray that we will share the love and hope that we have, because of Jesus, with those we come in contact with throughout this Christmas season. On behalf of my family, I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and may God grant you precious time with family and friends this season to reflect and remember his ongoing work in your life.

Paul McIlwraith, Teaching Pastor

TH E

We are so thankful for all of the blessings celebrated at North Park’s recent 50th Anniversary. Gratitude and generosity are values that have been lived out in many ways. From supporting local ministries like Mosaic, to global partnerships with organizations like International Justice Mission, it is amazing to observe each year the generosity of God’s people here.

This year, back in September, you may have received a letter sent out to our North Park family alerting you to our special financial need in our general fund. Your response was very supportive – thank you! We are very grateful that the deficit has been reduced considerably.

As we approach the end of 2014, would you prayerfully consider a special donation to our general fund to help end this year in a strong financial position? Thank you, in advance, for considering a special gift to help us, as a church, finish strong.

There are several ways to give a year-end gift to help:• Give a cheque in our offering boxes or via the office – we will be accepting donations up until 4:00pm in the office on December 31 for

2014 tax receipts.• Donate online at www.canadahelps.org until the end of the calendar year.• Mail a cheque (must be postmarked by the post office by December 31 to be considered a tax-deductible gift for 2014).

In the Hemorrhaging Faith study that was done by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, there were some astounding findings about retreats and camps. This study revealed that while many young adults abandon the Christian faith that they grew up in, the ones who are still living out their faith recognize a camp or retreat experience as foundational to the spiritual development as a teenager.

We view our fall retreat as one of the crucial components of our youth ministry. These high school students have so much coming against them and it is so refreshing for them to get away for the weekend with their Christian friends and leaders to focus on God.

This October we packed up 2 buses with teenagers, sleeping bags, sound equipment and tons of energy. We spent the weekend at Pearce Wil-liams Retreat Centre. There were many events that happened over the weekend and God did great things in the hearts of the youth. We had 4 services over the weekend. Each time, the youth got involved in the worship and turned their hearts towards God. In each of the services there was dynamic teaching that really had an impact on each student in a unique way. Over the weekend, the students strengthened their friendships with one another.

This weekend was also a total blast. Our theme this year was “Where’s Waldo.” The youth split up into teams and spent the weekend compet-ing against each other in challenges and games. We didn’t get very much sleep over the weekend, but that’s okay because we packed in the good times and the memories. It is really cool to be a part of a church that makes these weekend experiences possible for the youth.

HELP US FINISH WELL

‘WHERE’S WALDO’ SR HIGH RETREAT

Robert Klassen, Finance Committee Chair

Kevin Norcross, Pastor of Sr High Ministry

NORTH PARK STEWARDSHIP UPDATEJanuary to October 2014

Money received January to October: $1,662,352Money spent January to October: $1,711,242

DARE TO GIVE

‘WE THREE SPIES’ CHILDREN’S MUSICAL

Matthew Eckert, Pastor of Adult Discipleship

Jim Wells (Jazz), Pastor of Children and Family Ministries

We continue to look for practical ways to serve the various needs of our city. One way has been to partner with various non-profit organizations in London. As such, this is North Park’s third year with our “Dare to Give” cam-paign and we are excited to once again take on this challenge. Since 2012 we have come alongside and supported Mission Services of London at Christmas. They are a Christian faith-based social service agency with a focus on serving those who struggle with poverty and homelessness; men, women and children. They provide food, shel-ter, clothing, crisis intervention and rehabilitation. Mission Services works out of several locations around the city meeting various needs, including the Men’s Mission, Community Mental Health, Crash Beds, Mission Store, Quintin Warner House (addiction rehabilitation) and Rotholme Women’s and Family Shelter.

North Park’s unique contribution to their work each Christmas is to put together care packages. These packages meet the needs of men, women and children and have been extremely helpful for the staff at Mission Services in being proactive in meeting specific needs. The contents of each package has been designed by the frontline staff of Mission Services who are uniquely qualified to understand the needs of those they care for every day.

This year we want to put together 1,100 packages. The process is quite straightforward. Simply pick up an empty bag in the gym during weekend services. The bag includes all the instructions that you need. Purchase the items, place them in the bag and return it to North Park by the weekend of December 20-21. We will transport all of the completed packages to Mission Services. Let’s, once again, be a part of this great opportunity to serve.

There have been some undercover things happening at North Park these past few months. And everything will be exposed on the first weekend of December when our Stomp (after school club) kids present “We Three Spies”. The kids and leaders have been working very hard to make this performance special for all of us. Why not start your Christmas celebrations off by bringing family and friends on the weekend of December 6-7, and join us as the ‘three spies’ blow their cover to proclaim JOY to the World.

Plan to invite friends and family to join us for this kick off to the Christmas season during our weekend services at North Park on December 6 at 6:30pm and December 7 at 9:00 and 11:00am.

CHRISTMAS STOREIn the non-profit world, this season becomes a very chaotic and confusing time. In the “Spirit of Christmas”, people begin to give to charities much needed donations that allow them to do their much needed work. With this influx of money and gifts, those in need know that this is the best chance for them to be able to get the help they need. All this frenzy takes place in such a short time that there is little time to build relationships that can provide lasting support and assistance and before we know it we are into a new year, all worn out and not much further ahead.

In the past, we provided toys and gifts to the children and families involved at the Life Resource Centre. Over the past 5 years we have taken a new approach after hearing about the successes of “Christmas Stores” both in the USA and Canada. Instead of us playing the part of Santa Claus, these stores allow families and children to purchase presents for their family members at prices they can afford. While many were unable to pay the “market prices” due to their limited budget constraints, the Christmas Stores allowed them to provide for their own. This solved several dif-ficulties of the old system of us providing the presents.

First of all it allowed parents to keep their dignity, not having to hang their head while strangers played a role they wished deeply they could do. Secondly, they were able to choose appropriate and specific presents they wished for their own families. Finally, these families are encouraged to move away from a “grab what you can while you can” situation to more of a self sufficiency and taking control over their situation attitude.

So, again this year on December 10-13 we will open our Christmas Store at the Life Resource Centre portable and invite our community to shop for their families. If you are interested in assist-ing by supplying a new or unused toy, clothing item, or household good for the store or by assisting the families in shopping or wrapping, contact David at david.cottrill@northpark.ca. Items for the store can be left in the blue bin at the church anytime before December 10.

David Cottrill, Director of Community Outreach

LIKE A TREEAs we celebrated 50 years of Christ’s faithfulness to us, young (and young at heart) pointed to large pictures of the past and chatted about happy memories.

While adults showed appreciation to the former ministers and their wives in the sanctuary, children played and sang songs about Jesus with the ‘Rubber Chicken Company’ in the Youth Theatre. (You had to be there!)

Testimonies from the Asian Fellowship surrounded the Fellowship Hall, and Mosaic provided tasty treats as part of their display along with the Life Resource Centre.

It was amazing to hear the reports from Khem Saksakamunghkon of IJM Thailand, and from Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance, as a reminder of how blessed we are to be involved in Christ’s work worldwide.

I join with all who attended the weekend in saying a huge ‘Thank You’ to Ron Burdock & Donna Ballantine for weeks of hard work. And also to the many others, from parking attendants, to decorators, to volunteers doing food prep, cleanup, and child care, to speakers and musicians, who made the weekend so enjoyable, with good food, good music and good messages! What a gifted ‘Family’!

Don Kennedy recounted to me that the founders were given good advice in the church’s early development, to enlarge their faith for the future. It has certainly been apparent that the founders followed the Lord in a vision that was “big enough to fail”, (as Mark Batterson says in “The Lion’s Manifesto”), if it weren’t for God’s intervention.

The new symbol outside the main entrance is a tree …a fitting metaphor of a healthy community of God’s people.

I’m not sure of the artist’s full intent, but it makes me think… about deep roots that grasp the necessary nutrients of prayer, worship, and God’s Word, while holding firmly to the constant experience of Christ’s great love and faithfulness. The strong trunk divides to demonstrate unity with diversity. From there, multiple branches spread to a beautiful flourish of continuous growth that provides and shelters.

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wickedor stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1 (NIV - 2011)

What an image of who God wants us to become as together we follow him into the next 50 years!

John Tyler, Elder Board Chair

CHRISTMAS 2014 AT NORTH PARKWe invite you to join us every weekend leading up to Christmas and for our Christmas Eve services. Our Christmas Eve services are similar to last year with one geared for families with younger children and then our traditional Candlelight services with readings and carols. We are also hosting one of each type of service on December 23 as an early Christmas Eve service. This is a means to serve many who leave on Christmas Eve to visit family out of town and to try and reduce the overload at our 5:00pm service on Christmas Eve. Regardless of which service you attend, we hope these services provide a needed rest from the busy season and renewed joy for you, your family and friends as we celebrate together the birth of Jesus Christ.

Saturday, November 29 - 6:30pmSunday, November 30 - 9:00, 10:15, 11:30amThis weekend begins the season of Advent - JOYSpeaker: Paul McIlwraith

Saturday, December 6 - 6:30pmSunday, December 7 - 9:00, 11:00amWe have the privilege of enjoying the music of North Park’s Stomp Kid’s Choir. This year’s musical is entitled “We Three Spies”. This is always a fun and engaging experience.Second week of Advent: LOVESpeaker: Paul McIlwraithChildren’s program is available for birth-SK.

Saturday, December 13 - 6:30pmSunday, December 14 - 9:00, 10:15, 11:30amWe will enjoy a time of worship with the North Park adult choir.Speaker: Paul McIlwraithThird week of Advent: PEACE

Saturday, December 20 - 6:30pmSunday, December 21 - 9:00, 10:15, 11:30amEnjoy a time of worship with an acoustic set of music led by Brett Fliesser and Kelly Morrison.Speaker: Paul McIlwraithFourth week of Advent: HOPE

Christmas Eve Services:To allow for greater flexibility and recognizing family travel schedules, we will have Christmas Eve services on both Decem-ber 23 and 24. Please note that the services held on December 23 are identical to those held on December 24. There is no chil-dren’s program at these services.

December 23 - 6:00pmDecember 24 - 5:00pm45 minute Family Service - This will be a service that welcomes all ages, but is specifically geared for families with younger chil-dren. Enjoy a time of singing, story telling and a brief message.

December 23 - 8:00pmDecember 24 - 7:00, 9:00pm1 hour Candlelight Service - We will focus our hearts on Christ-mas through a short message, singing of Christmas carols and celebration of communion.

Saturday, December 27 - 6:30pmSunday, December 28 - 9:00, 10:15, 11:30amGuest Worship Leader - Jeremy TozerSpeaker: Matthew Eckert

Children, Students & Young Adults

Stomp Christmas MusicalSaturday, December 6 - 6:30pmSunday, December 7 - 9:00, 11:00am(Children’s program for birth-SK)

EnRouteSunday, November 30 - 6:00pmDinner and EnRoute

Jr High Christmas PartyTuesday, December 9 - 7:00pm

Sr High Christmas PartyWednesday, December 10 - 7:00pm

No EnRouteSunday, December 7, 14, 21, 28 and January 4Sunday, January 11 - Winter Kickoff

No Jr High CollisionSunday, December 14 and 28

No Jr HighTuesday, December 23 and 30

No Sr HighWednesday, December 24 and 31

David Cottrill, Director of Community OutreachLORD ELGIN LUNCHOne of the special relationships North Park Community Church has in London is with a local school a few kilometres away. Lord Elgin Public School is situated on Victoria Street between two large London-Middlesex Housing Complexes that provide affordable housing for families strug-gling to make ends meet. Over the years we have partnered with the school to support the learning and growth of the students and to encourage the staff who care deeply for the children.

One way we do that is to invite the entire school to enjoy a Christmas feast in our gymnasium. Known around the school community as “Turkey Dinner”, it is much more than that. We serve them delicious turkey with all the trimmings, desert and have an exciting program to celebrate the Christmas season. Children are able to eat “till they can’t eat anymore”, and participate in the singing, games and fun. Santa always appears with some gems of wisdom for the kids, and then they are lovingly given a bag of treats in a hand decorated white lunch bag.

Although all this activity takes place in just over 1½ hours, students anticipate the Turkey Dinner all year long and hold it as a special memory each year. At the Grade 8 graduation lunch last June, the students told me that this is one thing they will really miss moving on to high school. The teachers also comment that even the most difficult of students “act like angels” when attending and that permission forms for this field trip are returned the day after they go out. Knowing some of the stories of the families that attend, I can attest that this is a wonderful gift of love and hope to those who live in very difficult and stressful environments.

As you can imagine it takes an army of volunteers to pull this off as we seat and serve almost 350 kids and staff in a morning and afternoon setting. Each dinner is served with a plateful of love and warmth and you will never see so many eager and smiling children. It is our hope and desire that this token of grace points to the wonderful gift we were given that very first Christmas in Bethlehem.

The Christmas season is here! For many, Christmas is a time of joy, peace, and celebration. Yet for those who are alone, suffering, or grieving, Christmas can be painful. The joy and happiness of everyone around them only serves as an aching reminder of the brokenness in their own lives. For this reason, our Care Ministry hosted two Surviving the Holidays seminars in November, one for those who are in a season of grief, and one for those who are separated or divorced. These seminars provided participants with encouragement, hope, and practical ideas to help them navigate through the holidays. If you find yourself wishing you could fast forward to January, here are a few things you can do to survive the holidays this year.

• Resist the temptation to isolate. While you shouldn’t let others guilt you into taking on more than you are able to handle, you can challenge yourself to reach out and connect with people in your life that are supportive and compassionate.

• Don’t be afraid to set aside traditions that are too painful. “Because we’ve always done it this way” is not a valid reason to continue a holiday tradition if it will bring more pain than happiness, and new traditions can bring fresh hope and joy.

• Be kind to yourself. Allow yourself the moments you need to grieve losses and acknowledge any pain you are experiencing. Give yourself permission to leave a party or event if it’s too difficult to be there. Take the time you need to care for yourself, and allow God to sustain you through times of prayer, meditation, and worship.

Most importantly, have hope! The very reason we are celebrating Christmas is because Christ came in order that we might have hope in the darkness. The very brokenness that makes the holidays painful is the very reason Jesus came. Our brokenness means we need a Saviour, and be-cause we have a Saviour, we have hope that the pain of this moment will not last forever.

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS?Trish Haq, Pastor of Community Care

We have been privileged over the last number of years to have Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe as a supported missionary of North Park. If you were with us at the 50th Anniversary weekend you know that we were able to get Geoff to join us for the weekend and update us on what is happening around the world among Christians. Geoff has played a significant role in building the World Evangelical Alliance over the past ten years; becoming their global leader with the title “Secretary General”. In that role Geoff has had the mandate of engaging in critical conversations where Christian faith needs to be represented. He meets with heads of state and heads of religious movements in ways that make a major difference for peace and mis-sion. We are grateful for Geoff and his wife Jewel’s contribution to our own church’s wisdom, but as well we are grateful for the impact that he has had around the world.

Geoff shared with us two trends that he sees occurring among Christians around the world that we need to be aware of. The first is a significant movement among people working to engage with their vocation around the world. Vocation is a beautiful word; Oxford Dictionary defines it as “a strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or occupation”. God has given us gifts that show up not just in religious activities but in the vari-ous skills and tasks that we perform on a daily basis. There is a movement of people in business, medicine, media etc. who are sensing God’s call in their lives to engage those skills on behalf of Kingdom need. Geoff used two examples. The first is of a business person who is working to employ disadvantaged and oppressed women in underdeveloped countries and have their products sold in major retailers across North America. The sec-ond example is that of the current wave of media professionals seeking to create value based movies that “shift the tide” of integrity in our culture.

The second trend that Geoff shared is that of a significant desire for collaboration. Global problems such as poverty, human trafficking and such, cannot be overcome by one agency, organization, or denomination alone. For true transformation to occur we have to come together and work with one another in ways like never before. Geoff is seeing great progress in people who may have avoided one another in the past due to minor theological differences….starting to work together and finding a new sense of accomplishment in doing so.

We asked Geoff where we are under pressure as a church worldwide. He had no hesitation in answering, The Middle East. He cited recent sta-tistics that indicate that there were 1.3 million Christians in Iraq before the recent ISIS campaign began and now there are less than 100,000. The problems occurring in The Middle East ought to be on every Christian’s heart and in every Christians prayers. This is a global disaster occurring in our time for Christians and so we need to be aware and engaged.

Geoff highlighted a second concern in that while there is a growing proliferation of Bibles around the world that we may be in a season where there is greater Biblical illiteracy than ever before. We may be moving the cause of faith out at a rapid pace but we aren’t helping people understand and embrace the Bible in life changing ways. Having a Bible App on your phone does not necessarily mean that you are listening to it or doing anything about it.

North Park’s Global Outreach team listens when people like Geoff speak. Pray for us as we consider how we might take to heart what Geoff has alerted us to. Pray as well for the Capital Campaign initiative on behalf of The Middle East; we sense God’s hand moving forward quite clearly and Geoff’s words confirmed that and have given us boldness to press ahead.

Geoff is making way for younger leadership at World Evangelical Alliance through stepping down from the role of Secretary General. His influence will widen as he takes on a new role with Crossroads Communications, enabling him to engage in important global projects in more focused ways. Geoff and Jewel will continue their relationship at North Park as supported missionaries and we look forward to learning more from them in the days ahead.

THANK YOU DR GEOFF TUNNICLIFFERon Burdock, Director of Global Outreach

COMMUNITY LIFE

BIRTHSJoshua William Dixon (November 6) Parents Bill & Nicole

DEATHSKatherine Morrison (November 10) Mother of Rob (Susan) Morrison

NEW MEMBERSLaszlo Gyenis Aaron StarkSilvia Penuela Lindsay Stark

CHILD DEDICATIONSAleigha Rose Alexander - Parents Jason & Kyleigh Kaden Robert Alexander - Parents Jason & KyleighAva Laura Asafo-Adjei - Parents Emmanuel & LauraCharlotte Rose Bridgen - Parents Ryan & PamMatteo Castro-Valencia - Parents Hernan & AliSofia Georgia Christodoulou - Parents Chris & CrystalGabrielle Mavie Dizon - Parents Jeffrey & RuhamaMatthew John Everett Duncan - Parents Mike & SherylOwen Cameron Henderson - Parents David & AllisonAbigail Grace Hurst - Parents Rob & SarahTristan Faith Kajan - Parents Danny & DanaEnders Heinrich Kellner - Parents Sebastian & BreanneClayton Patrick Korpan - Parents Cam & RebekahRhett Gabriel Martin - Parents Ross & NoelleWeston Gregory McElroy - Parents Brad & LindsayJase Adam Meyer - Parents Nathan & TessaEmma Grace Morrison - Parents Mark & KellyGabrielle Eleanor Patricia Pearce-Demers - Parents John & HeatherJonathon W. Ronald Pearce-Demers Jr - Parents John & HeatherSianne Tompkins - Parents Bryan & JordanJulian Roman David Wilson - Parents Zachary & Nicketa

On behalf of our entire team (pas-tors, administration, and facilities staff) here at North Park, it has been our joy to serve you this year.

We wish you a wonderful Christmas

and a blessed New Year!