♪ On November 23, 2024, Conference Council members approved a budget of nearly $2.1M for 2025—the first budget over $2M since 2015. Delegates gathered at Evangelical Fellowship Church (EFC) in Steinbach, Man., and virtually over Zoom.

♪ An era is ending. See if this agrees with what you’re seeing. For the last several generations, when our churches needed a new pastor, we assumed there was a group of moveable pastors “out there” looking for a church. “Out there” were unknown pastors trained, experienced, and ready to move their families across the continent to pastor our church.

♪ I read the Sept/Oct 2024 issue at one sitting. From the early articles’ discouragement to the last three pages of inspiration, I felt I concluded on a high note.

♪ In my neighbourhood they call me Abd al-Haqq. It started because some of my friends couldn’t remember my name; others couldn’t pronounce it. One guy was calling me “Android” and another was calling me “Mustafa.” It was finally settled one morning when the guard from my son’s preschool definitively stated that I should be called “Abd al-Haqq.”

♪ My daughter, Noelle, is a wonderful seven-year-old who loves Pokemon, drawing, and hockey. Noelle is also autistic, and like many people who are autistic, church when done “as regular” can seem overwhelming or even at times unwelcoming.

♪ Book Review: ‘Flyover Church’

By: Mike Vanderzwaag

♪ While the start of the new year is now a couple of weeks in the rearview mirror, statistics say that most people will have already “failed” at their New Year’s resolutions. That’s why, this year, I decided to focus on small changes that I’m more likely to stick with.

Here’s a picture of our monthly Senior’s meal

♪ To whom is the church accountable in terms of evangelism, outreach, social justice, discipleship, and leadership development? Clearly, it is primarily accountable to God in obedience to the instructions of Scripture. Do conference boards and leadership have a right to speak into this area of the life of the church?

♪ Gordon and Sharon Skopnik have been serving South Sudanese refugees for 21 years and have seen for themselves that helping can end up hurting.

For 88 years, Steinbach Bible College has been empowering servant leaders to follow Jesus, serve the church, and engage the world. We send students back to their churches and into the world to serve there.

We started the month with a baptism/membership reception on the 1st. What a blessing to hear the testimonies of how God has worked and continues to work in all the candidates.