CHURCH UPATES
Please note that we have left old news items in this list so you can get a feel for some of the things we do.
2024 - September 29: Today we were visited by the Reverend Jason Siemens, current President of the AFLC in Canada. He brought a timely word from 1 Corinthians 1:20-25, focussing on what it means to preach Christ crucified. Afterwards we enjoyed a time of fellowship, and Revd. Jason made himself available to all those who wished to chat with him and find out more about the AFLC.
2024 - September 15: Today we held our service at Blue Bronna Wilderness Camp, a local horse and outdoor-adventure camp, whose mission statement is, 'sharing Christ in a wilderness setting.' It was a blessing to be invited out there and to be a part of the camp's annual Ride-a-Thon fundraising event. It was an encouraging service, well-attended by the folks who were there for the Ride-a-Thon, as well as our congregation. What is more encouraging is seeing how the Lord blessed that event: over $150,000 was raised for the camp! Let us pray that this money is used wisely and put to good use for the furtherance of God's Kingdom as He uses Blue Bronna to build His house.
2024 - July 15 - 19: We conducted a Vacation Bible School at the Flare And Derrick. What a joy to have Brianna back for the second year from Child Evangelism Fellowship to lead the Bible time. Attendance was lower this year, but the kids reported that they enjoyed it and grew in their faith, so we were still happy with the results.
2024 - July 14: Today we held a baptismal service which took place in the river at the YWAM Turner Valley site. It was an encouraging service as the whole congregation partook in and witnessed the baptisand's obedience, visible admission into the church, and, most importantly, the grace of God in the life of the baptisand. God is greatly to be praised. Hallelujah.
2024 - May 19: Today we commissioned Reuben Beamond as our intern. He will be fulfilling the role of Associate Pastor as he serves here at Foothills Bible Fellowship. It was a prayerful service as we appealed to the Scriptures and to our Lord when we confirmed Reuben's calling.
2023 - July 16: We had an exceptional service led by a team from Blue Bronna and followed with lunch for all. What a great time of worship and fellowship! Not to mention a powerful message from Reuben.
2022 - August 14: We are so happy to be back at Valley Neighbours Club. While we have enjoyed the tight knit experience of meeting in a home, we feel that moving back into a public space will make our services more accessible to people who want to check us out.
2022 - July 15: VBS was the most well attended summer camp we've had yet. We were blessed to have a number of children from outside our congregation, and they truly seemed to enjoy the Bible lessons, the crafts, the games, the worship times, and the skits. Thank you to each one of the leaders!
2022 - July 11 - 15: Looking forward to a public VBS after 2 years of closures and having to have our summer school in our homes.
2022 - April 21 - 24: The AFLC Annual Conference and Retreat took place in Cranbrook, April 21 to 24. Wonderful teaching by Gary Jorgensen from the AFLC in the US and by Al Pinno for the retreat portion, and others as well during the conference.
2021 - July 16 - 18: The AFLC Annual Conference took place July 16 - 18 at the Flare N' Derrick, after being delayed twice. We were able to have the Saturday evening banquet, and everything went well. Praise God!
2020 - December 5: Worship services on Zoom are going as well as can be expected. We still have time for interaction. We are disappointed though, that it's not looking like we will be able to have any live Christmas celebrations together.
2020 - September 6: We resumed live services at the home of Cody and Sarah Wilson. Interesting to see the news item below and realize it's been almost a year since we had the first service there.
Note: We have had some news items between then and now, but somehow they all seem to have been deleted. Some of them referenced COVID-19 and our response to it. Have the internet police wiped them out? (just joking!)
2019 - September 29: Was interesting, to say the least. The service at the Wilson's new house was well attended; even a few friends and neighbours in spite of the heavy snow. We are thankful that no one got stuck on their new driveway and no one got lost. It was a special time as we dedicated their house and prayed over it and their family.
2019 - September 15: We had a lively service on Sunday, Sept. 15 with Brent Ankrom delivering the message pointing to the personal relationship we have with God using the 23rd Psalm, and with Julia MacArthur leading us in country and western flavoured singing.
2019 - Summer: We didn't think the Home Missions Retreat in Mesa could be as good again this year as it has been the last two years, but if anything it was even better. Outstanding teaching, great fellowship with other Home Missions congregations, and of course wonderful worship! We're already looking forward to next year.
2019 - Summer: Now that Moms with Young Children are meeting at the library, the attendance has gone up, and we've had to ask for both club rooms combined. What a blessing to be able to serve our community this way!
2019 - Summer: We have secured a long range rental agreement with Valley Neighbours Club, at least for a trial period over the summer. This will enable us to continue with a Sunday morning fellowship time, and includes an extended time frame as well as use of the kitchen, so the fellowship over food can continue in one place after the time of worship and Word. Thank you to Valley Neighbours Club for sharing your wonderful facility with us at a very reasonable cost.
2019 - Summer: I think Valley Neighbours Club is going to work out well for our fellowship. Lots of room and when the weather is nice it's easy to go over to the Anglican Church parish hall afterwards to break bread together and enjoy one another's company. What a blessing to have so many children with us now!
2019 - May: Well, Sunday fellowship in our home only lasted two weeks and our living room became too small. This Sunday, May 26 we will have Sunday fellowship at 11:00 AM at Valley Neighbours Club, 133 Sunset Boulevard, S.W in Turner Valley. That is one block west of the four way stop. We pray that this will continue to be the case.
2019 - April 30: Bible study was led by Greg; an inspiring look at Gideon. One interesting insight was that the "fleece" was not to seek God's will. Gideon already knew that. Look it up in Judges 6:34 - 40, or the fuller account Judges 6:117:25.
2019 - April 23: Joseph led us in an excellent look at the biblical Joseph. Good applications and a good use of cross references. May we all have the attitude of contentment in the Lord displayed by Joseph.
2019 - April: Looking forward to our Tuesday evening bible study beginning the study of biblical characters, being led by different study members each week. This promises to be an interesting time as we discover familiar bible characters through the eyes of others in our family.
2019 - April: he weekend of April 7th was a busy one for FBF. It was the weekend of the AFLC annual conference in Elbow, Saskatchewan, which was a blessed time of fellowship with like minded believers, good teaching, meaningful prayer times, and even the annual business meeting of the association. Praise God for a united vision.
2019 - April 7: was also the weekend of the presentation by Gus Olsthoorn of Creation Ministries International showing how new scientific discoveries can enhance our confidence in the bible record. Reports were that it was well attended and very informational. Question period was a lively time, with Gus finally having to bow out much later than anticipated.
2019- February 4 - 8: Home Mission Retreat in Mesa. Another wonderful week of worship, teaching, inspiration and fellowship with other Home Mission pastors. This year, Michelle accompanied us and was as enthusiastic about the week as we were. She said it opened her eyes to just how evangelical our expression of Lutheran Christianity is.
2018 -December 24: Christmas Eve! We had our first candle light service at 6:00 PM. Participants said it was a joyous time of singing carols, hearing the Christmas story read and just focusing on Jesus together. There were goodie bags for the kids, which were a big hit. Visitors included two foreign exchange students from Germany.
2018 - November 20: We will not have a fellowship meal at the church after this Sunday's service. That way people can feel free to catch the last half of the Grey Cup game, and we will fellowship at one of the members' houses.
2018 - November 19: We had our first Sunday afternoon worship service yesterday in the Anglican church. It was very different from the Tuesday night services we have been having. In fact none of our Tuesday evening people except Brenda and I were able to be there, so it was a whole different group of people. Such a blessing to have Evangeline Mably leading us in song! We enjoyed a good time of fellowship afterward in the parish hall while feasting on beef on a bun. I (John) am looking forward to the less complex setting for Tuesday night bible studies now.
2018 - November 14: We are so excited that on Nov. 18, we will be holding our first Sunday service, thanks in part to the gracious offer of St. Georges Anglican church in Turner Valley to use their facilities. We will be gathering for worship at 4:00 PM, with a soup and sandwich meal afterwards. The Anglican church is a block south of the four way stop in Turner Valley.
2018 - October 18: The AFLC Fall Retreat was another time of great blessing. Powerful preaching by Paul Nash (a real livewire), great worship and prayer together, and a chance to catch up with our many AFLC brothers and sisters. A testimony of the power of prayer was the miraculous healing of the young man who was burned so badly in the grass fires at the time of our 2017 Fall Retreat, and who we and many others prayed for.
2018 - Summer: We were excited to be offering our first VBS this year. We used the five day club program from Child Evangelism Fellowship and offer a sincere thank you to CEF for providing material and personnel. The young men who led the program engaged well with the children, who enjoyed it immensely. The wind up BBQ afterwards was a lot of fun for everyone, and we look forward to our next event like this.
2018 - April 6 - 8: The AFLC spring conference was in Lake Alma, Saskatchewan. Great to be together with our extended church family once again. I am always impressed that although this is our annual business meeting, the focus is on spiritual renewal, and it's almost like the business portion is a minor part of the weekend. Nonetheless, we know the resolutions committee as well as many others work hard to make these conferences a success.
2018 - April 1: What a joy it was for our little band of believers to gather around a campfire to celebrate our Risen Lord! A narrow band of sunrise was on the east horizon and it almost felt like we were there with Mary, Peter, and John visiting the empty tomb.
2018 - February 5 - 9: John and Brenda were able to attend the AFLC Home Missions retreat in Mesa. What a wonderful worship experience together with other home mission fellowships! The teaching was so insightful and strengthening.
2018 - January 16: Praise God for the presentation on his ministry in Nepal by Pastor Bhim (Peter) and also a presentation by Ken Wilsdon regarding the pastoral training ministry in Nepal.
2017 - December 31: We were so excited to be carrying out the first baptisms at Foothills Bible Fellowship. They took place at Peace Lutheran Church in Calgary. Thank you to Pastor Anthony and the entire congregation for making your facility available for this momentous event.
2017 - November 21: Visits from Kelly Henning, the president of the Canadian AFLC and Al Pinno, also an AFLC pastor, Kelly led us in communion at the end of our fellowship meal and Al gave us a presentation on the Ends of the Earth Courier for Christ (http://www.eecchrist.com/) mission work in India and led us with a message centred on the call to missions.
2017 - October 18: Fellowship with the AFLC at the Cypress Hills retreat has been amazing (including amazing weather with fires, trees blowing down, and no power for a little over a day). Wonderful and practical teaching, close fellowship, meeting old friends, and outstanding food thanks to the Cypress Hills Bible Camp. Please pray for friends of the staff including a young man named Evan who were critically burned in the fires nearby.
2017 - October 10: We had our first communion service during our fellowship meal. What a wonderful time of fellowship! Very meaningful having it during the meal as it was done by Jesus and the Apostles.
2017 - September 20: We had our first full bible study this past Tuesday, beginning in Acts. There was lively discussion regarding the Holy Spirit and we all agreed there is a lot more to study on this topic. We also used a resource from lifetogetherchurches.com to help us along in worshipping together. What a great help!
2017 - May 19: Well, Sunday fellowship in our home only lasted two weeks and our living room became too small. This Sunday, May 26 we will have Sunday fellowship at 11:00 AM at Valley Neighbours Club, 133 Sunset Boulevard, S.W in Turner Valley. That is one block west of the four way stop. We pray that this will continue to be the case.
2024 - September 15: Today we held our service at Blue Bronna Wilderness Camp, a local horse and outdoor-adventure camp, whose mission statement is, 'sharing Christ in a wilderness setting.' It was a blessing to be invited out there and to be a part of the camp's annual Ride-a-Thon fundraising event. It was an encouraging service, well-attended by the folks who were there for the Ride-a-Thon, as well as our congregation. What is more encouraging is seeing how the Lord blessed that event: over $150,000 was raised for the camp! Let us pray that this money is used wisely and put to good use for the furtherance of God's Kingdom as He uses Blue Bronna to build His house.
2024 - July 15 - 19: We conducted a Vacation Bible School at the Flare And Derrick. What a joy to have Brianna back for the second year from Child Evangelism Fellowship to lead the Bible time. Attendance was lower this year, but the kids reported that they enjoyed it and grew in their faith, so we were still happy with the results.
2024 - July 14: Today we held a baptismal service which took place in the river at the YWAM Turner Valley site. It was an encouraging service as the whole congregation partook in and witnessed the baptisand's obedience, visible admission into the church, and, most importantly, the grace of God in the life of the baptisand. God is greatly to be praised. Hallelujah.
2024 - May 19: Today we commissioned Reuben Beamond as our intern. He will be fulfilling the role of Associate Pastor as he serves here at Foothills Bible Fellowship. It was a prayerful service as we appealed to the Scriptures and to our Lord when we confirmed Reuben's calling.
2023 - July 16: We had an exceptional service led by a team from Blue Bronna and followed with lunch for all. What a great time of worship and fellowship! Not to mention a powerful message from Reuben.
2022 - August 14: We are so happy to be back at Valley Neighbours Club. While we have enjoyed the tight knit experience of meeting in a home, we feel that moving back into a public space will make our services more accessible to people who want to check us out.
2022 - July 15: VBS was the most well attended summer camp we've had yet. We were blessed to have a number of children from outside our congregation, and they truly seemed to enjoy the Bible lessons, the crafts, the games, the worship times, and the skits. Thank you to each one of the leaders!
2022 - July 11 - 15: Looking forward to a public VBS after 2 years of closures and having to have our summer school in our homes.
2022 - April 21 - 24: The AFLC Annual Conference and Retreat took place in Cranbrook, April 21 to 24. Wonderful teaching by Gary Jorgensen from the AFLC in the US and by Al Pinno for the retreat portion, and others as well during the conference.
2021 - July 16 - 18: The AFLC Annual Conference took place July 16 - 18 at the Flare N' Derrick, after being delayed twice. We were able to have the Saturday evening banquet, and everything went well. Praise God!
2020 - December 5: Worship services on Zoom are going as well as can be expected. We still have time for interaction. We are disappointed though, that it's not looking like we will be able to have any live Christmas celebrations together.
2020 - September 6: We resumed live services at the home of Cody and Sarah Wilson. Interesting to see the news item below and realize it's been almost a year since we had the first service there.
Note: We have had some news items between then and now, but somehow they all seem to have been deleted. Some of them referenced COVID-19 and our response to it. Have the internet police wiped them out? (just joking!)
2019 - September 29: Was interesting, to say the least. The service at the Wilson's new house was well attended; even a few friends and neighbours in spite of the heavy snow. We are thankful that no one got stuck on their new driveway and no one got lost. It was a special time as we dedicated their house and prayed over it and their family.
2019 - September 15: We had a lively service on Sunday, Sept. 15 with Brent Ankrom delivering the message pointing to the personal relationship we have with God using the 23rd Psalm, and with Julia MacArthur leading us in country and western flavoured singing.
2019 - Summer: We didn't think the Home Missions Retreat in Mesa could be as good again this year as it has been the last two years, but if anything it was even better. Outstanding teaching, great fellowship with other Home Missions congregations, and of course wonderful worship! We're already looking forward to next year.
2019 - Summer: Now that Moms with Young Children are meeting at the library, the attendance has gone up, and we've had to ask for both club rooms combined. What a blessing to be able to serve our community this way!
2019 - Summer: We have secured a long range rental agreement with Valley Neighbours Club, at least for a trial period over the summer. This will enable us to continue with a Sunday morning fellowship time, and includes an extended time frame as well as use of the kitchen, so the fellowship over food can continue in one place after the time of worship and Word. Thank you to Valley Neighbours Club for sharing your wonderful facility with us at a very reasonable cost.
2019 - Summer: I think Valley Neighbours Club is going to work out well for our fellowship. Lots of room and when the weather is nice it's easy to go over to the Anglican Church parish hall afterwards to break bread together and enjoy one another's company. What a blessing to have so many children with us now!
2019 - May: Well, Sunday fellowship in our home only lasted two weeks and our living room became too small. This Sunday, May 26 we will have Sunday fellowship at 11:00 AM at Valley Neighbours Club, 133 Sunset Boulevard, S.W in Turner Valley. That is one block west of the four way stop. We pray that this will continue to be the case.
2019 - April 30: Bible study was led by Greg; an inspiring look at Gideon. One interesting insight was that the "fleece" was not to seek God's will. Gideon already knew that. Look it up in Judges 6:34 - 40, or the fuller account Judges 6:117:25.
2019 - April 23: Joseph led us in an excellent look at the biblical Joseph. Good applications and a good use of cross references. May we all have the attitude of contentment in the Lord displayed by Joseph.
2019 - April: Looking forward to our Tuesday evening bible study beginning the study of biblical characters, being led by different study members each week. This promises to be an interesting time as we discover familiar bible characters through the eyes of others in our family.
2019 - April: he weekend of April 7th was a busy one for FBF. It was the weekend of the AFLC annual conference in Elbow, Saskatchewan, which was a blessed time of fellowship with like minded believers, good teaching, meaningful prayer times, and even the annual business meeting of the association. Praise God for a united vision.
2019 - April 7: was also the weekend of the presentation by Gus Olsthoorn of Creation Ministries International showing how new scientific discoveries can enhance our confidence in the bible record. Reports were that it was well attended and very informational. Question period was a lively time, with Gus finally having to bow out much later than anticipated.
2019- February 4 - 8: Home Mission Retreat in Mesa. Another wonderful week of worship, teaching, inspiration and fellowship with other Home Mission pastors. This year, Michelle accompanied us and was as enthusiastic about the week as we were. She said it opened her eyes to just how evangelical our expression of Lutheran Christianity is.
2018 -December 24: Christmas Eve! We had our first candle light service at 6:00 PM. Participants said it was a joyous time of singing carols, hearing the Christmas story read and just focusing on Jesus together. There were goodie bags for the kids, which were a big hit. Visitors included two foreign exchange students from Germany.
2018 - November 20: We will not have a fellowship meal at the church after this Sunday's service. That way people can feel free to catch the last half of the Grey Cup game, and we will fellowship at one of the members' houses.
2018 - November 19: We had our first Sunday afternoon worship service yesterday in the Anglican church. It was very different from the Tuesday night services we have been having. In fact none of our Tuesday evening people except Brenda and I were able to be there, so it was a whole different group of people. Such a blessing to have Evangeline Mably leading us in song! We enjoyed a good time of fellowship afterward in the parish hall while feasting on beef on a bun. I (John) am looking forward to the less complex setting for Tuesday night bible studies now.
2018 - November 14: We are so excited that on Nov. 18, we will be holding our first Sunday service, thanks in part to the gracious offer of St. Georges Anglican church in Turner Valley to use their facilities. We will be gathering for worship at 4:00 PM, with a soup and sandwich meal afterwards. The Anglican church is a block south of the four way stop in Turner Valley.
2018 - October 18: The AFLC Fall Retreat was another time of great blessing. Powerful preaching by Paul Nash (a real livewire), great worship and prayer together, and a chance to catch up with our many AFLC brothers and sisters. A testimony of the power of prayer was the miraculous healing of the young man who was burned so badly in the grass fires at the time of our 2017 Fall Retreat, and who we and many others prayed for.
2018 - Summer: We were excited to be offering our first VBS this year. We used the five day club program from Child Evangelism Fellowship and offer a sincere thank you to CEF for providing material and personnel. The young men who led the program engaged well with the children, who enjoyed it immensely. The wind up BBQ afterwards was a lot of fun for everyone, and we look forward to our next event like this.
2018 - April 6 - 8: The AFLC spring conference was in Lake Alma, Saskatchewan. Great to be together with our extended church family once again. I am always impressed that although this is our annual business meeting, the focus is on spiritual renewal, and it's almost like the business portion is a minor part of the weekend. Nonetheless, we know the resolutions committee as well as many others work hard to make these conferences a success.
2018 - April 1: What a joy it was for our little band of believers to gather around a campfire to celebrate our Risen Lord! A narrow band of sunrise was on the east horizon and it almost felt like we were there with Mary, Peter, and John visiting the empty tomb.
2018 - February 5 - 9: John and Brenda were able to attend the AFLC Home Missions retreat in Mesa. What a wonderful worship experience together with other home mission fellowships! The teaching was so insightful and strengthening.
2018 - January 16: Praise God for the presentation on his ministry in Nepal by Pastor Bhim (Peter) and also a presentation by Ken Wilsdon regarding the pastoral training ministry in Nepal.
2017 - December 31: We were so excited to be carrying out the first baptisms at Foothills Bible Fellowship. They took place at Peace Lutheran Church in Calgary. Thank you to Pastor Anthony and the entire congregation for making your facility available for this momentous event.
2017 - November 21: Visits from Kelly Henning, the president of the Canadian AFLC and Al Pinno, also an AFLC pastor, Kelly led us in communion at the end of our fellowship meal and Al gave us a presentation on the Ends of the Earth Courier for Christ (http://www.eecchrist.com/) mission work in India and led us with a message centred on the call to missions.
2017 - October 18: Fellowship with the AFLC at the Cypress Hills retreat has been amazing (including amazing weather with fires, trees blowing down, and no power for a little over a day). Wonderful and practical teaching, close fellowship, meeting old friends, and outstanding food thanks to the Cypress Hills Bible Camp. Please pray for friends of the staff including a young man named Evan who were critically burned in the fires nearby.
2017 - October 10: We had our first communion service during our fellowship meal. What a wonderful time of fellowship! Very meaningful having it during the meal as it was done by Jesus and the Apostles.
2017 - September 20: We had our first full bible study this past Tuesday, beginning in Acts. There was lively discussion regarding the Holy Spirit and we all agreed there is a lot more to study on this topic. We also used a resource from lifetogetherchurches.com to help us along in worshipping together. What a great help!
2017 - May 19: Well, Sunday fellowship in our home only lasted two weeks and our living room became too small. This Sunday, May 26 we will have Sunday fellowship at 11:00 AM at Valley Neighbours Club, 133 Sunset Boulevard, S.W in Turner Valley. That is one block west of the four way stop. We pray that this will continue to be the case.
