November 10, 2022
Dear Westheights Family,
Later this month we will celebrate our 44th anniversary as a church and I believe that we have a lot to celebrate! While 2022 started slowly, since March we have found ourselves in an exciting season of (re)engaging in our mission to help people find and follow Jesus together.
One of our areas of focus is for each of us to have a growing relationship with Jesus. As a church we pursue this in a variety of ways. In particular I want to highlight something new that we did back in March when we transformed the church into a self-guided retreat space called RESET. This event kicked off the lenten season and created space for us to engage in a variety of practices that helped us connect with God. In addition, this fall our Kids Ministry hosted the first Take-It-Home Event for families in over two years. In case you don’t know, Take-It-Home Events are an opportunity for kids and their parents to worship and learn together, and to equip parents to disciple their kids at home.
As a church, we believe that following Jesus ought to also have a positive impact on relationships with our neighbours; our acts of generosity and kindness are a part of how we make Jesus real for those in our surrounding community. Over the past few years we have run a modified version of our Halloween for Hunger initiative. This year we decided it was time to get back to going door-to-door, meeting our neighbours and collecting donations for the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. This initiative is no small feat, and we were grateful for the over 90 volunteers that gave of their time and energy. Together we gathered 3,457 meals worth of donations for those in our Region!
As we emerge from the pandemic, we recognize the importance of (re)building relationships with one another. This is important for those of us who have attended Westheights for a long time as well as for those of us who have joined more recently – indeed it seems that each week we have the opportunity to meet someone new! This reality has meant that events like the picnic and the Corn Roast have felt more important than ever. As we look to the Christmas season, our Christmas “C” Kick-off will be another great way for us to be together.
As we prepare to celebrate what God has done over the past year, I want to invite you to consider how you can continue to be a part of what God is doing at Westheights Community Church.
- Prayer – Please pray for the ministries, opportunities and leadership of Westheights, that we would experience God’s leading and blessing in all we do. In particular, please pray that we will find and hire the right person to lead our Student Ministries.
- Get Involved – We think there are a lot of great things happening at Westheights, but it isn’t the same if you aren’t involved. Be sure that you are signed up for our weekly emails to stay informed about what is going on and then get those dates on your calendar. Life is better when we do things in community.
- Support – As a church we can’t do what we do without you. Consider volunteering and being a regular financial supporter of our ministry.
We will be celebrating our anniversary on Sunday November 27th. This service will include a baptism, communion and some celebratory refreshments following the service. I hope that you will join us to celebrate God’s goodness as well as to anticipate what is yet to come.
Thank you for being a part of our community!
Josh Mutter, Lead Pastor