Village Green Newsletter – March 2024

Welcome to the newsletter for March. This is a full month as we come into the Easter season. We hope you will plan to join us as this month brings us into the most significant celebration of the year – the resurrection of Jesus!

MARCH SCHEDULE

March 3 – The first Sunday of the month is our Communion Sunday. As usual, we will be handing out the elements for those in person and ask for those online to prepare the elements beforehand if you want to participate. We will also be serving Communion at our Good Friday service on March 29th.

A reminder that there are two meetings following the morning service. One for a proposed new men’s group and an opportunity to meet with Board members concerning the budget. More details on the budget meeting are below.

March 3, 10, and 17 – The first three Sundays of March are the last three messages in the 10-part Revelation series.

The week of the 17th is also the final week of Life Groups for this session. Life Groups will begin again after the Easter season on April 7th.

Easter Series

On March 24th, which is Palm Sunday, we begin a three-part series, entitled, Against All Odds. Join us on March 24th, March 29th (Good Friday), and March 31st (Easter Sunday), for a series that looks at the significance of the Passion Week of Christ, and how he accomplished the plan of God against all human odds.

Easter Sunday – Celebration Service

Our next scheduled Celebration Service happens to fall on Easter Sunday (March 31st). There are already a number of people who have come forward to be recognized on that day for taking significant steps in their spiritual journey.

If you are interested in being baptized, dedicating your family, or coming into membership, please contact the church at office@villagegreenchurch.com. We would love to celebrate what God is doing in your life!

One final note. Due to the full schedule in March, there will be no Soup Sunday this month. We will resume it in April.

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

It is that time of year when the clocks change again. This time, we “spring ahead”, meaning we lose an hour of sleep on March 10th when the clocks change at 2:00 am. So, it is best to remember to set your clocks ahead an hour when going to bed on March 9th.

FRAGRANCE AWARENESS

A number of people in our congregation have extreme fragrance allergies. Please be mindful that when attending in person, consider refraining from putting on anything that could trigger an allergic reaction in another person.

This is not an easy request to make, but for those that it affects, it makes sitting in church difficult and uncomfortable. We do have some who are hesitant to attend in person due to this issue. Any restraint that you can exercise will help those who struggle with this very real problem. Thank you for your consideration.

BUDGET AND CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

The budget for the 2024-2025 year is now available. If you are attending in person you can pick up a copy at the Welcome Center. If you would like a digital copy you can email your request to the church at office@villagegreenchurch.com and a copy will be sent to you.

The meeting to approve the new budget will be held right after the morning service on April 7th. Our present budget expires on March 31st but due to the fact this is Easter, the Board decided to delay the meeting for the following Sunday.

On March 3rd, members of the Board will be available after the service to answer any questions you may have concerning the proposed budget. If you have questions that need answers please take this opportunity to meet with a member of the Board. The congregational meeting on April 7th is primarily to vote on the budget and not to field questions that could have been answered well before the meeting.

Lastly, we continue to have a strong financial year. Thank you to the many who partner with Village Green to fund our vision of being a church where people can explore life through the way of Jesus. We truly are making Jesus real, not only through our ministries but through our generosity as well.

THEOLOGY JAM

If you haven’t caught on to the Theology Jam podcast, with hosts Matthew Burkholder and Jon Korkidakis, you don’t know what you’re missing. They recently released podcasts on the topics of Artificial Intelligence, The Book of Revelation, and Women and the Church. Coming up is a candid conversation with Aiden Wiebe and Shannon Nell on the church and young adults. In a world where many are deconstructing and walking away from the church, I’m sure you will find this conversation enlightening.

Coming soon is a new release with a graduate from Teen Challenge, Steve St. Denis. Steve shares his life and struggles with grace and authenticity. He walks us through his transformation to faith in Christ and the organization that helped him build a life of resilient belief and hope.

There are many more thought-provoking programs to come so take time to subscribe on your favourite podcasting platform. To contact Matthew and Jon, or to suggest a topic, you can email theologyjam@gmail.com.

REVELATION FOLLOW-UP

The series on the Book of Revelation has provoked a lot of discussion, mostly positive, even though it has been challenging for many. I (Jon) have been pondering the possibility of writing a book that reflects the lessons of the series. I would appreciate any comments on what you learned about Revelation that you feel would be important to put into book form. If you are willing to share your thoughts you can contact me at leadpastor@villagegreenchurch.com.

Also, starting April 7th we will begin a new series entitled Hearing Jesus. I know this is getting a little bit ahead of ourselves, but I feel this series will serve as a follow-up to the Revelation series, in that it will help us discern the voice and teachings of Jesus amid the many messages that are vying for our attention. It will also signal the beginning of our next session of Life Groups so I hope you are looking forward to this inspiring five-part series.

May the blessings and the reality of Easter, with its hope in the Resurrection fill you with grace and peace!
Jon Korkidakis