GTWY Spring/Summer 2014

I S S U E 1 1 : s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 4

i n s i d e : t h e a c a d e m y s ta f f q & a h o u s e pa r t i e s s u m m e r s u n d a e s

looking for a great venue to rent?the gateway centre is not only our church home, it is also used for conferences, weddings,

seminars, concerts, rehearsal space, parties and a whole lot more.

As well as having a number of different sized rooms, we also have high quality sound, lighting, and projection equipment, staff to work everything, as well as a cafe.

Contact us to find out what rental packages we have available.

call: 780.456.0252email: [email protected]

Or enquire online at gatewayalliancechurch.com/gateway-centre

now booking for 2014!

v i s i t g at e way. a c / / 3

the christian faith is over 2,000 years old, and it has undergone a lot of changes during that time. A “Christian” is a follower of “Christ” - actually, the word “Christian” could be translated as a “little Christ” — meaning, someone who is starting out to follow Christ in order to become more like him. Christ isn’t really a name but a title — it means the same as “Messiah”, it means “anointed one” — that is, the one whom God has anointed or empowered by his Spirit. So Jesus was the Christ — he was the one that God had anointed by his Spirit; he was the Messiah and the Saviour of the world.

Those of us who have put our faith in Jesus (his life, teachings, death, and resurrection) are called to “follow him” — to become followers of Jesus and the Way of Jesus. That is the part that never changes. How we express that in our lives, churches, and cultures does change. Sometimes churches can be so caught in “traditions” that they seem to be stuck in the past, fighting yesterday’s fight, and resisting progress. That is very sad when it happens and is a very bad reflection on Jesus, who never tired of challenging traditions if they were not serving people. On the other hand, it has been churches

which have encouraged innovation and creativity through the last 2,000 years as well. Great art, music, architecture, philosophy, theology, schools, hospitals, science; the list goes on and on when we look at the creativity the Christian faith has inspired.

At Gateway, we try to have a “steady feel” to our church — a plan and a purpose to what we do, so that we can gradually and progressively build a stable and lasting church and faith. But we also seek to encourage originality and creativity in how we do church — in our services, our groups, our events, and our community. We hope that you find Gateway to be a place that celebrates creativity and uniqueness, and we hope that you will go further and actually get involved in some area of the church where you can express your gifts and talents and take part in creating an holistic culture and empowering atmosphere.

Rev. Dr. Martin I. Trench, Lead Pastor

a culture of creativity

A letter from the Pastor

next steps

Maybe you are thinking: “That sounds great but where do I start? Who do I talk to? Where do I go?” We want to help you get to where you are trying to go. There are three areas that most people look to when they ask the question about next steps.

more information

The Magazine & Website: We release our magazine editions three times a year covering our main seasons with all the important information. So take some time to flip through the pages and explore some of the key things Gateway has to offer. If you can’t find it in the magazine, make sure to visit our website at www.gateway.ac.

The Info Desk: Need more info about a Sunday morning announcement? Want to sign up for something? Have a question about anything? Or just need a place to start? Head to to our info desk on a Sunday morning and someone there will be able to help you out.

Social Media & Email: Like us on Facebook (fb.com/gatewayalliancechurch) or Follow us on Twitter (@GAC_Edmonton) to keep up with everything that is going on at Gateway and be the first to know when new information and opportunities come up.

If you haven’t found what you are looking for or your question wasn’t answered here, simply email Pastor Drake at [email protected] and he will make sure to get back to you ASAP.

get plugged inIt’s great to be a part of a growing church, but it is also important to build relationships and really become part of the community here at Gateway. To help facilitate this, we have a variety of opportunities and areas that people can get plugged into: The Academy, Community & Study Groups, Milestones, House Parties, Service Groups, Newcomer Events, Seminars and more.

If you want to get connected or desire to get involved by leading or hosting a group, ministry or serve on a team, go to gateway.ac/community-life to find a perfect fit, search groups, opportunities and fill out the contact form; fill out an info card at the info desk; or you can contact Pastor Drake directly at [email protected]

serve

Each one of us has unique gifts and passions that give us life. Here at Gateway, we love helping people discover those passions and pursue them. What gives you life? What drives you and gets your heart pumping? We believe that people can actually serve while doing something that they love. So, no matter how crazy you think that might be, let us help you discover, explore and develop those gifts and passions.

Start the conversation today and see the possibilities God can grow through your passions.

we are all on a journey. during that journey we come to crossroads in our life — places where we make decisions that can

change our course and lead us to whole new adventures.

Community Life

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We are extremely excited to

be launching our brand new House Parties! Building off the foundation that

already exists, we wanted to create groups that truly form around community and sharing life together. The

catch phrase that surrounds House Parties is ‘one-anothers’. That through the greater community of Gateway connecting

into more intimate House Parties, we do life together: serving one-another, laughing with one-another, ministering to one-another,

sharing with one-another & being connected with one-another.

We were never built to do life alone, and it can be extremely difficult to build deep and meaningful connections and relationships on a Sunday morning and so HOUSE PARTIES are tailored to do just that. If you are longing to connect, dig your roots deep and have a place you call home with people you can call family, make sure to get into a HOUSE PARTY and start doing life together.

We will have a few special events for you to learn more about House Parties, meet our House Party leaders and opportunities to get

plugged in, so keep your eyes and ears open for those. Or simply learn more by either checking out the information

on our website, filling out a contact card at the info desk or emailing Pastor Drake directly at

[email protected] and we will get you plugged in.

with Pastor Martin Trench

There are a number of people and objects spoken about in the Bible that are very important, and then...just suddenly disappear and are not mentioned again. Where did Jesus go between the ages of 12 and 30? Where did Jeremiah go, and did he take the Ark of the covenant with him? Where did Joseph of Arimethea go, and did he take the Grail with him? Where did the 10 tribes of Israel go after their captivity? This term at The Academy, we will try to think like Indiana Jones and rediscover these missing pieces of the puzzle.

June 11thThe Lost Tribes of Israel

June 25thThe Lost Prophet Jeremiah

July 9thThe Lost Holy Grail

July 23rdThe Lost Ark of the Covenant

Cost is $30 which covers all 4 sessions, notes, coffee & snacks. Register online or at the

Info Desk on Sundays.


{ SPECIAL SUNDAYS }We have lots of exciting sunday events coming up. Put these dates in your diary, you don’t want to miss them!

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MOTHER’S DAY // May 11thA day to celebrate all the mothers in the church. All mothers get VIP treatment and special surprises this Mother’s Day at Gateway!

MARLYN SKINNER // May 25thMarilyn is the co-founder of Watoto, who have villages in Uganda where thousands of children and women have escaped a life of violence and discovered a new life, a new faith, and a new hope. As part of the Return to Dignity Tour (watoto.com/returntodignity) she will be sharing with the Gateway congregation on Sunday morning.

PENTECOST // June 8thJoin us we we celebrate the birthday of the Christian Church and pray to experience afresh the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

FATHERS DAY // June 15thIt’s the manliest Sunday of the year! Fathers, it’s your turn to get the VIP treatment at Gateway with lot’s of surprises and plenty of facial hair.

VISION SUNDAY // June 29thJesus said that he would build his church, but He does so through us, for we are his body here on earth, and so God has called us to be co-creators with him, to pray & plan — and then to persevere until we reach all the goals and dreams that we believe God has placed in our hearts. Come and be challenged to take a huge leap of faith with us as we lay-out all the next steps we still have to take as we peruse God and his dream for Gateway.

socialize with us & join the conversation

fb.com/gatewayalliancechurchgateway.ac

vimeo.com/gatewayedmontontwitter.com/gac_edmonton

June 1 God - the servant of man

June 8 Power from on High (Pentecost)

June 15 The Father-Heart of God

June 22 Jesus: “Who do you say that I am?


What is God really like, and how can we know for sure? Is quoting the

Bible enough to get an understanding of what God is like, or is that

something we need to experience? How come, in the Old Testament,

God seems angry and retributive a lot, yet in the New Testament he

is loving, forgiving and kind?

What about Jesus - what was he really like? Was Jesus poor and homeless? What were his personality, upbringing, life, and culture like? And what about the Holy Spirit that he promised to send to us - is this something spooky and illogical, or can we truly commune with the presence of God's Spirit?

We have so many questions about God and faith, and yet often we are afraid to ask them.

This message series is designed to help you get a clearer picture of what Jesus was really like - as a person, a spiritual teacher, and our Saviour. He was a real person with a real life - the clearer our picture of him, the better we can relate to him. And Jesus described God as our unconditionally loving Father, and the Holy Spirit as God's presence in our lives to help us, guide us and comfort us.

Its time to change our picture of God - He is so very different that we have been led to think. And the difference is all good.

1 0 / / g at e way m a g a z i n e fa l l 2 0 1 3

I caught up with drake in the middle of a busy week to get a glimpse into the life of a ‘pastor of lots of stuff’.You joined the Gateway Staff a little over a year and half

ago. How has it been so far?

To be honest, it has been awesome! Of course, with every new adventure and course change that God brings you through, there is a time of growth and adjustment and moving from a Drayton Valley to Edmonton has definitely been a game changer for myself and my family. But there was definitely a call on our lives to move to the city and join the Gateway family. We love it here, have settled well, have dug our roots deep and call this place our home.

Your official title is Pastor of Student Ministry and Community

Life, but we refer to you as Pastor of Lots of Stuff quite often.

Can you explain to our readers what that is all about?

Haha. Well…I am a networker and team builder at heart. I love helping people discover and develop their gifts and passions and see the community of the church work together to accomplish a common goal. So, really my job description could probably

STAFFQ&A

An interview with Pastor Drake Farmer by Michael Clayton

be better labeled as Pastor of Team Building. When I came to Gateway we were in a transition—transition of staff and seasons—and so my role was to come in and give direction and leadership over a lot of differing areas of ministry and raise up leaders and teams to answer the call God had put on their hearts. We have definitely seen God move, grow us as ministries and seen peoples’ lives transformed and come alive.

What are some of things you are excited about in the

next season of Gateway in the areas you oversee?

With our student ministry, we have seen such growth and we have only gotten started. In this next season I hope to work with all our teams to better equip and empower them to move us to the next level. Also, we have two interns coming who will be working closely with these teams. One will be working with GatewayKids while the other will be focusing on XLR8 Youth and Render Young Adults. What this means is having someone who is passionate about these ministries, who we can feed into, mentor and be focused towards taking these areas to the next stage God would have for us. As for Community Life, we have been dreaming big and working hard with a core vision team towards building and launching our House Parties and we are so excited to officially be launching them after our Easter Celebration.

Can you tell us a bit more about House Parties and what

they will look like?

Over the years of being in ministry I have seen a huge trend towards this tension of being constantly connected while being disconnected. With things like social media, cell phones, Skype and so on, there is no shortage of opportunities to be connected—at least in a digital sense. But it is increasingly clear that people still crave real human connection, community and relationships. This really shouldn’t surprise us, since we were built for community. In our increasingly busy and transient culture, this genuine community is becoming harder and harder to find and more and more desperately needed. Sunday morning is an awesome place to worship God, see old friends, connect with new people and be inspired towards what God would have for us. But, it can be hard to dig our roots deep with more meaningful relationships. This is where House Parties come in. Everyone will have the opportunity to plug into a House Party and grow in an intimate community of people that they can call their family. House Parties will be the

v i s i t g at e way. a c / / 1 1

places we take what we have received on Sunday morning and work out, live out and do life together.

So, how will these be different than what we

already do in community groups?

First off, let me be clear: we will still have community groups that run as the needs arise—things like study groups, mom’s groups, married couples, alpha, celebrate recovery and so on. If people feel called or are passionate about starting one of these up, we will not only support it, but equip and empower them to do so. But House Parties are something altogether different; we want to break down the idea of what a small group looks like and redefine it.

While community groups have the tendency to mainly start with and focus on personal development, theological study or spiritual formation, House Parties focus on Community and building deeper relationships. This doesn’t mean the former will never happen, but they will happen amongst community and in a more informal fashion. If all we ever accomplish is deeper & more intimate relationships, we have a huge win! So, though we will pray for each other, talk about Jesus and the Sunday message, discover our spiritual gifts together, explore the deeper things of faith, minister to and serve one-another, laugh and share life together, this will all be built around a more fluid community and relationship format.

All this to say, if you are craving deeper connection, genuine community

and relationships that will have a lifetime of impact, get plugged into a House Party.

Photography by Brent Flynn

Get more information on House Parties at gateway.ac, fill out an information

card at the info desk on a Sunday or email [email protected]

You can read more from Drake at boldcupofcoffee.com

it is increasingly clear that people still crave real human connection, community & relationships

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gatewaykidsb e l o n g . b e l i e v e . b e c o m e

Make sure to like the RENDER Facebook page to get all the updates for our summer plans and stay in the loop.

» fb.com/render.gac» [email protected]

Date Time What WHERE

apr27

12.30pm-3pm house party 1095 goodwin circle

may9

6:45pm-9pm outbreak gateway centre

may 18


jun6

6:45pm-9pm outbreak gateway centre

jun22


a place for ages 18-30 to take a break from the everyday, where you can invite your friends, share life together, and grow in faith and community.

Grade 5 & 6 are invited to join XLR8 youth for our CHAOS NIGHTS.

At Gateway, kids matter! They are respected for the way God created them. He made them so that they love to play, discover, question and have fun! So we at GatewayKids are all about helping kids BELONG, BELIEVE and BECOME what God made them to be. We believe in kids and have a passion for kids and all that God has for them. Every experience here at GatewayKids has an eternal purpose behind it.

We provide a place for kids from 0 to grade 6, with nursery & toddler, a preschool program, an elementary program and a preteen program. Check out the KidCheck center and talk to one of our GatewayKids team members on a Sunday for more information or contact Drake at the church office.

Email: [email protected]

At Gateway we take our kids' safety seriously. All workers are screened and trained in Plan to Protect Policies. Parents, please create a KidCheck Profile at: http://www.kidcheck.com/signup.aspx

These nights are tailored specific to Grade 5-9 and give our preteen’s a chance to dive into what it will be like when they enter youth and make some connections and friends on the way.

Grade 6 are invited to regularly attend XLR8 Youth starting May 30th and get plugged in before you start grade 7. Look to the XLR8 page for all the details of the events following that date.

MORE INFO ON THE NEXT PAGE »

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What is ?

XLR8 is a place where any student can BELONG and feel safe and accepted, where they can explore and wrestle with what they BELIEVE and BECOME all that God made them to be.

We at XLR8 believe in students and have a passion to see them thrive for a full and fulfilled life and to know the power of God in their lives.

Email for info:

[email protected]

DATE TIME WHAT WHERE

Apr 25 6.45pm-9pm XLR8 Arcade Gateway Centre

May 2 NO YOUTH

May 9 6.45pm-9pm OUTBREAK Gateway Centre

May 16 6pm-7.55pm CHAOS: Grade 5-9 Gateway Centre

May 16 8.05pm-10pm The Lounge: Grade 9-12 Gateway Centre

May 23 -25 TBA // Youth Conference Edmonton Meet at Gateway Centre

May 30 6.15pm-10pm Whitemud Amusement Park

Meet at Gateway Centre

Jun 6 6.45pm-9pm OUTBREAK Gateway Centre

Jun 13 6.45pm-9pm XLR8 Arcade Gateway Centre

Jun 20 6.15pm-10pm Corn Maze Meet at Gateway Centre

Like us to keep up to date with all our latest news! facebook.com/YouthXLR8

Our Sr. High’s asked for a space to be able to chill with friends, relax and also be able to ask some hard questions and dig deeper in their faith. This is where THE LOUNGE comes in. Each night will consist of a coffee house feel, with live music, plenty of time to hang out and relax and also dive into a segment we call BOLD CUP OF COFFEE where they can ask hard questions about life, faith and everything in between and be able to discover answers to those questions.

Don’t worry, youth will not be done after June 20th. We have some special events planned through out the summer. Stay tuned and keep your eyes on the Facebook page for more details to come.

over july & august we will have shorter services with worship, communion or prayer, and a message.

I Believe!We will look at the Apostles Creed, a statement of faith that was created by the early Christians, based on the teachings of the first Apostles, that shows the basis of our faith. In the early church, to be a follower of Jesus meant to come into agreement with these basic beliefs. Christians can disagree about many secondary matters, but these statements are the foundation of our faith. What does it mean, and how is it relevant to my life today? Come along and find out!

Over the summer, ice cream sundaes and Italian sodas will be available at the Connections Cafe in the foyer before and after the service.

Indulge your tastebuds, hang out in the foyer or out in the sun and make

a point of introducing your self to someone you don’t know yet!

CarnivalSunday

2014Sunday September 14th at

9:30am & 11:15am

IT’S FALL KICK-OFF TIME! The summer is over, the kids are back at school, and things have become hum-drum again. Its time for something fresh and exciting!

For the third year in a row, we will be hosting our special Carnival Sunday event.

Following a tradition from Mediaeval Cathedrals, we’ll be merging our service of worship & teaching with a time of fun & entertainment — carnival style! There will be jugglers, acrobats, clowns, performers, and tasty treats like cotton candy and popcorn! And its all free! The children will join us for the first part of the service, and then will leave for their own mini-carnival.

We will also be launching our new Fall message series: INK-BLOTS: When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Sundaes & Sodas


calendar spring/summer 2014

sundays 10am-11.30am

april 27th - Guest Speaker: Jackson Hoolahan from Church of South

Edmonton

may 4th - Chaplain Gerard Barabash speaking 11th - Mothers Day 18th - Pastor Drake speaking 25th - Guest Speaker: Marilyn Skinner from Watoto

june 1st - Different than you think - Part 1 8th - Pentecost Sunday - Different than you think - Part 2 15th - Father's Day - Different than you think - Part 3 22nd - Different than you think - Part 4 29th - Vision Sunday

july & august Summer Sundaes - 10am-11am every week.

Connections Cafe now open weekdays!Our cafe will be open from 3pm - 5pm, Tuesday - Friday.Come over after work to relax with one of our brewed or espresso-based specialty coffees and a delicious snack.

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Documents

GTWY Spring/Summer 2014