Kelowna Christian Reformed Church

Address: 239 Glenmore Road, Kelowna
Date & Service Attended: August 27 2006, 10:30AM
Pastor/Priest/Leader: Pastor John Gerrits

Sermon: The sermon centred on the personal peace God can give us, when he surrender ourselves to him. Pastor Gerrits used Luke 2:13-14, John 14:25-27, 20:19-23, which involve promises of peace, either from the angels, or Jesus himself. He reminded us that the Bible promises that this peace is not temporary or fragile.

He also used the recent youth missionary trip to California (a week-long camp for mentally challenged adults), as an example of where those youth had recieved some of the peace of God, by serving him.

Other parts of the service: The service spanned both contemporary and traditional music, using contemporary instruments. Overall, we sang ten songs/hymns, which seemed to be more than most of the services I've gone to recently.

They also had a very nice "children's message", where the young children (2-8?) come up to front of the church, and a very simple and straightforward message is given to them.

Of course, it's useful for us adults too. Again, the theme was that just as children can count on their "stuffies" to provide comfort during worrying or troubling times, their parents can lean on Jesus in the same way.

I liked this format. The message was solid for all age groups, and it's nice to see the children placed in "place of pride" in the church.

The offering was also going to M2/W2, a group helping prisoners. I personally felt good about this.

My feelings/thoughts: See ratings, below.

Other things:The youth group had come back from the aforementioned trip, and each person gave a verbal report of what it was like serving these mentally challenged people for a week. Among the most commong reports of growth were the understanding that each of these individuals are, in fact, very different people. Secondly, the growth of patience was widely noted amongst the youth leaders.

Finally, almost all said that they enjoyed an evening dance with these people the most, because they danced with abandon, and without worry of "how they would appear". This freed the youth to also be able to do the same. Most of their faces lit up when they recalled this aspect of this hard-working trip.

My own very personal ranking on the service and sermon overall: I am wavering between [I liked it a lot] and [It felt "Average" to Me]. The sermon was a bit too short (leaning it towards average) and the music seemed to be a little too much and too wide a variety. Against that was the youth report and pictures of the trip, and the "children's message". I think I'll just have to leave it stuck in the middle of those two choices, for now.

Religion: [Christian]
Denomination: Christian Reformed.
Size of Congregation: [Medium]
Primary demographic appearance: [Mix (above & below 40)]
Was greeted/welcomed, made to feel welcome: [About three to eight times]
Service Started: 10:29AM
Service Finished: 11:42AM

Contact this church:
Church Office: 762-3084, Home Office: 764-4643
email (non-clickable): kelownacrc@shaw.ca
Web-links: Main church. (Note, they appear to be very nearly complete what appears to be a very content-rich web-site)

Faiths Faces Kelowna