Year End Greeting

Dear Stony Plain Alliance Church family,

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:5

As we make our way through this season of Advent, there are a few things happening in our community that we’d like to draw your attention to.

December 17^th at 7 PM is our Blue Christmas Service. In the middle of the rush of the season, this is a space where we offer a time of quiet reflection for those walking the road of grief, loss, loneliness, and difficulties of any kind. We gather to genuinely meet each other in our stories and rest in the comfort of Jesus, our co-suffering Saviour.

December 24^th at 4PM and 6PM are our Christmas Eve Services. Please choose one of the options to come and celebrate the profound mystery that Jesus, the God who is with us, has come and opened the door to life and fullness. This is good news of great joy for all people. Also, any donations made on Christmas Eve will go to support Neighbourlink Parkland and their work with the most vulnerable in our region.

We hope you’ll be able to join us for these services and experience the goodness that happens when we MAKE ROOM for Jesus and all the hope, peace, joy and love that He so graciously offers us. Week after week we are hearing stories of how people are following the glimmers of goodness and encountering Jesus in profound ways. These are exciting times.

Another reality that we want to make you aware of is the ongoing challenge of not meeting our budget each month. At our last membership meeting, our elders board shared that we are at a critical point where, unless there is a significant and sustained increase in giving, we will have to reduce expenditures. Unfortunately, after operating with a very tight budget that represents mostly fixed costs, the only area that can be reduced any further is staffing. This is not something we want to do considering the strength and culture of our team, the growth in ministry and the ways Jesus has entrusted us with many people who are curious about Jesus and Christian community. In fact, it would be helpful to be adding staff, not cutting back. However, it is important that all of us who call Stony Plain Alliance our church home be aware of what’s happening and the reality that we are facing.

I do not write this to you today in a spirit of fear. We believe in the provision of God in our lives and for this church. The way of collective generosity and how we are together in resisting greed and scarcity is a testimony to what God is doing in our community. This is why we are inviting you again to pray, ask Jesus what he would have us do, and then each one respond as prompted. That is the invitation and we walk forward in faith together.  

The verse I shared at the top of this letter is a promise I have held close to my heart for many years. I think of it often and it regularly finds its way into my prayers. The light shines in the darkness. Right now. Right where you are. Jesus, the Light of Life is pushing back the darkness in our lives and His presence with us will never be extinguished.  In this Christmas season we are reminded of this truth so profoundly as we tell the story of the Incarnation again. Just when everyone thought the darkness had won and that God had failed in keeping His promise to redeem, a glimmer of light appeared in a manger in Bethlehem. The Word became flesh. The prophecies were fulfilled. Never again would darkness get the final say. Jesus, the Light of the World had come, and this Light was Life for all people. Jesus is the Light that shines for you, for me, and for our community. So, we do not lose heart, and we do not abandon hope. Thank you for being a part of our church community as we move toward the glimmer of light shining in the darkness and hold fast to the promise of God’s faithfulness in every season.

Peace,

Wade Paton

Visit our website for information on how to set up or change a recurring donation to help respond to our financial need.