614 St Jamestown | Ministry
Services at 614 St. Jamestown aren’t your typical affair – in fact, they aren’t even on Sunday mornings. The people in our community usually take Saturday evenings as their social night, and they have chosen to spend that time as a 614 St. Jamestown family. Church is Saturday evening from 7:30 until it finishes, usually between 9 and 9:30. What else is different? Well, we don’t have a church building, so we hold services in the sub-basement of one of the apartment high-rises. We take church into the community. Many people in St. Jamestown don’t own a vehicle, so it is important that we are centrally located and easily accessed. We don’t have a sermon, opting for small table discussion groups so that everyone feels they can ask questions, and learn about the Bible together. We also have an opportunity for people to give personal prayer requests, and we spend time praying for each other every week. We also are intentional about our fellowship time, the time we get to hang out with one another. It takes place in the middle of the service. Hey, we’re family and we need to catch up on the week’s events with others! We want to grow as a community of faith that loves God, each other and our community and world around us.
Youth from St. Jamestown get together Friday evenings from 7:00 – 10:00. Our drop-in is open to those aged 11-15 and provides a safe, fun place to play sports, games, nibble on goodies and build relationships. There is not a lot available for pre-teens in our neighbourhood, so we decided to fill that gap. In an area where drug culture is an ever-present spectre, it is really important that the church provide safe, alternative relationships to kids who may become targets for drug dealers. Most of our youth are male (how crazy strange is that!) and most don’t come to our Saturday night service.
A favourite writer for early Children is Todd Parr. He has a book called “Underwear Do’s and Don’ts.” It’s in my office, which raises some adult eyebrows, but the kids love it. Here are some 614 St. Jamestown Kid’s Ministry Do’s and Don’ts;
Do have children’s church every Saturday.
Don’t have it in the same room as the adult’s Bible Study – they’re too noisy!
Do include prayer and social justice/mission teaching during kid’s time.
Don’t forget to do crafts as well (I am really crummy at crafts, I think the kids need to teach me!).
Do have weekly play times with the kids of 614 St. Jamestown and their friends.
Don’t hang upside down on monkey bars if you are wearing a skirt.
Do spend time praying with moms and dads when you pick up the kids.
Don’t leave the house without blessing it.
Do engage kids in missional social action around St. Jamestown, working with other agencies to help newcomers and kids starting at their school.
Don’t stop cheerleading for our awesome kids as they grow and help others to grow!
Do train volunteers in kid’s ministry with the knowledge and skills they need to excel at teaching.
Don’t ever stop a volunteer from giving craft ideas – the kids thank you.
Do volunteer with others who are making the community better for kids.
Don’t skip over our list of partners – you may want to volunteer. We’ll see you there!
Women have a special place at 614 St. Jamestown. There are many women who remain home while their husbands are working many long hours. Loneliness and the meeting the constant needs of kids can really drain the women of our community. There are an equal number who find themselves in the workplace and need help acclimatizing to Canadian work culture. We are beginning Bible Studies, and one-on-one mentoring with some of the women around us. We are also engaged with Florence Booth House For Women to help those in the shelter system find healing and restoration into society.
Prayer ministry pervades our church.
Isaiah 62:1, “Because I love Zion I will not keep still. Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.”
We believe prayer is corporate and community based. We conduct an early morning prayer walk on Friday mornings. St. Jamestown is quite active in the morning, and being a visible presence out in our community speaks volumes. Wednesday mornings find people from our church gathering at the office to pray for an hour. We invite prayer requests to be written on cards as people come to service on Saturdays. The requests are prayed over corporately during the service, so our church family can pray effectively into each other’s lives. Our children are given daily prayers to read through at home with their families.
Social Justice is a prevalent theme in St. Jamestown. The families of St. Jamestown are exceptionally global in thinking, having come together from a variety of places and circumstances. We are engaged with other agencies that concentrate on bringing advocacy and aid to those experiencing exploitation.
Wednesday mornings, we open our office from 9 a.m. until 11 to our church community and their friends. Everyone is welcome to share fellowship over coffee and goodies. Many people in our neighbourhood suffer in their loneliness. Our desire is to provide another touchpoint in which people feel welcomed into the family of our church.
Leadership Development takes place both by inviting young people from within and without into deepening degrees of participation in St. Jamestown. We are a campus for The Salvation Army’s Ignite gap year mission program (www.ignitegapyear.com). The program is 10 months of intense spiritual development and practical mission in the church. Participants are given deepening levels of responsibility within the church, while they attend classes and volunteer at local community placements.
We also work with City Hope’s KNX (connects) program that currently specializes in leadership development for youth.
