Our Mission (why we exist for God’s glory)
FINDING REST AND RELATIONSHIP IN GOD THROUGH…
Our Values (what we do)
GOSPEL-CENTRED WORSHIP, DISCIPLESHIP & COMMUNITY
With thankfulness, this 2022 report is a celebration of the graciousness of God and His faithfulness to us as He has sustained us, provided for us, and accomplished His purposes.
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We remain thankful for God’s faithfulness and kindness to us as a church family in 2022-23. After our transition from our Preston location to our exciting new downtown Galt setting and having experienced God’s kindness in the difficult journey through Covid, we are thankful to begin to settle. We are thankful to be introduced to many new people in various stages of their life and faith journey, trusting God’s goodness and wisdom as we grow together as a church family.
We are thankful for many who serve in various areas of the church, using their gifts both for the glory of God and the encouragement of God’s people. Even in these challenging days, we know God’s strength through His Word, prayer, Lord’s Supper and fellowship.
As a pastoral staff, we are extremely thankful for the work of Audra who is on the frontline of meeting people as they enter the church as well as her organizational skills which touch many areas of the church. We were thankful to welcome Haniel Davy and his family on staff as he picked up the role of congregational care. And interestingly, since Byron and Tyler were hired, this past church year was their first full year of “normal” ministry.
We look ahead with prayer to seek wisdom and strength being led by the Spirit. It is our prayer as a church family we may keep our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith … so that we won’t grow weary and give up (Hebrews 12).
Pastor David Robinson, Lead Pastor
Pastor Byron Burton, Associate Pastor
Pastor Tyler Oldrieve, Associate Pastor
“And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.”
Thankful for our Elders’ Board…
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2022 was full of celebrations and challenges both personal for our people and as a church. The elders exist to shepherd the people of God with grace and truth. Throughout 2022 we met monthly to discuss, shepherd and pray for GBC as well as study God’s word together in seeking his will for his church. We are thankful for our elders and their families and their contribution to the shepherding of the people and the building of the kingdom of God.
One of the greatest blessings & encouragements of participating in church leadership is to have a front row seat to the work that God is doing - His amazing and bountiful provision as He blesses His people, and His perfect loving care as He upholds His people through difficult seasons. Having just been through Hebrews together as a church family, we are grateful to have been reminded that God's faithfulness in the past is the foundation of our hope for the future (Heb 6:13-20). Despite having seen God fulfill His promises time and time again, the reminder is welcome that our hope will not put us to shame (Rom 5:5).
We therefore look to the year ahead with hope that God will equip us to minister and witness to the community in which He has placed us and that His name will be glorified there. We as Elders pray that He will enable us to care well for His people, and that He will raise up more leaders to share in this mission and be blessed by being a part of this work.
Romans 12:12
Elder Board Members:
Adam Kinsman (Chairman), Nandor Weisz (Vice-Chairman), Alex Dinca, David Robinson (Lead Pastor), Tyler Oldrieve (Associate Pastor), Byron Burton (Associate Pastor), Haniel Davy (Associate Pastor)
Thankful for our Board of Directors…
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Our board of directors, comprised of some lay-elders and other individuals in our church looks after the legal and high-level organization needs of GBC. We are thankful for the hard work and dedication of this board over this past year in updating and implementing policies and structures to better serve GBC and our community.
Board of Directors Members:
Adam Kinsman, Nandor Weisz, Alex Dinca, Nick Dunne, Simon Broughton
Thankful for our Deacon’s Board…
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We are grateful for our deacons and the many hours they put in behind the scenes serving the church. Our deacons keep the building and property functioning and care for the tangible benevolent needs of the congregation. They were able to meet regularly, keeping on top of what work needs to get done and helped many in need in our church and community. May God continue to use this team of dedicated individuals for His glory!
Deacon Board Members:
Nathan Wassink (Chairman), Charles Raju, James Hutton, Chad Mank, Mark Brouwer, Ken Bax, Karl Ritzmann
Sunday Gatherings
Coming together to find rest and relationship in God through gospel-centred worship, discipleship and community.
What a gift it is to come together each week and worship God together through the preaching, singing and prayer of His Word. In 2022, we wrapped up our journey through the book of Acts, studied Ephesians as well as some of the parables of Jesus, and came to see the story of the gospel from Eden to the New Jerusalem throughout the Christmas season. We celebrated the Lord’s Supper together, rejoiced with one another, and even grieved loss together. All of this we did as we gathered worshipping our great God.
~330
Average weekly in-person attendance.
So far 2023 is averaging ~425 in person on Sundays.
46
Average online weekly live-streamers.
This reflects ‘live’ viewers during the service. This does not reflect multiple persons viewing together or those who watch it at a later time. For further details, see below “Web and Media Ministry.”
60
Greeters/Welcomers/Ushers
“Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28) Through Grace Bible Church, these words of Jesus Christ came to life at just the right time as I trudged and wandered aimlessly in life - continually repeating the same mistakes while always hoping for a different outcome. GBC is a place where I can meet a weeping and laughing, Holy God, as he delights in me, his child. At GBC, God's Word, while never watered down and always filled with grace, is revealed faithfully to the hungry, the searching, the faint-hearted, and the weak - week after week. Is everything perfect within its walls? No - by no means. However, GBC is reflective of the body of Christ. We are a family of wounded and sinful believers who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ and purposely aim to live thankful lives to the glory of God, our Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit!” -Henry
20
Music Team Members.
14
AV/Tech/Live-stream Team Members
“I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.”
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE OVER 5 YEARS
Check out some of our sermons as we journeyed through the Word of God together.
NEXT GENERATION MINISTRIES
WORSHIP. DISCIPLESHIP. COMMUNITY.
Average Weekly 2022 Attendance
“Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”
Ministry Internships
We were blessed in 2022 to be able to have an intern program where college and seminary students were able to grow in their knowledge of God, serve and lead in areas of ministry and participate in an intentional discipleship program. We had a total of 4 interns at different times of the year.
Young Adult Ministry
This past year, our theme has been Redemption Revealed, Why God Cares to Redeem us. We also spent some time looking at the graces of the Christian life and how God has redeemed us to worship and serve him and serve others through the local church. It has been wonderful being able to get together, worship God together through song, pray, hear the Word taught, and discuss practically the impact of the gospel in everyday life. We saw over 60 young adults attend our program throughout 2022, averaging 20.
Youth Ministry
It has been exciting to see the gospel take root in the lives of these young people and see them get serious about their relationship with God. Throughout 2022, we saw 70+ youth come out to our youth events, averaging 37 a week.
“ Grace Bible Church Youth has been a blessing for me this year. I love that I can have just that one more day a week to mature in my faith, and in my relationship with Jesus. I’m so thankful for all the leaders there, along with the friends that I have made, as they have helped me make the right Christ-centered decisions in my life.” - Colton
Children’s Sunday School and Kids’ Bible Time
We continued using the Gospel Project for both Sunday School (114 attended with an average weekly attendance of 47) and Kids’ Bible Time (62 attended with an average weekly attendance of 14) and are so grateful for the opportunity to instruct children with the gospel and grace of Jesus. Thank you to all of our volunteers who help make this possible!
Nursery Ministry
What a joy and privilege it is to care for children while being able to provide this service for parents and families. We have seen an increase in attendance in the nursery with more babies being born and more volunteers seeing the needs and coming on board. We thank God for our ability to serve Him in this way. We saw 87 children attend with an average weekly attendance of 16 children with many weeks over 20+.
Grace Kids’ Camp
We were excited to kick off our Grace Kids’ Camp ministry this year with a week using the Zoomerang Camp theme from Answers in Genesis. Special thank you to Amy Wassink and all the 39 dedicated volunteers that made this possible. We saw 85 children participate plus 12 occupying the nursery!
CONNECTION GROUP MINISTRY
Life is better … connected!
“speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.”
2022 was an encouraging year for GBC Connection Groups. God has blessed us with new groups and new leaders, and the number of involved participants has continued to grow. Stories of group members supporting each other through difficulties, new relationships forming, and a growing sense of family have been so good to hear. Thank you to leaders, hosts and members alike - together you have enabled the Connection ministry to thrive!
“Listening to others has really helped me understand how the Lord works in different ways in peoples lives”
152
People Participating
“I was nervous about how we were going to connect and I’m so thankful that part was so easy when I didn’t know many of them to begin with”
12
Groups Meeting
“I am so glad I joined this connection group, it blessed me in many ways, helped me to connect … and helped me to grow in my faith with Bible studies that were very applicable to my life!”
19
Group Leaders
“It was a great way to meet other people in the church that I didn't know before, and to feel a connection with them.”
ADULT MINISTRIES
“I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Adult Sunday School
This was our second year offering two Adult Sunday school classes each Sunday morning. It was encouraging to see both classes continue to explore the Bible, faith, and theology together with an average attendance of 20-25 in each class each week. We took a break from our regular format in January to focus on Missions - with great involvement from those we support and from our GBC family. Our pastoral interns have been involved as well in leading these classes.
Men’s Prayer Group
A group of men meet on Thursday mornings at 6:00 am praying through and working through passages of scripture together.
Women’s Bible Studies
Meeting weekly on Thursday mornings and Tuesday evenings.
Men and Women’s Ministries
We returned to more normal programming for men’s and women’s ministries this year, hosting Men’s Breakfasts regularly and various Women’s events. Chad M and Nandor W have provided leadership to the men’s ministry, while Sheri P (now Barb W) and Cassandra V gave leadership to the women’s ministry, with the support of a planning team.
Prayer Meetings
Throughout 2022, we had various prayer meetings running. It is a joy to come together as the church and bring our petitions and thanksgivings before the Lord.
Seniors’ Ministry
Our new Senior’s luncheon ministry has been well received and we want to thank Alex G along with a dedicated team of volunteers for their work in making this ministry possible.
WORLDWIDE MISSIONS
God has blessed us with the means necessary to support and care for various missionaries serving throughout the world…
“In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him.”
What a joy it is to be involved in ministries around the world. We have made it our goal to focus our missions ministry to be involved in gospel ministry here in our community and around the world. During 2022 we were able to rebuild and restructure some of our goals as a ministry and establish a new committee of individuals passionate about missions work and dedicated to praying for and caring for our missions.
We were able to meet a few times throughout 2022 to continue to familiarize ourselves with the purpose and plan for the missions committee. One of our goals is to provide valuable information for the congregation in order to partner better with our missionaries and care for them on the field. We were thrilled to be able to have a few of our missionaries make presentations in our Sunday services and look forward to having more in the future.
Please continue to pray for our missionaries and the work God had prepared them to do!
Engaging the World
We are Engaging the World with the gospel through our missionaries ministering in such areas as Ireland (Kevin & Christine Gabriel - RTIM), Southern Africa (Roland & Susan Seiler – Wycliffe), Haiti (Lisa DeGraaf – OMS), Europe (Peter and Anna Pikkert – WEC) and Asia (KA - Pioneers), Cuba (Pastor David).
Engaging our Community
We are Engaging our Community in Cambridge as we continue to support and are actively involved in ministries such as Mission to the Margins (Jeff Hesselink) and the Dawn Pregnancy Centre.
Thankful for the Davys and their ministry…
It has been our joy to journey with the Davys for 11 years as their sending church as they served oversees in gospel ministry through discipleship and church ministry in a county that is 99% non-christian. God has been gracious and faithful to this family and we are thankful to have them now back home in Canada as Pastor Haniel serves on our pastoral staff as Associate Pastor of Congregational Care.
VOLUNTEERING AND SERVING
Equip. Serve. Care.
Thank you to all our volunteers!
Whatever it is you do as a volunteer. Greeting people on a Sunday, patiently and lovingly caring for children in the nursery and in Sunday school, visiting those in need, providing a meal and everything in between, we are so grateful for you! God has blessed us with an incredible group of volunteers that faithfully and graciously serve Him through serving one another. The GBC family is grateful for you as you use your abilities for the edification of the church and the glory of God.
“But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.”
How can you serve in 2023 and beyond?
Children’s Ministry
Nursery with 33 volunteers
Sunday School with 27 volunteers
Kids’ Bible Time with 16 volunteers
Welcome Team
60+ volunteers. We are always in need of more as our needs across our ministries grow.
Music Team
20 volunteers
Audio/Visual and Tech Team
14 volunteers
Special Skills Team
First Responders 14 volunteers
Coffee Team
19 volunteers
Needs Moving Forward
There are always opportunities to serve the Lord at GBC - no matter what gifts, time or abilities you have. Administration. Practical helps. Giving. Encouragement. Regardless of how or where we serve, we bless others and are blessed ourselves. We grow spiritually. We develop our gifts. We help build the body, honouring Jesus Christ as our head.
Church Clerk Report
10 New Members
Bringing total members at the end of 2022 to 137
8 Baptisms
12 Babies Born
4 Deaths During 2022
We were saddened to have Ken Davis, Harriet Stewart, Kimberly Quick and Rebecca Bohlender pass away in 2022. We are thankful to our loving God for their faith in Christ and the time we had together. We continue to pray for their families and loved ones, for the mercy of God in their grief.
“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.”
Treasurer Report
We have much to be thankful for in how God has been providing for Grace Bible Church. To Him alone be the glory!
2022 Treasurer Highlights
Donations to the general fund exceeded budget for 2022 by approx. $91,000 and donations to the building fund totaled $82,000. Some of which was designated to the building Reno Project.
General offerings so far for 2023, are tracking on or about budget.
Bank balance of $305,000 at the end of 2022, which is an increase of $75,000 over 2021.
Excess of income over expenses in the general fund amounted to $106,035. Operating and Ministry expenses were on budget overall, although there was some variability to budget for some items such as Utilities and Maintenance.
In the process of implementing new accounting software. This will improve the overall efficiency of the general bookkeeping function.
Transitioning banks from TD to RBC.
Switched our payroll function to ADP. Eliminating the need to write cheques to staff and manually remitting withholding taxes.
2022 AUDIT REPORT
This is our third annual audit since incorporation. Attached is a copy the financial statements including the independent auditors report. The statements cover the period Jan 1 2022 to Dec 31 2022. A vote to approve the financial statements and reappointment of the auditors MAC LLP will be held at the annual general meeting. The auditing firm spent a number of weeks reviewing our accounting records in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. The audit serves to give the members of GBC a reasonable assurance, that the financial statements reflect accurately the true picture of the financial position of the church and the transactions that occurred during the year.
Giving and Bank Balance Review
We are at an exciting point of our journey as Grace Bible Church as we can look back on God’s faithfulness with gratitude and humility and as we continue to trust in His work in faithfulness ahead.
2022 was filled with excitement surrounding our renovation project. After some thorough discussion and information presented to the congregation, the congregation voted in favour of proceeding with the project.
As plans continue to move forward and funds continue to be raised, we are trusting in the provision of God as he orders and directs our steps according to his will and as he’s led us to be a gospel presence and witness in our Galt community.
Online Media Ministry
With our online media presence growing, so is the gospel outreach we’re having in our community and around the world as many have interacted with our online ministry throughout 2022
YouTube Streaming
An average of 46 Live-Streamers during the live viewing of the services.
