Remembrance Day 2011 at the Royal Canadian Legion

Michael Harvey, co-founder of the Back to Church movement and author of “Unlocking the Growth”, says essentially, “the heart of the “Back to Church Sunday” movement is to get a movement of invitation going. I’m interested in inviting, which is different than bringing.”  He adds that, “It’s okay for people to say yes or no. The problem is, we aren’t hearing enough invitations.”

Harvey’s “Unlocking the Growth” seminar offers ideas for increasing the number of people at church. It is designed to inspire church leaders and lay people to help their church grow and at the heart of the growth movement are invitations to families and friends to come to church.

“It’s so easy to drift away from church these days,” says Harvey. “One day becomes two days and two days becomes two weeks.” He says that after while it has been so long that people find it awkward to return.

“That is why invitation is so vital.”

According to Harvey, research shows that the number one reason people don’t offer invitations is that they fear the answer will be no.

The Back to Church movement began in 2004, and early results were amazing.

Harvey, who on Friday was in his second week of a three week tour which started in Western Canada with stops in Vancouver Island, Edmonton and Winnipeg, then Toronto, prior to coming to Williamsburg, said of the smaller venue “I’m always delighted to visit places like this.”

He explains that the results of the movement are tracked by having churches register. Last September, he says 14,000 churches in 17 countries took part and 200,000 people accepted invitations.

“You can do the math and it’s only about 14 people per church, but it’s a start. We’ve almost convinced ourselves that people aren’t into church, but it’s not true. The welcome to get them past the threshold has got to be invitational.”

In 2004, Harvey gave up a demanding job in London, England to teach church leaders to see new possibilities within their churches. Since then he has spoken to thousands of church leaders and has challenged churches of all sizes to double their congregation in a day.

In addition to the hosting Lutheran pastors, a number of South Dundas clergy accepted the ‘invitation’ to attend Friday’s seminar along with the general public. 

The Seaway cluster of pastors who invited Harvey to speak at Williamsburg included Pastor Norine Gullons of the South Dundas Evangelical Lutheran Parish of South Dundas, Rev. Jo Barkley-Probst of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Riverside Heights, Rev. Bruce Thompson of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Brockville, Rev. Robert C. Wiesner of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Belleville and Rev. Steve Hoffard of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Kingston.

[…]

On September 6th, South Dundas councillor Archie Mellan raised the issue of a back-up generator for the Williamsburg waste treatment plant.

According to Mellan, “the previous council had recognized the need for one and had set up a plan to set aside money over a five year period to purchase one.”

He suggested that council  “should go ahead and finance the generator – sooner rather than later.”

Manager of Public Works, Hugh Garlough, agreed saying he would meet with Treasurer Shannon Geraghty to determine how much money has already been set aside versus how much it will cost to buy one.

Geraghty stated that he believed, but would need to verify, that council had been putting $8,000 aside per year for three years. He went on to estimate the cost being somewhere in the vicinity of $40,000.

Mayor Steven Byvelds ended the discussion saying, “Let’s see if we can find the dollars to do it.”

Mellan informed the Leader later that “council felt it would be better to be proactive on this matter to try and avoid a situation where a power outage could cause a problem for the residents of Williamsburg.”

“It should be noted that Morrisburg’s new waste treatment plant and the water plant have back-up power and Iroquois’s new waste treatment plant will have back-up power when completed.”

[…]

On  September 20th, the Morrisburg Business Improvement Association (BIA) requested permission to put a skating rink in the Morrisburg Plaza for the Christmas season.

According to BIA member Bill Ewing, the requested location would be just south of the clock tower starting “at the first tree and going down to the last tree.”

The plan is to “stay in the center of it” approximately four feet from the canopy. Ewing explained that the BIA would put “plastic down first so (the ice) doesn’t get into the interlock.” He also said that the boards used to frame the rink would be about six inches high.

Ewing pledged: “If approved, (the BIA) will be looking after everything including liability insurance.”

The proposed time line for the rink would include  a starting date of the first Saturday in December and lasting until students go back to school in January.

The plan is “designed more for kids than adults,” said Ewing.

During later discussion, council members voiced their concerns on the proposal.

Hugh Garlough, Manager of Public Works, was worried about  liability. He indicated the ice and the boards surrounding it as possible hazards. He summed up his  feelings saying, that there are “just too many variables here.”

Councillor Jim Graham agreed, saying that “we have to have something back from staff on the ramifications of doing this.”
Councillor Evonne Delegarde voiced concern “about it turning into a hockey rink.”

She also pointed out a security issue: “Somebody’s not going to be there 24 hours to watch this.”

Council members were also concerned about damage to the interlocking brick as well as with the details of how the rink would ultimately be dismantled.

In addition, Councillor Archie Mellan was concerned as to whether all shop owners, especially those directly surrounding the proposed rink, had been contacted about the idea.

While each of the council members seemed to have some concerns, the one thing they all agreed on was the novelty of the idea.

As Mayor Steven Byvelds stated: “Council is in favour of the concept, but just has (a lot) of questions.”

Byvelds proposed that staff come up with a list of questions and concerns about the project. The list will then be presented to the BIA. Once council has answers and feedback to their concerns they will move forward with a decision.

[…]