Hi there friends,
 
            How did you like the snow this week? Pastor Dallas is a gardener, and he is delighted with the moisture that the snow is bringing. When he puts it that way, I find myself grudgingly agreeing with him. However, I am looking forward to the warmer temperatures that this weekend is promising.
 
            I was thinking about how much change we are experiencing these days. One of those changes has come as a direct result of the pandemic.  I have described it this way: we are all new here.
 
            Let me explain what I mean.
 
            My mom has spent the last 60 years or so in Revelstoke, BC. It has a population of 8000 people. I think that was what it was when I was growing up there as well. Knowing that little piece of data, you might make some assumptions about how well people know each other there. You’d think that everyone was on a first name basis, and everyone knew everyone else. But that is actually far from the truth.
 
            Revelstoke has changed a lot in the last few decades; it has become much more like Banff. There are many people that see Revelstoke as a destination for skiing (longest vertical run in North America at over 15k!), sledding, snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking and backpacking. Young people from all over the world travel there to live and work and play. International investors are buying up properties left and right.
 
            In fact, I was surprised when my mom said that if she is in town and sees someone she knows, it is a novelty.
 
            Isn’t that wild? Sixty years in the same small town and she feels like she knows hardly anyone.
 
            I think that is happening at ACC a bit, too. Over the last two years, lots of our regular attenders have been away, either participating at home or moving on to other things. In that time, there have been many new people that have started attending the church. So, now, those new people feel justifiably new because they have just started coming. And the people that call ACC home and are now coming back to church feel new because they don’t know the people that are around them; it might not “feel” like their church anymore.
 
            This is a working theory that I have right now, and I am trying to grasp all the implications of what it might mean. One obvious thing jumps out at me right away and that is that we should all be quick to reach out a hand and introduce ourselves to someone. That is has been traditionally reserved for the “long time attenders”, but now it is for all of us. If you feel like ACC is a whole new experience, you are not alone. Most of us are feeling that way. Let’s make it our ambition to meet someone new every week. Say hi. Welcome someone. Make someone else feel less like an outsider. Don’t wait for someone to do that for you. The more you reach out in love, the more ACC will feel like home.
 
            I love being at ACC with you. I am experiencing what you are, too. In some ways, it is unnerving, but in other ways, it is exhilarating. What does God have in store for us? Where will He take us next?
 
            I am ready and willing to find out.
 
            This weekend, we will start a new series called “Skeptics’ Questions”. I hope you can be there. We are going to be exploring the question, “Why does God allow evil and suffering?”
 
            I encourage you to invite a friend or neighbour to join you.
 
            I hope you have a great weekend. As always, if you have a prayer request, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I would love to pray with and for you.
 
            I love being your pastor.
 
Pastor Tim