News and Announcements
February 13, 2012
Pastoral Staff Away
Pastor Wayne will be away ministering in Nicaragua from February 14 to 24. He will be back at Knox on Sunday February 26. During his absence pastoral care will be handled by Paul Johansen. Please remember Pastor Wayne and his wife Helen and the teaching team as they conduct conferences in Nicaragua for pastors and their wives.
Knox Youth Dinner and Food Bank
Thank you for your continued prayers and donations of funds and food. It's hard to believe we are past the half-way point of this season already. Time really does fly when you're having fun! It was open mic night this week, which meant some Johnny Cash from troubadour Blade, a couple of gospel tunes, and a couple of what you might call "alternative" -type songs. Our numbers are staying very high and, amazingly, we are still seeing new faces every week. One young man who joined us us for the first time made a point of letting us know that he could feel there was something “really cool going on here.” Another fellow, after getting his groceries for the first time, came up to us with a spontaneous hug in thanks for the delicious meal and what he said was a really “friendly experience” getting his groceries.
February 6, 2012
Donating Gently Used Furniture
Do you have a gently used couch or armchair that you would be willing to donate to Knox? We’re working on putting together more “casual meeting spaces” in the church; rooms with comfy couches and chairs where small groups and committees can meet for prayer, Bible study, or fellowship without sitting around a board room table. If you have a gently used couch or armchair that you would be willing to donate for this purpose, please email Patricia Veinott at patricia@knoxtoronto.org. Please do not drop off furniture before coordinating with Trish and thank you very much for your support of this initiative!
January 31, 2012
Knox Youth Dinner and Food Bank
The last weeks of January are traditionally our busiest of the season, so we were fairly well-prepared for the almost 130 youth who were waiting at the door when we opened this week! Our guest chef, Darlene from GE Real Estate Services, worked very well with our regular kitchen volunteers to whip up a tasty mac n’ cheese casserole, salad and cupcakes. Thank you to the ESL dinner cook, Deb Freeman, who left us a pan of delicious chicken to serve—that was also devoured! These days we have plenty of activities going on throughout the evening, from Crazy 8 card games to jewelry to the creation of fleecy slippers that our sewing volunteer is calling “Knox Sox!” Our resident artist, Max, is working with some of the youth on a nice new design for our food bank door. Thank you for upholding us in prayer, as well as for your generous donations of food and funds. We are so grateful for your kind support!
January 16, 2012
Knox Youth Dinner and Food Bank
We are still not sure why, but everyone was in extremely good spirits this past Tuesday! It made for such a lovely evening, albeit a busy one, with well over 100 youth at the door at 6:30. Maybe the word got out that we were having chili-cheese fries for dinner?
It was one of our open mic nights, and what a joy to watch and listen to Blade, one of our longestrunning guests (now a volunteer) sing and play his heart out on the guitar we gave him last year. It soon became obvious that the instrument went to the right person; his playing has improved multiple-fold and he has a real talent for performing. There was also plenty of good news to share: two of our volunteer/ guests got jobs this past week, one got a 'real' apartment, another came to visit with her obviously thriving and very happy baby girl. Another veteran guest let us know via Facebook that he is once again in a recovery program and determined to be free from all substances. "Stretch" has had so many setbacks in the 15 years we have known him; we marvel at his determination to keep trying to put his life right. Please pray that this will be the attempt that succeeds for good.
December 9, 2011
2012 Offering Envelopes Are Here!
Be sure to pick up your 2012 offering envelopes after the service this Sunday. You may notice some changes on this year's set. Please download the letter from the Stewardship Ministry Team to learn more about these changes. If you have any questions, please email kevin@knoxtoronto.org.
December 5, 2011
Farewell from Dominique Goold
It is almost four years ago now, in January 2008, when I was called to serve as the Director of International Ministries here at Knox Presbyterian Church. It feels like forever ago, and it feels like yesterday.
In my time here, I have had the privilege of growing into this role and serving amongst some very passionate people to love our international friends. God has been at work, and I have seen, heard, and have been part of the process of several coming to faith in my four years through this ministry. Not only that, but the leaders and I have been growing too, changed and renewed by God as we have served together. I give all praise and glory and honour to God, for He is good, and He is faithful.
As of December 31st, 2011, I will finish my role here to follow the call to serve on the diverse, multi ethnic campus of the University of Toronto, at Scarborough. It truly has been a privilege to serve here. God has shown Himself to be good and I know He will continue to be faithful here among a faithful people who seek His face.
I want to take this time to thank the community of Knox. Thank you for this opportunity to serve, to grow, and to be used by God. Thank you also for sending me into full time ministry as one of your missionaries. I am truly grateful. Not only am I grateful for what I received through the ministry here in the past four years, I am also thankful to be able to call Knox my family and my church home. I look forward to worshipping and serving (with Youth and Family Ministries) in this place in February 2012.
Much Love, Dom
November 21, 2011
Are You Interested in Serving with International Ministries?
We are looking for individuals who have a heart for the International community.
Knox ESL Classes and ESL Bible studies are helpful ways to get to know and build relationships with our dear international friends. Through these relationships, those who serve have opportunity to be living witnesses of Jesus Christ.
We are looking for teachers for the winter term, beginning January 2012!
If you know Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, and are looking to serve to expand His Kingdom, please consider if serving within the international community here at Knox is the right fit for you. Some training provided. If interested, please contact Dominique Goold, Director of International Ministries, at dom@knoxtoronto.org or by calling the church office.
Update from Knox Youth Dinner and Food Bank
The fact that we’ve already reached the 100-guest mark this past week signals the start of what promises to be a very busy season. We had a fairly calm and happy evening, with our arts and crafts volunteers Darlene, Max, Aubby, Donna and Holger offering multiple fun activities: Sewing warm winter fleece slipper ‘boots’, stenciling fabric to make cloth grocery shopping bags and encouraging youth to write down poetry and thoughts for next week’s spoken word poetry performance.
Our community volunteer Chris is back this season with the crates of fresh produce he buys each week to supplement our food bank offerings. Chris dedicates any income from his musicians’ gigs to paying for these fruits and veggies, often the only truly fresh food these youth get all week. He also does some of his own fundraising under his own charity, Small change 4 Big change. We know he was personally out of pocket a few thousand dollars last year, but he insists that he is committed to continuing this and has so far refused our offers to try and reimburse at least some of his costs. Please pray that he would find some funding success to help him in this important service he provides (with a smile!) each week.
We are also very pleased with the work our facilitator/ volunteer co-ordinator, Jen, is doing with the youth volunteers. We have asked her to help us provide them with more structure and real-life work skills and she is already doing an amazing job. Jen brought the volunteers in for a teambuilding workshop on Monday and we noticed the change in attitude immediately. After the workshop, she offered a voluntary art activity, and the youth surprised us by staying an extra two hours to create three beautifully-painted panels filled with messages about why they volunteer with us. It is so moving to see this expression of love from kids who not too long ago, were living outdoors and under bridges, and who would never come into a church, let alone work in one to help feed their peers! They may still be rough around the edges, but not so far below their tough-looking exterior, these youth are kind and want to do good, and that’s what we’re going to keep focusing on.
We are thankful to God for these and so many other blessings, including those who have responded to our funding drive. We are overwhelmed by your generosity, and so grateful for your support.
