This coming Sunday will mark the 11th Sunday since our campus launched in East Abbotsford. From the announcement at our Easter Sunday service earlier this year to the start of our preview services, we worked hard to bring this campus to life in just five months. Of course, our board and MLT had been praying over this vision for a significant period before that. However, once we went public with our video announcement on Easter Sunday, it was full throttle to organize everything, communicate the vision, order the necessary equipment, and secure a venue lease in those short five months. But first, we prayed. God has answered every prayer. Our faith is stirred, and our prayers for the days ahead are getting even bolder because of it.
Throughout those five months, we invited the 200 individuals actively attending Langley who live in Abbotsford to join us in this planting journey, to better live on mission in their local community, and to extend the vision to anyone in our church family. We held interest gatherings in Abbotsford to let the community know we were coming this fall. In no small feet, we worked with a consultant company to design a portable system tailored to volunteers to bump in all the equipment we need to run a Sunday Gathering that reflects the heart and values of CLA. Portable kid's spaces, sound systems, production, lighting, everything you take for granted when you have a permanent location. If you haven't visited our Abbotsford Campus, I'd encourage you to do so, even if it was just to see the setup alone.
Our volunteers are the best!
I've said it before, and I will never stop saying it: When God is on the move, he doesn't just call a 'person'; he calls a 'people.' There are endless stories of people compelled to join the journey of what God is doing in East Abbotsford. I think of people like Mike and Brenda Cheah, who have moved into the city because of a deep sense of calling to help us plant this campus. I think of people like Sean and Claudia Mulligan, who were moving to Abbotsford when we announced the panting of our new campus and discerned that the Spirit aligned these two things with purpose. I also think of people like Scott and Kirsten Coft, who have fully invested and have been such faithful volunteers in both CLA Kids and Sunday Production. Others, like Caio and Christina Unruh, are filling significant lay leadership roles such as overseeing worship and tech (Caio) and first impressions (Christina). I could go on talking about more people, but I have a 400-word count limit for this, and if you're checking... I'm already over by thirty words.
We have a growing group of 55 dedicated people who consistently serve at our campus, and I want to honour them today. Our vision has always been fuelled by a generous, mission-driven team of incredible volunteers, and this is especially true for our Abbotsford Campus.This past Sunday, we wrapped up our first-ever Discovery Class. We had 14 people join us for three weeks of Discovery to engage more deeply with CLA's heart, vision, and values. These people will move towards finding community in Life Groups and purpose in serving, and we pray many of them will move towards membership within our church. We are one church with multiple locations committed to joining God in transforming lives.
We would love for you to visit us one Sunday at our Abbotsford Campus. We’re just 35 minutes down the road.
