Posts with the category “weekend-snapshot”

This week, someone asked about using quotes from pastors or other sources in messages. I thought it would be helpful to address this topic here. You may or may not agree with my perspective, but I hope this gives you insight into where I’m coming from.When I use a quote from someone, I’m endorsing the quote—not everything they’ve ever said or believed. For example, I’ve quoted Pastor Benjamin Crem...  Read More

Well, the winter weather has definitely arrived! Two Thursdays in a row, we have had to close our facilities, so it seems like a good time to make sure everyone is on the same page about how and when we make the decision to close Northgate for winter weather.There are really two different scenarios: the first is during the week, and the second is on the weekends.During the week, if Batavia Schools...  Read More

Last week I talked about what a full December calendar we have, and this week I am going to tell you about one additional event that we are excited to be adding to the calendar!On Thursday, December 19th, we will have Brothers McClurg join us for a Christmas Concert at 7:00pm. If you’re not familiar with Brothers McClurg, that is our Worship Director, Anthony’s, band. They are fan favorites at Kin...  Read More

Here we are—it’s officially Christmas season! As I look at all the great events happening at Northgate this month, I have two main thoughts:1. It’s going to be a wonderful month as we prepare for Christmas together.2. I hope you don’t try to attend everything on the calendar!That might sound odd coming from a pastor, so let me explain. Of course, I hope you’ll make it a priority to join us for wor...  Read More

As you read this on a crisp Saturday morning, Pastor DL and his incredible team of youth leaders are spending the weekend with nearly 50 Northgate students on the shores of Canandaigua Lake at the LeTourneau Christian Center.Watching the growth of our youth ministry over the past year has been one of the most exciting and encouraging parts of life here at Northgate. Since our students moved into t...  Read More

Two things I can promise you about my time as your Lead Pastor:1. We won’t always get things right.2. When we don’t, we will acknowledge it, own it, and do our best to make it right.As some of you noticed, we missed the mark last weekend. In the busyness of church life and everything we need to get done, we failed to recognize Veterans Day during our services.There is no one to blame for this but ...  Read More

When this hits your inbox on Saturday morning, it will be exactly 100 days since I started as Lead Pastor and Allison began her role as Operations Director. It’s been an invigorating challenge, deeply meaningful, and I’ve loved (almost) every minute of it.I wanted to share a few thoughts of gratitude as we look back over these first three plus months.Allison and I have so much appreciation for Pas...  Read More

Twelve years ago, Pastor and author Brian Zahnd released a voting guide. By the time you read this, many of us will have already voted early, but the wisdom below is still relevant for each of us in the weeks and months ahead:1. The political process, while necessary, has little to do with how God is saving the world.2. The fate of the kingdom of God does not depend upon political contests.3. Don’...  Read More

There are so many exciting things happening around here!Last week, both our Student Ministries and Kids Ministries hosted awesome fall events. This week, the students in Base got to meet in their new space at the Northgate Youth and Community Center (formerly South, 350 Bank Street) for the first time. It’s the first time our teens have had a space all their own! The program has grown tremendously...  Read More

This week marked the third Wednesday of the month, which means it was time for our Administrative Team meeting! For those who may not know, this team is elected by Northgate members to provide oversight and accountability to the Lead Pastor and Operations Director, particularly in areas like finances, facilities, policy, and personnel. They also serve as liaisons between the congregation and the L...  Read More

October is my favorite month of the year! I love the cooler weather, our anniversary, hoodies, football, apple cider, and the start of fireplace season.Both Pastor DL and Miss Becca have some awesome, fun, and free fall events coming up for your kids. They are listed below in the "Week Ahead" and "Coming Up" sections, but I wanted to highlight them to make sure you get those dates on your calendar...  Read More

We’ve concluded the “Under the Influence” series, and I want to thank you all once again for your loving and gracious response to this important topic and the stories shared throughout. I truly appreciated the perspective Dr. Carrie Starr brought in the final week of the series, and I know she left feeling loved and affirmed by this wonderful church.It's been especially meaningful to hear from so ...  Read More

For quite some time, our most popular and well-attended group has been Pastor Vern’s Monday Night Bible Study. For nearly a decade, this group has journeyed through books of the Bible at a slow and in-depth pace, usually one chapter at a time.Teaching this class has been a true joy and passion for Pastor Vern, and it really showed! As we walked through this transition, I couldn’t imagine anyone el...  Read More

I had the honor of attending the Justice Network Summit of the Free Methodist Church at Pearce this Thursday and Friday. It is encouraging to see our denomination increasingly focusing on issues of justice, and I hope to see the same emphasis here at Northgate. We are called to be people who seek love-driven justice. Our God is a God of justice. He is also a God of mercy and compassion, but make n...  Read More

It has been so exciting to see a steady flow of children using the Northgate Playground during the week and on weekends. That playground is an amazing gift to both our church and the local community.Did you know that our backyard has even more to offer, and it's available to anyone who wants to use it?Our Communication Director, Amanda, recently put together this webpage with all the pertinent inf...  Read More

We are so excited to have Andrea Moore starting on staff at Northgate this Monday, the 9th, as our Counseling & Care Director! She is going to do an amazing job and bring so much to the church and the team in this role. I wanted you to get to know her a little bit better, so here is a short interview that I did with her. JK: Tell us about yourself and your family.AM: I am married to my husband Lar...  Read More

The last few years we have done a September fasting focus as we head into the new school year and programming seasons. This year our Free Methodist Bishops are calling on us to fast and pray together, so I am inviting you to join the larger Church as we do this together. Below is a message from our Bishops with the details. I hope that you will consider taking part in it!See you this weekend,Pasto...  Read More

We can't run Northgate without our amazing volunteers! It simply wouldn’t happen. You all are what make this church such a great place to worship! Whether you love working with kids, guiding teens, serving coffee, greeting, managing parking, or helping with worship and tech, WE NEED YOU!A lot of times, especially in larger churches, people think that they aren’t needed. I can assure you that is no...  Read More

Well here we are, 17 days in and so far so good! We are continuing to figure out what this new chapter looks like here, but the best parts have been the amazing love and support that you have shown me, and the incredible team that I get to work with. Thank you for making Northgate such an incredible place to serve and lead!One schedule note that I wanted to make sure that you see is the return of ...  Read More

Thank you for all the great feedback about the new format for this! The vast majority of the credit goes to our Communication Director, Amanda, who is doing an awesome job in her first few months on staff here! As Pastor Vern has said many times, the team here is one of the many things that makes this job so incredible.I hope this newsletter will continue to be a valuable resource to keep you up t...  Read More

It’s John. I’m here in the office on my first day as Lead Pastor and more than anything else I continue to feel so grateful and humbled by the opportunity to lead and serve this incredible church in this new role! I look forward to this new chapter and all that God has in store for us!  As you can already see we are going to revamp Pastor Vern’s Top 10 format a bit. I wanted something that would h...  Read More