Growing in a personal and intimate relationship with our Creator

Growing in love for and commitment to the Body
of Christ

Growing in love for our neighbours and sharing with them the good news of Jesus

This was indeed the year of Jubilee as we celebrated 50 years of the faithfulness and activity of Jesus in our midst. What a gift it has been to stand on the shoulders of the giants who have come before us, many of whom shared what God has done throughout WMB’s history at our 50th Anniversary celebration. We couldn’t have known what the Lord had in store for the year ahead when He led us to our anniversary theme verse, Isaiah 54:2: “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”

God continues to move amongst us in unprecedented ways. While in Canada, only 1% of churches are seeing just one person come to Christ each year, the number of baptisms and decisions for Christ we are seeing at WMB is incredible.

Reconciliation with people and communities we’ve hurt in the past, culminating at the 50th Anniversary, has released God’s blessing as we move forward in some exciting opportunities: a possible merger with KMB Church, the congregation that planted us 50 years ago; hosting MB Bible Seminary courses, making them more accessible to WMB leaders; and the growing number of diverse people coming to this church. God has given us the vision to have faith to change the world, and He is bringing the world to us.

I continue to be grateful for the way you embrace my family as yours as you pray for us and celebrate the unique gifts God has given me. Former lead pastor Chuck Buller shared at the 50th Anniversary that one of the most significant things WMB did for him was give him permission to lead. I, too, am thankful for a church that continues to give its leaders permission to lead. This year in particular, God has helped me understand that His call on my own life aligns beautifully with His call on WMB to be a people transformed by Jesus Christ with faith to change the world. I believe God is calling us to change the world through revitalizing dying churches with a diverse people from the entire world. May God continue to reveal His will for us.

A special thank you to all of you who have faithfully given of your time, talents, and treasure to see God’s vision unfold at WMB. And a special thank you to Karen West for 21 faithful years of service at WMB – congratulations, Karen, on your retirement! Thank you, as well, to all of you who have joined me in prayer: in your own time, in Home Groups, in ministry at WMB or on Sunday mornings in the sanctuary before the services. God moves when His people pray.

The report from the Senior Leadership Team (in the Staff and Leadership Board Report) will give you a snapshot of how Jesus has used our congregation to build His Church and reach out to this city for His glory. It has been nothing short of miraculous to experience another year of making both more and better disciples together, and seeing characteristics of The 10 Year Disciple developing in people’s lives. I have found it very rewarding to see so many of you thriving – as a church, as a Staff Team, as a Leadership Board, as leaders and as individuals – in the calling God has for us. I can’t wait to see what Jesus will do in the coming year.