Booking a wedding day...?

I was out with dinner with my parents and talking to my mom I discovered that soon my home church will no longer be able to let church members book the building for free for the purpose of a wedding. It is a highly sought after church to have a wedding in because of its very long center aisle. But, anyone who BOOKS the church after august must pay $300 to rent the building regardless if they are a visitor or a member. My mom is the church secretary, so she knows these things.

Should I book the church now for... hmm... 2 years in advance (I think I could even get my mom to move the exact date as well) in an effort to avoid the $300 fee? Or is that just too cheap, even for someone of dutch descent?

Sour Key

This morning I decided to visit my Friends Julia and Trevor at First Christian Reformed Church of Vancouver where they now preach. I am glad that the church was quite easy to get to from where I live in Abbotsford.

1st CRC of Vancouver church has a good community. Often if a stranger goes to a new church the regulars tend not to welcome them or even pay much attention to new people. But I definately welcomed at this church. During the service an old lady even gave me a sour key candy!

Even though I only came there this morning to visit Julia and Trevor, I ended up being introduced to many other young adults my age as well as a few other older adults. The young adults even invited me to come and have lunch with them at a Thai restaurant down on "The Drive". Talking with them over my yellow curry with potato, onions, rice, and salad dish I discovered that our churches face similar issues. No longer are we a church that caters to the needs of Dutch immagrants, but we have grown to a point where we need to serve the diverse community that we are a part of.

What is the role of a "College and Careers" group in community life? How can we help? How can we strentghen relationships between older and younger generations of beleivers? So many questions. I am glad that I could be there, an outsider soaking it all up.

If anyone in the lower mainland this summer who knows Julia and Trevor from their time in Edmonton and at King's last year want to drop in and say Hi to them let me know. I would love to go there as a group of King's students. Julia would love to see some more faces as well! And by the way, Julia and Trevor are expecting a child!

cya later,

Kenneth