In reviewing the 2025-2026 ministry year, we made progress towards becoming a healthy church, a model church and a global church. In 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8, Paul commended the church with these words: “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.”

This year, we had the pleasure of welcoming Pastor Josh Alvarez to the pastoral team as our new Creative Pastor. We were also informed of Paul Masson’s intention to retire after 18 years of ministry at WPA, which we will celebrate on Nov 1st.
 
In terms of the formation of theological vitality at WPA, this past year, the preaching team and I preached on The Pursuit, The Book of Numbers, Down to Earth, After Life, The Book of Matthew, Future Focused Church, Real Fruit, Halos & Horns and The Book of Psalms. I look forward to preaching the series on Above All, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Awe & Wonder and Honour Culture. For several years, we have utilized our WPA Bible Engagement App and have 1,150 users. A lot of work goes into creating each initiative and I want to encourage you to come into alignment by joining us in our book studies. Keep on posting your prayer requests, testimonies and dialoguing by using the threads.

In terms of the formation of spiritual vitality at WPA, we have been gathering for Church-Wide Fasting and Prayer four times throughout the year. During each week, people are given an opportunity to lead in prayer concerning specific prayer points. A healthy church is a PRAYING church! As we look forward, please note these dates and join us on the weeks of Nov 9-13, 2026, Feb 8-12, 2027 and May 10-14, 2027 from 6:30-7:30 pm. We continue to host Holy Spirit Nights, emphasizing our Pentecostal distinctives and desire to take time to cultivate a culture where spirit gifts are used and Spirit baptism is experienced. This past year, we had four guest speakers minister to us on the symbols of the Holy Spirit: Pastor Jeff Johnston from Calvary Cambridge (fire), Pastor Tracy Wells from Freedom in Christ Kitchener (wind), Pastor Jonathan Bjorkman from Bethel Hamilton (water) and Pastor Greg Williams (dove) from Cedarview Paris. I want to take a moment to celebrate the beautiful friendship we have with other PAOC churches. In particular, Freedom in Christ has joined us for all four Holy Spirit Nights this past year and will continue to do so this coming year.  We will have several guest speakers who are PAOC credential holders from within WPA. As we look forward, please note these dates and join us on Dec 6 with John Pellowe, Mar 21 with Sharon Lavender and June 27 with Florence Juma. 

In terms of the formation of missional vitality at WPA, we have empowered those trained in fivefold ministry to participate in what we call “WPA Teams”. WPA Nourish (food insecurity) and WPA Matrix (unemployment) have both launched successfully. If you have been trained in fivefold ministry through our 5Q class, we would love to onboard you in one of these two areas. We are continuing to work on other initiatives like immigration and housing as the Lord leads.

The All-Asian Event was a wonderful evening of fellowship over food and learning from presentations. We highlighted Afghanistan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the region of the Middle East. Thank you to all those who helped us organize this event and represented their countries. Please plan to join us on Sunday, May 30th for our All-Central/South American Event at Bingemans.

As I commence my 11th year at WPA, I want to thank you for your continued trust in my leadership and your faithfulness in attending, serving and giving.