Rev Brad Blaikie

Rev Brad Blaikie is a third generation Minister with the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Brad is originally from Fredricton, NB.

In 2006 he graduated from St. Thomas University with an Honours degree in History.

From there Brad went to Knox College which is a part of the University of Toronto.

During the summer of 2008 he married Lacey Roberts who he had met at St. Thomas.

In 2009 Brad graduated with a Master of Divinty degree (M.Div.). Since his ordination in 2009, he has been serving a 3 point pastoral charge in Miramichi, NB.

A few of Brad’s many interests would include playing guitar, canoeing, and gardening.

Imagine registration form

A percentage of the cards purchased is then donated back to our church!

- it doesn’t cost anything extra – you don’t have to change where you shop or what you buy

- your everyday purchases add up to make a difference very quickly

Sounds great you say……..but what’s the catch? The “catch”, if that’s what you want to call it, is that you need to be a little bit organized and budget for your shopping. You know how much you spend and where you like to shop – you will just have to purchase your cards in advance.

If you spend $200 a week on groceries and gas, that’s a rebate of $4-$6 back to your church operating budget! If everyone made an effort to use this system – just imagine what the monthly rebate cheques to SPC will amount to.

My goal, as the coordinator for this project, is to put our first church order in early in May. This gives us time to work out the details and get our church office registered with the company to transfer the monies and for them to receive our orders.

Don’t forget to think ahead for those birthdays and other special occasions where you would give a gift of a giftcard. Graduations are coming up! Perhaps you like to contribute to the food bank on a regular basis. They would certainly accept a gift card to stock up on something they need.

The possibilities are endless, and this is certainly a way that most of us are gift giving and even shopping for ourselves. To think that we can do this (with some organization and planning) and have our church operating fund benefit is absolutely amazing!

The list of retailers currently available through the program is quite extensive:

Sobeys – Superstore – Co-Op – M & M Meats – Esso – Petro Canada – Ultramar – Irving – Canadian Tire Home Hardware – Home Depot – Shoppers Drug Mart – Winners – Sears – Zellers/Bay – Body Shop – Old Navy – Sport Check – Indigo – Payless – Mark’s – Swiss Chalet – Starbucks

Start planning, and more info will come on Sundays as the month progresses.

From Susan Cameron – Coordinator for FundScrip Project

Order forms will be available later this month for you to start planning.

Exciting News/Progress

Plans are coming into place for the Annual Synod Youth Weekend to be held this year in Zion Presbyterian Church, Charlottetown, May 19-21,2012. Our theme exploration and small group time will look at practical ways that we can open ourselves to experience God. There will be lots of music and recreation too! Theme speaker will be Rev. Dr. Rick Horst, Moderator of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. Rick has a great passion for youth and will have lots to offer! We are thrilled that David Pandy-Szekeres will be with us too. David is serving with the Reformed Church of Sub-Carpathian Ukraine (RCCU), a church of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine. He will have lots of stories and challenges for us.

Registration Forms will be available in February. Registration Deadline is May 1st.

Canada Youth 2012 “On Fire” July 3-7, 2012

Information for Canada Youth is now available online at www.canadayouth.ca. This is an incredible opportunity for both youth and those who are called to serve them. The three tracks have something for everyone! Please encourage the youth ( and those who love spending time with them) to attend!

Some important information:

· Registration forms are expected to be online the first week of January.

· Cost $500 plus transportation

· I am arranging bussing for our synod participants. Cost is dependent on numbers but you can budget approximately $350

· To be assured of a spot on the bus, names and a $100/person non-refundable deposit must be received by January 15th. Make cheques payable to “The Synod of Atlantic Provinces.” (My address is below) Please indicate youth and adults.

· All youth must be accompanied by an adults ( 1:9 ratio).

· By the end of January, exact bussing prices will be determined and final payment will be needed by April 30, 2012. Schedules and travel permission forms will be sent.

· CY will be offering travel rebate after the event for those who make application. More information will be sent when available.

In January of 2007 the teams were introduced:

The Design Team: Chair-Katherine Schaefer, Shelley MacLeod, Bruce Montgomery, Greg Walker and Nita Ellis

In the summer of 2008, Finance and Property contracted a company called “Campaign for Coaches”. This group met with Finance and Property, Session members and some congregational members. With their help and several volunteers from the congregation the “Faith in our Future” campaign moved forward and with this a new revised fundraising team:

Faith in our Future Team – Chair-Susan Cameron, Rev Vicki Homes, Al MacIntyre, Roxanne Campbell, Don Craig, Nancy Harvey, DR Morrison and Mary Wilcox

All congregational members were contacted and visited if possible to discuss this new and exciting time in our church. With the visits calculated it was arrived at the feasibility and budget of our new church. Moving through “Our Faith in our Future” campaign was a exciting time as well as a time for questioning and reflection and a test of Faith.

Rev Vicki said it best “ In many ways this campaign has caused us to stop and reflect on who we are, what we hope to be and how we will achieve that goal ”.

Pam Campbell, the church’s Music Director wrote a beautiful song for our campaign “Faith in our Future” with Nancy Beck. The music composed by Pam and Nancy wrote the words. This was also a fundraiser for the new church by selling the autographed CD.

When the fund raising efforts were concluded, Session presented a budget to the congregation and the Design Team so more revisions were necessary on the new church plans. By 2009, Session directed the Design Team to continue working on the Coles Associates church plan and to try to identify ways to lower the projected building cost.

When the church design is put to tender, building contractors will be able to give a more accurate figure. The Design Team believes that the “Adapted church design” has a very good but modest functional design. The church must move forward and have Faith in our Future!!!