Central Abbotsford

This week marks the completion of my first year serving as the pastor at Central Abbotsford, which seemed like a fitting time to offer some reflections on the past year and thoughts for the next.

First, I want to let you all know that it has been a joy to serve in this role. Over the past twelve months, I have had the privilege of getting to know many of you: over coffee, or lunch, or just serving alongside you setting up tables and chairs in the gym. 

Some of you have invited me in to walk with you through grief and loss, through challenging circumstances and trials, and also through triumphs and successes. It is an honour to walk alongside you through all of this. 

Still, I recognize that even after a year, there are many of you who I have not yet had the opportunity to share a deeper conversation with. Weekend services are busy, and oftentimes a great place for a quick catch-up, but I do welcome the opportunities to connect for a longer and more focused time. So, if that’s you (or you’re just not convinced that I know your name, even after twelve Name Tag Nights), please email me at eheath@northview.org and we’ll set up a time to meet!

As we enter my second year of ministry here, which roughly coincides with the start of Northview’s ministry calendar, it is my hope that we continue to work and grow together as a church family to love and glorify our God, and be a healthy local expression of the ministry of the church, caring for one another and the world. 

My prayer for this year is that all of us who call Central Abbotsford home will grow in sanctification, through the work of the Spirit and the ordinary means of grace that He provides us – the Word, prayer, baptism, communion, and the weekly gathering of sinners made saints by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am grateful that God has placed us in community with one another – incidentally, one of my highlights of this year relates to these means of grace: being able to share as a church in the baptism of my oldest daughter Ellie in November. It was truly special to be able to experience that in a place that has so quickly become home.

This week, one of the other pastors at Northview asked me if, knowing what I know after a year of being the Central Abby pastor, I would take the position again. My answer was and is an enthusiastic “yes!” (well, as enthusiastic as I get). Thank you for welcoming me and my family into your family – and may God be praised and glorified as we press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.