The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Pastors at the newest Flin Flon church hope to reach out to people whose past experiences have caused them to leave their places of worship. The Flin Flon Community Church held its first service on Sunday afternoon at a banquet room at the Victoria Inn, and Pastor Wayne Crofford believes it was the start of something special. "There are a lot of folks in town who have been hurt in the past from different churches and different Christian experiences, that aren't attending church," said Pastor Crofford, who shares the pastoral duties with Pastor Roy Bilec. "We would like to be able to find them a place here to fellowship with us." With a less formal setting than other churches Ñ the congregation sits at tables, not pews Ñ and afternoon services, Pastor Crofford also hopes to attract young people, a coveted demographic for all churches. "It will be a very contemporary style church," he said. "We'll have some structure in our church. There will be lots of singing of some hymns mixed with modern Gospel singing." Pastor Crofford described the Flin Flon Community Church as being "spirit-directed" and delivering an "evangelical style of message." "We believe that the Bible is true and the Bible is God's word," said the graduate of Western Pentecostal Bible College. "We'll be teaching and preaching and singing along that line." As is the case with many new ideas, Pastor Crofford came across nay-sayers as he and Pastor Bilec began developing the new church. Some people believed there was simply no room for a new place of worship in an area that is already home to more than a dozen churches. "This is a community where a vast majority don't go to church," said the former pastor of the Northminster Memorial United Church in Flin Flon. "So there's lots of room for lots of people in lots of churches. None of the churches are full to capacity, and every church can grow, and I see no reason why we couldn't have another one." See 'Congregation' P.# Con't from P.# About 20 people attended the new church's first service. Pastor Crofford expects the congregation to grow and include people from a variety of church backgrounds. "We believe that the Holy Spirit is going to draw people to our congregation as the word gets out that there's a new work here in town," he said. "We see a community where, even though there is a lot of affluence, there is still a lot of pain and hurt in people's lives, and we want to reach out to those people." As for the future, Pastor Crofford hopes the Flin Flon Community Church will eventually have its own building, but that is likely years down the road. In the meantime, the church will continue to leave its door open to people looking for a new religious experience. "Our church is open to everyone," said Pastor Crofford. "If you've gone to church in the morning, you can come here in the afternoon."
