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Place of Worship:
13 Sherring St. N., Hagersville
The first page of the council minutes of the HCCRC has a list of signatures of all the charter members. There were 46 families and a total of 212 people. The date was August 5, 1990.
For our Sunday services the first two years, we enjoyed the great variety of excellent preachers with which our classis is blessed. In the meantime our Search Committee proposed a number of possible candidates whom we placed before the congregation on single nomination.Then the Search Committee requested that the congregation submit names of candidates as well as what to expect of them.
At this time issues before Synod were still very much on our minds, and this was reflected in the letters that were received. Being a member of the Search Committee was no easy task.
Finally Reverend Barton Veldhuizen was proposed as pastor for our church and we voted to extend the call to him on February 2, 1992.
Pastor Bart took this call and has continued his ministry with us until this present day and has been guiding this church in all its endeavors.
From the beginning we wanted to be an outreach church. This is reflected in the mission statement which reads in part: "Reaches out to the community, sharing the good news of new life in Jesus Christ, Gathering God's family."
A multitude of activities were taken up by this church. To mention them all would require more space. A sampling will have to do.
From the very beginning we had Coffee Break and Story Hour. This highly successful activity drew many people from the community to its prayer and Bible study groups.
There were the Men's Life meetings that were held, for a while , in restaurants to make it easier to attend.
There was the yearly Vacation Bible School which was done together with the local Pentecostal Church.
Believing that there was a need for this we had Fellowship Soup Supper for one year to give a social/spiritual context to some lonely folk in the community.
Our youth participated in the annual World Vision 30 Hour Famine a number of times They also took care of the food drive these last years.
One gratifying development is that our youth has the opportunity to take part in mission outreach. Over the years many have done this and have returned with a new appreciation for the wok of missions.
Our members have taken part in projects for the CRWRC and World Wide Christian Schools.
HCCRC sold refreshments at the Hagersville Ag Day and made a float for the '97 Ag Day parade.
We supported a number of missionaries, a.o. Anne Klaassens, Cheryl Delong, Albert and Wilma Veenkamp, and the Bootsmas, Tim and Andréa.
A long range planning committee is looking into the possibility of building a new church. One fund raising activity was a recent walk-a-thon on the Lynn Valley Trail, followed by a wiener roast.
Then there were the regular church activities like: Sunday school, Young People, catechism, Gems and Cadets. We want to thank God for all those who so faithfully served in leading our youth in this. There were the musicians and singers to add to our worship services. Those who took care of the finances, the upkeep of building and grounds, the librarians. We may be overlooking some of us. Be sure, the Lord does not.
Our tenth anniversary was held on August 27, 2000 with a recounting of blessings in a service of celebration.
We shared our joys in births, marriages and celebrations of many kinds. We grieved with the sorrowing. Some of us were taken to glory over the past twelve years. We have prayed much for those who were bereaved, or were in pain, suffering from illnesses of many kinds. We have prayed and are praying for family members who are wandering or have turned away from God.
We have thanked God for answers to our prayers for healing, for a return to faith, and to a new joy in the Lord.
Through the years we were shaken at times by events that also happened in our
larger church community. There were issues among us that we often felt strongly
about. The well-known questions about life style, office and worship led to a
thinning of the ranks in the HCCRC. Our prayer is that we may be forgiven where
we have failed to be in keeping with the prayer of your Lord Jesus to the Father
when He said:"...that they may be one as we are one." John 11:17
At this time our membership stands at 250, of which 132 are professing and 118
baptized members.
At one time we may have had a vision of a fast growing church. This did not happen so far. Many people have come and gone. We can be sorry about this and, yes, we are. But we have also been privileged to minister to many people, and if this is our task in the HCCRC, so be it. Let us continue to do so in faith, with thankfulness and to the best of our abilities.
R. Bouwma
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