Saturday 25 April 2020

Announcements - April 26, 2020


  • Please update your phone or email address if you have recent changes so that we can stay connected during this special time of social distancing. If you have any special needs or prayer concerns, please contact Pastor Gladys for church prayer support. 
  • A bible study group will be held every Wednesday at 7:30pm through Zoom. Anyone interested please contact Pastor Gladys. 
  • Next Sunday is the first Sunday of the month when we usually take the Lord’s supper together. Even though we are apart, we encourage all baptized brothers and sisters to prepare the bread and the cup and take the communion at home by following pastoral guidance. 
  • The Church 28th Anniversary Celebration Thanksgiving & Sharing. Details as follow: 
    • Registration Link: https://tinyurl.com/WBC28 
    • Sharing through virtual meeting all the thanksgiving for our 28 years of life together. 
    • Taking our atypical anniversary group picture 
    • You can even prepare your own food for a virtual love feast before the camera • Real-time event through Zoom 
    • May 3, 2020 Sunday 1:00-2:30pm 
    • Because we can only accommodate a limited number of participants in a Zoom meeting, we encourage each family to use only one single device to join this celebration. If that is the case, your family will only need to register only once. 
    • Those WBC brothers and sisters living outside of Vancouver can join too! 
    • Space is limited. Register now! 
  • During this time of COVID-19, offering by cheques and e-transfer are welcome. Cheques can be mailed to the church office. E-transfer email address is westsidebaptistoffering@gmail.com. Cash donations will not be accepted until worship at church resumes. 
  • Vacation Bible School will be held from August 24-28, with Doris Lee as the coordinator. Participants must apply online and admitted persons will be notified. There will be subsidy program this year for 5 eligible applicants.

April 26 Sunday Worship Links

Tuesday 21 April 2020

28th Anniversary Celebration

Westside Baptist Church 28th Anniversary Celebration
Thanksgiving & Sharing
  • Registration Link: https://tinyurl.com/WBC28 
  • Sharing through virtual meeting all the thanksgiving for our 28 years of life together. 
  • Taking our atypical anniversary group picture 
  • You can even prepare your own food for a virtual love feast before the camera 
  • Real-time event through Zoom 
  • May 3, 2020 Sunday 1:00-2:30pm 
  • Because we can only accommodate a limited number of participants in a Zoom meeting, we encourage each family to use only one single device to join this celebration. If that is the case, your family will only need to register only once. 
  • Those WBC brothers and sisters living outside of Vancouver can join too! 
  • Space is limited. Register now!

Sunday 19 April 2020

Announcements - April 19, 2020


  • Please update your phone or email address if you have recent changes so that we can stay connected during this special time of social distancing. If you have any special needs or prayer concerns, please contact Pastor Gladys for church prayer support. 
  • Prayer meeting will be held from Zoom on Sundays at 10:30am. All are welcome to join. 
  • Sermon note can be found in the church blog at www.westsidebaptist.ca under “Sermon”. 
  • Sunday Worship service video will be uploaded to the church website and Facebook at 9am every Sunday. Brothers and sisters are welcome to participate in worship at home through the video. The video will be taken off every Monday at 9:00pm. If any brothers or sisters still want to watch it, please contact Pastor Alan Yu. 
  • We will be making available the teaching videos that our kids watch each week in CitRUs, XP3 and GZone to you. Links will be sent to parents each week on Saturday. 
  • April Deacon Board meeting summary has been uploaded to the church website. 
  • A bible study group will be held every Wednesday at 7:30pm through Zoom. Anyone interested please contact Pastor Gladys. 
  • During this time of COVID-19, offering by cheques and e-transfer are welcome. Cheques can be mailed to the church office. E-transfer email address is westsidebaptistoffering@gmail.com. Cash donations will not be accepted until worship at church resumes. 
  • Vacation Bible School will be held from August 24-28, with Doris Lee as the coordinator. Participants must apply online and admitted persons will be notified. There will be subsidy program this year for 5 eligible applicants.

Saturday 18 April 2020

April 19 Sunday Worship Links

Sunday 12 April 2020

Announcements - April 12, 2020


  • Please update your phone or email address if you have recent changes so that we can stay connected during this special time of social distancing. If you have any special needs or prayer concerns, please contact Pastor Gladys for church prayer support. 
  • Prayer meeting will be held from Zoom on Sundays at 10:30am. All are welcome to join. 
  • Sermon note can be found in the church blog at www.westsidebaptist.ca under “Sermon”. 
  • Sunday Worship service video will be uploaded to the church website and Facebook at 9am every Sunday. Brothers and sisters are welcome to participate in worship at home through the video. The video will be taken off every Monday at 9:00pm. If any brothers or sisters still want to watch it, please contact Pastor Alan Yu. 
  • We will be making available the teaching videos that our kids watch each week in CitRUs, XP3 and GZone to you. Links will be sent to parents each week on Saturday. 
  • April Deacon Board meeting summary has been uploaded to the church website. 
  • A new bible study group is on every Wednesday 7:30pm through Zoom. Anyone interested please contact Pastor Gladys. 
  • During this time of COVID-19, offering by cheques and e-transfer are welcome. Cheques can be mailed to the church office. E-transfer email address is westsidebaptistoffering@gmail.com. Cash donations will not be accepted until worship at church resumes. 
  • Vacation Bible School will be held from August 24-28, with Doris Lee as the coordinator. Participants must apply online and admitted persons will be notified. There will be subsidy program this year for 5 eligible applicants.

April 12 Sunday Worship links

Friday 10 April 2020

*COVID-19 correspondence 3*

It has been a month since we have practiced social distancing and started to worship on line. Church life has never been the same. But this weekend is the first time in our history that everyone has to stay home for Easter. We can’t meditate and take communion together on Good Friday. We hold off baptisms and transfers, and can’t have Easter worship and celebrations together. This is more than upsetting our routines and traditions. It is disruptive to our community life. For many people, not being able to go to church is a big part of loss in their lives. Many have to adjust to worshipping and fellowshipping virtually. And others, especially mature adults and seniors, still need to learn and cope with this new way of socializing. People ask: when can we go back to normal? When can we go back to church? Yes, we can’t go to meet at the church during this time. But be mindful that we are the church. So let us practice our faith and be the church. Let us live out the resurrection power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us try to care for one another and pray for one another through different technologies. For those who can meet in creative ways through Zoom, let us continue to do so.

I realize that many of us are going through great trials and temptations during this time. As most people are working at home, some parents face the additional burden of homeschooling. Some lost their jobs and face extra financial stress. Some working in the frontlines and essential service face the challenge of health risks. But many of us start to feel the anxieties of the unknown future. In the midst of all this, let us put our hope in God as the anchor for our soul. Let us continue to persevere and grow through this. Let us always draw close to God through His words. Let us continue to be faithful and always uphold one another through prayers.

(Romans 15:13)  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Rev. Dr. Gladys Lee Tsang

Thursday 9 April 2020

[ FORSAKEN ] Good Friday Meditation Service

The guidebook for the Good Friday Meditation Service [Forsaken] can be downloaded here. The congregation is encouraged to download it in advance, and reserve 1 to 2 hours on Good Friday April 10 to conduct this meditation service at home.

The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

Good Friday is the climax of the Lent season, commemorating the crucifixion of Christ. It is a day when we unite ourselves with the death and burial of Christ. It is a day when we experience together with Christ his agony of being forsaken.

We invite you, therefore, to the observance of Good Friday, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.

Sunday 5 April 2020

Announcements - April 5, 2020


  • Please update your phone or email address if you have recent changes so that we can stay connected during this special time of social distancing. If you have any special needs or prayer concerns, please contact Pastor Gladys for church prayer support. 
  • Prayer meeting will be held from Zoom on Sundays at 10:30am. All are welcome to join. 
  • Sermon note can be found in the church blog at www.westsidebaptist.ca under “Sermon”. 
  • Sunday Worship service video will be uploaded to the church website and Facebook at 9am every Sunday. Brothers and sisters are welcome to participate in worship at home through the video. The video will be taken off every Monday at 9:00pm. If any brothers or sisters still want to watch it, please contact Pastor Alan Yu. 
  • We will be making available the teaching videos that our kids watch each week in CitRUs, XP3 and GZone to you. Links will be sent to parents each week on Saturday. 
  • Deacon Board meeting will be held today via Zoom at 2:00pm. 
  • Church office will be closed on Good Friday April 10. 
  • Good Friday Meditation and Easter Baptismal Worships scheduled for April 10 and April 12 respectively have been cancelled. 
  • Good Friday meditation retreat material will be available online on April 9, 2020. Please mark out 1 to 2 hours on April 10 to engage in meditation. 
  • A new bible study group is on every Wednesday 7:30pm through Zoom. Anyone interested please contact Pastor Gladys. 
  • During this time of COVID-19, offering by cheques and e-transfer are welcome. Cheques can be mailed to the church office. E-transfer email address is westsidebaptistoffering@gmail.com. Cash donations will not be accepted until worship at church resumes. 
  • Vacation Bible School will be held from August 24-28, with Doris Lee as the coordinator. Participants must apply online and admitted persons will be notified. There will be subsidy program this year for 5 eligible applicants.

Saturday 4 April 2020

April 5 Sunday Service Links

Friday 3 April 2020

AN OPEN LETTER TO CANADIAN BAPTISTS

“FOLLOW THE ARK, FOR WE HAVE NEVER BEEN THIS WAY BEFORE” Joshua 3:4

This is a time of fear and uncertainty, never before experienced within our lifetime. An unprecedented time for most of us, yes, but not for the Church. While for most Canadians this may be our first experience with a pandemic, as the Church, we’ve been through this — and worse — before. God has always led us through. The Lord is faithful to do it again.

When the people of Israel stood on the banks of the Jordan, the future was nothing if not uncertain. But what did God ask of them? Follow the Ark of the Covenant — the symbol of God’s eternal promise — and proceed with confidence. God will go before us.

We leaders of the Canadian Baptist family are standing alongside you, your families, churches and local communities. Like you, our lives and families have been turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainly it brings. You reached out to us for guidance, insight and hope. You asked us how to care for those at risk, both locally and globally. Hard questions about the viability of our churches have been put before us. Know that we hear you and are doing everything possible to support you through this time.

Recently we met (virtually) to share and pray for each other’s churches, pastors, missionaries and organizations. We committed to praying for the whole Canadian Baptist family, and to making ourselves available to offer guidance and direction. Now, we call you to join us in prayer and to continue living generous, hope-filled lives even during this disruptive and difficult time.

This crisis may be the greatest challenge we will ever face as Canadian Baptists, but it may also be our defining moment. How we come together and mobilize as God’s people in the midst of this current crisis may set the course for the future of our denomination. Now is the time to proceed with the shared confidence that comes from knowing God goes before us and his mercies never fail.

Today, we invite you to join us in three acts of faithful discipleship:
  1. Stand united in worship and intercession. Pray fervently for our Canadian Baptist family and all our ministries, including churches, camps, women’s groups, schools, senior’s homes and mission initiatives both local and global. As Canadian Baptists, we affirm his sovereign lordship over all creation and choose to place our total trust in him alone for all the activities we undertake.
  2. Continue to support your church. Many churches will encounter dire consequences without the ongoing financial support of their regular attendees. Find out how to continue giving your tithes and offerings even when church services are suspended.
  3. Care for the most vulnerable. Who are the elderly and recent refugees in your local community? Who are the poor and marginalized in our world who are especially vulnerable during this pandemic? Ask how you can continue to safely minster to those in greatest need.
While the world may have ground to a halt, we need you to be active in praying, giving and caring. None of us have experienced this before, but as his Church, may we continue to live out the Easter hope of Christ’s resurrection and new life.

Shalom,
Sylvia Hagerman | Interim Executive Director, Atlantic Baptist Women
Diane McBeth | Executive Director, Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec
Tim McCoy | Executive Minister, Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec
Rob Ogilvie | Executive Minister, Canadian Baptists of Western Canada
Peter Reid | Executive Minister, Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada
David Rowley | General Secretary, Union d’Eglises Baptistes Francophones du Canada
Terry Smith | Executive Director, Canadian Baptist Ministries