Brothers and sisters,

Greetings to you all. It was so wonderful to see many of you at our Fellowship National Conference in Toronto this week. I think FA had the greatest representation, considering the number of churches we represent. We had warm fellowship with other delegates from our region and with men and women from across our country.

Because of the National Conference and the busyness for many of us at the beginning of this month, we have moved our clusters back one week. November Clusters will be on the 22nd in Halifax and 23rd in Sackville. Then we will take a break until January.

Here is a letter I sent out to all of our Fellowship Atlantic Churches:

Dear Pastors and Churches of Fellowship Atlantic,

I have just returned from spending a few days in Toronto where people from our regional and national Fellowship family gathered to spend time together, to hear the preaching of the Word of God, and to pray and sing to God together. It was indeed a precious time. In 2024, our Fellowship National Conference is scheduled to be in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and I encourage you to plan now to be there on November 4-6.

A similar regional gathering was held this past May in Great Village, Nova Scotia. At that event, the Regional Council presented to the assembled delegates the result of a year of hard work–our strategic plan, called “Charting a Course.” After some good discussion, it was overwhelmingly approved and now is being put into action. We are convinced it is not only better for us to partner together for God’s mission, but it is also biblical obedience for us to do so.

We who are part of Fellowship Atlantic envision a future where the ministry impact of our churches reaches everyone in Atlantic Canada. We seek to put this vision into practice as we aid churches to fulfill what God has called us to do in the places He has planted us (through helping churches become increasingly healthy and through providing leadership training) and by planting new churches for the glory of God and the good of communities who need His salvation. 

Let me give you some ways this is already being accomplished: Your pastor or church representative is being supported through weekly communication and through monthly clusters so he can grow as a minister before God. Your Regional Council has been meeting and corresponding as we pray for the churches, as we contact your pastor or board chair to see how you are doing, and as we plan for future events like our Regional in Charlottetown on May 2024. The Council has also been pursuing a new Regional Director, and we hope to have more information on that in the new year. And this past September, our most recent church plant–Wayfarers’ Church in Spryfield, NS–opened its doors for regular meetings and ministry. Many of our churches have partnered together to provide prayer and financial support for this work. This fall, we will have Mature and Multiply events and cohorts for people of our churches to grow in their knowledge of Scripture and in ways to live it out. There is more information on this and many other things on our website.

Part of agreeing to implement “Charting a Course” in Fellowship Atlantic is our churches agreeing to invest 3% of their annual budgeted offerings toward the collaborative efforts of the region. We understand that not every church can start at this level, but for us to be able to support a full-time Regional Director and fulfill the all-together mission God has called us to, we do need to move in this direction. I know that many of us are setting up our annual budgets in the weeks to come, and I ask that you prayerfully consider your church’s response to what we have agreed to do.

May God bless you and keep you.

Pastor Andrew Swanson
Chairman of Fellowship Atlantic Regional Council