Aug
29
By Jack Krayenhoff
Beckley Farm Lodge, the care facility on Simcoe Street, needed a new bus, but who was going to pay for it? Not the government.
'Right', said Joe Haynes of Beacon Communities, 'the Lodge is part of James Bay, and so are we. Let's organize a Community Yard Sale to raise money toward that bus. August 4th, being BC Day, would be a great time to do it'. Of course Beckley Farm Lodge was willing to cooperate (it provided food and drinks), and the Edelweiss Club made its facilities, specifically its parking lot available, which provided an excellent venue. A newspaper ad brought in all sorts of good items that people were happy to donate for the cause, and what with radiant sunshine putting everybody in a cheerful mood, the Community Yard Sale was a success. The results: $1313 from sales, plus $300 from hot dog sales. Not quite enough for a new bus, but the volunteers at Beacon Communities Church want to make this an annual event.
And who exactly are Joe Haynes and his Beacon Communities, who organized the sale and did all the work? Joe describes it as a 'church without walls'. By that he means a group of Christians not defined by a building but as good neighbours eager to build community where they live. He talks about the church as a group of people who have accepted the truth and reality that by accepting Jesus as master of their lives they find themselves freed from the fear of what other people think and say about them, and by the same token they are freed from the natural tendency to judge others. They now want to help each other becoming confirmed in this new freedom and also enable others to find this liberating reality. Not for nothing this message is known as the Good News. It makes them accept others and want to serve them. In a word, they become a community, united by Jesus, which in turn wants to serve and bless the wider community of James Bay. This Yard Sale is an example of that.
Why do they call themselves communities? They do meet together as one group every Sunday morning at 10:30 am at the James Bay Community Centre, but real community is primarily formed in smaller home-based groups open to anyone--Christian or not. Joe believes that true community is best formed in small groups, and those are to be the building blocks of a church.