The past weeks have been exciting at Willow Vale!

• Easter weekend brought about 200 people together at Kirk Park for “Hunt” and allowed us to meet more of our neighbors.  The “Were You There?” drama on Easter Sunday made a deep impact on many lives—Thanks Dave and Jan Faris, for directing it. Eight people enrolled in membership training on Easter Sunday & have participated enthusiastically in the class.

• Steve McGregor and Tina Engle were married on  Sunday, March 28, 2010 and have been sharing joyfully as a couple in the life of the church.
  
  
• New families have enrolled at Willow Vale Christian School, others have begun attending worship regularly, and a number of new people have for the first time put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.  Another service of baptism is coming on May 30!

The next few weeks will bring new events and more changes, all of which can make us more effective in serving Christ and serving our community.

The Ministerial Appointments Committee of the Sierra Pacific Free Methodist Conference has chosen Derek Isaksen to lead Willow Vale as senior pastor, and his appointment will be announced officially at the Annual Conference in Oroville, CA on June 5th.  For the past ten years Pastor Derek, with his wife Kathy (also an ordained minister) has led Light and Life Urban Ministries, with a variety of challenging programs for at-risk youth in Fresno.  Kevin Williams, a ministerial candidate in the Sierra Pacific Conference, discipled through the ministry in Fresno, will be moving here with them to give leadership to youth ministries at Willow Vale.  Pastor Derek has served as chairman of the Board of Evangelism for the Free Methodist churches of our region during the past year, and Derek and Kathy have been very active in the leadership of the “Sierra Challenge” summer youth camps.  These committed leaders will, with the cooperation of the entire Willow Vale family, lead us in making a deeper impact on our community.

I have really enjoyed the opportunity of guiding Willow Vale through this transitional year. You have been so cooperative, and I have appreciated the positive response of the congregation in so many ways.  In the months ahead I expect to continue in the “Associate Pastor” role.  So I will still be part of the Willow Vale team, while giving more time to my regional work of training new pastors and coaching planters of new churches.  With a more complete staff here, we should be able to reach more people, and a wider variety of needs and interests.  Please pray for ALL of us as we seek God’s will for working together finding more effective means of service.

Pastor Dwight T Gregory