Celebrate Life service marks five years in community

Posted Feb 9, 2012 By Doreen Barnes

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EMC News - It was time to celebrate a special kind of church service which has been filling an important role in the community the past five years.

"Celebrate Life is not a traditional church service, it's more of an introduction to the God of your understanding," said coordinator Danny Mocibob. "It is basically a service for people who have hurts, habits and hang ups. So many people have hang ups about religion and the service is run by lay ministers. The only thing a minister does is communion which is offered at every service. We try to introduce God to their understanding. You will not leave the same...guaranteed."

Normally Celebrate Life is held on Sunday evening but for the fifth anniversary of this ministry, two services were held, one in the morning and one in the evening.

So on Sunday, Jan. 22, at Wall Street United Church, Mocibob welcomed those in attendance to this special celebration.

"Wow! Five years ago four of us took a trip to Calgary Central United Church to see how they ran their service," said Mocibob. "They told us what worked and what didn't, which saved us a lot of growing pains."

Mocibob feels that this ministry differs in its approach to God and offers what other services can not. An informal place to be oneself!

"I could see it here," said Mocibob.

Even Wall Street United Church's Reverend Kimberley Heath can't believe the void that Celebrate Life fills.

"When I first arrived (at Wall Street United Church), Celebrate Life had been going for about six months," said Heath. "I knew it was a lay-led service. I attended and thought, holy cow, there's something going on here. I have been calling this the furnace that heats our church. It is incredible! There's always somebody who stands up and gives a testimony of a difficult patch in their life and how they got out of it. It's a place where there is no veneer."

Heath refers to the Celebrate Life as informal, but holy.

"People come in jeans with coffee and its super casual with one of the lay ministers opening up the meeting," stated Heath. "It has a real casual feel to it and sometimes the music is secular or it's the Rolling Stones, 'I Can't Get No Satisfaction'."

Celebrate Life has two church bands, Revival and Fuzion which alternate to play live music at the service.

Mocibob's analogy of life is that of a snowflake falling from the sky.

"The good Lord has designed us all differently, but one thing we all have in common is that we experience hurts, habits and hang ups in life," explained Mocibob.

He invites people to come to Celebrate Life and witness the amazing way that God restores all to sanity.

"Each week a different speaker shares their testimony of what the power of God has done in their lives," said Mocibob.

According to the coordinator, there are heart-wrenching stories about rape, divorce, imprisonment, abuse, addictions, depression, marital and family issues and more.

Every week communion is offered as well as a personal prayer ministry.

Both Heath and Mocibob remark that they have an average of 50 attendees and upwards.

"When I do communion, I do a very casual communion where I get up to talk and there's no formal liturgy to it," said Heath. "It's quite a different service."

As the celebratory service continued, Fuzion played 'Everlasting God' followed by Kids Time, prayers and the choir singing.

GUEST SPEAKER

Every Celebrate Service has a guest speaker. For this special morning service it was author Don Heron. The theme of his speech was, What is Your Life Worth?

"My message this morning," said Heron, "is life really worth celebrating? I can not determine that for you as you need to make that decision yourself."

Heron shared a couple of his life experiences which he has penned in his book, U-turn in the fast lane, with the foreword being written by hockey great Paul Henderson.

He told those present about his years growing up in the shadow of his father who was a Baptist minister and the mistakes he made which led to a life in crime and incarceration at the Bordeaux Prison in Quebec.

"When I was six years old I made a decision to follow Jesus, but there was just something inside that had this curiosity," said Heron. "I wanted to discover for myself what I thought my mom and dad knew nothing about - drugs, sex, alcohol, rock and roll."

Heron had turned his back on the Lord and delved into crime until he was caught.

As the presentation came to a close he talked about the day he turned his life around.

"The message came to me that if I would let go of my life, I would be saved," he concluded. "There I was thinking I was such a big shot, such a big guy criticizing my cousins who grew up in the church. I had to start over with Jesus at zero. Things have not been the same. If you really want to save your life, give it to Him."

As the service came to a close, everyone was asked to say the Serenity Prayer followed by Fuzion playing 'Go Now in Peace'.

Celebrate Life services takes place on Sunday evenings from 5:50 p.m. to 6:50 p.m., but because of the anniversary celebration it was decided to have two services, one at 10 a.m. and the other in the evening.

The guest speaker for the evening service was volunteer pastor, Reverend Stewart Froese.

For more information call (613) 342-5401, extension 24 to speak with Danny Mocibob or log onto www.wallstreetchurch.com.

"Our motto is come as you are," said Mocibob.

Come to Celebrate Life!




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