When the Wheatland Community Church opens as a brand-new church in Weyburn, pastor Ed Fischer is hoping that this will truly be a community-minded group that will help meet needs and reach into the community.
A kickoff event for the church will be held at Souris School, where it will be based, on Labour Day Monday, Sept. 5, with a children's carnival, musical entertainment and a free barbecue, with the first service to be held the following Sunday, Sept. 11, starting at 10:30 a.m.
Fischer grew up in Laird, near Saskatoon, while his wife Susan grew up in the neighbouring town of Waldheim, and they were married in 1976. They raised three children, Sara, who is 33 and married with two children in Niverville; Jonathan, 27, married and living in Regina; and Michael, 24, a student at Briercrest Bible College in Caronport.
Ed became a Christian in 1982, and in 1987 went to Hepburn Bible School for two and a half years. Following this, he pastored a church in Lomond, Alta., for 10 years, and he and Susan then lived in Indian Head for six years, pastoring for five, and most recently was in Humboldt for six years, pastoring for five.
The first churches he pastored were part of the Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches, and most recently he has been with the Apostolic Churches of Pentecost, with which the new Weyburn church will be affiliated; this church has no connection with the New Apostolic Church on First Avenue.
After finishing his ministry in Humboldt, Ed drove truck for Q-Line Trucking for a year, and was approached about starting a new congregation in Weyburn, as the ACOP were considering for some time starting a new work in the city.
Ed and Susan bought a house in Weyburn in April, and since then have been doing community research and making plans, getting things ready for the startup of the new church.
"When we came here and looked around and saw the churches that were here, we wondered if this was the right place to be, but God has kind of confirmed in a few different ways this is where we should be," said Ed.
One of his first connections was the Weyburn Ministerial Association, and in particular, Pastor Jay Mowchenko of the Free Methodist Church, who was excited that Ed and Susan were going to plant a new church in the city.
A second confirmation for the couple was finding a youth pastor, Wendell Ryan, who is originally from Midale but lately has been doing youth work in downtown Regina with the Morningstar church there. He has worked with Ed in the past, when he pastored in Indian Head, so is looking forward to being a part of this new church.
Another sign for Ed has been how things have worked out well to be located on the South Hill out of Souris School; there used to be two churches on the Hill, but neither one is in operation any more.
The kickoff for the church will feature some inflatable bouncer toys, face-painting and games, along with a free barbecue, and will run from 2 to 5 p.m..
"We'd like to be active in the community in different ways," said Ed, noting he hopes to also do ministry work with the city's hockey program, as he was formerly a chaplain for the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team.
"The whole idea of the church is to be community-minded, and reaching into the community. I want to instil trust in people and to get to know people. I'd like to have a church that demonstrates the love and life of Christ," said Ed.
