(Taken from December, 2006 Northern Lights
There is enthusiasm to be found in the Classis of the Prairies and one of the first places to look seems to be the most unlikely place, Athabasca.

Located within a small community about an hour and a half north of the city of Edmonton that also is home to a University that teaches courses by correspondence, the Athabasca Reformed Congregation had its beginnings when the larger part of a local United Church split off during the controversy over ordaining homosexuals in the late 1980s. This group then went looking for a denominational home and found it with the Reformed Church in America. With the founding pastor nearing retirement, he handpicked a young pastor from the Vancouver area to become the first RCA pastor for this new congregation.

In late 1992 newlyweds Pastor Ron and Melanie Opmeer arrived in Athabasca in minus 35 degree weather and settled into the church’s manse. The next year the church was recognized as a new member church in the RCA. In the next decade the congregation would see many newcomers drop in for worship services. Yet the congregation did not grow significantly. However, God then began to open doors and windows where there had been none before and beginning with a Sunday school outreach in the neighbouring village of Rochester Pastor Ron followed God’s directive and a satellite church was started in Rochester in 2001. People with gifts of music and speaking began to attend and the evening service now has 20-30 participants.

In 2003 the church began another outreach program, this time east of Athabasca in the community of Grassland which is located on the way to the booming oil sands city of Fort MacMurray. Although this congregation is looking at the possibility of joining forces with another fledgling church in Grassland, the Athabasca congregation is happy to have supported this outreach ministry for the past three years. The Athabasca congregation’s desire to bring the gospel to people in innovative ways is having an effect and Pastor Ron believes that God will continue to open doors for fruitful ministry in the region.

Athabasca is but a small part of what is happening within the RCA, but put all the small parts together and soon you have a Prairie Fire that is hard to stop. The Classis asks for your prayers and support for this unique ministry, that God may continue to bless the Athabasca Church and the Opmeer family and their work in this area.

By:
Bill Zwiep
RSC Delegate from
Classis Canadian Prairies