Half a century ago, a young family travelled west to Calgary to begin a church plant. Shortly thereafter, another family followed. Trusting in God’s faithfulness, they embraced the change.

They began by reaching out to neighbourhood children; through them, entire families, and through them, communities were impacted. Then migration from other provinces brought more families to continue to grow the congregation, which by then could no longer fit into a home.

In the fifty years since then much has changed, mostly for the better. The church has become mortgage-free and able to rent out space in which other groups of believers are able to meet. That’s a good change! As conference pastor Andy Woodworth stated on September 22 at Abbeydale Christian Fellowship’s 50th anniversary celebration, the cars in the parking lot look much different than they did fifty years ago; clothing and hair styles have changed.

Abbeydale’s outreach methods have changed; technology has changed recordkeeping methods, communication avenues, and visual and audio formats. Some might debate whether these are all good changes, but change happens, nonetheless.

The trip down memory lane at ACF’s 50th anniversary celebration highlighted other changes as well. The musical selections, whether heartily sung by the choir or congregation, reflected the favoured songs of each of the past five decades. These were interspersed by the introduction and recognition of past and current pastors as well as congregational chairpersons of the paralleled decade. Appropriate photo slides accompanied a short verbal snapshot of the church’s history by decade, complimenting the more detailed take-home trifold handout.

Over a served sandwich lunch, many memories of the past were shared and new memories created in the spirit of fellowship and praise, each one testifying to God’s faithfulness during the past half century.

As expected, change and transformation continues, reflected in everything from landscaping to congregational demographics and potluck dish choices. ACF is not the church of 1974 nor the church of 2074, fifty years from now—and neither should it be. Growth means change and stretching, which is not always easy or comfortable. Thank God for most of the changes ACF has undergone; praise God that he will never change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Trusting in his unchanging faithfulness, ACF looks forward to the next half century of transformation and positive changes which will continue to reach more children, more families and more communities because “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).