Faith Lutheran Church

Faith Lutheran Church is a member of the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.  We gather for worship, study and fellowship, to be equipped as God’s people to serve the communities in which we live.

Our membership is drawn from Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville, Courtice and the area beyond.  Together with our sister churches of the Durham region, Christ the King Lutheran Church in Whitby, and Peace Lutheran Church in Pickering, we seek to share the love and joy of Jesus Christ with all people.

Faith Place is a non profit 12 story senior citizens apartment building complex built in 1981.

There are 163 one bedroom apartments, 17 two bedrooms and special needs units which are wheelchair accessible. Applicants must be age 60+ and capable of managing independently. Apartments are shown by appointment only during regular office hours from 8:30 – 4:00p.m. Monday to Friday. If you would like to fill out an application form or make an appointment for an interview please contact Lesley James at 905-576-8619.  

There are many opportunities at Faith Place to become involved in activities, to volunteer and to meet new friends. 

A hot noon meal is prepared on weekdays and is available to any resident or their guest who wishes to use it.

Facilities include several lounges, a free library, laundry on every other floor, Garbage chutes on every floor and grocery carts. Wheelchairs and other medical equipment are available for loan. Programs include foot care clinics, income tax clinics, monthly blood pressure clinics, A Faith Place “Reporter” newsletter for residents, chair exercise classes twice a week and a crafts afternoon every week. There is a full service independently run hair dressing salon on the premises. Other programs, services, and guests speakers are offered when available. We have a Faith Place Residents Council which sponsors activities such as bingo, euchre, bid euchre, cribbage and shuffleboard. At other intervals, birthday parties, Day trips, pot luck suppers, barbecues and various other social events are offered. Also Residents run a fall bazaar annually and hold a special Christmas dinner for residents.

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Little Ark Daycare was established as a non-denominational, non-profit centre by Faith Lutheran Ministries in April 1981.

We take advantage of our location in Faith Place to bring the children and senior citizens together for pleasant interaction. There are monthly musical sing-songs held with the Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church and Christian Education is available to participate in. To keep everyone informed, a lengthy newsletter is published approximately every six weeks.

Bus trips are enjoyed by the children visiting such places as the zoo, a farm, a strawberry patch etc. The children also benefit from the additional attention given to them by older students on placement assignments from secondary schools and Durham College. 

Little Ark Daycare provides the children with a wide range of creative/craft opportunities. Gross motor "fun" is encouraged both indoors and out. Musical expression and dramatic play are promoted at various centers. Sensory stimulation is achieved through such media as water, rice, cereal etc. Circle time is enjoyed by the children when they share their thoughts with each other based on the week’s theme.

Scheduled sleep/rest times are part of the day Little Ark provides nutritious meals and snacks. The week's menu is posted in the kitchen and the cook welcomes all suggestions for new dishes.

Supportive Housing

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term care funds a supportive housing program at Faith Place. This program currently services 7 of our residents who have been determined as needing personal care and 24-Hour oversight. Each resident on the program receives daily scheduled personal care from our team of personal support workers.

The supportive housing program provides its residents with a Lifeline Response System. This system links the resident to a Personal Support worker 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Residents on the program also receive assistance with housekeeping. 

The aim of supportive housing is to enable the resident to “age in place”. It affords them the opportunity to remain in their own homes while receiving the assistance they need to stay independent.

ELW

Evangelical Lutheran Women provides an opportunity for women to gather together to:

• study God’s Word
• develop leadership skills
• share talents and creativity and
• express faith through action

ELW is an auxiliary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). We are a community of women whose purpose is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ through its own programs as well as the programs of the ELCIC.

Women gather for fellowship and fun, Bible study and programs, worship and prayer, community outreach and various relief projects, leadership workshops and conventions.

Our congregational ELW of Faith Lutheran Church in Oshawa meets on the third Thursday of the month from September through to June. We meet at Faith Place in Augustana Hall at 7:00 p.m. We welcome all women to come out and join in making these gatherings as interesting and diverse as possible.

Sunday Church School

Faith Lutheran's Sunday School meets during the worship service each Sunday, except for the first Sunday of each month. We have designated the first Sunday of each month as Family Sunday. This allows our students and teachers the opportunity to worship with their families.

Our Sunday School curriculum uses a variety of ways to help our students connect faith and daily living to teach them how to live and share the Good News every day. Throughout the school year we do many crafts that reinforce the lessons of the church holidays.

Sunday School is available to all students from kindergarten to grade 8.

Mutual Ministry

The Mutual Ministry Committee is in essence the Social Planners for Faith Lutheran Congregation.
Our mandate is to develop more intimate relationships among our members to solidify a feeling of family at Faith Lutheran Church. It is our belief, that as well as worshipping together, socializing together in various venues, at various activities will bring this about.

Some of our past events have been: Stratford Festival Bus trip, Class Act Dinner Theatre, Family Bowling, Oktoberfest Luncheon, Court Whist Card Nights, Lenten Soup and Sandwich Hour, Oshawa Little Theatre, and Chilli lunches.

We continue to serve our Lord in this manner in an effort to strengthen our members making up the body of Faith Lutheran Church. We welcome any new members to our committee to perhaps bring fresh ideas and suggestions, or to help with the planning and detailing. Our committee meets on an average of 4-5 times a year on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. for approximately 2 hours.

Worship

Faith Lutheran Church offers a variety of worship experiences.  Worshipping in Augustana Hall, we celebrate Holy Communion on the first and third Sunday of each month using a contemporary service on the first Sunday (the Chicago Folk Service) and a traditional service on the third Sunday (Lutheran Book of Worship).  On non-Communion Sundays we use The Service of Word and Prayer from With One Voice.

We provide other worship opportunities as well.  Twice a year we gather in a member’s home for a service of House Communion, a service that takes us back to our New Testament roots.  These are services of song, Bible reading, and the celebration of Holy Communion.

On All Saints’ Sunday, we offer a Naming of Names service, an opportunity for us to light candles and remember in prayer all those faithful and dear loved ones who have died.

During the Lenten season, we hold weekly mid-Lenten services in our chapel.  The theme varies from year to year, but the night is always Wednesday. 

During Holy Week we have a Maundy Thursday service of either foot washing, or a seder meal.  On Good Friday we remember our Lord’s death at Calvary with a service of remembrance.

Easter morning brings the highlight of the Sonrise (Jesus the Son) in the 12th floor Upper Room.  Overlooking the city of Oshawa and Lake Ontario, we echo the ancient words, “He is risen!  He is risen indeed!”
 

Vision 2000+

Vision 2000+ is a fund-raising program of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. Faith Lutheran Church has pledged $6,000 to help WLS. To date, we have raised over $3,872. We hope to reach our goal of $6,000 by the end of 2004.

The funds raised will help Waterloo Lutheran Seminary recruit students, hire qualified faculty, and keep the library up to standard. The end result will be more women and men equipped for ministry in the church.
 

Youth

FLY (Faith Lutheran Youth) meets for a variety of activities and service projects over the year.  One of the highlights each year is attendance at a Youth Gathering, in even years a National Youth Gathering, and in odd years, a Synodical Youth Gathering.  This summer FLY will be attending the National Youth Gathering, “Listen Up” at Hamilton, ON along with 1700 other youth from across Canada.

FLY enjoys hosting a Pancake Supper on Shrove Tuesday, for both members of Faith Lutheran Church and residents of Faith Place.  They also host a spaghetti dinner, complete with piped in Italian music.           

FLY is open to all youth of confirmation age (grade 7) and up.

Confirmation

The Lutheran Church has a program in which young adults are given intense instruction in Bible and the Lutheran heritage.  This instruction, called Confirmation, is designed to equip the students to be active Christians in the church and community.

At Faith Lutheran, confirmation is a two year program for students in grades 7 and 8.  We alternate the study of the Bible and Luther’s Small Catechism by years.  For the year 2004-2005, we will be studying the Bible.

We use an interactive program.  We read selected texts, answer questions and reflect on the text, then respond to the text through skits, art, or poetry.  On of the favourite activities used is the “sock toss” where we learn the books of the Bible through the tossing of a pair of socks (always clean!)

We also try to incorporate several field trips into the program.  We visit a funeral home, a homeless shelter, a food kitchen, hospital chaplain, pregnancy help centre, or other community ministry.  This reinforces that God’s people are active in our communities.