Valleyview Presbyterian Church

Twenty years ago, the congregation of Valleyview Presbyterian Church constructed a new building at a new location on the outskirts of Calgary, Alberta, surrounded only by fields and aspen groves. Twenty years later, this church now stands in the west suburbs of the city of Calgary.

Recognizing that Christ has provided a unique opportunity for us to connect with the community that has grown up around us and to reach out with the Gospel, Valleyview has been very intentional about making the transition from a small country church to becoming a moderate-sized community church.

Making this transition required a number of difficult changes, which everyone realized were necessary.

So we changed worship styles from traditional to contemporary, and we created an inviting, relaxed and informal atmosphere in our facilities. We leveraged the community connection potential of our facilities through renting to church-friendly pre-schools and before- and after-school care programs, just to give few examples. We even changed our name to Valleyview Community Church Calgary.

And slowly over the past five years, these efforts – covered by our weekly prayer ministry – have received Christ's blessing and He has added many new members to His Body.

We are now a healthy, vibrant, multi-cultural, inter-generational, growing church, and we are looking forward to continuing to discover new and innovative ways to be the presence of Christ out in our neighborhood.        

Children and Worship Team Leaders

Editor's Note – I would add "friendly and welcoming" to this description of Valleyview. I was a visitor on the first Sunday in February after a Saturday of leading a Children and Worship Training at Valleyview – see photo to the left of the Children and Worship Team Leaders.

Beside me in worship were parents with a baby on the left, and a younger man who recently moved to Canada from Korea on the right. In front, were two young girls dancing and also an elderly woman tapping her cane to the beat of the worship songs.

The worship team that day included a 12-year-old boy on drums, an energetic aging rocker on bass and others of diverse ages and ethnicity – a wonderful reflection of the congregation. May God be praised for blessing Valleyview and making them a blessing.

Share a Good News story of your congregation with Renewal Fellowship Board member Linda Shaw <ianandlindashaw@gmail.com> or call 519-428-5396