From what they have been told, Church at the Manor is the only church that is running in an operating strip club.
It started with a desire to bless those living in transitional housing with gift cards which in turn led into a conversation about the possibility of renting the attached bar to do church. After hearing Jack and Sharon Ninaber's vision, permission was granted within minutes! Today, Church at the Manor meets regularly in Guelph, ON on Sundays, discovering God at work as they faithfully proclaim Christ in a dark place.
Take a read of this recent encouragement from the life of The Manor by Jack:
At the beginning of September, I competed in my 10th triathlon. It was an exhilarating experience to see that I finished the race five minutes faster than my time from five years ago! However, I would never have known that unless I dove in the water and began the race.
Here’s the truth: a lot of Jesus followers get stuck in the starting blocks. It doesn’t matter how many people are cheering you on, or how much we believe in each other. Others can say "Go for it!" but we must take the first step.
Here’s another truth about our heavenly Father: He doesn’t always give us the entire plan; He usually just gives us the next steps and we need to follow through in obedience. We must have faith like Abraham who "when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8).
Recently, at The Manor Church we focused on different ways that we feel stuck in the starting blocks from
- Being stuck in our finances or ongoing debt
- Being stuck in a marriage or bad relationship
- Being stuck in unforgiveness and past hurts
- Being stuck in the Enemy’s lies
After a time of prayer and participating in communion, we then took the time to write down and then rip up all those ways that we get stuck. We also affirmed each other’s gifts and talents and focused on the dreams that God has given us. It was an amazing turnaround.
Just as we see in the story of the talents that Jesus told in Matthew 25:14-30, we came full circle to the huge importance of investing and focusing on what God has blessed us with. We can either get stuck on our gifts or worse, bury them like the servant in the story. The better way is to invest our lives and talents in others like the other two servants who then were offered the position of partnering with their master in his business. The amazing truth is that Jesus is calling us to partner with Him in Kingdom business… what an amazing opportunity!
To practically work this out, members of our core team including Kristen and two of her children went to the apartment buildings behind The Manor. Their goal was to bless the people living there with little boxes filled with goodies and treats. However, here’s the thing: they had to be let in first. So, they prayed at the entrance and no sooner did they finish than a lady from the third floor balcony yelled down, “Hey! Do you want to get in the building?” It was a great faith-builder!
Another amazing faith-builder for us at Church at the Manor is to see who God is leading to us. Here is a note that was shared with Sharon, my wife, from a bartender at The Manor: Hey Sharon! Just wanted to share something with you. Last night I went to work same as every Sunday ... But this time I had this dancer run up to me just glowing about the wonderful day she had had at The Manor Church. She is new to the club and decided to check out the church. Anyways, she couldn't say enough good things about you and the church and she truly felt she had been sent a message and was sent to The Manor for a bigger reason ... I continued to watch her throughout the night telling customers about her great experience and about the church. I just thought you should know what a positive, meaningful impact you have had on this young lady. Keep up the good work!
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May this story inspire you who are in the early years of church planting to trust God as you move forward into dark places!
Can You Support this New Venture?
Support Church at the Manor through Canada Helps (indicate "Guelph New Venture, Church at the Manor" in the Message section).
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Church at the Manor is a missional church focused on being the hands and feet of Jesus and seeing people come to experience the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. They know that it is God’s desire to see people saved and set free from their addictions and their past. You can learn more about Church at the Manor on their website.