Shoal Lake Baptist Church has been ministering to the community for 145 years, and they are celebrating this milestone by giving back. "I'm a simple guy, so I would probably just have cake and sing a hymn," says lead pastor Joel Usick. "But we have a team night, where our church comes together and we decide what ministry is going to look like together. At this meeting, one of the congregation members said, 'Instead of trying to get the community to celebrate us, let's say thank you to them by serving them.'" This week, the team helped clean the local museum on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they helped with park clean up, and on Thursday, they are putting on a games night at the local care home. To cap everything off, on Friday evening the church is hosting an open house and potluck supper from 6-8:30 p.m. "I thought this was a great idea. These organizations in small towns are not staffed, so there's lots of opportunity for volunteerism." .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Usick has been the pastor at the church for four years. During that time, he's seen the congregation grow from roughly 20 people regularly attending to 50. "One of the things I enjoy most is that, by nature of a small community like this, we're able to really know one another. I'm very much known, and it's not a Sunday version of me. There's no real hiding in these small communities. To me, that's been this beautiful thing as we do life together. Just to see what it's like to have a congregation that's passionately pursuing the kingdom of God, from their homes to their workplace." The History and Legacy of the Church Shoal Lake Baptist Church has had numerous pastors over the last 145 years and a few different buildings as well. The town is located north of Brandon and south of Riding Mountain National Park, roughly three hours west of Winnipeg. "As the four-year guy, I've been reflecting recently. This moment in our congregation's life, me as the pastor here, the reality is that God's church doesn't stop after me. It won't ever conclude until we're in glory. The legacy that's passed on is the faithful presence of people that love Jesus." Usick shares that as he's looked back at photos over the decades, while the hairstyles and methods of preaching may have changed, people's love for the Lord has remained the same. "There are some challenges with capacity at our current facility, as it's well over 100 years old. Truthfully, the more that I pastor, the more I understand that Jesus is really after my heart as well. I think part of what the future looks like, as well, is that my apprenticeship to Jesus becomes deeper. God is after each one of our hearts." Two goals Usick has for the next few years are to help facilitate a youth ministry and get the community more involved. "In our municipality, we are nearly 60 per cent professed Christians. To me, I'd love to see the church awaken here."