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CHEERS may seem like an unusual name for a church; but not much is usual about
this two-year-old church plant in Penticton.
For starters, its building on Fairview Road is steeped in local history – being the former Aylmer’s cannery, which was important to the lifeblood of Penticton from 1948 to 1982.
Cheers The Church holds its services on Sunday mornings in the cozy interior of
a small theatre, which houses 100-plus people. When congregants enter the front entrance of the cannery building, they are welcomed by a
greeter, the pleasant aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the sound of friendly
conversation in a coffee shop leading into the theatre.
“It’s easy for people who haven’t been to church before just to walk in, and [think] it’s just a coffee shop, right?” says pastor Joey Cyr.
“We rent the coffee shop every Sunday, and so everyone gets a free cup of coffee
or free tea, or whatever. So it makes for a really welcoming environment.”
Cyr, along with his brother Dennis, are former Ontarians. They felt called by
God to start a church plant – and were eventually led to Penticton. There, Bethel Pentecostal Tabernacle and
the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada district office supported their mission
wholeheartedly – and Cheers The Church was born.
“We really try to be upbeat, because we want to reach the younger generation. But
we’re finding we have . . . a wide range of people that are coming,” notes Cyr. With some 100 regular attendees, the church uses a lot of video
clips and multi-media presentations during services, helped along by an
efficient sound system and raised stage.
As mentioned earlier, Cheers is a little out of the norm. That extends to their
offering time, which is kept apart from the service, through the use of a box
on the side of the room.
“We just didn’t want it, because we’re new – because we’re trying to reach out,” explains pastor Cyr. “So many people have a concept about church, that it’s about the money; and we really want to kind of try and break that a little
bit.”
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“My feeling is . . . I don’t know if people are going to give more because you pass the plate in front of
them. I think if people are going to give, they’re going to give.”
Cheers also has a unique project, whereby the pastors single out one person at
the service, give him or her $100, and ask the person to charitably give the
money to someone in need.
“Just whatever God puts on your heart to do,” explains Cyr, “and then come back and share the story.”
And finally, what about the name of the church? The pastors wanted something
that would reflect its upbeat atmosphere and would appeal to all. Pastor Dennis
Cyr came up with it during a football game, when the theme song from the old TV
show Cheers was played.
Info: cheersthechurch.com.
– Andrea Dujardin-Flexhaug
November 2009
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