The Testimony of the Beginning of the Fellowship
The Saturday Christian Fellowship grew from the people who attend a monthly Shabbat (Sabbath) meal on the Friday evening. This is a traditional meal held to welcome in the Shabbat. However to get to the point of starting this Fellowship we have to go back to Dennis McLeod's time in Israel. When he was living in Jerusalem he used to go out for exercise into the Jerusalem forest. He would go early, as he felt guilty going out when the men were going to the synagogue, so he went before they left their homes. When he did have to pass some of them, he really felt embarrassed.
On returning to New Zealand he continued to go out for exercise on the Shabbat as there was no men going off to the synagogue there was no problem or was there? Again he felt guilty which was rather strange under the circumstances. One day after coming home he sat in the lounge thinking about this guilt feeling with the Bible on my lap. As I moved the Bible in my hands, it fell open at Isaiah 58 and looked down and read from verse 13; "If because of the Sabbath [Shabbat], you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My Holy day, and call the Sabbath [Shabbat] a delight the holy day of the Lord honourable, and honour it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word then you will take delight in the Lord".
From here his wife, Penny, and he sought YHWH (God) and it was made clear to them, over a period of time, that it was God’s will for them to have a Shabbat Fellowship. They shared this with the people who attended the Shabbat meal and those also caught the vision of how important the Shabbat is to the Father. It was also confirmed at the Church they were attending at the time, before they had a chance to speak to the Pastor about what was on their hearts. When it was time to go they gave them their blessing and sent them out with prayer. So on the 14th February 1998 the Fellowship was started and they rejoiced in YHWH for His guidance.
Dennis resigned from pastoring Saturday Christian Fellowship to serve God in other areas with the last day being 28th December 2013. Gary Woodward (and his wife, Melody) took over and did a wonderful job until circa mid 2020 when he was forced to step down due to needing to spend more time on other commitments. At present the Fellowship is kept going by the work being far more spread around with some items now having to be put aside.
On returning to New Zealand he continued to go out for exercise on the Shabbat as there was no men going off to the synagogue there was no problem or was there? Again he felt guilty which was rather strange under the circumstances. One day after coming home he sat in the lounge thinking about this guilt feeling with the Bible on my lap. As I moved the Bible in my hands, it fell open at Isaiah 58 and looked down and read from verse 13; "If because of the Sabbath [Shabbat], you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My Holy day, and call the Sabbath [Shabbat] a delight the holy day of the Lord honourable, and honour it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word then you will take delight in the Lord".
From here his wife, Penny, and he sought YHWH (God) and it was made clear to them, over a period of time, that it was God’s will for them to have a Shabbat Fellowship. They shared this with the people who attended the Shabbat meal and those also caught the vision of how important the Shabbat is to the Father. It was also confirmed at the Church they were attending at the time, before they had a chance to speak to the Pastor about what was on their hearts. When it was time to go they gave them their blessing and sent them out with prayer. So on the 14th February 1998 the Fellowship was started and they rejoiced in YHWH for His guidance.
Dennis resigned from pastoring Saturday Christian Fellowship to serve God in other areas with the last day being 28th December 2013. Gary Woodward (and his wife, Melody) took over and did a wonderful job until circa mid 2020 when he was forced to step down due to needing to spend more time on other commitments. At present the Fellowship is kept going by the work being far more spread around with some items now having to be put aside.