Area Church Minister, Congregational & Pastoral Relations– January 14, 2017

Recent and OngoingInvolvements:

-Spoke at Mount Royal MC on Nov 27

-Attended the Area Church/Conference Minister Bi-National Gathering in Vancouver, which also included two days of ESG (MC Canada Executive Staff Group Meetings)

-Visited with Peace Mennonite Church in Regina at Dec 6

-Attended the Walking the Path Meeting

-I was invited to RJC for a “brainstorming” meeting in regards to the development of new office space. RJC has invited MC Sask to consider moving our offices to RJC.

-Traveled to Winnipeg for ESG and Interim Council meetings on Dec 10.

-Spoke at Hoffnungsfelder Church (Glenbush) and installed Celeste Wright as their new pastor on Dec 11.

-Attended the P2P Christmas Banquet on Dec 12.

-Ken, Kirsten and I travelled to Carrot River to meet with their council.

-Spoke at Hanley Mennonite and met with their church to discuss MC Sask/MC Canada changes on Dec 18.

-Took some time off at Christmas

-Held an entrance interview for Zach Dueck and an ordination interview with Josh Wallace

-Visits with pastors and church leaders

-Spoke at Zoar, Waldheim on Jan 8

Upcoming:

-Jan 15, I will be speaking at Grace Mennonite Church, Regina and meeting with their leadership regarding MC Sask/MC Canada.

-Jan 16, I will be traveling up to PA to meet with Ray Funk, Heather Driedger and Leonard Doel to begin planning for this summer’s Spruce River Folk Festival

-Jan 17 I travel to Vancouver for two days of ESG meetings

-Jan 22, Kirsten and I will install Zach Dueck and licence him for Specified Ministry at Mont Royal Mennonite Church.

-Jan 29 I will speak at Tiefengrund Mennonite Church.

-I will be attending ReNew: Resourcing Pastor’s for Ministry in Winnipeg, Feb 6-8.

Future Directions Proposal

The ESG (Executive Staff Group) has been working with Keith Regehr to get an initial draft of a proposal for our church. Our hope is this document will be view by councils in January and then delegates at Regional Church Assemblies through the winter. Working groups have also started their work. After feedback is given by the Area Churches and the working groups, a final proposal will be sent out in June with movement towards approval at an October national gathering in Winnipeg.

Visioning/Renewal in MC Sask

Just before Christmas, I emailed out the final proposal regarding intentional visioning/renewal within MC Sask led by Betty Pries. We have talked back and forth and I feel good about this final proposal. There will be four steps to the process. First, an initial survey will be sent out to pastors and other leaders within MC Sask to get our juices flowing. Secondly, she will take that information and present it at our first gathering on April 28 & 29. This day will also include our Spring Pastor’s Gathering and our Spring Leadership Assembly (hopefully, still working on some details). Following this gathering, those who attend will be invited into a time of listening and prayer in preparation for stage 3, a retreat in September with those who participated in the first gathering. Finally, after collecting this data, we will work with Betty at presenting our direction at ADS 2018, where Betty will be our main speaker. The cost for her involvement and guidance will be $8500 split over two years. Some of those costs will be recouped at the ADS and some of the other gatherings. It is my hope this will be a fruitful time as we explore being MC Sask today. Once we get final approval today (Jan 14, 2017), we will put this into full motion.