The Board of Elders met on Tuesday, May 24, 2022.
During our devotional time, the Board members and guests viewed a video from National Office presented by Rev. Dr. Keith Taylor, current President of the Alliance in Canada. The first line of the vision prayer for the Christian & Missionary Alliance is “O God, with all our hearts, we long for You.” In the video, President Taylor discussed what it means to long for God. We are not meant to be somebody, but to know Somebody. Psalm 32 “Oh God with all our hearts we long for you”. It’s about knowing Jesus. Are you satisfied with his love for you? A time of prayer followed.
The national conference of our family of churches will be held July 5-8 in Sherwood Park, Alberta. A time of discussion and discernment regarding the Director’s Report for General Assembly occurred. Two policies were considered: “Policy and Procedure for Sexual Misconduct of Official Workers and Churches” and the “Statement and Guidelines on Family and Marriage”. Another area of concern was the decrease in the number of International Workers in recent years. These items were referred to the delegation being sent from our church (Al Fedorak, Wayne Bernakevitch, and Kirk Cowman) to bring forward at General Assembly. If you desire to read the full General Assembly report of the National President and Directors, please contact the church office.
Our Fiscal Year End is June 30, 2022; it was noted that we are slightly behind in our giving goal for the Ministry Fund. Finishing our fiscal year well will allow us to begin our new fiscal and ministry year starting from a position of strength, able to move forward with the initiatives that God has placed on the hearts of our leaders. Your contributions to our current budget are
most appreciated. Staff have been busy preparing Ministry Action Plans and a budget that will accomplish the mission and vision of Living Hope in 2022-23. These plans will be reviewed at the Core Ministry Team Meeting on June 14 and the budget will be reviewed at the board meeting on June 28.
Our search to fill our vacant staff positions continues. We are pleased to announce that Karen Gatschene has been hired on a six-month contract as our Director of Children’s Ministry. Together with Pastor Shauna, Karen will give direction to our Children’s Ministry team on Sundays, during Midweek, and for Kids Camps. We are currently conducting interviews for the Worship Arts Pastor position; more details will follow when available.
The Nominating Committee will soon be meeting to fill elder positions for the new ministry year, in preparation for the Annual General Meeting, which will be held on September 25, 2022. This year the Nominating Committee is inviting members to submit names of members that they believe fit the Biblical criteria of an elder and could serve on this key leadership team. Names must be submitted to the chair of the Nominating Committee (Pastor Kirk) along with the support of two additional members. For more information or to receive a nomination package, please contact Pastor Kirk (kirk@mylivinghope.ca). Names must be submitted by June 30, 2022, for consideration.
Your Board of Elders:
Kevin Gatschene (Chair) Kirk Cowman (Lead Pastor)
Rick Orban (Vice-Chair) Deji Oyetuga
Shannon Vinter (Treasurer) Lola Sotomi
Gwendolyn Schroeder (Secretary)
