Transition Team Update

The Transition Team would like to provide a review of the transition work that we have done in the last few months and look ahead to what will be happening.

As you may recall, we did many Listening Sessions with you last year. We presented a report at the end of September summarizing what we heard from you. There were several recommendations about what to do as we continue to move forward in our transition process.

More work has been done since that report.

In October and November 2023, with some input from the Board, we worked diligently to discern and determine the topics for some Congregational Conversations  We also planned out a potential timeline of our church’s continuing transition process in this year.

Also in November, the staff worked hard in a retreat to further support their team building and communication.

In December, the Transition Team presented the timeline to the Board.

Here we are, January 2024!

We are excited to share with you the Congregational Conversations we have planned for January to March.

What are Congregational Conversations, you may ask. These are gatherings for all of us to sit down together to learn about various topics that are relevant to the continuing learning and growth of this faith community, while we are in our transition journey. These Conversations will be about 1.5 hours each.

On Sunday, Jan 28, during worship, we will have a special time when we acknowledge the turmoil and pain that we individually and collectively, as a faith community, experienced more than a year ago. Together, we will release the past hurt into God’s hand and covenant with God and each other in the upcoming transition journey.

After worship, and over a light lunch, we will have our first Congregational Conversation entitled “Transition.” Besides learning the difference between “change” and “transition,” together we will reflect on our individual experience of transition, our faith community’s experience of transition and the role of leadership during transitions.

Please RSVP here or call the church office.

February 2024

On February 10, a Saturday, the Moderator of the United Church of Canada, Rev Dr Carmen Lansdowne will facilitate a full-day event called, Flourishing. Rev Carmen invites us to connect to one another in hope, with a deep conviction by a belief that, despite all the challenges of church life in this day and age, we can move from despair to transformation—from languishing to flourishing. We will engage in reflection and energizing activities around these questions:
How might we truly be a flourishing church in the world? How might we live in deep spirituality,
bold discipleship and daring justice, that transforms us and the world around us?

Flourishing will be held at Jubilee United Church in Metrotown. 

On February 25, also after worship and over a light lunch, we will have another Congregational Conversation entitled “Open Hearts, Open Minds.” One of the focuses here is for us to become aware of our own unconscious values, biases, perceptions, power and influence, which will invariably have impact on each other and our faith community. We hope that by becoming more self-aware, we will become more mindful when we communicate, relate with each other and work together as a church.

March 2024

The date of this Congregational Conversation is yet to be confirmed, because it needs to be confirmed with Kathy Davies, who will be facilitating the Conversation. Kathy is the Regional Minister of the United Church’s Pacific Mountain Region. The topic of this interesting Conversation will be around Communication. We get to reflect on and practise how to stay connected, find common ground and continue dialoguing when there are differences in
opinions or values, or when there are polarities.

For April, the plan is for the Board, Staff, and M & P to engage in a training on Decision-making, tools for Communication and Consultation. This will be facilitated by Kathy Davies as well.

We invite you all to come to these Conversations. Every single one of you is important to this faith community. It is only with your participation in these Congregational Conversations and this process that our transition journey can be meaningful and successful.

Please contact any member of the Transition Team for questions and comments. Team members: Rev. Karen Millard, Mary Yan, Neil Jorgensen, Roger Eastwood; Rev Graham Brownmiller & Rev Carla Wilks.