Dear Friends,
We have just finished the last two of eight Celebration Dinners across Western Canada. Edmonton and the Central Alberta meeting in Clive. While there are a couple of unusual themes and observations I would like to make about these events, I primarily would like you to see the attached list of activities and collaborations that were suggested by the participants in each evening. These lists are a response by individual tables to Bob Webber’s questions as to “what we might do together”. They are simply suggestions but they also present the spontaneous response of people and potential prompting of future work together.
Faith Knoll, Assistant Registrar at Carey for the past 10 years, is retiring. Faith received her BA Honours Anthropology degree and her BSc in Nursing from the University of Saskatchewan as well as her MRE from Canadian Theological Seminary. After her education, Faith served 10 years with Arab World Ministries, now part of PIONEERS. She returned to Canada in 1995 and worked five years at Mt. Edwards Care Home in Victoria while caring for her parents. She started at Carey December 1st, 2004 with Cam Yates as Registrar.
Our prayers and thoughts go with Faith. We are thankful for her faithful 10 years at Carey as she retires to pursue other interests and challenges. Faith is a member of White Rock Baptist and incidentally, actually makes the best fruitcake I have ever eaten whether it be a favoured relatives recipes or Mark’s and Spencers.
Heartland Church Planting Director Appointed
By Cailey Morgan, Church Planting Assistant
It’s an exciting time in Church Planting with the CBWC. Our executive Coordinator and Director of the BC-Yukon Region’s church planting activities–Shannon Youell–has been with us since early this year and has already brought fresh energy and ideas to the table. Ron Orr, Alberta-NWT’s Church Planting Director, has been faithfully serving since the spring as well.
We’ve seen growth of our existing plants, and we look forward to introducing several new partnerships and local works to you in the coming months. We also look ahead to the further development of church planting initiatives in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, as we welcome Pastor Joell Haugan to our team as part-time Heartland Director starting January 2015.
Joell, who pastors at Community Baptist Church in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, shares some thoughts with us about his past, present and future ministry.
What is your experience in pastoring / church planting?
Joell Haugan: I’ve been a pastor for 23 years…. 13 of which were as a youth pastor and 20 of which have been with the CWBC in both Kitimat, BC and now here in Swift Current. Here in Saskatchewan we initiated a church plant in a very little town and hour and a half south of Speedy Creek. It was great to be involved in that ministry which, sadly, lasted only about five years. However, that planted in me a desire to see more churches started in any and every place! If we could get a church going (even for a little while) is a town of 20 people… surely they can be planted anywhere!
Cailey: Share some passions and joys in your current ministry?
JH: What we see here in Swift Current is a town that has been noticeably changed over the past decade. Immigration has literally changed the colour of our city and our church has changed right along with it. A body of believers that reflects the makeup of their community is a sign of health. Our blended ages and ethnic groups has been a blessing to this church which was planted only 25 years ago itself as part of a Heartland Area (then the Saskatchewan Area) initiative. I would love to be part of similar initiatives to see other areas blessed the way we have been here in Swift Current!
Cailey: What excites you most about your new role?
JH: The traditional models of church planting can still be a valuable model for ministry however, what excites me is that churches can pop up in so many different ways these days. I imagine that when existing churches simply open themselves up to the church birthing process we’ll see satellite churches, house churches, affinity churches, ethnic churches, multi-ethnic churches, inter-generational churches, front porch churches…. and some other types we haven’t even thought of!
Pray with us that the Holy Spirit would go before Joell and guide him as he seeks to catalyze, connect, and encourage new churches in the Heartland.
Warmly,
In Christ,
Jeremy