Dear friends,
The CBWC Board met on Friday and Saturday April 8 and 9 with our President Laura Nelson leading our time together. The Board meets 3 times per year; or as Larry Nelson, our governance consultant noted, the Board meets for 30 hours over a 12-month period. The hundreds of hours that go into the preparation for these meetings offsets the brief time we gather as a Board face to face. The reference to “hundreds of hours” may seem at first glance an exaggeration. Not so. Let me expand. Our financial audit, fiscal reporting, audit and finance reports are in and of themselves preparation intensive. There are over a dozen ministry and administrative reports and many other initiatives. It is these other initiatives that we now turn our attention to.
- At our April 8th and 9th Board meeting we received board education in governance from Larry Nelson. Larry is familiar to many as the former Executive Director of the Fellowship Baptist Housing Society, former Chair of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, and also Chair of Canadian Fellowship Baptists. He is an accountant and does executive searches and placements for many not-for-profits, Regent College, Trinity Western University, and found our own Victor Ku four years ago.
- We worked through an approach and asked for a working document on assisting churches in difficulty (the subject of a recent newsletter).
- We received a detailed report on how we might offer retired pastors and staff post-retirement benefits.
- Bob Webber reported on the team being assembled and trained for Legacy, Wills and Bequests; a task formerly done by the CBWC Foundation but now fully the CBWC’s responsibility (with some technical assistance from the CBWC Foundation).
- We celebrated the September Board meeting decision to launch the Church Health Assessment work of Sam Breakey and team; the fruit of which has been seen in 5 churches served with 6 pending.
- The CBWC Board met with the CBWC Foundation Board for 2 hourson Saturday morning.
- Tim Kerber reported on several regional gatherings that sought feedback on the future of the CBWC family of churches.
- Further discussion and planning occurred to establish a student Undergrad cohort in Calgary with ongoing discussions with Ambrose.
- We talked about the upcoming Online Gathering 2016 and encouraged all to attend. Registration is now open on our website at cbwc.ca/events/assembly.
Well, there you have a beginning.
Warmly,
In Christ,
Jeremy Bell