We had amazing and productive board meetings on March 2nd and 3rd at the Carey Centre in Vancouver.
I would like to thank Hazel Shek, Esther Kitchener, David Carlson, Jo-Anne Cosier and Shelby Gregg for all their help and hospitality.
The spring “Boards” were preceded by an Executive Staff day on March 1st.
The current members of the BUWC Board are listed at the end of this newsletter for your reference.
The current Table Officers (Vice-Presidents) are Beth Millard (Planning), Marshall Miner (Personnel and Program), and David Connop (Finance). As well, the current Chair is Sam Chaise; Senior Minister at Olivet in New Westminster. The following people will be leaving the Board this year: Marshall Miner, Joan Wilton, John Huh, and Harold Corbett .
Our next outgoing President Sam Chaise is an old friend (he was an Associate at Kits when I was Senior and in the Lord’s humour and timing he is the one I report to in my present position). Sam is a clear and visionary thinker who allows lively debate and yet insists on a conclusion and action. He has led us through several changes. He is also part of the planning committee for the upcoming Assembly, and I have asked him to take the remainder of the newsletter to talk to you about them.
I was very encouraged by the discussions around Rocky Mountain College, Urban Camping and Clergy Care and Congregational Resourcing. I was not pleased with the challenges we have around funding.
Warmly,
In Christ,
Jeremy Bell
******
What exactly is a “BUWC Assembly”? It’s not quite a conference; it’s not quite a retreat; it’s not quite a vacation; it’s not quite a church meeting. In truth, it’s a little bit of all of these things.
I looked up “assembly” in the dictionary, and it said: “an assembling or coming together of a number of persons, usually for a particular purpose.” So then, we could say that the BUWC Assembly is “an assembling or coming together of BUWC churches, for several purposes.”
We’ll come together to see a bigger picture of what God is doing in Western Canada. We’ll hear God-stories that are happening in other churches and ministries, and by doing so, will be encouraged to see the God-story that is happening in our church/ministry.
We’ll drink coffee.
We’ll come together to be refreshed and challenged. This year our keynote speaker is Mark Holmen, author of Faith Begins at Home, who will help us think about how Children & Family ministry can be encouraged in the local church.
We come together to celebrate. We’ll worship our great God, we’ll enjoy His Creation (fairly easy to do, in Banff!), and we’ll discover how active He is among us.
We’ll drink more coffee.
We’ll meet new friends, and perhaps re-connect with some old ones. And as we do that, our sense of community will grow and we will discover the common identity we have as God’s people.
We’ll make some decisions together. Most BUWC ministry happens in local settings – in churches and camps and so forth – but we also have an infrastructure/organization that supports and encourages and empowers local ministry. At this Assembly we’ll decide on a new way of governing our organization, and we’ll also decide on a series of budgets for the next few years.
Then we’ll drink more coffee.
We’ll have fun! We have two great music groups coming, to lead us in worship and to entertain us. Steve Bell will be in concert on Saturday night. And, of course, we’ll enjoy Banff! It’s hard to have a bad time in Banff . . . and remember, what happens in Banff stays in Banff. 🙂
This year we’ve shifted our Assembly onto Friday-Sunday (instead of Thursday-Saturday) specifically so that people who are working will still be able to come (and, hopefully, only have to miss one day of work). So please encourage “younger” (however you want to define that) people to come, and pray that their employer is flexible re: their work schedule.
Your church has already received promotional materials and Registration Forms for Assembly, so if you haven’t seen them or haven’t heard anything about it, call your church office to get more information. You can also access the brochure at: http://buwc.ca/Pdfs/AssemblyBrochure.pdf. Early Bird Registration ends on March 31.
Even if you can’t come, encourage people in your church to come, and please pray for all the preparations that are happening. Let’s make Assembly 2007 a great experience!
Grace and peace,
Sam Chaise
****
Sam Chaise President
Beth Millard VP Planning
beth.millard@shaw.ca
Marshall Miner VP Personnel and Program
mjminer@cintek.com
David Connop VP Finance
david_connop@telus.net
MEMBERS AT LARGE
Joan Wilton BC
John Huh AB
john_huh@yahoo.ca
Harold Corbett Heartland
MEMBERS NOMINATED BY AREAS
Jan Paasuke Alberta
jpaasuke@hotmail.com
Tim Kerber Alberta
Brian Lum Alberta
Glenn Rabuka BC
Judy Sears BC
Wayne Morgan BC
Debra-Jean Heartland
Devin Seghers Heartland
Heather Thomson Baptist Women’s President
EXECUTIVE STAFF / ADVISORY
Jeremy Bell Executive Minister
Brian Stelck President, Carey Hall
bstelck@careytheologicalcollege.ca
Jack Borchert President, BUDF
Dave Holten Director of Admin & Finance
John Prociuk Director of Ministries
Paul Pearce BC Area Minister
Sam Breakey AB Area Minister
Ken Thiessen Heartland Area Minister
EX-OFFICIO NON-VOTING
Glen Alexander Past President
Fay Puddicombe Chair, Carey Board
COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD
Dayle Medgett Chair, CHAPS
dayle@westviewbaptistchurch.ca
Darrin Hotte Chair, Camping Committee
INVITED GROUPS AS NECESSARY
Gary Nelson General Secretary, CBM
Faye Reynolds Women in Focus