To see all the restrictions removed that had been in place for the building and meeting with people, including having fellowship around coffee and meals, has been wonderful. We have also seen many faces showing up in the building that we had not seen in a long time; what a joy to be able to fellowship with these people in person and welcome them back!
I believe we are starting to see healing in relationships that had been strained, and we are grateful for a God that is interested in restoring and not condemning people. May we be like Jesus as we see people come back into fellowship. We are also seeing that God is bringing new people into the building. What a blessing to welcome these people in and begin to build relationships with them.
We are grateful for each of you who have been faithful in your giving and in listening to what God would have you donate to the work that He has called us as CrossRoads Church to do. We continue to stand amazed at God’s faithfulness in the finances and that we continue to “run in the black” in all ministries.
As a Board, we had one of our members ask to step down so that he could focus on some personal things going on in his life, and so we reluctantly released Trevor Schultz from the Board to work through the things he needs to at this time. This leaves us seeking to fill two positions on the Board, and so we have been diligently seeking the Lord in prayer, refining the role profile for an Elder, and tapping a couple of people on the shoulder to consider if God is calling them to serve in this manner.
The Central Alberta Outreach sub-committee had a couple of people move on, creating an opening for some new members. We welcomed Paul Rew and Chantel Mangan to serve on the committee and a new Board representative Benno Fath to review applications from organizations requesting funds in Central Alberta. A great big thank you to each person who serves on this committee, including Gord Kingcott (Chair) and Rob Mudde (staff representative), who are so vital to this important yet fun work.
As a Board, we have also added a Search Committee, which is busy working on the succession plan for replacing Dan as our Senior Pastor. This committee is chaired by Jordan Polson and has Brad Vonkeman, Doug MacDormand, Justin Muchinsky and Kendra Berniko as members to represent various areas of the church from our membership, families, and leadership.
As an update on the search that is going on, the committee has put a role profile together for the next Senior Pastor along with an opportunity profile. We have job postings on some select sites and areas. This committee also analyzed the work that our young adults, the congregation as a whole, and our Pastoral Team did last spring as to what was important to each of these groups. The committee has also spent much time researching and listening to people who could potentially fill this vital role. We have also been looking at what characteristics are critical, important, and nice to have in the next Senior Pastor.
In all of this, we have tried to carve out more time for prayer in our meetings and personally around this important work, for we know that God has a plan, and we need to take the necessary time to listen to what He is saying to us and to work at moving our own personal bias out of the way.
There is still much work to be done, and we continue to work hard at this task, but we know that God is well-able and already has a divine plan. May we hear Him well.
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts, and whatsoever you do, whether in work or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” - Colossians 3:15-17
