While it has been a challenging year from a leadership vantage, stretching our Board of Elders and Staff in ways we have never experienced, God’s Spirit has been at work inviting us to trust in Him and depend on Him when our capacity was low and our wisdom thin.  Even when we did not think we had much to offer, God was working in very significant ways!  For example, as our church family has continued the rebound from the pandemic, God is literally reshaping Westwood.  Many have relocated to other communities or other local churches but our church family has also been the recipient of those relocating to our city, those seeking a faith family for the first time, and those who have come from a sister church locally.  Within this influx of people are many representing different nationalities such as First Nations, Syrian, Ukrainian, Ghanian, Nigerian, Iranian, Korean, Chinese to name several!  The Oasis ministry which began last September has had a big hand in this and this is so encouraging…but also stretching…for it means that our church family must not only open our hearts to other cultures but be willing to be shaped in our faith by these cultures as well.  This requires a willingness to learn, a posture of humility that we don’t know it all, and a commitment to do some things differently than that with which we may be comfortable.  And that’s good!

Our preaching and teaching ministry through our weekend worship services is also an area of note as I reflect back over this past year.  We live in culturally turbulent times which challenge many aspects of the Christian faith.  From the use of politically correct language, to questions around sanctity of life such as MAiD and abortion, to how a church loves well our LGBTQ+ friends and families while staying anchored to Jesus and the authority of the scriptures, to getting to the core issues of what it means to be human and made in the image of God…these are just a few samples of the cultural challenges of our day.  Yet, as we spent time in Jude, Daniel, and I Thessalonians this past year, we were confronted with the reality that followers of God from millennia ago together with the early church also had significant struggles striving to stay faithful to Him.  Thus, we can have confidence that we are not alone in our struggle and we can have confidence in how God has directed His followers how to live in His word.  Yet this is not particularly easy or comfortable.  It is no surprise that the Church in our day is feeling the cultural impact of holding “conservative” rather than “progressive” views in many of these areas noted above.  And in this past year, I have personally experienced the blows and backlash coming from those who do not align with our Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith.  While that can be discouraging, I’m encouraged by Paul’s words to Timothy reminding that I am to keep a “close watch on how I live and my teaching” both for my salvation and the salvation of those who watch and hear.  We will continue to build on the firm foundation of Jesus.  And I am more convinced than ever that we will continue to build our ministry on the scriptures as they have been passed down to us from the early church, scriptures which give us direction for all matters of faith and life, and which point us to an abundant life in Jesus!                     

This past year it has also been so encouraging to see our Youth Ministry thrive under the joint leadership of our many volunteer leaders!  With Amy Dobson providing team direction, this team of committed folks stand with and come around our teenagers with passion, love, and commitment.  You are so appreciated…THANK YOU!  While our Youth Pastor Search Team has been diligently at work discerning one to step into the role of Youth Pastor, our teenagers have been in really good hands.  Youth Nights are vibrant, community and relationships are a big part of what we do, and our youth know they are loved and a valuable part of our church family.  Additionally, we have a good number of youth and young adults serving in a discipleship program through Ness Lake Bible Camp either all year long or during the summer.  This is an amazing opportunity for discipleship and leadership development for our next generation and we must continue to support them in this!  At the time of this writing, the Search Team and Board of Elders will bring forward a recommendation at our AGM of an individual to serve as our Youth Pastor!  For this we are grateful!

We are hopeful that some of the ministry weight that has been shared by fewer people the past couple of years will begin to lift.  The recent hiring of Rolf Van Driesum as our Administrative Manager has already been noticed by me and Lord willing, the hiring of a Youth Pastor will go far in rebuilding our capacity.  We continue to pray for Pastor Craig in what has been a difficult health journey for him and his family.  We continue to trust that God will bring healing and hope to him and ask that the Westwood church family continue to support the Reimer family in prayer and encouragement.

Specific to Children’s Ministry and Twyla’s upcoming retirement, we also are beginning to imagine the road ahead.  Some initial discussions have begun at the Board of Elders centred on the significance of “family” and how the breakdown of family is a central feature in many cultural challenges we see before us.  Poverty, lack of educational opportunity, mental health such as anxiety and depression, poor nutrition, absence of structure and discipline, and custody challenges are all linked to the breakdown of families, a critical building block in the well being of a society and by extension a local church family.  Our school teachers and counsellors see this evidenced daily.  So how can the local church be a part of a preferred future where God’s design for family is championed while at the same time coming alongside those who have experienced the challenges of family breakdown and guiding them to a healthier future?  Our Board of Elders certainly does not have all the answers but we have asked the question, “do we need to think beyond offering a Sunday morning Children’s program (as valuable as that can be) to a larger vision of family?”  Twyla has been cultivating the soil for this kind of vision for a number of years and has done a remarkable job.  Yet as she experiences weekly, the challenges of administrative detail combined with managing many volunteers, there are significant limitations.  Moving forward with this kind of vision entails a refined ministry description, focused conversations with our parents and current children’s ministries leaders, and the desire to lean in with greater measure in terms of financial and human resources.  Currently, Westwood is home to some 106 family units bringing nearly 200 children from newborn through grade 5 to our Sunday morning Children’s Ministry program which gives a little insight into the scope of this demographic we currently serve.  In the coming weeks, plans will be underway to address an interim plan following June 30, even as we pray about the future.  Would you pray with the Board of Elders, Pastoral Staff, and our Children’s Ministry leaders as we trust God for the future?  If you have ideas about the future or would like to be a participant in planning for the future, please speak with me!

On a broader level, as we move into 2024, there are two areas that will be elevated in greater measure which the Pastoral Staff are already developing but need to be jointly owned by our Board of Elders as well.  The two areas are centred on helping disciples discover their calling and leadership development.  These aspects of our followership of Jesus are separate yet also linked in the life of the church.  We must help followers of Jesus understand how God has created them to be and give them appropriate tools to develop that knowledge so that they can live a purposeful life.  Out of that, God will raise up leaders, both to serve in our church but also beyond in our city and world.  We need to be active participants in developing and multiplying leaders in the Body of Christ.  The development of leaders in the local church, and in Westwood Church specifically, is an urgent issue, and not just for the purpose of filling spots on a Board of Elders.  Rather, we need to be developing leaders for the thriving of the Church in the generations to come!  I want to be a part of a church that continually invites, encourages, calls out, and develops leaders who will serve their generation.