Indigenous People’s Day Prayer

Posted on June 25, 2020 by Andy Wood

For those who are curious, here is the prayer I prayed on Sunday:

Indegenous Peoples Day Prayer

And today, on this National Indigenous Peoples Day, we give thanks for the First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples of our community and country. We acknowledge the Anishinabe, Cree, Oji-cree, Dakota, Dene and Metis peoples as the original stewards of this land. We acknowledge that we are on Treaty one territory. This treaty allowed settler people to live here and was signed in your name, God. We acknowledge this because we want to honour you, Jesus.

We say today that Indigenous Lives matter – and that all lives do not matter until all lives matter. Lord, we hold up to you the injustices that have been done and continue to be done against our Indigenous brothers and sisters. We look at the disproportionate representation of access to education, health care, clean water and opportunity in our province. We see the misrepresentation in the criminal justice system and Child and Family Welfare agencies. We see the missing and murdered girls and women. We see the child taken and the parent left behind. We see the generational trauma. God would you heal us and heal our society and heal our land? Would you free us from racism in our own hearts and in our institutions that shape us? May we be shaped by you, and by the values of your Kingdom. Let us deeply hear the voices that for too long have not been heard and may we find your Spirit’s whispers amidst the cries of the wounded, the hurting, the traumatized.

Creator, may our worship and prayers rise like smoke to mingle with your heart and may you breathe on us and fill us with your Spirit. May you walk with us as we navigate these peculiar and perilous times in which you are shaking the heavens and the earth. Guide us as we seek to be reconcilers. Give us eyes to see your hand moving amidst many who claim to be your agents, and ears to hear the whisper of your voice amidst the shouting throngs who claim to speak for you. We ask for discernment, patience and fortitude to walk in the way you have for us.

Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash

Job Posting Updates

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Andy Wood

We want you to be updated and in the know regarding the job postings we put early this year…

We had three strong applicants for our Pastoral Resource positions that we posted. A hiring committee was struck and we posted, did interviews, etc, and then Covid-19 hit. Not knowing the impact of this pandemic we decided to put the hiring process on pause for 60 days and reassess at that time. That timeframe has come and gone and not much is clearer so we have decided to put the process on pause indefinitely. This will give us time to properly evaluate and assess the community’s needs when we emerge from the Covid-19 reality. .

Regarding our Administration and Book-keeping positions, we are pleased to report that we have offered both positions to someone within the community who has vast experience in both accounting and systems management. He will be a great asset as we strive to create some structure that can serve the community and better enable us to accomplish our mission as a church. He will begin at the end of August. We can’t say who it is yet, because there are a few details that still need to be worked out on his end… but we will let you know as soon as we are able. Vanessa will continue until August at which time she will be transitioning to her new job at Calvin Christian School.

Dustin and Dynel Davidson have been serving as interim Youth director and interim Kids Ministry director respectively. They stepped into these positions in a very unique and challenging time. Both Dustin and Dynel agreed to serve until the end of this school year (June 30). Both have been working to help maintain a sense of connection to WCV for our younger generations. We will let you know developments in these important areas of church life as they unfold.

Leadership Transitions

Posted on June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Andy Wood

We are having some transitions in leadership occurring this year. Lay Elders and BOD members each have a three-year term with the possibilities of extension. We have a few Elders and one BOD member who have completed their terms (most with some extensions along the way).

We’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to Cliff & Krista Heide, Rod & Elisa Jersak, and Stephen Fligg for their wise and dedicated service to WCV these past number of years. The Heides and Jersaks have served on the Elder team and Stephen has been a BOD member for a number of years.

Meanwhile, Lindsay & Lois Ward, Rick & Luanne Hill, Cornelius & Tania Martens, and Christy Chan (pictures below) are going to be functioning as our Elder Team, recognizing that they are still prospective elders until they are ratified by the membership at our next AGM. This is yet to be scheduled.