Dear WCV,

Thank you to everyone who came and participated in our AGM / community meeting on Monday evening. It was our most well attended and passionate AGM in years. This is wonderful, primarily because it indicates that you care – deeply. Thank you as well, for everyone who shared their thoughtful questions, insights, emotion, confessions and suggestions. It was very helpful for the leadership team as we continue to navigate this season… and we believe God was honoured by the whole evening.

We ran out of time, but thankfully, there will be more opportunities to be together, ask questions, ratify the budget, and share together. We want to outline those opportunities here as well as let you know of a few actions that are a direct result of hearing from you on Monday.

Drop-in:

We so appreciated hearing the heart and dismay behind the loss of Suhail’s position and the suspension of Drop-in. This sentiment was very clear. We’ve resolved to not just pause Drop-in until we can re-envision it, but rather to work at getting it going again as soon as possible, and then engage a re-visioning process with all the stake-holders. Like was stated on Monday, none of these decisions were easy to make. The BOD and Lay Elders agonized over the salary decisions (Andy, Jodi & Suhail weren’t involved in these specific discussions). We knew that these reductions would have a direct impact on various ministries as the staff worked out the implications on reduced time. At this point we can see that we should have kept Drop-in going. We will work to make it right. If you’re interested in volunteering in any capacity, please contact the office.

Input and Care:

Like we mentioned at the meeting, we have a number of initiatives planned. None of these will be perfect nor will any one initiative work for everybody. For example, not everyone will have the time or the personality to speak up at a community meeting. We hope, however, that cumulatively we will reach as many of you as possible. While these initiatives are not necessarily decision making times we do want to listen deeply, and lead carefully, all towards healing and moving forward together. To that end:

1) Survey

Watch for a simple survey that will be an opportunity to input into the life of the church. We need to know where you’re at, what you’re feeling, what you view as the greatest challenges, as well as our unique opportunities right now.

2) Talking Circles

We’ve had one, we’re going to have more. This Sunday (March 17), 12pm. Bring a bag lunch – childcare will be provided onwards from April 7th till May 12th (excluding Easter). These are opportunities to share where you’re at, unto healing. There will be a number of them planned around curated topics.

3) Next Community Meeting

At this point our next window for a meeting is the end of April. Spring break, the Imaginarium, the Men’s Retreat, and Easter are all factors in this timing. Watch for the date.

4) Reach out

We are open to hearing perspectives, concerns, prophetic nudges, etc. Please reach out to the Elders, who represent you in leadership. Both the pastoral and lay elders are available.

We encourage you to read the AGM booklet – physical copies are available at the info table, or you can email the office to ask for a digital copy. Unfortunately, there is no audio recording available of the meeting. There were some technical difficulties.

Lastly, a huge thank you for hanging in there during a difficult season. Thank you, too, for your prayers, support and encouragement. We are in this together, and God is with us. This, of course, is our great hope! Good things are in store for us as a community as we press in. Let’s keep it real, keep it focused on Jesus, and keep leaning into God as we do the work of loving God and each other. Let the Kingdom come!