July 14, 2023 Newsletter

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF AN INTERIM MODERATOR

On Sunday, July 9, 2023, the Rev. Kathy Firth took a few minutes prior to the beginning of the service to outline her role as an Interim Moderator.

Rev. Firth advised that there are four areas for which she has responsibility:

Crisis Pastoral Care – Rev. Firth will support our pastoral needs as much as possible; in particular, crisis needs such as funerals, hospitalization, or any other unexpected events. The Care Committee will continue to address non-crisis needs. All requests should be directed to Mary Jeffrey so that she might make Rev. Firth aware of the situation.

Search Committee – Rev. Firth advised that she has met twice with the Search Committee. The Search Committee will look at all data previously gathered from our congregation and determine what additional information is needed. At an appropriate time in the future, the Search Committee will seek additional input from the congregation.

Pulpit Supply – Originally, Rev. Firth wanted to find as many different ministers as possible to lead our worship services so that during this transition time, we could experience a variety of preaching styles. However, it is very difficult to find pulpit supply as there are so many churches without ministers. Ministers who are willing to do pulpit supply are booked well in advance. However, Rev. Firth has been able to find ministers willing to lead our services in August, September and October. The winter months will be more difficult as many ministers are not available during the winter months.

Moderator of Session – Rev. Firth will moderate Session meetings, write reports for Presbytery, serve as a liaison between Session and Presbytery and use her connections to get the best possible answers for questions/issues we might have.

Rev. Firth is very interested in getting to know us, so there may be additional support she can provide for us. Please continue to advise her of meetings and events. She will attend when possible.

It’s been some time since our Outreach team has provided you with an update on the new Ukrainian family we are supporting in partnership with Fairview Baptist Church. You may recall when Nataliia, Vlad and Yarik returned home that we were able to offer their apartment to the family being sponsored by Fairview. We negotiated an arrangement in which St. Andrew’s and Fairview could cover the rental costs and so enable Snizhanna and her daughter to move into Nataliia’s former apartment. Snizhanna was able to move into a place which had already been furnished by St. Andrew’s for Nataliia. Many of you were introduced to Snizhanna at Nataliia’s farewell party and some of you have already enjoyed her homemade perogies. Snizhanna makes delicious perogies and you can contact me if you might be interested in purchasing some.

Snizhanna is working full time at Hill’s Florist. We are all grateful to Roger Hill for offering her a full time job. He tells me “She is a wonderful worker.” Her daughter Ivona has just graduated from kindergarten at St Dominic School and is going into grade one in September.

A visit to their apartment is always highlighted by a tour of their large balcony gardens featuring herbs, vegetables and flowers. Snizhanna has a degree in agronomics and their garden is a testimony to her love of plants. We had a wonderful outing to the strawberry patch topped off with homemade strawberry perogies.

I have enjoyed quite a few visits at their new home and they are making adjustments to life in Canada. She is anxious of course about her husband who continues as a soldier in the war. Recently a close friend was killed and just this week her home city of Sumy was attacked by a barrage of missiles. It is a blessing to be able to help this young mom and her daughter.

And a quick update on Nataliia…..They have returned to Ukraine and have reconnected with their family. They are living in a rural area outside Kharkov.

Several do correspond with her regularly and they are safe, well and happy to be reunited with family. They are also praying for the end to the constant noise of sirens, the continued destruction and the loss of lives. But they are happy to be close to family and to be able to support their parents.

Dianne Dalton, On Behalf of Outreach Ministry

UPDATE FROM THE SEARCH COMMITTEE

The Search Committee met for the second time on June 26, 2023. Members had been asked to email questions to the Interim Moderator that they would like to ask candidates in the future. The questions were posted on chart paper by the Interim Moderator and then analyzed by the group. There were two purposes for this exercise. The first was to begin to develop a list of potential questions for the interview to add to those provided by the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The second was to determine the attributes, skills, and experiences the search committee believe are important in a minister.

Our next meeting will be at the end of July. The focus of this meeting will be to compare the questions gathered with the input received from the congregation during our new beginnings and renewing fellowship meetings. The purpose of this is to refine and identify what further feedback we need from the congregation to develop a list of questions for ministerial candidates.

Prayer Meetings: Every 2nd & 4th Wednesday at 7 pm. Next meeting is on July 26.

Remember when we collected Canadian Tire Money and donated it to A Place Called Home? We recently gave $30.25 in Canadian Tire money to APCH. They will be able to get that converted into a money card. If you have any Canadian Tire money stashed away that you would like to donate, please leave it in the labelled compartment outside the north entrance to the sanctuary.