My friends, this week our pastors and delegates will have full access to the General Conference agenda and reports. Their job is now to bring these reports to their boards / leadership teams in order to discuss. At General Conference there will be “town hall” meetings on the Thursday and Friday evenings. These will be opportunities to bring questions, concerns or suggestions to committees. These town halls are designed to facilitate discussion and potentially help shore up, or even strengthen resolutions and recommendations.
There are only two resolutions which will be voted on, “Final Destiny” (presented by Study Commission on Doctrine) and one regarding re-affirming our doctrines (sponsored by a few pastors). Each of these will have a town hall.
Study Commission on Doctrine and Board of Administration each have items which do not require a General Conference vote because they both fall into Chapter 6 of The Manual (which requires only a BOA vote); however, each of these committees wanted our churches to have opportunity to speak into their respective items in a town hall. Before BOA finally votes on each of these later this year, they wanted General Conference to have considered them, and informed them. One is regarding a Biblical statement about the sacredness of celibacy in singleness, and the other is about creation care.
Our delegates and pastors have been asked to prepare their hearts. Psalm 51 is the key passage. Four of our own pastors have been prayerfully preparing to open up this passage with us during General Conference. The speaker for our first session is Jessica LaGrone, who is the Dean of Chapel at Asbury Seminary. I have invited her to consider the same passage, and theme “Imagine” as well as incorporate any lessons for us from the recent Asbury revival.
We don’t have to “imagine” what it means to go through a difficult and very unusual season – we have traveled that together. We do know that in this next season some will leave us because of theological convictions, which is deeply sad, but we can imagine leaving in peace and with mutual blessing. We can imagine, out of God’s imagination, what it looks like to rediscover what it means to have each other to travel with. We are a connected Church eager now to live into the oneness that Jesus prayed for us in John 17. Imagine each of us living into the humility, gentleness, patience and forbearance Paul wrote about in Ephesians 4. We can imagine what finances look like as each of us live into our covenant to CORE, which leads to blessing corporately and within the tithing local church. Finally, I pray that we imagine what it looks like for each church family to thirst for deepening prayer lives which are not limited to the local church but extend to us as a movement.
GENERAL CONFERENCE SUNDAY SERVICE
Our General Conference Sunday church service will be live streamed at 10:00 am EDT on Sunday, April 28, 2024, for those churches wishing to take part. The links to that live stream will be sent out shortly.
Tuesdays: Cliff’s Notes
Check out all the latest photos from around the FMCiC here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fmc-gallery/
Do you know someone who would like to receive CliffsNotes? They can now sign up through the website at: https://fmcic.ca/cliffsnotes-signup/
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rev. Brenda Haggett (Ordained Minister) – status changed from “Chaplain-Brockville General Hospital, Brockville, ON” to “Retired”, effective March 21
ORDINATION SERVICES
April 14, 2024 at 2:00 pm ET – Pastor Yves Anthonuel, Eglise Evangelique des Mille-Iles, Laval, QC
2024 WESLEY CONFERENCE – The Living Word: Transformative Encounters with Scripture
Tyndale University in Toronto is hosting this year’s “pre-conference” event on April 24, the day before General Conference begins.
Rev. Dr. Jessica LaGrone, Dean of the Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary is the keynote speaker. Dr LaGrone will give two talks centred around the theme “The Living Word: Transformative Encounters with Scripture.”
There will also be breakout sessions on a range of practical and theological issues, including preaching, parenting, prayer, grief, the problem of evil, and animal ethics. Free Methodist presenters include David Schuchardt, Joy McEwen, and Steve Tungate (FMCUSA).
The Lorne Park Foundation is offering to pay the registration for up to fifty Free Methodists (lay or ordained) to attend the conference in person.
***If you would like one of these free spots, please register here by April 10 (do not register through the Tyndale website or Eventbrite page):*** https://fmcic.wufoo.com/forms/wesley-conference-april-24-2024/
You can find out more about the event here: https://www.tyndale.ca/seminary/wesley-studies/annual-symposium
Attendance at this pre-conference is worth 6 hours of required Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for Ordained and Commissioned Ministers.
FOUNDATIONAL COURSES https://fmcic.ca/foundational-courses/
Register online through the link above (Tuition payment is not required when registering for a course. Payment is due 10 days before the course begins.)
Lay Ministers tracking for credentialed ministry and those transferring ordination credentials into the FMCIC need to take the following two courses for full credit – and if possible, the Heart course first and then Wesleyan Theology.
Heart of Canadian Free Methodism:
June 7-9, 2024 – location TBA*
Wesleyan Theology:
November 8-10, 2024 – location TBA*
(click here for other options to take this course)
Ministerial Candidates tracking for Commissioned or Ordained Minister are required to take the following two courses for full credit. Those who are already commissioned or ordained are required to either audit these two courses for 1 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) each or take the two courses and complete the assignments for 3 CEUs each.
Culture and the Missional Church:
Date and location TBA*
Personal Stewardship:
5-week online course – Start Date TBA
(* These course locations are selected based on where the majority of the participants reside – so please register early!)
2024 SCHOLARSHIPS https://fmcic.ca/scholarships/
LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP PLAN (LSP) [APPLY TWICE PER YEAR]:
The Leadership Scholarship Plan (LSP) provides financial assistance to candidates who are studying to meet the educational requirements for credentialed ministry, or for members of conference pursuing continuing education.
[PLEASE NOTE: The FMCiC preference for LSP is for students to attend one of the approved schools on this list. However, if you decide to apply to a non-approved school, you must first send a request to the Credentialing Coordinator (click here for details).
October 15 is the next deadline to apply for LSP for any courses taken during the winter semester of 2024. The 2024 application forms and instructions are available to download from the link above. Please use the application forms marked “rev 2024.”
SPECIAL SCHOLARSHIPS [APPLY ONCE PER YEAR]:
The Special Scholarships provide financial assistance to those who are members of a Free Methodist church pursuing post-secondary education to grow in their Christian faith, to those who are pursuing credentialed ministry, and to members of conference pursuing continuing education.
October 15 is the deadline to apply for the annual Special Scholarships for courses taken during the 2024 calendar year – apply online anytime from the link above. Special Scholarships are awarded in late November/early December each year.
CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS (CEU’S) https://fmcic.ca/introduction-to-continuing-education/
Ordained and Commissioned Ministers (except retirees) are to annually report hours acquired during each year for Continuing Education Units (CEUs).
Send a report online anytime you have hours to submit for CEUs: https://fmcic.wufoo.com/forms/continuing-education-unit-ceu-report-form/
Note: For those who attend the fall Minister’s Conferences or the spring Regional Gatherings, attendance is now taken at these events so 6 hours of CEU credit for each event will automatically be recorded.
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CHURCHES IN TRANSITION
Interviewing
Brampton, ON – Bramalea FM Church
Brantford, ON – The Open Door Church
Marmora, ON – Marmora FM Church
Nepean ON – Arlington Woods FM Church
Seeley’s Bay, ON – Pine Grove Community Church
Sombra, ON – Zion FM Church
Church Profiles Available
To review the church profiles that are available, please contact Lorilee Bishop in the Church Health Office at lorilee.bishop@fmcic.ca – [deadline to apply in brackets]
Newmarket, ON – New Hope Methodist Church (Full-Time) [April 2]
Preparing Profiles
Once these church profiles become available, they will be listed above as “Church Profiles available” .
Belleville, ON – Belleville Centennial FM Church (Rev. Rodney Peterson retiring Aug 31/24)
Campbellford, ON – Campbellford FM Church (Rev. Leonard Bruce – Interim Pastor)
Cloyne, ON – Pineview FM Church
Dryden, ON – Dryden FM Church
Frankford, ON – Frankford Community Church
Godfrey, ON – Cole Lake FM Church
Kingston, ON – Kingscourt FM Church (Pastor Jordan Ruby – Interim Pastor)
Mississauga, ON – Grace FM Church (Rev. Steve Cylka – Interim Pastor)
Orillia, ON – Church on the Hill (Pastor Velma Shewfelt – Interim Pastor)
Richmond Hill, ON – Richmond Hill FM Church (Rev. Louis Leung – Interim Pastor)
Tillsonburg, ON – Open Arms Church
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Associate Pastor of Connections – Chapel Ridge FMC
Part-time Worship Leader – New Hope Methodist Church
Tearfund Canada – Summer Internship Opportunities
