VISION IS A CLEAR MENTAL PICTURE OF A PREFERABLE FUTURE
WEEK 5: Remembering our recent journey & some news…
Let’s start with great news. What was supposed to be one week of focused prayer, 30 minutes every day at the beginning of January, became a few more weeks, to the end of January. It is now continuing into February. Attendance has been very encouraging, as FM’ers gather Monday-Saturday at noon EST to pray for FMCiC and Canada!
Pastors, prayer-leaders, boards, church family we’d like to invite you not to miss out on this prayer initiative. We are hoping that each local church will choose one day this month to lead a session. The National Prayer Team will host the event, as your church is responsible to lead a very brief devotional, something that God may be saying to you, to us, from His Word. By brief we mean only a couple of minutes max. Your church then simply invites us to pray. Perhaps you have a particular burden which your church would like us to pray into? And then at 12:30 EST, your church is responsible to close in prayer and perhaps a blessing.
Time-zones make it a little tricky, if Salmon Arm, Kamloops, Surrey, Mission, New Westminster would like to be involved, for example, but noon EST is not a good time, please contact Ken Roth the National Prayer Team Leader and he will work out a plan with you! Ken Roth ken@chapelridge.ca
Contact Ken Roth to sign up for a day, or to talk time-zones! My friends, we need to ride this Spirit-wave… Join us any (or every) Monday-Saturday 12:00-12:30 PM EST click here for link
Now what about the two Senior Director roles? The Personnel Team, a wonderful, prayerful team, has been very busy interviewing, checking references, and prayerfully discussing. We did receive a number of quality resumes for the Senior Director of Church Health & Planting, however, we feel that we must re-post.
We are asking you to prayerfully consider who you feel might be a fit for this role. In fact, allow me to challenge you to ‘tap that person on the shoulder’: “hey, the Bishop asked us to pray about tapping someone on the shoulder who might be a good fit for this role, and you came to mind.”
The posting is open until the end of February, click here to review.
As for the role of Senior Director of Administrative Services, we have wonderful news to role out in the next few days!! Thank you for your prayers.
And remember…February is Black History Month! The Intercultural Engagement Team, as well as the Racial Justice and Ethnic Equity Task Force will be rolling out resources and information this week that I would encourage you to use in your churches and share with your congregations.
Finally, “week 5” in remembering. Recognizing that we had little global mission impact, with few (and soon, none) nationally sponsored missionaries, we regrouped, and restructured missions. It became the INTERCULTURAL ENGAGEMENT TEAM. This team was tasked to consider our mission at home first. Did we have the moral authority to minister outside of Canada? What would those who live within Canada say about the Church and her ministry of reconciliation, mercy, justice, love?
The IET set out a map to consider our national work, and international work. The national focus would include teaming up with the likes of international student ministries, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s “peace and reconciliation” steps.
Internationally we leaned into our partnerships with International Child Care Ministries and Tearfund. We invited them to step into the limelight and re-introduce themselves to us and the great global opportunities these FM partners offer local churches. Of course, we continued to focus on our partnerships with Ghana (who recently became an Annual Provisional Conference, another step towards becoming their own Conference), and Sri Lanka (we created a SL Team of FMCiC churches to help).
You’ll see in the Ministry Plan that the next IET step is to give Adam, the IET leader more hours to lead this ministry – this will require you giving to the IET Giving Stream.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN
2nd Tuesday of each month: What’s Got You Thinking?
(New editions of ‘What’s Got You Thinking?’ will resume a little later in the year)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rev. Kevin Tompkins – Lead Pastor, Cole Lake FMC, Godfrey, ON – in transition, effective January 22
ORDINATION SERVICES
None scheduled
2023 FMCIC INTERNSHIP PROGRAM https://fmcic.ca/intern-prog/
The FMCiC Internship Program exists to build healthy leaders for The Free Methodist Church in Canada and beyond. We invite any local church interested in participating in the FMCiC internship program to review the detailed information on the website (see link above) and apply online. The deadline to apply for a 2023 FMCiC-sponsored internship is FEBRUARY 28, 2023.
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 2-4, 2023 – Uxbridge FMC, Uxbridge, ON
Wesleyan Theology:
November 3-5, 2023 – location TBA*
Also available:
- Tyndale University – https://www.tyndale.ca/seminary/wesley-studies
- Free Methodist Church-USA NEW! Anytime on Pathwright (multiple instructor choices)
- Self-paced, up to 8 months to complete
- 16-week intensive version, select Instructor Vaughan (session start dates: Feb. 27, May 1, June 26, Aug. 21, Oct. 16)
- Central Christian College Feb/23 online, 6 weeks, asynchronous
- Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan University
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!)
2023 SCHOLARSHIPS:https://fmcic.ca/scholarships/
LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP PLAN (LSP) [APPLY TWICE PER YEAR]:
[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 to determine whether the committee will approve funding for you to study at a non-approved school. Along with your request, please include a written explanation as to why you are choosing to study at a non-approved institution. It is strongly recommended that you do this before paying tuition, and well in advance of the LSP deadline. The Credentialing Coordinator, along with the LSP committee, will consider each request individually and according to LSP policy.]
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.
February 15 is the next deadline to apply for LSP for any courses taken during the winter semester of 2023. The 2023 application forms and instructions are now available to download from the link above. Please use the application forms marked “rev 2023.”
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 2023 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). Check the link above for information on CEUs, and a list of examples of many different types of life-long learning that can be applied as CEUs.
You can now send a report online anytime you have hours to submit for CEUs. Here is the link: 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.
For those who took courses and/or did in-depth research and learning about how to make the changes required during the pandemic (ie how to live-stream services), add the number of those hours to your annual CEU report.
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CHURCHES IN TRANSITION
Interviewing
Thornbury, ON – Blue Mountain Community Church
Warkworth, ON – Warkworth FM Church
Church Profiles Available
Contact Davika Dotson in the Leadership Development Office to request a church profile – davika.dotson@fmcic.ca (deadline to apply in brackets)
Bracebridge, ON – New Hope FM Church (part-time) [February 14]
Hilton Beach, ON – St. Joseph Island FM Church (full time) [February 7]
Kingston, ON – Polson Park FM Church (full time) [January 31]
Madoc, ON – Madoc Free Methodist/Wesleyan Church (full time) [January 31]
Sault Ste Marie, ON – Hillside FM Church (full-time) [February 21]
Sarnia, ON – New Horizons Community Church (full-time) [February 21]
Preparing Profiles
If you are interested in seeing the profile for any of these churches, please contact Davika in the Leadership Development Office [see above] and the profile will be emailed to you as soon as it becomes available.
Brampton, ON – Bramalea FM Church (Rev. Peter Tursa – Transition Pastor)
Brantford, ON – The Open Door Church (Rev. Greg Pulham – retiring Apr 30)
Campbellford, ON – Campbellford FM Church (Rev. Leonard Bruce – Interim Pastor)
Cloyne, ON – Pineview FM Church
Dunnville, ON – Dunnville FM Church (Rev. Neale Robb – Interim Pastor)
Frankford, ON – Frankford Community Church
Godfrey, ON – Cole Lake FM Church
Kingston, ON – Kingscourt FM Church
Marmora, ON – Marmora FM Church (Pastor Keith Deyo – Interim Pastor)
Orillia, ON – Church on the Hill
Richmond Hill, ON – Richmond Hill Chinese & English FM Churches (Rev. Louis Leung – Interim Pastor)
Salmon Arm BC – Lakeside Community Church
Seeley’s Bay, ON – Pine Grove Community Church
Tillsonburg, ON – Open Arms Church
Wallaceburg, ON – Charlemont FM Church
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Senior Director of Church Health and Planting – FMCIC National Office
