Your Study Commission on Doctrine (“SCOD”) met this weekend. SCOD members are on the LGBTQ2S+ task force, and the Racial Justice & Ethnic Equity task force. We are working on ordination questions, membership, a Theology 101 class, and several other important items. The Board of Administration, General Conference, or anyone of you can send a request to SCOD to consider. These are theological considerations that require prayer, careful Biblical scholarship and a group of people able to listen to each other, have respect for one another and trust. Remember SCOD in your prayers for our movement.
Our intrepid Director of Church Health & Leadership Development is taking a sabbatical. Marc is planning to take December and January as a sabbatical time. Thought I’d ask Marc about his plans. “Marc, what is your hope for this sabbatical?”
“My hope for the Sabbatical is that it provides a little time and space to catch my breath. There will be learning and reading but there will also be prayer and conversation and listening and resting and family and maybe even thinking and dreaming. I am hoping that all of that brings refreshment and renewal to me. Maybe it will be a bit of a reset, like when you restart your phone. Everything is still there, but it just works a little better and a little faster. And in the process of the reset, if I have new ideas or better clarity on something so much the better. But if its just refreshing and renewing, I will take it.”
Finally, my office will be publishing a list of churches that you can choose to live stream in your local church on Sunday December 25. I will be creating a service for Sunday, January 1 for you to be able to use in your local church. These will be available mid-December.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN
2nd Tuesday of each month: What’s Got You Thinking?
4th Thursday of each month: Church Health Thursday
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pastor Monique Ransom – approved as a Ministerial Candidate and appointed as Church Planter Pastor at The Journey Church Plant, Ridgeway, ON, effective October 21
Pastor Xenia Chan – approved as a Ministerial Candidate and appointed at Church Planter Pastor at Selah Community Church, Richmond Hill, ON, effective November 10
ORDINATION SERVICES
None scheduled
FOUNDATIONAL COURSES http://www.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 – location TBA*
Wesleyan Theology:
June 2-4, 2023 – location TBA*
Also available:
- Tyndale University – “John Wesley’s Theology: Renewing the Heart, Renewing the Church” https://www.tyndale.ca/syllabi/winter/2023/theo-0629
- Offered January 13 – April 10, 2023 in hybrid format: Two Fridays of “live” class (in-person or online) on January 27 and March 17, plus online lectures and discussions.
- Available for seminary or undergraduate credit
- For more info contact James Pedlar ([email protected])
- FMC-USA https://leadership.fmcusa.org/education/courses
- as a 7-week intensive online course: Wesleyan Theology [#74W] Dr. Robert Vaughan – start date: (2023 start dates to be posted soon)
- as a correspondence course (8 months to complete): Wesleyan Theology (#74C), Dr. Allen Wachter
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:http://www.fmcic.ca/scholarships/
LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP PLAN (LSP):
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 will soon be available to download from the link above. Please use the application forms marked “rev 2023.”
SPECIAL SCHOLARSHIPS:
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://www.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
Hilton Beach, ON – St. Joseph Island FMC
New Westminster, BC – First FMC
Salmon Arm BC – Lakeside Community Church
Sarnia, ON – New Horizons Community Church
Thornbury, ON – Blue Mountain Community Church
Warkworth, ON – Warkworth FMC
Church Profiles Available
Contact Davika Dotson in the Leadership Development Office to request a church profile – [email protected] (deadline to apply in brackets)
None available this week
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.
Bracebridge, ON – New Hope FMC (Gary Denniss – Interim Pastor)
Brampton, ON – Bramalea FMC
Campbellford, ON – Campbellford FMC
Cloyne, ON – Pineview FMC
Dunnville, ON – Dunnville FMC (Rev. Neale Robb – Interim Pastor)
Frankford, ON – Frankford Community Church
Kingston, ON – Polson Park FMC
Madoc, ON – Madoc Free Methodist/Wesleyan Church
Marmora, ON – Marmora FMC
Richmond Hill, ON – Richmond Hill Chinese & English FM Churches (Rev. Louis Leung – Interim Pastor)
Sault Ste Marie, ON – Sault Ste Marie FMC
Seeley’s Bay, ON – Pine Grove
Tillsonburg, ON – Open Arms Church
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
New Café Manager – Arlington Woods FMC
New Senior Director of Administrative Services – FMCiC National Office
Short-term Preaching Opportunity – New Hope Methodist Church
Unique Associate Pastor Opportunity – Trulls Road FMC
