This June, as spring turns to summer, United Church people from across the Pacific Mountain Region are invited to spend time with the network that was formerly Kootenay Presbytery – exploring community, relationship and covenant in our evolving church times.
Join the Festival
At Kootenay Faith Fest 2019, Key Note Speaker Rev. Carol Howard Merritt travels north from Chattanooga, Tennessee – inviting us into creative, reflective conversation, re-imagining and healing in our progressive, multi-generational Christian contexts. Diverse Workshop Leaders offer sessions to engage our body, mind and spirit. Youth meet together in age-specific program and community, and special time is reserved for now-and-future Cluster building across the generations and ministry areas. Freedom for visiting, adventuring, and being with one another is held in all the spaces in between.
Registration Details
The Kootenay Faith Fest 2019 is for all United Church people in congregational and community ministry – whether in leadership, membership or beyond. Youth are encouraged to register!
Individual registration is $50.
The Whole Group Rate for 7-12 people from the same faith community is $325 for the whole group (13 or more, add $50 per person).
Accommodation and travel costs are the responsibility of participants.
Billeting is an option and a travel bursary can be available upon application.
Contact Brenda Wolff in the Region Office for more information.
Click here to register: Kootenay Faith Fest Online Registration
Kootenay Faith Fest 2019 is a LeaderShift Event with Nelson United Church and the former Kootenay Presbytery. We acknowledge, with respect, the traditional territories of the Sinixt and Ktunaxa people on which this event is a guest.
The new layout of The United Church of Canada:
and the new Manual:
Welcome to the New United Church of Canada 3 Council structure!
I’m happy to have this opportunity to introduce myself again and share a bit more about my work and the work of Pacific Mountain Region in support of the communities of faith in the Kootenays.
My name is Kathy Davies, and I am the Regional Minister supporting the congregations and communities of faith in what was formerly the Kootenay, Fraser and Westminster Presbyteries.
The primary focus of my work is to provide service and support to communities of faith and their leaders as we live into the covenantal relationship between the Region and the communities of faith. This support includes:
- Overseeing the needs assessment, appointment and call processes of communities of faith seeking ministry leadership
- support for visioning, mission-discernment, and strategic planning processes – including facilitation and workshops
- support for conflict resolution in communities of faith
- support and training for Ministry and Personnel Committees
- Providing or arranging for proactive, caring, pastoral care and support for ministry personnel in transition, distress or crisis;
- encouraging and supporting emerging clusters, networks of support for ministry personnel and cooperation between communities of faith
- providing information regarding church governance, property and legal matters; and referring communities of faith to the appropriate people and resources as needed
- Liaising with ecumenical partners related to shared ministries and assists in resolving shared ministry issues
Of course this would be impossible to do alone, and would not serve our communities of faith well. Ideally much of this work involves connecting with local volunteers who will have the capacity, knowledge and ability to support the work as well as the relationships. I will be here to provide resources and connection with the Region and wider United Church. We are not alone!
I hope to encourage cooperation and the sharing of our gifts and resources with each other as we continue to nurture vital and faithful ministry throughout the Kootenays, gifted by the Spirit and sustained through God’s ever abundant love.The best ways to contact me:
Email: kdavies@united-church.ca
Office phone: (604) 431-0434 Ext. 320 or
1-800-934-0434 Ext. 320Please feel free to give me a call – very much looking forward to journeying with you!
Kathy Davies
Let’s not forget…
We are at a doorway that leads into a new way of being church.
At this doorway
we are not alone:
God has invited us to gather courage from the great cloud of witnesses before us,
as we remember what was…
Christ has challenged us to accept his radical call to discipleship,
as we acknowledge what is…
The Spirit has led us to be Christ’s Church,
as we imagine what will be…
At this doorway:
We take courage in the assurance that God is with us;
we affirm our call to go where Christ leads; and
we trust the Spirit to guide us through the challenging space between what was, what is, and what will be.
Surely, we are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
Sending Forth
As we greet each new doorway,
let us give all thanks and glory to God,
whose power working in us
can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.
Glory to God from generation to generation,
in the church, and through the Spirit,
now and forever,
Amen.