Year End Update - December 21, 2020
Dear Congregation,
In just a few days we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is at least one thing that 2020 could not take from us! Our celebrations will be different than we may be accustomed to, but we celebrate none the less. Thanks be to God! I love the season, even this year. I love the music that comes with it. Every song I listen to reminds me of the gift we have received through Christ. I would like to share with you my favourite Christmas song. It is a rendition of “Mary Did You Know” as presented by the a cappella group Pentatonix. You can check it out on YouTube https://youtu.be/ifCWN5pJGIE
Lots to report as we near the end of an unforgettable year. I will once again write this in a question-answer format.
Since the positive congregational vote regarding Pastor Erick, how are things progressing?
Pastor Erick and Ruth Ann are quite excited about their move to Grimsby. Although they have not found a house as of this writing, plans are moving ahead quite nicely. They are prepared to commute from Brampton until a suitable home is found. Erick has been working with staff to forge a plan for the first part of 2021. As a Board, we have been working our way through a book called “Sticky Teams” by Larry Osborne. One aspect of this book is to create a “sticky statement”. This statement is a catchy, short, memorable phrase that exemplifies where we will focus for the next stage on our journey to being more missional. The Board with Pastor Mike’s help, and with Pastor Erick’s input, has developed the sticky statement “Learning Missional Practices”, to augment Mountainview’s vision and mission. This will help all of us to focus on learning some practices that Pastor Erick will share with us over the next few months, with the goal of helping us find our spiritual gifts and concluding with a call to action come September 2021. Pastor Erick starts on January 11 and will preach his first sermon on Sunday, January 17.
Please pray that a house may be found and for Pastor Erick’s ministry here at Mountainview, especially as we are still dealing with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pastor Erick’s new email address is now set up. ericks@mountainviewcrc.org
How are we doing with our income and expenses as we near the end of 2020?
We are truly blessed by the giving in the congregation! We know that much of what we require comes in at the end of the year. We are counting on that being the case again. So, to answer your question we still require $157,650 to come in for the month of December. That is more than double our average month requirements. We are confident this will again happen as it is the norm in our overall giving habits.
On the expense side of things, we will end over budget on our salaries, but this will be offset by savings on other expenses primarily savings due to the pandemic. So, we will be okay.
Can you give some highlights regarding the 2021 Ministries Promise (budget) and what that means to each of us?
At our recent congregational meeting, we introduced a new way of showing our budget. This was through a “Narrative Budget”. This was our first attempt at this approach with the goal being that each ministry that requests money, is asked to share their story and their missional goal(s) for the new year. (I know, not really answering the question but trying to add context.) At the end of this Narrative Budget presentation, was a 1-page consolidated Ministry Promise. This promise includes an overall 8% increase. So, this means you have agreed to increase your financial support to Mountainview by 8% for 2021. This increase is primarily due to staffing as we will go into 2021 with all of the positions filled. (Well almost. Staff is discussed further below).
I see a lot of new audio-visual equipment in the sanctuary and the improvements in our on-line worship. Is this work done?
Really the work is never truly done. Our team is always’ looking for improvements that can be made. But yes, all the big expense upgrades have been made. We would like to thank the Media Team for all the time and work that has gone into the improvements we will all get to enjoy while doing a better job to reach and engage beyond the walls of this facility.
What is our staffing model coming into 2021?
This question was asked at the congregational meeting but upon reflection, I don’t think it was answered properly. So here we go…
As stated earlier, Pastor Erick Schuringa will begin on January 11 with Pastor Mike Collins overlapping for a month to provide continuity and passing the torch effectively.
Pastor Fred VanderBerg has agreed to continue as our part-time pastoral care pastor to the end of June if required and may depart earlier with 1 month's notice from him or from the board. We will be reviewing our needs as the year progresses.
Alice Posthumus will be our full-time Ministry Director responsible for all non-ordained staff, coordinate all ministry efforts, and serve on the board as the recording clerk.
Christine Winter will continue to develop our Kids and Middle School Ministry and serve as our Community Connections Coordinator. Christine is currently shared with Cairn Christian Schools as they need extra help, and our need is currently diminished due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Let us pray that come September we can all resume normal activities.
Brandon Vermeer will continue as our full-time Ministry Associate responsible for youth, young adults, small groups, and social media development. This contract will be reviewed, and the next steps decided before September.
Karin Terpstra continues full-time as our Office Administrator.
Will Klein continues part-time as our Treasurer.
Cinde Draaistra will continue to serve as our custodian with the help of her sister Hennie when required.
As we have reported, it was decided to combine the responsibilities of worship coordinator and music director into one part-time position. This position has been posted and we will be filling it as quickly as possible for a January start.
With that… all staff positions will be filled as we move into 2021.
We have been blessed with a great staff. I take this opportunity to thank each of them for being the positive team players they are, especially in the difficult and yet opportunistic time we are all going through.
Do you have any idea when we will be able (or perhaps willing) to reopen some of our ministries? Thinking especially of children’s ministries?
The short answer here is no. We have said all along that we will follow the guidelines of our government and health officials no matter what other churches decide to do, right or wrong. We cannot predict when the guidelines will change, especially recognizing that case numbers are rising, and the vaccination rollout will take months. Please know that we all miss the ability to worship together, meet together in person, and absolutely miss the opportunity to interact with and teach kids about the love of Christ. That being said, the Kids materials and communications are continuously updated on our website and Facebook page. There are Kids@mountainview/resources available to watch, do, and share with your children. How wonderful to take this time to really dig into and see how your kids are learning and growing through our programs and materials.
Any final words for 2020 and as we look ahead to 2021?
The entire world has had to react to the realities presented by COVID-19. It has been tough. But rather than look at what has been lost, let us look to 2021 as a year of opportunity! A year in which we continually ask God what He would have us do? How He would have us respond? How He would have us learn missional practices? How he would have us be church to the community surrounding us? How He would have us give of ourselves, our wealth, our spiritual gifts? How He would have us follow Christ’s example by giving up everything for others' sake? The church would look more like Christ if we would say no to ourselves and yes to those around us.
Let’s thank Pastor Mike for helping us reimagine our missional purpose in 2020 and let's welcome Pastor Erick as we learn missional practices in 2021.
This is probably the most exciting time to be and or get involved in the life of Mountainview church. Actually, let's think bigger… the life of Christ’s universal church. We are all a piece of that church! We are the church!
Blessings to all of you,
P.J. Vermeer
Board & Council Chair