Things have been shifting for the Canadian church for some time now, but the global pandemic this year has accelerated the process in many local churches. As realities change, unspoken expectations can be toxic to a successful ministry relationship.
The research from the Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project which sought to understand the realities and stressors for ministers in Canada actually has a lot to say about how to negotiate clear expectations between pastors and their congregations, as Multivocational ministers have learned what works when making space for an additional vocation. Whether you are multivocational or not, join us to discuss healthy patterns for negotiating healthy expectations in shifting realities.
Brian Yu
Brian Yu is the New Canadian Church Planters Coordinator with the Tyndale Intercultural Ministries (TIM) Centre at Tyndale University. Brian has been serving in pastoral ministry for over 9 years. He was a youth pastor at Greenhills Christian Fellowship in the Philippines, a pastor at Chinese Gospel Church in Scarborough, and he currently serves as a church planter in the diverse city of Toronto, Canada.
Erika Mills
Erika is the Co-pastor at Blue Mountain Community Church in Thornbury and a Spiritual Care Provider at the Collingwood Hospital
She holds a BA Religious Studies, UWaterloo, and MTS from Conrad Grebel University College, and is in process of ordination with the FMCiC. Erika finds bi-vocational ministry life-giving for herself and her congregation and notices lots of opportunity for community connection as she ministers outside the church building. She is encouraged that her healthy congregation is embracing the call to share pastoral responsibility and live generously wherever they are.
Amy Bratton
Amy Bratton is the Contributing Editor of the New Leaf Blog, and managed the coordination of the Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project. She lives in Saskatoon, SK with her husband, Tim, and their two sons, Oswald and Ira. She is a lay leader at Riversdale Neighbours church and an online course facilitator with Rocky Mountain College in the area of Spiritual Formation.
Jared Siebert
Jared Siebert, currently serves as the National Director for Church Development for the Free Methodist Church in Canada and author of Gutsy: (Mis)Adventures in Canadian Church Planting. His main responsibility is to prepare the denomination to respond to the massive cultural change that churches are facing.