Our AGM

Thank you to everyone who attended our AGM on the evening of Wednesday, April 3rd. Your engagement, energy and enthusiasm made for a truly inspiring event as a faith community. 

Amongst the highlights were an excellent presentation of the Budget by Interim Finance Team member Hazel Blennerhasset (an amazing job of making it come alive and become accessible to us!); and our first opportunity to welcome and hear from Rev. Greg Powell as he begins his time with us as our Transitional Supply Minister.

The evening also held a host of “Gratitudes” as we acknowledged those who have stepped away from their particular roles this past year. Read on for two of those acknowledgments honouring two of our valued elders. 

Dorothie Lindquist resigned as a Trustee after serving in that role for many years. She was — and continues to be — committed to supporting the well-being of the church. Even after her ability to attend church in-person, her initiative is always to ask how things are at James Bay United and to inquire about this or that person… always concerned for their well-being.  Dorothie has such a heart for community building both within and beyond the scope of the congregation in the James Bay neighbourhood.  Quite apart from this, some of you may recall — and many of you may not know — that she had a moment in the limelight on the James Corden “Late, Late Talk Show” when somehow or other she was zeroed in on in the midst of the audience and in vintage Dorothie fashion, maintained her easy composure as James Corden chatted with her about her esteemed age.  Well here at James Bay United we all feel that at the age of I believe 102, she is absolutely entitled to resign as a Trustee!

Barb Whitney, another of our beloved and valued elders who sat on the Board as a member-at-large as of June 2021 resigned this past year.  We on the Board have benefited greatly from her incisive insights & her vast experience in the United Church including at the national level.  She is an avid proponent of nurturing our connection with the National Church and our own Pacific Mountain Region, and has offered us reminders of the array of resources available to us from these sources.  We have so appreciated the compassionate perspective and deep wisdom she has brought to the issues at hand. And of course, there’s her humour!  … helping to keep things light and positive, even and especially in the midst of challenges. And so even though Barb is no longer on the Board, I know we will continue to benefit from her creative thinking (which sometimes which finds its way into her playful cartoons) and her on-going deep care for this faith community.