How are members involved in planning and participation in the liturgy/worship?

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1 General position description: In anticipation of our current pastor's impending retirement, Covenant CRC is seeking a dynamic preacher and gifted leader to fill the role of Senior Pastor. The Senior Pastor will preach the Word of God and develop engaging and meaningful worship services alongside our current team of staff over whom he/she will serve a mentorship role. In addition, the Senior Pastor will provide spiritual leadership and direction to the congregation and work with the congregational care team to shepherd the congregation and community the church serves. Ideal candidates will possess the necessary vision and leadership to provide a unified direction to the congregation that we may both serve those within the church and develop our passion to grow our church through community engagement. How are members involved in planning and participation in the liturgy/worship? Worship Committee members help to evaluate and give feedback on past worship services as well as engage in planning of upcoming services or series A group of Worship Leaders from the congregation plan services approximately once a month and typically lead them as well. Their service plans are submitted to the Worship Assistant and Pastor (both staff members) a week and a half in advance who review the service together and provide feedback or suggested changes. Musicians (pianists, organists, guitarists, drummers, violinists or other instrumentalists and vocalists) are all volunteers from within the congregation as are the children s message givers, congregational prayer givers, audio and visual (camera and PowerPoint) operators Special Music or Ensemble Numbers (such as choirs or vocal groups, handbell groups, instrumental groups or people enacting a drama or reading) are typically coordinated and led by the Worship Assistant and involve volunteers from the congregation. Designated Sundays such as Friendship Sunday, GEMS & Cadets Sunday and others incorporate participation in special ways by members of those groups. - Members with artistic gifts are encouraged to create visual displays in our sanctuary and throughout the Church (including framed artwork, banners or other art projects). Describe the worship services in your church: At Covenant, we believe that worship is our full-life response of gratitude to God for God s amazing grace to us. On Sunday mornings, we respond to God s call to gather together as a community to lift our hearts and voices together in songs, prayers, offerings, sacraments, and the proclamation of the Good News of God s work, though Jesus death and resurrection, to save us from our sinfulness and to restore all of God s creation to wholeness and harmony. We strive to worship God in ways that are: Biblical the Word of God is central so Scripture is referenced throughout the service, from the Call to Worship at the beginning to the Call to Service at the end.

2 Reformed we incorporate Reformed theology into our services, emphasizing that we are shaped by the covenant promises of God and empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit within us, gratefully celebrating the reconciling work of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives. Participatory we do our best to welcome all and to be open to using the wide variety of gifts and skills that God has given to people of all ages and abilities. Blended our worship is rooted in Biblical and early church traditions, drawing on local and global resources (both in songs and liturgies/texts) and meaningfully combining historic and contemporary expressions of worship. Describe the discipleship practices in your church for all ages of members and attenders: Children are educated in Sunday School which is held during the worship service through grade 5. Grades 6 through 12 receive catechism teaching following the worship service. Cadets for boys and GEMS for girls (both through grade 6) provide a social atmosphere, hands-on learning and challenges to growth in the Christian faith. Similar, but more advanced opportunities are offered for junior youth (grades 7-9) and senior youth (grades 10 through post high). Youth who desire to make profession of faith are matched with a mentor, as are newcomers to Covenant, particularly those with minimal church background. Mentors and mentees walk through a book that provides discussion opportunities relating to the basics of the Christian faith. This one-on-one interaction enables the mentee to ask probing questions as a relationship grows between two people that may not develop in any other way. A variety of small groups meet to explore topics or scripture based studies that encourage growth as disciples of Jesus. Worship services also provide growth opportunities as Christian discipleship. Describe facilities: The present church building was built in 1996 on a large lot in Suburban Winnipeg. The building features a large sanctuary and fellowship hall/gym, large foyer, 10 meeting/sunday school rooms, library, "Fireside Room", three offices and a reception area. In what ways does your church participate in ecumenical activities? - participation in Love Winnipeg - Hope Centre - Indigenous Family Centre - Union Gospel Mission (Inner City Mission) - Calvin Christian Schools (CSI) - Assistance at Winnipeg Harvest - Bible's for Missions

3 - participation in city-wide monthly prayer meeting - High School/Junior High SERVE projects - Special Needs Serve - Concordia Hospital services - Alpha Reflect on your strengths/gifts as a church: Covenant CRC is blessed with a wide array of gifted members who participate in our services musically, artistically and in leadership roles. We have vibrant and well-run youth programs that attract attendees from both within and outside of the church congregation. As a church we are a close-knit intergenerational community that has a solid volunteer base and passionate ministry leaders. The church has an excellent building and facility with a large parcel of adjacent vacant land that presents many future opportunities. Finally our commitment to scripture based preaching and worship gives us a well-grounded foundation nurtured by our reformed roots. Reflect on your passions as a church: Covenant CRC has passions that are wide and varied, though we sometimes seem to lack a common unified passion as a whole. Some passions of Covenant CRC include: Youth programming Alpha and community outreach Special needs serve Small groups Worship Fellowship Benevolence There is currently a growing interest in expanding evangelism / outreach ministries and increasing the cultural relevancy of our weekly services. List specific problems with which your congregation struggles: Identifying clear unified focus, vision, passions Declining attendance - in particular, retaining youth and younger families Engaging the younger generation, including growing new leaders Congregation is eager for change but unsure of direction. A strong unifying leader would greatly benefit Covenant in establishing a clearly vision of who we want to be. Budget shortfalls

4 Lack of communication Participation, enlisting new volunteers, can be difficult to get enough volunteers for all of our programs. What has been the most interesting and challenging event in the life of your church in the last three years? In the summer of 2017 Covenant hosted the Sea to Sea participants in a combined service with the local Winnipeg Christian Reformed Churches that was identified by many members as an uplifting event that inspired and brought energy to the church. This event was followed by a community Picnic on the church grounds that brought in many members of the local community. This reflects a growing trend towards evangelism and community outreach that has been met with a great deal of support from the congregation. In step with this has been the development of an ALPHA outreach program that currently operates at the same time as the regular Sunday morning service. Furthermore, an emphasis on Faith Formation and increased cooperation between the CRC churches (pulpit exchange, shared youth resources) within Winnipeg are identified as a direction that the membership stands strongly behind. In the more recent past, periods in which staff departures or volunteer shortages impacted ministries were times when Covenant was forced to consider its vision and strategic direction. The revival of a number of programs that were non-operational for some time is seen as a positive change in direction. List major goals that this congregation has set for itself or opportunities the congregation anticipates: Members strongly identified member retention and growth of the congregation through a greater emphasis on community involvement and evangelism as a primary goal of Covenant CRC. The development of a unified focus to define who we are as a church was seen as essential to provide a framework to give greater direction and more efficient organization of church programs. Increased volunteer training and member involvement in the church and improved intergenerational connections as well as engagement with newcomers and those at the fringes of the church community were also highlighted as important goals for Covenant. Finally, messages from the pulpit that have a more practical/real world focus as well as more in-depth education of church members were identified as areas in which Covenant CRC can grow. Describe what being Christians of Reformed accent means to you: We are to be followers of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life and to demonstrate his love to others (our neighbours) We are saved by God s grace and are now called to serve Him in the way we live out our lives. God is sovereign over all of life, every square inch We are to be open to God s leading and are to be prepared to Re-Form ourselves We draw upon a rich tradition of Creeds and Doctrines Scripture based

5 To some members the word Reformed has a negative connotation or application. There is a sense that "Reformed" is old terminology and label, and our focus ought to be to live Christian lives and to be open to change. To many in the congregation Reformed means living out God s truth of changing, reforming and engaging God s world. Describe your understanding of the relationship between the local church and the Christian Reformed denomination: Covenant CRC is actively engaged with the CRC denomination with delegates present at Classic and at times at Synod. The majority of our members feel we have a strong tie to the denomination, seeing it as a partnership from which we share in the global and local ministries and establish a common theological framework (church order). The CRCNA is foundational with respect to our understanding of our faith and God's will for our churches. While the association between sister churches within the city of Winnipeg is beneficial, there is a sense that we are geographically isolated from the larger denomination. There is a sense that more could and should be done with our sister churches in Winnipeg to be a stronger voice within the community as the common vision of our churches allows for Kingdom building at a local, national and global level. Some of the membership finds that the recent name changes of CRC organizations (e.g. World Renew) have neutered our kinship with the CRC. Identify some of the cultural challenges facing Christians and Christian churches today: The church is faced with a difficult task of adapting to a changing world/culture and being relevant to society while remaining in but not of the world. A theme that was repeated regularly within our congregational survey in response to this question is that we have seen a great reduction in commitment to the church. Work, sports and other activities have taken precedence and as a result the church is not the centre of many members lives that it once was. We live in wealthy nations and have generally easy lives and therefore many don t feel the need for God in their lives. Our society glorifies relativism and tolerance and this has led to stigma for Christians. Christianity is seen as one of many equally good paths to God/Spirituality. Church models have shifted from a pastoral/shepherding role of the minister to a more business-like model. Society does not trust the church. An emphasis on equality of differing viewpoints. Controversial topics such as homosexuality/gender identity are not being directly addressed by the local church. What have been the three most important events in the history of your church? Covenant CRC was formed from the merger of two Winnipeg CRCs, while at the same time a segment of the congregation departed to form a United Reformed Church. Shortly thereafter the present facility on Knowles Avenue was built. This was seen as a time when the church possessed a great deal of energy, leadership and direction and worked together towards a common goal. Participation and support for local ministries (Hope Centre and Indigenous Family Centre) are also key events that are ongoing in the life of Covenant. A recent transition process that involved an interim pastor, Peter Hogeterp, was a time to refocus the church following the departure of Pastor Bill Tuininga. Recent developments including an increased community focus through the development of an Alpha program and community Picnics as well as the initiation of small group ministries are also significant events in the history of Covenant CRC.