Rosedale United Church

Clerk’s Report 2011

To Learn, To Grow, To Serve

As we learn together to discover God’s key messages and then care for self and others, we follow God’s primary teaching. “ Love your neighbour as yourself.” Rom. 13:9

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me…” Matthew 25:35

RUC provides opportunities for spiritual growth, reaching out to care for others and oneself. One feels the commitment and the fellowship generated from the various activities RUC offers. There is ongoing work to provide for intergenerational involvement. New approaches are being tested to improve communication methods that will assist in making the messages relevant in today’s world, while honouring the past traditions. Committees are continually reviewing how to best meet their visions.

To “Learn and Grow” we are refreshed by thought provoking services to assist in our personal and collective spiritual explorations. Sunday services, Taize services, Bible study, the youth group, the choirs, the music programming, the pastoral care education series, the lay ministry program, the wellness programs, the film evenings and small group discussions assist our spiritual growth. To “Serve and Grow” we provide opportunities to become involved in a variety of outreach activities and pastoral care activities. The sharing and caring that occurs through soup lunches, Applefest celebration, coffee hour, preparing casseroles and Christmas plates, and preparing for Holly Berry Fair are only a few examples of activities where we share in a caring community.

Visit http://rosedaleunited.org for more information on our programs.

Staff

Our staff is very committed to our church, the congregation and the community at large. Doug Norris, Karen Bowles, Kristin Philipson and Wayne Strongman all make outstanding contributions to our congregation. In the fall, we had a celebration to honour and recognize Doug’s 10 years at Rosedale and 25 years as an ordained minister. His family was also recognized for its role in Doug’s career. In addition to his team leader role, Doug took on additional pastoral care while Karen Bowles completed her internship. We are very appreciative and want to thank Doug for covering the additional responsibilities from January to September.

In the fall we welcomed Karen back as Candidate Supply Minister for Pastoral Care. Once she is ordained in May 2012 Karen will be “called” to RUC as a Minister of Pastoral Care.

Kristin accepted our “call” to the RUC position of Minister of Children and Youth in May 2011 following her ordination. We celebrated Kristin’s ordination and later had a covenanting service for her.

We are fortunate to have Wayne lead the musical program that supports the scripture message and assists us in our spiritual reflections. We benefit from Wayne mentoring new talent.

Who can imagine Rosedale without Karen Bryant who is the face of the church on a day-to-day basis.

We thank Robin Kasyanov for his expertise in managing our sound system.

Joe Houle, and Brent Donnelly diligently keep the facility running smoothly day-to-day along with doing extra little thoughtful gestures for everyone.

The commitment and team work by so many to provide “caring and respect to all” whether inside or outside the church walls is evident.

Presbytery Review

Toronto Southeast Presbytery Pastoral Oversight Committee did its periodic review of Rosedale United Church this year. This report was very insightful and positive. The full report is available on the RUC website: http://rosedaleunited.org

The report concluded: “Rosedale United Church is a high-functioning, faithful United Church congregation. It is well positioned to engage with the challenges of being the church in these fast- changing, modern times. It is intentional about recognizing and adapting to the needs and priorities of this present generation, seeking new understandings, and exploring and designing strategies in order to convey Christ’s promise for life’s meaning and Christian values for life’s abundance. The congregation enjoys a depth and breadth of resource, both financial and in people, and a well-functioning leadership team that is engaged, hard-working, conscientious, responsible, committed, capable, respectful, faithful, adaptable, creative. Rosedale United lives out a vital and vibrant ministry as followers of Christ.”

Rosedale finances

Our finances are managed carefully in order to maintain and support the church and its many programs. Mandy and Bill Macrae, co-chairs of the stewardship campaign, coordinated a very successful campaign. Jim Pitblado, chair of the Board of Trustees and his committee carefully oversee the capital assets and investments to provide for long term financial stability of the church. Chair Greg Deacon and the Administration and Finance Committee closely watch over management of operational finances. A big thanks goes to Fran Deacon who has coordinated successful fundraising to finance the Out of the Cold program. Thank you to Carolyn and Bob Duncanson and all the volunteers for a very successful Holly Berry Fair.

New beginnings

As part of the outreach activities, there are two new coordinators.

After six years as coordinator of the Out of the Cold program, Sandra Watson Greaves resigned when she was accepted into Emmanuel College. We thank Sandra for her dedication to the OOTC program. Bri-anne Swan became the new coordinator in the fall of 2011. Bri-anne has worked tirelessly with the section heads and volunteers to organize the program for this year. Her newsletters updating the volunteers on the program are a hit! Norm Sabapathy chairs the Out of the Cold board committee.

After many years of skillfully coordinating the RUC Habitat for Humanity projects, Blair McRobie decided it was time to give someone else the opportunity. Aaron Fenton agreed to take over the coordination role of RUC Habitat teams. Thank you to both Blair and Aaron for their leadership.

Honouring the past and present

The 100th anniversary of our church building is in 2014. Gail MacNaughton and Marjorie Lenz have agreed to co-coordinate the 100th anniversary celebration.

Communications

Doug is working with Jason Meyers and Laurie Young to assess the effectiveness of our current communications.

Social advocacy

Jennifer Wootton Regan is exploring how we can be most effective as a social advocate. She is meeting with interested members of the congregation.

Lay pastoral care program

Karen Bowles and the Pastoral Care Committee have held a well-attended lay pastoral care education series.

Manse review

Warren Laing chaired an ad hoc manse review task force consisting of representatives from both the Trustees and the Board. The task force recommended that the manse be maintained and repaired.

Safety Program:

Bob Goodings has been reviewing and improving our safety procedures. As a first step, members of the staff attended a Red Cross course and received their 3-year certification in CPR and the use of an AED (defibrillator).

Photo Directory

Judy Brown and Karen Bryant have worked diligently to organize all of us to get our photos taken for the new photo directory that is scheduled to be released in the spring.

Position of Trust Volunteer Screening Program: Jennifer Norman as volunteer coordinator of this program has worked with the committee chairs and ministers to verify all volunteers are screened according to our policy.

Celebrating volunteers: Persons of the Year Award

Mary Morison was recognized for her many contributions to the church by receiving the Person of the Year award. She has been involved in many areas such as Outreach, Out of the Cold and as a board member for six years. For part of that time she was Clerk of Session.

In closing, it has been an honour to serve as Clerk of Session. I have experienced the meaning of “We are not alone”. I want to thank all the staff, the board members, the trustees, the volunteers and each of you for your willingness to share your time and expertise. I continue to be in awe of the dedication and work so many of you provide to our extended church community.

I am deeply indebted to Mary Morison, Michael Vuchnich and Judy Ward for their objectivity, support, time and insightfulness.

The incoming Clerk of Session, Michael Vuchnich, brings many talents, wisdom, compassion and a deep commitment to the RUC community. We are truly blessed.

Clare Barry