Good Morning, Covenant Family.
It is hard to believe, but Jon, Angie, Micah, and Josiah have been a part of our Covenant family for almost eight full years. As we near the end of the eighth year, Be In Christ Church of Canada has a process in place for something called a Designated Denominational Review. It is a process in which the pastor, the board, and Charlie Mashinter, our denominational leader, solicit feedback from church family members and review how things have gone at Covenant, discuss how things are going, and speak honestly about the future of the church and the congregation/pastor relationship.
Several of you were invited to contribute to this review by responding to a survey and we are grateful for all the feedback we received. On Tuesday evening the board, Jon, and Charlie met together to discuss the responses we received, the self-evaluation that Jon presented, and to receive Charlie’s input. The review – the feedback submitted, the board’s input, Jon’s perspective, and Charlie’s observations – was overwhelmingly positive and the result of the review is renewed excitement to continue to journey together as a Covenant family with Jon, Angie, and their boys as an important part of it.
That being said, Jon has now been here for eight years. BIC Canada encourages churches to adopt a sabbatical policy and recommends the possibility of a sabbatical after seven years of pastoral ministry in one setting. A year ago, Covenant’s board adopted such a policy but Jon delayed taking a sabbatical to wait for the results of this review process. Now that it is complete, Jon is planning on beginning his ninth year of ministry among us with a three-month sabbatical from September to November. Over the coming months, we will be working together with Jon to ensure responsibilities are covered so Covenant can continue to thrive during that time while Jon takes that time to rest, be restored, and return reenergized for the years to come.
One of the recurring themes in our conversation on Tuesday was what a beautiful and wonderful family God has formed here at Covenant. We are so privileged to be able to follow Jesus together and we are excited about what God will continue to do among us for years to come!
Your Covenant Board