Meeting at the Meeting House

The early May Leadership Council meetings were held at The Meeting House in Oakville, Ontario, providing several of the bishops with a first opportunity for an up close encounter with the fastest growing BIC church in North America. Although last minute preparations for the upcoming General Conference dominated the meeting agenda, the setting, along with the warm welcome from The Meeting House staff, energized the leadership team’s discussion of starting and supporting healthy congregations.

Over the course of the three-day meeting, point persons for the various areas of emphasis within the denomination’s Impact 2010 ministry plan reported on progress to date toward the stated goals. (See report on 25 years of BIC church planting.) A lengthy discussion focused on questions of how best to support the vision God has entrusted to us, including the place of Cooperative Ministries within the wider funding picture of the General Church.

Rebekah Basinger, director of congregational relations, reminded the group that the church’s Impact 2010 ministry plan cannot be fully funded by CM and suggested that a critical question for the near future is what are the core ministries we really must fund together and which represent the best use of CM funds? Specifically:

What percentage of ministry support should/likely will come through CM?
What percentage from fundraising initiatives within the regional conferences?
What percentage from gifts from individuals?

Leadership Council will return to these questions in the fall. In the meantime, we welcome your thoughts, so let us hear from you.

The leadership team shows off their personalized miniature hockey sticks, complements of Brian Bell, bishop of the Canadian Conference

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