Dear friends in Christ,
In a few short weeks I will be starting my intermission. I want to thank you again for being so incredibly supportive of this opportunity. I want to share with you some specific details about Sunday Services and who to contact in a pastoral emergency while I’m away.
As a refresher, I will be away from Monday, June 5th to Monday, September 4th. I will return to working at Prairie on Tuesday, September 5th. My Intermission is completely self-funded through my Continuing Education Allowance; so, paying for pulpit supply while I am away will not be an additional cost for the congregation to bear other than what is already budgeted.
During my Intermission, I will be completely unavailable. This is to ensure that my time away is not interrupted so that it can be a rejuvenating experience for me. Any pastoral concerns can be shared first with one of the elders on the Session: Erin Whittaker, Bruce Wiebe, Conrad Schellenberg, Bonnie Zimmer, Janet Simpson. Should you require a minister, the Rev. Dr. Rob Dean is the primary contact during this time. The Session will not be meeting over the summer, which is not unusual, but if they need to meet they can coordinate a session meeting themselves.
We are blessed to have a student from Providence Seminary who will preach twelve of the thirteen Sundays I am away. Jon Klassen was in Rob Dean’s homiletics class and came to us through a recommendation from Rob. I know you will welcome him, help him feel at home at Prairie, and trust that you will learn from one another over the summer weeks. There may also be opportunities for some of you to provide feedback to Jon which will be valuable to him as he grows his skills as a preacher.
We are also blessed to have Ashley Boychuk in her role of music director and Wes Keeley in his role providing Audio Visual Technology support. These roles have continued to be so important in the worship life of our congregation. Erin Whittaker will also continue to lead liturgy through most of the summer providing stability and familiarity while I am away. We are deeply grateful for Erin and her gifts that she freely shares in this way on a regular basis.
I trust that you will not consider this time as a kind of limbo for our congregation… instead I would hope that you might treat it as an opportunity for Prairie to pull together even stronger. Indeed, the New Beginnings Implementation Team continues to meet and will be working on several things, including the further development of relationships with WICM, strategic planning for the fall, a special outdoor service in July, and a welcome back BBQ in mid-September which I’ll be thrilled to attend! I remain confident that you will continue to support and encourage each other and I look forward to hearing about your shared life together upon my return.
In Christ’s Service,
Rev. Matthew Brough
Email Contacts
We tend not to provide phone numbers through online communication. If you need a phone number, please contact one of the elders.
Conrad Schellenberg conrads at cmds dot ca
Janet Simpson janets151 at shaw dot ca
Bruce Wiebe bewiebe at shaw dot ca
Erin Whittaker xerinjoyx at gmail dot com
Bonnie Zimmer maeellen2003 at hotmail dot com
Rev. Dr. Rob Dean robert.dean at prov dot ca
Ashley Boychuk Ashley at prairiechurch dot ca