​Dear friends,

I sit in this place of profound gratitude and frankly, awe, that so much has happened to establish First Third Ministry in the Chinook Winds and Pacific Mountain Regional Councils as a resource for your communities of faith and ministries. I am so grateful for the hardworking, faithful, committed team members who seek to build relationships with you in your places that nurture and deepen the faith formation of God's young people in our United Churches.

I am writing this note to let you know of some changes that are coming this Spring.

In the Office
I am very excited to announce that Natalia Cabrera is moving from full time Administrative Support in our ministry areas (including Camp Spirit) to half time in her new role as First Third Animator (PMRC) and half time as ongoing First Third Ministry Administrative Support (while Camp Spirit hires a permanent, part-time administrator - details below). Natalia brings energy and curiosity to this Animator position and the region will be blessed by her skills and gifts.

Campus Ministry
Supported by PMRC's Campus Ministry Animator Daniel Martin’s creative and visionary leadership, the United Church will have a presence of campus leadership at four PMRC university campuses by the end of the spring (SFU, UNBC, UVic and UBC).

We are currently hiring for:

• Simon Fraser Campus Minister (permanent)
• University of Victoria Campus Minister (permanent)
• Community Connector (year-long student employment) at SFU, UNBC, UVic, UBC. Campus Ministry is hiring two Community Connectors for four campuses within BC (8 positions in total). The Community Connector positions are designed to support engagement on campus and provide meaningful employment for students from their lived experience of being part of the university community, as a person of faith.

Information on these postings is available on the CampusUnited.ca website.

Please join our whole team in wishing Rev. Greg Powell well as he has resigned from his position at UVic (effective April 30th) to take on more leadership at Westshore Community of Practice.

Camp Spirit
Camp Spirit is building its summer staff team as I write this! We are in the process of hiring 23 young people for summer leadership for our 32 camp locations across BC - an increase from last year’s staff team of 18 and 28 camps.

We are are hiring a permanent half time position of Camp Spirit Administrator (the posting for the position is here) to support the Camp Spirit's summer ministry and and school-year initiatives.

The Long Game
After two years of mostly being online, finding ways to strengthen faith practice in households during the pandemic through the Faith@Home resources and resourcing communities of faith and other ministries as they need, church leaders of all kinds, across our regions are deepening their skills and meeting together to collaborate and create new ways of being church with young people post-pandemic … the Holy Spirit keeps pushing and encouraging us to lean into what is here and what might be possible and the life that is bubbling as a result is amazing!

Gratitude
None of this would be possible without the generous financial support of local communities of faith, grants from ProVision, other granting bodies, and budget allocations at the regional councils. I am grateful for the resources, and commit to faithful stewardship of the gifts we are given to grow the capacity of ministry with children, youth, families and young adults - together!

If you have any questions or thoughts about what you are reading or observing in ministry with people in the first of life's three stages (birth to mid-30s, including families of all kinds), I would love to hear from you. 

Blessings,

Starting on Sunday, our ministry team is joining you in celebrating ways that mindfulness, wellness and spiritual practices are in your life these days!

We're launching a (what we hope is non-intimidating) Instagram Challenge, and calling it a Celebration instead! Every Sunday for five Sundays, you'll see a new #F3Celebration video on our Instagram account, with an invitation for you to take a photo or video inspired by our post and share it to your account!

We have some lovely prizes to do a weekly draw for those who want share their photo or video publicly (because we can't see or share from private accounts): one free registration to one of the Mental Health First Aid courses that we're co-hosting with LeaderShift; beeswax candles from the Duncan farmers market, an gift card to the online store Native Northwest, a physical copy of the book "Adventures in Faith & Family", a stationary set, AND a coveted pair of Campus United church geek socks, and a sweet stationary set. If you'd rather keep your photos/ videos set to private, please do still participate - the prizes are fun, but the practice of celebrating and connecting with your community are the main wins.

Our hope is that the #F3Celebration hashtag will be one more way for you to connect to other siblings of our faith, and to our ministry with those in the first-third stage of life. All are warmly welcome to participate! The details of each challenge will be posted on Sunday mornings, and you have all week to engage. 

Peace and compassion be yours, friends!
​​Natalia and Sarah

Terms of Reference:

1. Our First Third #F3Celebration Challenge is sponsored, endorsed and administrated by the First Third Ministry of the Pacific Mountain and Chinook Winds Regional Council.
2. We are holding this #F3Celebration Challenge on Instagram using our ministry account @FirstThirdMinistryCWPM. The #F3Celebration Challenge is in no way endorsed or sponsored by Instagram.
3. Everyone is welcome to participate! 
4. The #F3Celebration Challenge starts Jan 30, 2022 and ends March 4, 2022. 
5. #F3Celebration Challenges are posted Sunday morning, with reminders on Tuesday and Thursday of the same week. 
6. #F3Celebration Challenge has weekly prizes. Prizes are awarded on Friday of each week. The winner will be chosen at random by a draw, using their Instagram handle. All #F3Celebration Challenge participants have the same probability of winning. The winner will be contacted by Direct Message on Instagram, and will receive the gift by mail (physical prizes) or email (online prizes). Prizes are not exchangeable for cash, credit or other item.
7. @FirstThirdMinistryCWPM will share your Story in our Instagram account by post or Story, or both. By mentioning us in your post, you are giving us the permission to share your story in our Instagram account.

To Enter:

• Follow @FirstThirdMinistryCWPM on Instagram. 
• Complete the challenge of the week following these instructions: 
  1. Take a photo or video inspired by the #F3Challenge and share it to your Instagram Posts/ Stories/ Reels.
  2. Tag/ mention @FirstThirdMinistryCWPM
  3. Add the hashtag #F3Celebration
  4. Challenge a few friends to participate by tagging/ mentioning them in your Post/ Stories/ Reel too!

​Any questions? Contact Natalia.

Friends!
First Third Ministry is committed to ensuring staff and leaders are confident when it comes to managing mental health crisis - it is just as important as being able to respond to a physical injury. We are excited to be able to partner with LeaderShift to offer a Mental Health First Aid Certificate course to Young Adults who support youth and other young adults in their lives.  

Young Adults in Leadership with Youth and Peers is will be a great opportunity to learn more about how to be a competent leader, a supportive colleague, and a friend for those in your community with mental wellbeing decline. You will learn more about your own mental wellbeing and have an important credential for your resume if you plan to work with youth in the future.

This course held is over two Saturdays, one week apart, and is offered specifically for participants who are 18-35 years of age.  We encourage young adult leaders who are working in communities of faith, camps, or other places of care, to take advantage of this excellent course. 

You will learn how to:

• recognize signs that a young person may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health or substance use crisis
• initiate conversations that encourage a young person to talk about a mental health or substance use problem
• discuss professional and other supports that could help with recovery to improved mental well-being
• assist in a mental health or substance use crisis situation
• check in with one’s own mental well-being and take action as needed

Dates: Saturday February 5 and Saturday February 12, 2022. 2-6pm Pacific/3-7pm Mountain.

Leadership: Dr Julie Clayton, hosted by Pamela Evans from First Third Ministry.

Pricing: $100. If this fee keeps you from taking this course, please speak to your local community of faith leader for financial support from your church budget, or contact Pamela Evans at pevans@united-church.ca for funding from the regional council First Third Ministry. 

Questions? Contact Pamela.