Folx and Folks 14 to 17 years are encouraged to apply to CWPM Youth Council!

​Click for Application Information: Youth Council (2024-2025)

Positions Available 

• 6 Youth, 14-17 years, from Chinook Winds Region (Southern Alberta)
• 6 Youth, 14-17 years, from Pacific Mountain Region (Whitehorse and BC) 

Application Deadline

• December 15, 2023

Term Start Date

• February 2024 

Youth Council Members

• Represent youth from across the region and reflect a diversity of communities and experiences
• Support wider engagement of youth in the participation of the life of the United Church of Canada beyond their “home” community of faith
• Lift the gifts of youth, to celebrate their wisdom and spirit they bring to the church and the world
• Provide an opportunity for the voice and knowledge of youth to shape the experience of the United Church of Canada for all
• Deepen youth’s leadership skills and faith
• Empower youth to work and serve the world as God’s people and disciples of Christ
  
  
  

The full details of Youth Council's Structure, Member Terms, and Commitments are at FirstThirdMinistry.ca/youth-council. ​

For more information contact Regional Staff & Youth Council Lead: Chris Mah Poy

A prayer for the children we love at the start of the school year:

Loving God,
    parent of us all,
    please bless precious <<insert names>> as they start their school year.
May they never lose their excitement or enthusiasm for learning.
May the spark of creativity, possibility and adventure remain strong in them.
Keep them safe from all harm,
    including harmful thoughts and ideologies.
May all who encounter them show respect and kindness, and
    may they be loving, kind and respectful.
Bless them and help him to shine, and
    may this be true for all kids.
Amen

Prayer shared by The United Church of Canada, on their Facebook page. 

​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,