The Board of Elders received a request for prayer related to an ongoing spiritual issue affecting a couple and their extended family.  The June meeting of the Board of Elders began with a time of prayer for this couple.  This set the stage for a time of rich, personal sharing as the Elders transitioned to the regularly scheduled meeting. The elders had been reading Colossians 2 in preparation for our meeting, to discern together what we heard God saying to us individually, and to Living Hope as a congregation.  One theme came through very clearly, that God has called us as a church to lead people to freedom in Christ, rather than legalism. This led to an in-depth discussion about false humility, what that may look like in our lives personally as elders, what that would look like in our life as a congregation, and how we can demonstrate true humility as Paul outlined it in Colossians 2. The discernment exercises in which Pastor Kirk has had us participate have generated very open and important conversations for us as elders. We seek to continue to grow in our personal walk and to provide Godly, Spirit-led leadership to the congregation.

Due to the change in our fiscal year end, the budget that was presented at the AGM in March was a 6-month budget to the end of June.  The Board approved the 2018-2019 Budget which will be presented to the Annual General Meeting on September 30.

The Board approved Matthew Reddekopp’s application to receive Living Hope’s entrance scholarship to Briercrest College for this next school year.

Please continue to pray for our Property Development Committee as they continue negotiations with the city regarding the new entrance to our property on Green Falls Drive.  We anticipate the new entrance will be constructed and opened ­­this year, to be followed by the closure of the Arcola Avenue access.

In April the Board of Elders approved a missions trip that will be led by Pastor Shauna and Pastor Daniel to minister to the children and teens of International Workers at the 2019 Silk Road and Desert Sand Field Forum.  Pastor Kirk gave us an update on plans for the trip and informed the Board that the location of the field forum has moved to Cyprus.

Your Board of Elders,

Mark Stefan (Chair)                                        Brad Crassweller

Wayne Bernakevitch (Vice-Chair)                Howard Wiebe

Ed Beggs (Treasurer)                                     Kevin Gatschene

Ken Thiessen (Secretary)                              Abe Toews

Kirk Cowman (Lead Pastor)                         Jim Haney