Hello Westheights family,
The purpose of this post is to introduce you to the current Church Board and to provide an update on some of the things we are working on.
The Westheights Church Board from now through March 2023 is: Chair Jeff Willmer, Vice-chair Heather Gallian, Treasurer David Wigg, Board Secretary Nel Slater, members-at-large Randy Buhrow, Anita van Raalte and Jenn Wiens, and Lead Pastor Josh Mutter.
The Director of Student and Young Adult Ministry position has been vacant since last October. We did not find a suitable candidate through our first recruiting process and have recently re-posted the position. In the meanwhile Pastor Josh and a small group of dedicated volunteers are giving leadership to Student Ministries and Pastor Char is giving leadership to our Young Adults.
A few weeks ago the Board and the Staff attended an online seminar presented by Plan To Protect, on the topic of clergy misconduct and abuse. While we hope that this does not become a part of the Westheights’ story, we believe that it is important that we ensure that we have policies in place that guide the actions of our leadership and inform how we respond if necessary. Our denomination, the Be In Christ Church of Canada, already has some policies in place and is working on developing more this year to address this concern. In addition, the Westheights Protection Plan is already in place to promote the safety of vulnerable people in the presence of staff and volunteers.
This spring and summer, we are giving prayerful thought to our mission, and the direction that we take as a church in light of how the COVID pandemic may have changed the realities that we work in. A part of this conversation includes the possibility of facility improvements. We will certainly be involving the congregation in this process at the appropriate times.
If you have questions about this, or anything that the Board may be working on, please feel free to contact Board Chair Jeff Willmer or Lead Pastor Josh Mutter by email (boardchair@westheights.org or joshmutter@westheights.org) or by phone as listed in the online church directory.
In His service,
Jeff Willmer, Chair, on behalf of the Church Board