Dear Sisters-in-Christ and Father Alfredo:

 As I look out the window and see the tiny buds on the trees and spring flowers poking through the earth, I am so grateful to be living on our Rock. Grateful for the weather and grateful for all of you!

Planning is happening all around—for the upcoming Interim meeting on March 4, the Diocesan convention May 1 – 3 and the Provincial convention June 12 – 15. Here is an update on all three, along with some very important ACTION items:

 

Spring Interim Meeting, March 4, 2019, 9 am – 3:30 pm, Church of the Ascension, Parksville 

Focus on Faith, Service and Social Justice

Since we have three meetings/conventions happening in our region with just two months between each of them, we have reworked the Spring Interim meeting to focus on educational workshops instead of reports. Our written 2018 annual reports will be printed in the Diocesan Convention book, coordinated by Laurel Phyall, and we will present our oral reports at the May Diocesan Convention.

Our Spring Interim meeting will start at 9 am for everyone. We will have a short business section followed by presentations from some of our Diocesan committee chairs: Bertha Landrie and Gerry Haywood are presenting Opening Doors through Social Justice; Sandi Digras and Connie Dunwoody will show us the importance of Communicating our Serviceand Pat Darling and Fr. Alfredo will present a workshop called Our Future, Our Faith – Built on Solid Rock. We will send out the full Agenda for the Interim Spring meeting, by the end of this month.

ACTION: Please bring as many of your team that you can to the Spring Interim meeting – chairs of the various parish Council committees will greatly benefit from the presentations. In order to make sure Ascension has enough food for everyone, please contact Gail Olyniuk at the Church of the Ascension at gailolyniuk@gmail.comby February 27 with the number of people coming from your Council. Refreshments and lunch will be provided for $10.

 

Diocesan Convention, May 1-3, St. Patrick’s, Campbell River

Theme: Solid Rock, Living Waters

The team at St. Patrick’s has been working very hard to plan an exciting Diocesan convention for us. The registration team will mail the package of information to all Councils and Diocesan Chairs by mid-February. Information will also be posted on the Diocesan website. This will give you plenty of time to promote the convention at your parish council meetings. There will be an early registration fee of $35 if you register before March 31. After that, registration will be $50.

Laurel Phyall, President-elect and Organization Chair, will be assembling the convention book and will send you the criteria for your written reports highlighting your 2018 activities. 

Here are some things to look forward to at the Diocesan Convention:

Registration will start at 4 pm on Wednesday, May 1, 2019. The Pre-convention Executive Meeting will commence with dinner at 5:30 pm, followed by our meeting with Diocesan Executive and Parish Council Presidents or their designate. Please ensure that all Councils are represented at this meeting.

The Diocesan Convention will start on Thursday, May 2 at 9 am with the Eucharistic Celebration. There will be the usual business sessions and we do want to hear from all of you (see Action below). We have planned for some very dynamic speakers with presentations and workshops that will excite, inspire and entertain you for the two-day convention.

ACTION: Diocesan Executive will present at the Pre-Convention Executive Meeting and Parish Presidents (or their designate) will present at the Convention.

 Keeping in mind our National theme, Caring for our Common Home, and our Diocesan theme, Solid Rock, Living Waters, when preparing your 3-minute oral presentation, please respond to the following question: What do these themes mean to me and, and what can I (and/or my Council) DO in 2019 to bring the themes to life?  

We are looking forward to hearing your thoughts, ideas, and plans.   

Provincial Convention, June 12-15, Coast Bastion Hotel and St. Peter’s, Nanaimo

Theme: Witnessing to the Truth

Our Diocese is hosting this year’s Provincial convention at the Coast Bastion in Nanaimo.  Our Provincial Council President, Gisela Montague, and I have been working on developing the Agenda and booking speakers. All the activities will be held at the Coast Bastion Hotel, except the Opening and Closing Eucharistic celebrations, which will be at St. Peter’s Church. The hotel has been booked, the site arrangements and meals confirmed. Although we are preparing much of the materials, the actual registration package will be compiled and mailed by the Provincial Secretary, Laura Esposito.

As Diocesan President, I am the Chair of this Convention, and I am grateful to the following people who have stepped forward to assist: 

• St. Peter’s, as parish host council, under the leadership of Co-Chair Agnes Geiger, is looking after hospitality and Maureen Ingram will assist with transportation 

• Cathy Genge is Registration Chair and St. Mary’s Council, Ladysmith will assist with onsite registration

• Nancy Horsfield (secretary) and Renee Johnson (treasurer) are liaising with their provincial counterparts on printing and budgets 

• Debbie Doyle from St. Peter’s is coordinating items for the silent auction and the Church of the Ascension Council, Parksville will manage the silent auction, 50/50 draw and door prize draws on the days of the Convention

• Sandi Digras and Diane Langdon are working on the casual night’s entertainment with the theme “Beach Party”

• Pat Darling will be working with the Provincial Spiritual Development Chair, Catherine L’Heureux and with St. Peter’s on the liturgical requirements

ACTION: We need items for the silent auction – items of significant value – and door prize items. We would appreciate it if each Council could provide us with one item for the silent auction and five door prizes. If you could bring those items to the Spring Interim meeting we would then know what still needs to be sourced. If you need the items picked up, please let me know.

Questions?

If you have any questions or need help on anything, please contact me.

Save the Dates

March 4, 2019
Spring Interim Meeting, Church of the Ascension, Parksville

May 1 – 3, 2019
Diocesan Convention, St. Patrick’s, Campbell River

June 12 – 15, 2019
Provincial Convention, Coast Bastion and St. Peter’s, Nanaimo

August 18 – 21, 2019
National Convention, Hyatt Regency, Calgary, Alberta

Blessings, 
Christa

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