Good News March 2019 - Nccdn.net

Good News
                                        March 2019
                     MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | CORDOVA BAY UNITED CHURCH

Huge turnout for AGM
Some 80 people turned out for the Cordova Bay United Church annu-
al general meeting on Sunday, Feb. 24. Some of the highlights from
the meeting include:
Congregation approves new vision statement
The congregation approved a new vision statement. The statement
is: “An inclusive community living out Christ’s love and care for the
world”
Council chair Bill Walker spearheaded the work on the new state-
ment. Last November 30 people representing every part of the
church community helped to develop 27 draft vision statements.
Then over the next two months the 30 participants worked to distill the statements into a single, cogent, realistic
and memorable sentence. Church council approved the final draft vision statement on Jan. 23 and then brought it
to the AGM for endorsement.
“This is not the end of the process,” Bill told the AGM. “It is rather the beginning. The real work starts now as we
seek to identify the route forward to make our vision a reality – this is
where the rubber meets the road.”

2019 church budget approved
The congregation approved a budget for 2019 totaling $390,891. That
is an increase of $24,889 over 2018 year-end – or 6.8 per cent. Most
of the increase comes in staff salaries ($13,671 more) and mainte-
nance and repair ($10,000 more).
The budget forecasts a $13,000-increase in general givings based on
pledges received during the Givings Tree Challenge.
The budget forecasts $365,988 in total revenue and $390,891 in total
expenses, resulting in a deficit of $24,903.

Mission and Service changing
The way Cordova Bay United Church contributes to the Mission and Service fund is changing.
For the last number of years M&S was funded as part of the CBUC unified budget. Last year
the church gave $15,000 to M&S.
This year the church will provide $10,000 to M&S – the proceeds to come from the annual
fall rummage sale. As well, an M&S team has been formed to raise additional funds and to
promote M&S within the congregation. The team will be led by John MacLeod.
The change will make a difference for contributions to M&S. In the past, individual contribu-
tions to M&S went into the overall church budget because M&S was part of the unified
church budget. Under the new approach, individual contributions to M&S will go directly to M&S.

Overflow crowd for AGM lunch
The soup and bun lunch prior to the AGM was so popular it was hard to find an empty seat in the hall. But there
was plenty of soup. In fact, there were 16 different soups to choose from.

Thanks to the Moffat-Shumka family – Jane, Bill and Leslie – for all their hard work organizing the lunch. Thanks
also to those who donated soup and buns, served the soup, cleaned up and put away tables and chairs.

The soup and bun lunch was a fundraiser for M&S and raised $738.25! Thank you everyone for your terrific sup-
port.

Messy Church offers fishy fun!
An active and noisy Messy Church on Feb. 1 focused on the Bible story of Jesus and the miracle of the loaves and
fishes. More than 65 children, family and friends turned out to make crafts related to the story, like Play-Doh fish
and a fish necklace and take part in activities such as the fish ‘stuffy’ toss. Everyone then shared a terrific supper
of pancakes and sausages provided by the Men’s Breakfast group. After an ice cream dessert the children went
into the church sanctuary for a sacred story and song.

Haverluck stories a hit
Theologian, artist and storyteller Bob Haverluck drew a good crowd to his Feb. 8 talk at Cordova Bay United
Church. About 30 people turned out to hear Haverluck share stories from his book, “When God was Flesh and
Wild: Stories in Defense of the Earth”. Attendance at CBUC was the best of Haverluck’s three Victoria-area talks.

Scouts take part in church service
Scouts from the 5th Tsartlip Scout Troop took part in the Feb. 17 church service at Cordova Bay United. The Scouts
trooped their colours into the sanctuary at the start of the service and out again at the end. They also provided
and served a fabulous cake in the church hall following the service. Their attendance was part of the church cele-
bration of scouting and guiding and the legacy of Robert Baden-Powell who founded the Boy Scouts and with his
sister, Agnes, the Girl Guides.

               Learning how to advocate for seniors
               Eight people turned out Feb. 20 to learn how to advocate for themselves or their senior loved one.
               The event was coordinated by the Caring Team and featured guest speaker Peggy Hancyk. Peggy
               provided helpful advice for seniors with health issues or caring for a senior with health issues, in-
               cluding where to seek help and valuable programs they can access.

$5,000 provincial grant for Carrot Seed
Carrot Seed Preschool received a $5,000 provincial government
grant to make improvements to the classroom, including a new
water table, picnic table and shelving units.

“We also bought a new fridge to handle all the lunches and extra
things we have now that we have a full-day program,” says Tanya
Burnett, Carrot Seed’s Head of School.

Two-year waitlist for Carrot Seed
Carrot Seed continues to operate at maximum enrollment and
now has a waiting list for both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 school
years. This has meant the preschool has a steady income, which
has allowed it to reinvest in capital projects for the school and to
double its rent and insurance payments to CBUC and to increase
fees it pays for janitorial services.

In 2019, Carrot Seed will contribute $25,400 to the church budget.

Carrot Seed teachers get wage hike
Carrot Seed Early Childhood Education teachers will receive a
wage hike thanks to new provincial government funding. As part
of the B.C. child care plan, all of Carrot Seed’s ECE teachers receive
a $1-an-hour raise retroactive to September 2018 and another $1
an hour in April 2020.

As well, last year Carrot Seed was approved for a program where
the province reduced the fees paid by full-time families by $100 a
month.

“This program doesn’t directly benefit us,” explained Tanya.
“However it does benefit our full-time families and that is so very
important to us.”

     Our goal is to publish a newsletter once a month celebrating the people, events and work of the church community.
                 We welcome submissions, photos and stories about the life of our faith community. Contact:
                                     Ron Norman (250-544-1532, joanron@telusl.net) or
                                      CBUC Office (250-658-5911, office@cbunited.ca).