Leadership Council First Quadrimestre Report (January – April 2025)
Your Leadership Council has had a great start to 2025. We held two regularly scheduled meetings, hosted a Town Hall Meeting, and held our Annual General Meeting.
McDougall is extremely fortunate to have so many volunteers and staff members to be a part of this council. We would like to extend our thanks to the outgoing council members Alex Bradley, Sonia Dodd, Shauna Kennedy, Marjorie MacRae, and Bruce Munro for their participation in the Leadership Council. We would like to welcome our new co-chair of Ministry and Personal John Ferguson and Paula Sangster for joining the Joint Ministry Vision and Planning Group we look forward to their viewpoints at our meetings this coming year.
Highlights from our meetings include:
The Shared Ministry between McDougall, Ogden, and Red Deer Lake United Churches continue to be a major point of discussion at our meetings. An updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between all three churches has been signed as we move forward with this new outlook into our communities of faith. As part of our commitment to this ministry there has been a great deal of work towards developing an understanding of the needs of each of the three congregations and the importance of their presence in south Calgary. Through the leadership of Scott Reynolds the Chinook Winds Growth Animator, we have had the opportunity to share the wishes and dreams of the congregations through a shared Town Hall meeting at the end of April. We will continue to work and understand how this ministry will help shape the future of McDougall, Ogden, and Red Deer Lake United Churches.
The South Calgary Cluster (includes McDougall, Ogden, Red Deer Lake, Fish Creek, Lakeview, and Southview) continues to plan joint social justice initiatives in the areas such as the UCC Reconciliation Calls for Action Call and our shared Affirming values. We look forward to the UCC 100th anniversary celebration plans.
We were very fortunate to have had a surplus in our 2024 budget thanks to the dedicated and thoughtful work and contributions of all our staff and congregation members. Our 2025 budget looks favorable however we must remain diligent in making sure we are keeping within our means. A huge thank you to our Treasurer Norma May and our outgoing Assistant Treasurer Bruce Munro for providing ongoing financial reporting.
At our AGM it was noted that we are currently in a Leadership Crisis as many or our current leaders have been in their roles for an extended time. The Leadership Council has established a Nomination Ad Hoc group to examine the various roles the council has and identify potential individuals who could take on some of these roles.
For those interested Leadership Council minutes can be found posted in the Hospitality Hall, in a binder in the library, and on the McDougall website https://www.mcdunited.com/leadership-council .
If anyone is interested in becoming a member of the Leadership Council please contact the church office, Daren Patterson (daren.denise@gmail.com), or Joanne Pritchard (jmpritchard@shaw.ca).
Respectfully submitted by,
Daren Patterson
Co-chair Leadership Council
To learn more about Leadership Council, please visit the Leadership Council webpage.