St. George’s Annual Vestry Meeting will be held at 11am on Sunday February 4 in the church. A copy of the annual report and financials can be found here. This is the Rector’s Report from that document.

In preparing a report like this and reflecting on the ministry that we do together here at St. George’s, I am always humbled by the many ways God provides. For the sake of gospel, so many good people give of their time and talent and make a difference in the lives of others. It continues to be a privilege to serve as your parish priest and be part of this caring Christian community.

In reflecting on the good work we do together, I reflect on the work Rick Gorski has been doing in preparing for an annual report to the town for St. George’s, in our role as a town of Halton Hills Sustainability Champion. An important part of Rick’s work is to do an inventory of our many ministries and groups and calculate our total number of volunteer hours and in what areas. I often talk about “Time and Talent” when we talk about stewardship as well as the financial support people contribute. The good volunteers of St. George’s contribute almost 9,000 hours of volunteer “time and talent”. It is standard for non-profits to use $25/hour to calculate the value of volunteer time to their programs. For St. George’s, that would total over $216,000 worth of “time and talent” contributed to our ministry.

In the last year, we accomplished numerous improvements to our property, including 5 stained glass windows, levelling the hall floor, installing an automated external defibrillator (AED), and, of course, enlarging and paving the parking lot. The huge improvement in parking was only possible because of a combined effort by our property committee, our wardens (especially Mark Kohler as property chair), the volunteer expertise of Brian Burton, and the financial support of the parish. I am so appreciative of the leadership of the Property Committee and for the great response of the parish to support St. George’s in completing all these important improvements in 2017.

We will continue to explore new ways of providing ministry and supporting the changing needs for ministry in our community. We continue to be open to the changing needs and expectations of our community and to be flexible in how we use our resources to their best effect.

One area of ministry we have been facing a challenge in has been our music ministry. This year has been our second year without a music director. The main reason for not filling this position continues to be finances, as demonstrated by our financial statements and our proposed budget for 2018. We have been able to provide some paid support for the 9:30 choir to prepare anthems for special services in 2017 and plan to do so again 2018. I remain very grateful for the support and effort of our volunteers at the 9:30 and 11:15 services who help lead our worship music every Sunday.

The Rev’d Nancy Rowe has been the driving force in our ministry to young families. Her upcoming retirement in July will bring changes, new challenges, and new opportunities. Before I address where we might be heading with this part of our ministry, I would like to write a few words about Nancy and her ministry.

Nancy Rowe first served as a theological student in 2007, and then in 2008 as a part-time assistant priest. In short order, and after a few tweaks, she gave shape to complete a program for connecting, supporting, and ministering to the needs of families with young children, from Baptism to early teens. Nancy has proclaimed the gospel to children and their parents. God put Nancy in the right place, at the right time, for St. George’s and our community to make a significant contribution to our community. It has been a pleasure and privilege to minister beside her for over ten years.

We are working with Nancy to ensure that Messy Church, which marked its tenth anniversary here at St. George’s this year, will continue. Nancy, in her retirement, will be keeping a leadership role, helping to oversee its continued and important place in our parish ministry. This July’s summer Kid’s Camp will mark her last days before her official retirement. Over the next six months, new volunteers will need to be recruited to continue the pieces of ministry to families, like Kid’s Camp and coordinating our 11:15 church school. I will be renewing my role in our baptismal ministry come the summer, but it certainly will be impossible to fill Nancy’s shoes in all the ministry that she does in our community currently.

Our projected givings and revenue is not enough to allow us to hire someone, as music director or to find a half-time assistant Priest in 2018. I am hopeful that we will be able reassess our needs and consider filling those positions appropriately in 2019, as we build our financial commitment.

I wish to thank the wardens, Ian Oldaker, Paul Skuriat, Mark Kohler, and Jan Lehman, and treasurer, Brenda Sisnett for their support and leadership. Also, I need to thank Sue Graham for her hard work and support as our parish administrative assistant

Peace,

The Rev’d Canon Robert W.A. Park