Cindy Stubbs

ELFEC announced the appointment of Mr. Lee Gould as Executive Director (E.D.) of ELFEC, effective June 1, 2020.
Jeff Pym, E.D. since the foundation was established in 2007, announced in 2019 that he would be retiring effective June 30, 2020. Since January the ELFEC Board of Directors has been engaged in a thorough search for a suitable successor, and in Lee Gould they believe they have found the leader who can guide ELFEC through the future phases of its growth, development and service.
Lee is an accomplished and experienced not-for-profit executive, having spent three decades working in the sector. For the past seven years he was President and CEO of the Canadian Medical Foundation. Prior to that he held senior leadership positions at Lakehead University and several hospital foundations.

Lee has already begun a period of orientation with the ELFEC staff. Kathryn Smith, Krista Kuehnbaum and Jeff will spend the next few weeks introducing Lee to the programs and people who make ELFEC’s mission both exciting and rewarding.

You can continue to reach ELFEC staff at 1-888-308-9461.

Lee Gould: lgould@elfec.ca
Kathryn Smith: ksmith@elfec.ca
Krista Kuehnbaum: kkuehnbaum@elfec.ca
Jeff Pym: jpym@elfec.ca

ELCIC Synod Bishops and Assistants to the Bishops have committed to preparing sermons for congregational use through the summer: June 14 to September 13. The sermons will be provided in both PDF and video format. Details on how to access the sermons will be shared shortly!

If you would still like to view or share a copy of Bishop Susan’s sermon from this past Sunday, May 17, it is available on YouTube and you can also request a downloadable version of the video or the PDF text by email.

The Women of Faith Fund (WOFF) will not be receiving applications for the current year (2020) due to our unprecedented pandemic situation. The WOFF will receive grant applications for the final year of the fund until May 1, 2021. Please visit the elcic.ca website for funding guidelines and application forms.  

Because of the continuing uncertainty about the resumption of large gatherings, we have decided to postpone the event.

We have booked space at Geneva Park and plan to offer the practicum on October 12-14, 2021.  Most of our presenters have already agreed to participate in the re-scheduled event.  We chose to look a year and a half into the future because the venue has very few available dates in the next 12 months, and we have a number of events scheduled for next spring and summer, e.g. Dubrick Institute, Synod Assembly, CLAY, etc.

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Bishops and treasurers of the ELCIC’s synods and national church have written to The Hon. Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development, to encourage action by the Canadian government to sustain the charitable sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
We are attaching copies of the ELCIC letter and Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC) letter for your consideration.

Specifically, the letter endorses the CCCC proposal to sustain the charitable sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, as submitted to the government on April 21, 2020. The CCCC has written to the Hon. Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development with a funding proposal, “to sustain and strengthen the charitable sector during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, when demand for services is very high, but significant decreases in donations due to income insecurity threatens to destabilize charities.”

We invite you to consider sending your own letter and sharing copies of these letters with your Member of Parliament (MP). A sample letter has been included with this mailing for your use. You can find email contact information for your MP at the following link. https://www.ourcommons.ca/en/contact-us If you have an existing relationship with your local MP, you might also choose to make a phone call raising these concerns.

If you have questions about this matter, please contact Bishop Michael Pryse (mpryse@elcic.ca) or Eastern Synod Treasurer Mr. Keith Myra (kmyra@elcic.ca).

As bishops and treasurers of the ELCIC’s synods and national church, we are deeply aware of the efforts you, your congregation and your faith community are making to care for the people you serve in your neighbourhood. We express our gratitude and offer our prayers for these expressions of ministry.

Yours in Christ,

Bishop Michael Pryse

On Thursday April 23, 2020 the Eastern Synod Council issued calls to the Rev. Christie Morrow and the Rev. Adam Snook to serve as Assistants to the Bishop of the Eastern Synod. Pastor Morrow will be serving the synod on a 50% basis with primary responsibilities in the areas of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, Stewardship (Generosity) and Public Policy and Service Ministries. The latter two of these portfolios had been staffed by Mr. Jeff Pym and the Rev. Katherine Gohm, who had each announced their intention to conclude their service earlier this year.

Pastor Snook will provide leadership in the synod’s Missional Leadership initiative while providing oversight in the Communication portfolio. With Bishop Pryse and the Rev. Doug Reble, he will also share the vital and ongoing work of providing support to congregations and rostered leaders.

Rev Christie Morrow

Ordained in 2003, Christie has served in ministry together with the people of St. Peter’s, Milverton (2003-2008), and the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour, Owen Sound (2009-2017). Christie has served on what was once the Synod’s Parish Life Committee, the Synod’s Youth Ministry Committee, she has been a Sunday School teacher, youth group leader, Vacation Bible School Coordinator, Chairperson of the National Planning Committee for CLAY 2010, and also served on the National (ELCIC) Youth Ministry Coordinating Committee, the planning Committee for the LWF Assembly held in Winnipeg, MB in 2004, and the Eastern Synod’s Candidacy Committee. She is currently the Director for Youth and Young Adult Ministries in the Eastern Synod.

Christie has always taken a relational approach to ministry and seeks to connect with people and build relationships between people, between people and the church, and between people and God. Christie also most readily experiences God on the edge of things. For her, God’s Spirit dwells in this liminal space of great creativity, calling, coaxing and sometimes pulling the church forward to reach out and to keep reforming – to embrace our roots while remaining relevant. These are the very hopes and dreams she has for our Synod and our Church as a whole as she embraces this new role within the Eastern Synod.

Christie is married to her favourite Presbyterian, the Rev. Mark Wolfe. They live in Stratford, ON with their two daughters, Caroline (age 5), and Lauren (age 3).

Rev. Adam Snook

Rev. Adam Snook is a graduate of both St. Francis Xavier University (B.A.) and Martin Luther University College (MDiv). Ordained in 2011, he has served the Maynooth & Raglan Parish, Maynooth/Schutt; Mt. Calvary, Upper Northfield and St. John’s, Mahone Bay. As a tireless advocate for community partnerships, he has served on the Synod Council, Anglican/Lutheran Vital & Healthy Parish Consultation, Rural Ministry Symposium, Royal Canadian Legion, Kairos Atlantic, Restructuring Task Force; as well as on the Board of Directors for the VON, Lutherlyn Camp & Conference Centre, Lutheran Camp Mush-Mush, and a number of other local grassroot foundations. Adam is also the co-editor of Living Justice: A Gospel Response to Poverty from CPJ.

In response to this appointment, Adam said, “I am humbled and grateful for this opportunity to hear the stories, and walk with communities, who make up our Synod family. God has gifted us with a beautifully vast and vibrant expression of God’s grace, and I look forward to exploring and supporting new and ongoing mission opportunities throughout the Eastern Synod. I am overwhelmingly privileged to work with Bishop Michael Pryse, Pastor Douglas Reble, Synod Officers & Staff, as well as the many lay, clergy and congregations who devote themselves tirelessly to God’s mission that we share. I feel deeply called to serve in this new role, and appreciate your prayers as my family and I make this transition.”

Adam and his wife Holly are the parents of Nathaniel and will be relocating from Nova Scotia to Kitchener, ON.

Bishop Pryse concludes, “I am absolutely delighted that Pastor Christie and Pastor Adam will be taking on these new responsibilities in the life of our synod. They are each very gifted spiritual leaders who will bring much needed new perspectives and gifts to our work. Please join me in praying for them as they take on these new responsibilities. May God grant them joy in their service!