2021 - Q3 Operations Working Group Quarterly Report -October
The Operations team was kept busy on many different fronts over the summer months and into September this year. We met on Zoom on July 8, August 12 and September16 . Jen Heidebrecht stepped down from her role as Operations Convener after the July meeting when she took up the new part-time Office Administrator staff position. Thank you to Claire Myers and Pat White, both Council Members-at-Large, who agreed to record the Decisions and Actions during the August and September meetings while we endeavored to fill the vacant Operations Convener position. Pat White has now agreed to take on the Convener position for the next 6 months and to be a core member of the Operations Team. Thank you Pat for taking on this important leadership role!
In July, changes to our office administration staffing approved by the Leadership Council in April were completed with the hiring of Jen Heidebrecht in the new part-time Office Administrator role , Sarah Reuangrith in the part-time Communications Coordinator position and Pat White, Marilyn Bates and Claire Myers who took on the rotating Member-at-Large role he contracting of DB Bookkeeping (Courtney Den Boer) to provide bookkeeping services. In July , Norma May began her transition into the Council Treasurer’s position, which necessitated additional changes related to the church bank accounts and services during this period.
By late July, the Ministerial Search Committee, chaired by Margaret Holden-Scott, informed operations that had found a suitable candidate to fill the new Half-time Minister position McDougall had been unable l to fill last spring. Operations reviewed the Search Committees’ recommendation and set the wheels in motion for the Search Committee’s recommendation to be brought to the Leadership Council at their August 24 meeting and so that it could be taken to the congregation for their consideration and approval. Congregational approval was granted at a Congregational Meeting on September 12 on Zoom because we were not able to meet in person. Rev. Danah Cox has since accepted McDougall’s Letter of Offer and will take on the half-time Family Ministry and Pastoral Care Minister role on October 1. Rev. Marilyn Evans, who was contracted on June 15 to fill the Pastoral Care Coordinator vacated by Rachel Nadon, will continue in that temporary contract position to the end of December to provide continuity of pastoral care support to our senior congregational members during the ongoing pandemic and to provide space for Rev. Joanne Anquist and Rev. Danah Cox to transition into their new shared ministry roles.
In August, Property Leads (John Naylor and Barrie Clayton) reviewed our caretaking needs going into the fall and brought their recommendations to Operations related to our projected caretaking needs in the fall and our employment agreement with our long-time caretaker, Harpal Chahal. A new agreement was worked out with Harpal so that he will go forward as our part-time caretaker working for an average of 15 hours per week this fall with hours tracked by the Facilities Coordinator, John Naylor. Harpal will also provide the additional setup and caretaking needed for our rentals.
By the end of August, it became clear that the earlier plan to re-open McDougall in September for programs, rentals and community events was not a safe plan thing to do. COVID cases and hospitalizations in Calgary were increasing at worrying levels and vaccination rates had stalled. After learning that a double-vaccinated participant at our August 22 worship service tested positive (and has since passed away) because of COVID, we discontinued in-person participation at Sunday worship services and reviewed our other plans for events and programs for the fall.
One such plan was the one to restart our choral music programs based on the contracts Operations had approved in June for our Choral Music Director, Krishan Power, and our Service Musician/Contemporary Music Leader, Tanya Wan Lim. Although the contracts had been written with a proviso related to the status of COVID restrictions in the Fall, Krishan Power informed us in late August that he was not willing to participate on the worship leadership team if choirs were not able to participate or rehearse unmasked. Krishan was provided with some compensation for his summer planning time and lost income for rehearsals in
September. Once it is safe t restart the choral music program, Krishan will be contacted regarding his availability to return in the role of Choral Director as outlined in the June 2021 Service Contract.
As the Annual Stewardship Campaign is under the mandate of the Operations Working Group during the governance pilot , Operations appointed Michael Plumb to lead McDougall’s Stewardship Campaign team again this year. The campaign will run between mid October and mid November, as it has in past years. Assisting Michael with this year’s campaign will be our new Communications Coordinator Sarah Reuangrith, as well as our past Treasurer, Karen Chow, Rev. Bob Mutlow and Kelsey Attard who were also on last year’s Stewardship team. Many thanks to this team for taking on this important work.
Scheduled Special Appeals for the Feed the Hungry Dinner and the Refugee Project along with a Messy Church bottle drive were also facilitated d by Operations during this quarter. Understandings regarding the need to spread out our special appeals throughout the year have improved since Operations implemented an Annual Fundraising Schedule for 2021. This document will be updated this fall for the upcoming year.
On September 13 the premier of Alberta declared a public health emergency with new guidelines for “Places of Worship- for worship services” and a complex Restrictions Exemption Plan for “operators” such as ourselves who rent space in their facilities. The Operations team put our heads together to create a plan to keep our staff and community of faith members safe during this next stage of the pandemic. We have decided to require that all users of our facility be fully vaccinated and masked while in the building. Renters and leaders of groups using our space will be informed of the requirement to verify the vaccination status of their participants and ensure that masks are worn consistently.
As we cautiously re-open our church facility for in-person activities in the months ahead, the Operations Working Group will continue to attend to McDougall’s operational needs and challenges, always working within provincial and city health guidelines. Please give me a call if you have questions, concerns or interest in joining this leadership team. (403 242-2909)
Respectfully submitted
Joanne Pritchard
Operations Working Group Lead