An Update Letter from the President
the Rev. Dr. Simon LeSieur

~ from an email from the Pacific Mountain Regional Council Office dated November 7, 2025

Dear friends and colleagues,

As we move into November, I wanted to send you an update on what the Regional Executive has been up to. Half the Executive is brand new this year, representing communities of faith across the region from Terrace and Burns Lake, all the way to Armstrong and Comox. With so many new voices, I knew that we’d have a lot work to do. What I didn’t know was how good that work would be.

NEW CULTURE

“I feel like I’m leaving this first day having made new friends.” That sentiment was echoed by more than one Executive member as we wrapped up our first of three days of meetings.

Much of our work on day 1 was about moving into a new culture and way of being together as an Executive. I’ve experienced over the years in different church contexts a certain sense of competitiveness and antagonism as we go about doing the work of Church, which often creates a climate that isn’t conducive to being attentive to the Spirit. While we still have some work to do, I told my spouse when I got home that that first day was quite possibly the best Church meeting I’d ever been a part of! There was a pervasive sense of hope and optimism that makes me excited about what will emerge through this group.

LISTENING

One of the principal tasks of the Executive is to first and foremost listen – to all that is going on in the region, to how we sense the Spirit moving, and to best position the region at the intersection of both. This is the basis upon which we make decisions and what informs our direction and vision.

Becoming Church

To that end, we regularly spend time with different communities of faith hearing about their joys and challenges. At our last meeting, we heard from the ministry team in Bella Coola. This month, we spent time listening to the team from Becoming Church, one of the new church plants in the region. We heard about their relentless commitment to being a Christian presence in their neighbourhood, despite the headwinds and uncertainties they are facing. I had the pleasure of attending their one year anniversary a few weeks ago in New Westminster and it was clear that, through their ministry, they have cultivated a space for the felt presence of the Spirit.

Indigenous Ministries

Part of our time involved hearing about Treena’s time in Kitimat for the Indigenous Ministries Annual General Meeting where she also attended the raising of a residential school memorial totem pole. We also heard about some of the hopes and struggles facing some of our Indigenous ministries in the region. Their embodiment of the way of Jesus is such an important facet of our region, and we continue to pray for and work towards renewal in their communities.

Annual General Meeting Table Responses

We also spent considerable time going through the responses that participants at the June Annual General Meeting in Nanaimo submitted through table discussion groups. We had asked attendees to share with us what they were celebrating, where they were experiencing challenges, and what we, the Executive, could be praying for.

Here’s what we heard: We heard that many of you are tired and, in many instances, wrestling financially. We also heard how this quickly changing world is really affecting the local church. To respond to these changes, we also heard that many of you are feeling energized by an emerging willingness to take risks and rediscover what the risen Christ is up to in your neighbourhoods. Others are discovering renewed faith through new partnerships, welcoming new people, and leaning into a renewed commitment to radical inclusion. And perhaps more importantly, it’s important to name that all of us across the region are holding both challenges and celebrations together. We’re in a new season of adaptability, and we’re in this together.

You’ll see in the word cloud below that there was so much more. Please know that we hear you, and that your responses will help shape areas of focus. We are praying for you – for discernment around future planning, for revitalization and reinvigoration, and for the Spirit to continue to deepen our commitment to justice in this world. I know it sounds trite sometimes, but you aren’t alone.

SHAPING THE VISION

The remainder of our time was spent laying important groundwork from which to make faithful decisions.

The Role of the Church in the World

Perhaps one of the most crucial exercises we worked through was a world cafe-style deep dive into what Scripture has to say about the role of the Church in the world. It’s easy in the business of the Church to lose sight of what all of this is about. And so we spent time with different passages from the New Testament. What emerged was a helpful reminder to lean on God as the provider and source of all we need to be the Church in this world. We are a people called to unity, humility, and collective work – storytellers and agents of God’s goodness.

Values

From there, we continued sifting through some of the work we began in the Spring with Rev. Cameron Trimble around the values that will guide our governance and how we work together as an executive. Emerging from our time with Scripture and what we heard through the AGM responses was the importance of God-centered collaboration, a commitment to radical inclusion, trust, communication and partnership, creativity and innovation amongst others.

On the Horizon

Some of the other work we did was actioning the relevant portions of the Apartheid Free Community proposal that was received and approved at the June AGM. We are also going to continue working on the recommendations from the recent Convergence report on our governance, which you heard about at the AGM, as well as discerning how to strategically action the learnings that emerged from the 10 year national projections. Another one of the pieces on the horizon is to refine our values so that we can begin shaping the Ends (what we hope to accomplish) – particularly around property in the region.

On a Personal Note

On a personal note, I want to say thank you to all of you for the faithful, hard work you are doing out there to be beacons of God’s goodness in your communities. It’s not easy work. But this vision of shalom is so worth it. Don’t be disheartened. My prayer is that the Spirit of God would sustain you and carry you, and breathe fresh life into your deepest yearnings.

I love this Church of ours, and I find profound strength in knowing that there are people like you throughout British Columbia and the Yukon (and beyond!) who are dedicated and so committed to the way of Jesus in all of its various forms and expressions.

Grace and peace,

The Rev. Dr. Simon LeSieur
Executive Council President
Pacific Mountain Region