In 2004, Reverend John Pentland accepted a call from Hillhurst United Church in Calgary to become their minister. Like many United Church of Canada congregations, they were in a state of decline, with 80 to 100 people at Sunday worship and less than 10 children in Sunday school.

Today, over 400 people come to Sunday worship and over 100 attend Sunday school. Reverend Pentland has described how Hillhurst achieved this transformation in a lovely book called "Fishing Tips".

We are very excited to announce that John is going to be with us in person in September. On Friday September 13th at 6 pm, the Central Board will be having supper with John, followed by a discussion around organizational structure and board governance.

On Saturday September 14th, from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, John will be sharing his "Fishing Tips" with the congregation. Please join us if you can on Saturday.

At Grace United, I believe a similar transformation is under way. I think John can teach us a lot about how we can connect with the community and continue this transformation.
Please call if you would like to discuss this further.
Darrel Howell, Chair Central Board (780)870-1671.