Personnel Update - 04/18/2024

April 18, 2024

To our CKPres Family,

Ministry work in the 21st-century American church is an uphill battle, especially in places like the Pacific Northwest. One of the ways I remind myself of God's presence and providence to our congregation is to look at the wonderful staff members God has continued to bring to us to serve our church. Like the rest of you, I am grieved by Dani's departure, grateful for her friendship and years of extraordinary service to our church (and also grateful that she's not going anywhere!), and excited for her and her next steps.

We plan to have a luncheon after church on June 23rd to celebrate her and thank her for her faithful ministry to us.

And while this initial news had the makings of gut punch, I am thrilled to announce that Mary Hoard has agreed to serve as our new Children's Director. As many of you know, she and Natasha Heino have been filling in as a fabulous and hard-working team during Dani's maternity leave.

Mary brings a love for Jesus, kids, and educational background to the program. A number of you who have been volunteering with the children's program in the past few months have already gone out of your way to share with me how impressed you've been with Mary's leadership, thoughtfulness, compassion, presence, and engagement with the kids. Our staff is already doing cartwheels now that they've learned she's on board. Mary will stay on after Dani returns from maternity leave and the two will work together in May and June as Dani transitions out.

I was talking with a pastor friend of mine last week, whose church has been searching for a Youth Director for nearly a year. I told them we were losing our stellar Children's Director.
"Ugh, I'm so sorry," he said.
"But," I said, "it appears we have an excellent replacement in the wings."
"What?! You guys have sure been fast in finding great replacements for the departures of two well-loved staff members in the last six months."

Obviously, we can't take credit for any of it, and we have had moments in the past and undoubtedly will in the future where finding the right staff person doesn't come quickly or easily. So all we can do for now is be grateful for the way God continues to lead, guide, and provide for this Manna Church, and be grateful for Dani and Mary, finding ways to support them as they lead us in discipling our kids.

Grace and Peace to you all,
Pastor Tyler