Ministry is a broad term that we often equate with the church, and the strengthening of that institution. However, over the years many trained religious professionals have chosen other expressions of ministry.
If you have already made a change in your vocations; if you have ever thought about other paths of ministry; if you have wondered why others have chosen them; if you are simply curious about what this means in relation to faith, commitment and theology, then this week-end will give an opportunity for open sharing and discussion.
Bill Blaikie and Karen Toole will share in the facilitation of a relaxed time to share career choice pathways, spiritual expression, reflective questioning and enter into discernment about the meaning of ministry.
Bill Blaikie was ordained to the ministry of the United Church in 1978, while serving an inner city outreach ministry at Stella Ave. Mission in the north end of Winnipeg. He was elected to Parliament in 1979, and was re-elected eight times, retiring from federal politics in 2008, as the Dean of the House. Shortly after leaving federal politics Bill entered the provincial arena in a by-election and served as Manitoba’s Minister of Conservation from 2009 to 2011. In 2012 he received the Prairie Crocus Award from Nature Manitoba for creating five new provincial parks in one year. He is currently an adjunct professor in theology at the University of Winnipeg. His political memoir, The Blaikie Report – An Insider’s Look at Faith and Politics, was published by United Church Publishing House in October 2011.
Karen Toole is the Provincial Co-ordinator of Spiritual Health Care for Manitoba Health. Karen’s roots are in the North End of Winnipeg, and it is here that her passion for inclusion, equality and justice were born. The rich ethnic diversity of the North End led her into social advocacy work as a United Church minister. During that time she experienced the reality of gender inequity and became an advocate for women’s rights. Her career path has led her to media work as faith page columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press, and CBC Radio, on the Week-end Morning show in dialoque with Ron Robinson, each week for a conversation called Spiritually Speaking. For 14 years she co-partnered a counselling and consulting business with Esther Klassen named Soul Seasons.
