Hello to our FGCC Congregations – The Gathering, North Site, and Attridge,
FGCC is in the midst of a significant transition. Staff and Council have been working through the reality that we have to do some rightsizing within our church staff. Right sizing percentage consistent with church experts suggests healthy churches have 45-55% income for staff (read full article here). Over the years we have been consistently above 60% of our income for staffing and we are working to correct this now.
Council communicated to the congregations this week that our budget for this fiscal year is going to decrease to about 1.5 million. Our congregations have been praying for Staff and Council in this season and on Tuesday, Council made the decision to reduce 2.5 Full Time Equivalent staff (FTE).
We love our staff and are so thankful for the gifts and contribution that they all bring to FGCC. These decisions have been very difficult for Council and we have worked alongside Reg and other staff. This process has included evaluating our staffing structure and decisions have been made based on what we felt was best for the stewardship of our resources. We continue to work toward flattening our staff structure and defining roles.
The decision was made to eliminate the Director of Operations position and to reduce a 1.0 FTE from youth ministry. Some other staff are having their roles and hours adjusted to help meet the budget and remuneration goal. As a result, we regret to inform you that Sue Enns and Lizzie Rowan will no longer be on staff at FGCC. We recognize this impacts many of us and we encourage our congregations to walk alongside those involved. We will provide support and care for Lizzie and Sue and their families in this time.
In addition to other shifting and hour reductions, we have adjusted the Global Missions Pastor role from 80% to 55%. This impacts Maryanne Berge. We will provide a full overview of staff adjustments at our congregations meeting on September 18. Our staff are working on making the changes as smooth as possible to cover the needs of our church and ministries.
We want to thank everyone for your prayers and support through this difficult season and especially this last week. Know that the decisions we made were not taken lightly and we welcome conversations as well as humbly ask that you continue to carry the leadership and staff in your prayers as we walk through the next few months together.
On behalf of Council,
Erica Fraser (Moderator), Janice Block, Joel Dyck, Gil Klassen, Ken Willms, Anna Robinson.