Chinook Winds Regional Council commissions and ordains two new ministers on May 8, 2022.

At the Chinook Winds Region’s Celebration of Ministry Service on Sunday, May 8, 2022 Rachel Nadon (at left) will be commissioned and Kim Holmes Younger will be ordained. Rachel is currently serving Knox United Church, Drumheller and Kim Holmes is serving Parkdale United Church, Calgary. 
        Please check out Kim and Rachel’s words about their call to ministry and passion for serving The United Church of Canada below.

Also, details on how you can participate in the Celebration of Ministry Service at Gaetz Memorial United, Red Deer or Online HERE

Rachel Nadon

Originally from Ontario, Rachel Nadon has made Alberta her home. She moved west looking for work and hoping to continue her career in millwork and furniture design. Soon after arriving in Calgary, she started to attend Northminster United Church after spending 10 years away from church life. She became active in her congregation at Northminster United Church volunteering to teach in the Sunday Morning KidZone Program, employed in Youth Ministry and helped with everything Family Ministry related. After a few years, she started to identify her call to ministry and in 2016 became a diaconal ministry student at the Centre for Christian Studies in Winnipeg, MB.
In preparation for school, she stepped away from working full time and started to work part-time in a grocery store and continued her paid role in youth ministry while completing her Christian Education and Worship Field Placement with Northminster United Church. She completed her Social Justice Field Placement while volunteering at the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary. She was able to serve McDougall United Church in Calgary in a student appointment position as the Pastoral Care Coordinator while completing her Pastoral Care Field placement. Having the opportunity to use her experience and hours from this part-time position for her Pastoral Care Field Placement meant that she had more energy and time to put into her ministry studies.

Taking courses online and having the opportunity to travel to St Stephen’s College Edmonton, St. Andrews College in Saskatoon, SK, and the Sandy Saulteaux Spiritual Centre in Beausejour, MB for the completion of her external theology courses helped to enrich Rachel’s faith formation and deepen her spiritual growth while increasing her knowledge base in her ministry studies. Due to challenges caused by the pandemic Rachel took two years to complete the integration year component of her ministry training. During the first year of her integration year courses, she continued to serve McDougall United Church as their Pastoral Care Coordinator and Youth Minister. Then, she moved to Drumheller, AB to serve Knox United Church in a solo ministry appointment for the completion of her studies. Rachel is planning to continue to serve Knox United Church, Drumheller, after she is commissioned and is looking forward to further exploring Dinosaur Valley and serving this amazing faith community in rural Alberta.

Kim Holmes-Younger

Kim Holmes-Younger graduated in May 2021 with her Master of Divinity from Vancouver School of Theology. She has worked at several United Churches over the past nine years in various positions including Community Engagement Coordinator, Youth Minister, Communications and Student Minister Positions. Kim accepted a call to full-time ministry at Parkdale United Church in Calgary in October.
 
Kim has a passion for pastoral care, teaching, social justice, and preaching.  In her spare time, she enjoys walking, watching soccer, cooking, travelling, and reading. She has been married to her husband Neil for over 21 years and they have a daughter, Kaie (16).

 
As a foodie, I got very excited about this year’s theme for our Chinook Winds Regional Gathering, “A Place at the Table: Feasting at the Theological Banquet. It reminds me of great big family dinners with everyone squished at a table for 8. Somehow, we always managed to squeeze in 10! Growing up in my family, there was always room at the table for one more. Often my dad would invite random strangers to our table. It was perhaps more of a “theological buffet” – no topic was off-limits, even religion and like theology, the food kept coming. We learned about different religions, practices, and how people experienced God in their lives in so many different ways. I learned a lot about evangelism, service, social justice, being a good neighbour and even spirituality at our theological buffets.
 
As I reflect on ordination – my public call to serve God and the Church – what stands out to me most in reflecting on the “5 Theological Streams: Lived faith and God in action” were ecclesiastical. I because I feel that I am truly called to be a servant of the church and of God. I am called to the sacraments, I am called to the word, and I am called to pastoral care. I feel closest to God when I am sitting in a hospital room holding the hand of a dying person, when I am writing a sermon, or when practising the sacraments. I feel the presence of God when I am giving my time and talent to the church. I feel I am in communion with God when I am gathered in a crowd of people singing and worshipping God. This is when I feel God working most in my life.