President’s Report

Motto—Prepare a people for the soon return of Jesus

Serving as President for the Alberta Conference during this term has been a unique experience. Everything began with the usual expectations for normal church life. However, the last few years have been anything but typical with the introduction of Covid-19. We saw the shut down of churches in person either entirely or in various percentages. As of writing, we are allowed one-third of capacity. Sadly, our province has seen the loss of many of its citizens. Our Church has also lost many people due to this disease, including some I knew personally as friends.

Despite this reality, the Church has continued to share the gospel with the people of Alberta and the NWT. Our Church has passed the milestone of 12,000 members and looks forward to the next significant marker of 13,000 members. Our Conference continues to support evangelism with one of the largest budgets per capita of any conference in Canada. Our Churches have responded to the shutdowns with a quick transition to online services. This has meant that both church services and evangelistic programs have been mainly done online. Despite this encumbrance, our churches have continued to grow. Our members have continued their faithfulness, and tithe contributions have held firm during this dark period. To God be the Praise.

Our youth and young people continue to receive a large portion of our resources. Our education system continues to grow. We now have 11 schools in our province, including the addition of Parkview Adventist Academy. Our student enrollment has increased by about 5% per year over this past term. We now have over 1,300 students in our education system. In addition to the regular appropriations to our schools, the Conference has contributed approximately $700,000. Our schools have significantly improved their collective debt. Over this past term, the receivables have decreased from $2.8 million to just over $600,000. We thank God for his blessings towards our schools.

We have continued the practice of providing chaplains for each high school, in addition to supplying Burman university with the services of its Chaplain. Nearly 300 students have publicly committed their lives to Jesus during this term.

In addition to this, our young people have benefited from the various youth programs made available through the youth department of the Alberta Conference. These include Adventurers, Pathfinders, and Master Guides. Our summer camp program also attracts many young people over the summer months. In addition, there are many youth directorinitiated programs and mission trips.

First Nations work in Alberta continues strong. Mamawi Atosketan Native School (MANS) remains the only Seventh-day Adventist native school in Alberta and Canada. During this term, we were able to add a new high school and industrial arts building to the MANS elementary school site. The Conference is in deliberations about the possibility of building a Church Building on the Reserve.

Another exciting program surrounds our need for our congregations to have a building of their own rather than renting. We have 34 congregations that are currently in rental agreements.

Alberta Conference SDACC Session Report 2021 President’s Report

The Alberta conference has agreed to provide $100,000 towards each new purchase or build of a new Church to assist congregations with their desire to own their church buildings. Congregations who have taken advantage of this offer include Bonnyville, Whitecourt, Cornerstone, Peace River, and Calgary Metro Filipino.

Peace River Seventh-day Adventist Church – Rendering of Renovated Church Building.

Bonnyville Church 2021 Calgary Cornerstone Church.

President’s Report

In addition to the MANS Highschool, we also built the new Parkview Adventist Academy this term.

Mamami Atosketan Native School

MANS Industrial Arts Building.

Parkview Adventist Academy built on Burman University grounds.

Alberta Conference SDACC Session Report 2021 President’s Report

Our summer camp at Foothills has seen many upgrades during this term. These include upgrades to the kitchen and residence rooms, a new furnace, and new signage, to mention a few. \

We have been challenged and blessed during this term. We have had to do business differently, with much of our work going online. Travel has been reduced or, in many cases, eliminated. Our meetings with the NAD and SDACC have gone virtual. Our Conference board of Directors meetings have also gone online. While this is not a desirable long-term solution, we have learned much about the virtual world. I expect that in the future, we will not return to the number of inperson meetings as before but will use a hybrid approach of in-person and virtual. God has blessed our Conference with continued baptisms and growth, albeit at a slower pace. Our members have remained faithful in giving during these last couple of years. This has meant that no drastic reductions to our ministry we needed. Our members have been understanding and patient with our church restrictions during this term. We are all looking forward to greater flexibility and freedom to have larger groups attend our Churches.

President’s Report

KEY DIRECTIVES FOR ALBERTA CONFERENCE DURING THIS SESSION:

1. Evangelism continued to be a dominant priority

• Largest budget per member of any conference in Canada.

• Continue to grow at about 2%—goal is to reach 3% short- term and 5% long-term.

• Recently passed the 12,000-member mark; next milestone will be 13,000-member mark.

2. Education and youth remain a strong focus of our work in Alberta

• Over 1,300 students in 2021 — growing at about 5% per year.

• Currently have 11 schools.

• Recently contributed $250,000 of special support toward these schools.

3. Youth Support:

• Schools, see #2 above.

• Alberta Conference provides one chaplain to each of its high schools, in addition to providing 1.5 chaplains to Burman University.

• Youth programs for various ages: Adventurers, Pathfinders,

Master Guides.

Submitted by Gary Hodder President

• Summer Camp Programs.

• Youth Director initiated programs — events and Mission trips.

4. Native Work:

• Mamawi Atosketan Native School (MANS) is our only native school in Alberta and all of Canada.

• Over 200 children from the

Maskwacis community attend

MANS K-12 school.

• We have hopes of putting a church in Maskwacis over the next few years.

5. New Churches:

• Desire to see more of our own buildings in the Conference.

• Increase support from $10,000 to $100,000 towards this objective.

6. Foothills Camp:

• Many new improvements.

• Additional plans to accommodate more of our members to participate in camp.

7. Parkview Adventist Academy — Burman

University has asked the Alberta

Conference to assume responsibility to build a facility and run this school going forward.