Embracing the Spirit: Exciting News from Upper Ottawa Valley, Farewell and Good Luck Zoë, and more! ❄

Upper Ottawa Valley Parish Nurse Initiative Hires Full-time Parish Nurse Exciting news from Upper Ottawa Valley in Renfrew County, Ontario! Using funding from The United Church of Canada Foundation Seeds of Hope, an Embracing the Spirit Innovation Grant, the Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council, partner faith communities, and private donations, The Upper Ottawa Valley Parish Nurse Initiative (UOVPNI) Health Council has hired a full-time Parish Nurse for the Upper Ottawa Valley Area. Melissa Jardine-Ridley, BScN, RN, CCHNC, is both a Registered Nurse and Holistic Nurse, with training in complementary modalities such as healing touch/Reiki/aroma therapy and Heart Math. Melissa joins the UOVPNI after working for the Public Health unit, addressing social determinants of health. That experience, combined with her being a former military Senior Medical Technician (Sergeant), Volunteer Firefighter and Paramedic gives her a wide lens on the healthcare system. Melissa’s holistic approach to care includes treating spirituality as one of the main pillars of wellbeing. She is a Lay Minister with The United Church of Canada, with a spiritual background that also includes the Roman Catholic tradition. The United Church of Canada Parish nurses are qualified as Registered Nurses and spiritual caregivers. Using a rotational “hub model,” Melissa will provide personal care to the member churches weekly, both bolstering the healthcare resources currently available Upper Ottawa Valley residents and augmenting services within the participating faith communities. She will also provide health education to the public through local health agency partnerships. The UOVPNI has been created by St. Andrew’s United Church in Chalk River and Wesley United and Calvin United Churches in Pembroke to support the health and wellness needs of the congregations and the broader community. These communities of faith welcome Melissa and her partner, who operate a local horse therapy program. Melissa’s Parish Nurse journey starts March 1, 2023. [Image credit: Canva] Farewell and Good Luck to Zoë!     It’s been EDGE’s joy and privilege to have Zoë Chaytors working with the team for the past year as Innovation Program Officer. We are so impressed with the work she’s put into: Shaping and co-leading the Curiosity Cohorts Working with partners on granting opportunities Doing individual consults with communities of faith on potential future directions Using “EDGEy Conversations” to talk about innovative ministry going on in communities of faith around the country Unfortunately for us, Zoë will be leaving the EDGE team to move into working in new ministry full-time at her community of faith. We are thrilled for her—what a wonderful opportunity! And we know that her warm spirit and mindset of innovation will add such a valuable perspective to her new team. Of course, we are sad that Zoë is leaving the EDGE team. However, she has assured us that she won’t be a stranger. We look forward to working with her on projects in her new position and hearing all about the great things she will be doing! All the work that Zoë is currently doing with EDGE will continue, so watch for more “EDGEy Conversations” and keep sending in requests for consults and other questions related her work with EDGE to edge@united-church.ca. And join the EDGE team as we thank Zoë for her hard work with EDGE and wish her all the best in her new job! Congratulations, Zoë!      [Image credit: Courtesy of Zoë Chaytors] Exciting CHURCHx News!     CHURCHx, the learning management system that manages all the content related to the educational materials we currently offer, as well as the registration process for them, has a new look and some exciting new features! A major upgrade to the platform included a redesign to the CHURCHx main page, with the addition of a Frequently Asked Questions section and, once a user logs in, an area in which they can directly access the courses they’re taking. The User Dashboard was also redesigned. The redesigns should offer users a more user-friendly, streamlined CHURCHx experience, especially when paired with changes made to the way the platform itself operates. These changes include CHURCHx providing a link in the confirmation email you receive after enrolling in a course that takes you directly to the course without the hassle of logging in. The easiest way to see what EDGE offers on CHURCHx right now is to visit our EDGE CHURCHx page and click on each of the Portal Pages graphics directly below the sunburst banner. The Portal pages contain information and registration links for each offering in 2023 of: Curiosity Cohort (Next section starts March 23!) Community Events (March Idea Day and Rural Ministry Town Hall are March 27!) Leading Adaptively (Next section starts tomorrow!) EDGE’s Signpost Series (New Signposts coming soon!) CHURCHx isn’t done yet—a redesign of the Course Catalog is also in the works and will take place later in the year. We can’t wait to see what else is in store! [Image credit: EDGE/The United Church of Canada] Embracing the Spirit supports innovation ideas hatched out of faith communities and communities in ministry. Some of the stories and best practices that are happening throughout The United Church of Canada are shared in this newsletter. If you have an idea that you want to launch, reach out and tell us about it! We're happy to consult with communities of faith about the supports available to help them develop their new ideas. Share Tweet Forward to a friend Sign up for the Embracing the Spirit newsletter! 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