The Weyburn Free Methodist Church has officially named two new Co-Pastors.

A special Commissioning Ceremony was held on March 3rd for Jody Pfeiffer and Ian Isaak, who had been sharing interim pastoral duties for most of the past year after Pastor Jay Mowchenko retired in May.

Pfeiffer said they had been working together so well, it seemed to be such a good fit, they decided to apply together as a team for one job position.

“We were breaking new ground there, but we felt led to do that and we did.”

Their job descriptions have become a combination of overlapping responsibilities of service and a collaboration of separate duties.

“We had an expansion of our job description,” explained Pfeiffer. “So, the same, plus,” 

Together they make the major leadership decisions in the church, and they even sometimes deliver sermons together.

“We split the preaching, so sometimes that looks like we actually preach the sermon together, like we’ll preach together,” said Isaak, adding that sometimes Jody takes two weeks, then he takes two weeks.

He said his job description focuses more on systems, governance board work, behind the scenes and conflict resolution.

“Jody’s job is getting out into Weyburn, finding where God’s at work and moving towards it and bringing our people towards it and saying, let’s do this together,” he explained.

“All the while caring for the congregants, our little community within the community,” added Pfeiffer.

Isaak said being Co-Pastors is part of a collaborative approach they feel is the future of church.

“We have agreed that we’re doing this as a team,” he said. “We run things by each other all the time.”

“Churches in Canada moving into the future benefit from collaborative group, 'let's do this together' leadership, and so we want to model that for our people,” said Isaak, noting that their joint focus as pastors is to mobilize their people to serve the community.

“Now that we're the new leaders, a big part of our job description is figuring out, okay, what does God have for our church next?” Isaak said. “So, the question that we're asking, is how does Weyburn Free Methodist Church accept responsibility for our community? What's God asking us to do? If our church disappeared, how would we matter? What would people miss about us?”

“What do we bring to Weyburn that equips and not just advances Christianity but cares for the city, cares for the community,” he continued. “What do we bring to the table? And those are the questions now that's in our job description to say, help us figure out answers to that, help lead us into the future.”

“We don't have answers to that, because this was a new question to us,” said Pfeiffer. “But our church family is excited about wrestling with that question.”

They said they welcome feedback from anyone with ideas on how they can help in more ways in the community, noting ‘community’ includes Weyburn and the surrounding area towns as well.

“If you see areas, or think, ‘the church could really help here’, or ‘I could use help with this’, or ‘Weyburn could use help with that’, that's what we're looking for,” said Isaak, noting that both he and Jody are open to those kinds of conversations.

More than 500 do call the WFMC their church home, with at least 200 attending one of two Sunday morning services each week. Their discipleship programs include more than 20 small ‘care’ groups that meet for prayer and Bible study.

“Sunday mornings are our gateway, but when life hits the fan, it’s in the small groups that the care happens,” explained Isaak. “People surround you and care for you and love you. That does happen on Sunday morning, too, but it really happens a lot in small groups.”

The ‘Free’ in the Free Methodist denomination traditionally included freedoms such as equality for women, freedom from slavery, as well as literally offering seats in their church free of charge. The denomination is now in the process of redefining their freedoms to include a modern context, to include freedom to follow God, to hope, to collaborate, and freedom to seek justice.

According to its longstanding slogan, the WFMC is ‘a place of acceptance’.

“We don’t turn anyone away,” said Isaak. “However you are, Jesus doesn’t have prerequisites, so we don’t either.” 

Reverend Ian Isaak has a Bachelor’s degree from Briercrest College and Seminary and has been with the WFMC for six years. He and his wife Jennifer have an 11-year-old son. He said Weyburn feels like a great long-term fit for him and his family. He is ordained with the Free Methodist Church of Canada.

Pastor Jody Pfeiffer and her husband Jeff have been part of the community of Weyburn for 28 years. Their two children were born and raised here and are now pursuing post-secondary education. She is a commissioned pastor with the Weyburn Free Methodist Church.

Due to a Moment of Reflection period during their services, the Weyburn Free Methodist Church broadcasts have been temporarily discontinued on AM 1190, and due to the Toronto Blue Jays games broadcasts beginning in April, the church broadcasts will resume this fall.

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