Welcome to Our New Children's Minister, Sarah Zezchuk!
The Board of St. George's is very pleased to announce that it has approved the hiring of Sarah Zezchuk, who will be our Congregational Designated Minister for Children, Youth and Families. Sarah was most recently Children & Youth Leader at Cloverdale United Church in Surrey.
We are grateful for the Rev. Ingrid's Brown's leadership in putting in place a flourishing ministry that Sarah will continue and make her own. Following the recommendations of our Discernment Process, Sarah's position is being boosted from 10 hours a week to 20 to help it continue to flourish and grow.
Sarah began with us September 5th. Sarah and her husband, John, currently live in Langley. They will be making a gradual move to Courtenay from September-November, which means that she'll be commuting weekly to Courtenay at the beginning. It adds an initial layer of complexity, but we believe that Sarah and St. George's are a Spirit-led match. See below for more about Sarah and her story.
If you'd like to send Sarah a welcome message, you can send it to sarahz@stgeorgesunited.com.
About Sarah:
Sarah was born and raised in Victoria, which is also where she started her journey in Children's Ministry, as a volunteer in 2005 and then was hired in 2008. After graduating from UVic (2015) with a degree in Linguistics and Philosophy, she moved with her husband John to the Mainland in 2016, and moved around a few times before settling in Langley. This is where they currently live, though they are looking forward to one day calling the Island home again.
Sarah was introduced to Jesus through a Christian Preschool, and was immediately curious to learn more about God's love and what it means to follow Jesus. This curiosity continued, as she grew to realize she loved teaching while she was still in elementary school. Encouraged by various leaders and mentors, she gained experience working in children and youth ministry of various sizes, as well as extensive camp ministry experience.
She likes to approach children and youth ministry from a holistic view, exploring worship through song, dance and art, teaching through different voices and activities, and engaging a child’s sense of imagination to inspire them to live out God’s story in our lives. She is excited to see children develop within the church; she strongly believes they are not the next generation of the church, but fully part of the current church body. She has found that they often have a lot to teach us about life, and enjoys learning from them as much as she enjoys teaching them.