Meet our Stewardship Pilot Project Coordinator

In partnership with Christian Stewardship Services and the CRCNA Canadian Ministries Team, Diaconal Ministries Canada has launched a Stewardship Pilot Project aimed at helping deacons increase their churches’ awareness of the Biblical principles of stewardship and help them live those principles out in practical, measurable ways. 

We are pleased to announce that Karla Winham will be heading up this important project. In case you didn’t know, Karla is one of our beloved Diaconal Coaches, so she is very familiar with the work of deacons and with Diaconal Ministries Canada. She is a leading force behind the Maritimes’ Day of Encouragement, now known as Spark!. We thought you might want to get to know her a bit better, so here goes:

Hello Canadian Deacons!

My name is Karla! I live with my husband Gary, three teenage kids, two dogs, and a snake. We (the humans) attend John Calvin CRC in Truro, NS, where I also serve as a deacon and a musician.

I worked for almost 20 years as a Speech-Language Pathologist, mostly in private practice. A few years ago, I went back to school to earn my MBA in Community Economic Development, around the same time that I started serving as the Diaconal Coach for the Maritimes. On my time off, I enjoy running, playing hockey, making music with friends, eating nachos and climbing trees.

Studying for my MBA while diving deep into the role of deacons really strengthened my desire to apply my learning in a faith-based setting. The Stewardship Coordinator position is the ideal opportunity to use some of the skills I’ve developed in research, leadership, impact measurement, teaching – combined with my passion for doing things that push the status quo just a little! I’m really looking forward to getting deacons (and other people) energized about stewardship in a broader sense, beyond just the Sunday offerings. It’s exciting to imagine the power of a church that faithfully manages ALL of its Talents, Time, Treasures and Trees!

Over the next few months I’ll be connecting with churches across Canada to find a few that would like to be a part of this pilot project. Even if you aren’t one of those churches, you’ll see updates and posts in our monthly e-Quip newsletter and on Facebook. If you ever have any questions or want to reach out, email me at kwinham@crcna.org and I’d love to connect!

Top Image by: Katie White from Pixabay