CBAC Council Announces Recommendation for Executive Minister

The Council of Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (CBAC) is very pleased to present Rev. Renée MacVicar as our recommendation for the next fulltime Executive Minister of CBAC. Following a thorough, prayerful, and we believe Spirit-led process, Renée received the unanimous support of the Search Committee and was subsequently overwhelmingly affirmed by the CBAC Council for ratification by the Assembly in August, 2023.

The Search Committee
The Executive Minister Search Committee was appointed by Council in December 2022 and began its work in January, 2023. Members of the Committee include five members of Council: Andrew Hopper (Chair of the Search Committee), Rev. Brent MacDonald (President, CBAC), Dr. Lois Mitchell (Vice-President, CBAC), Rev. Dr. Elias Mutale, and Anne Johnson-MacDonald. Two external appointees, Rev. Carolyn Steeves and Ed Barrett, were added to the Committee by the Council, bringing valuable areas of expertise to the search process.

Process and Rationale
The process developed and implemented by the Search Committee began with revising the Executive Minister job description and preparing and distributing a Job Posting. The search for the candidate we believe God has already prepared for this position was extensive and included video and in-person interviews, written responses, and conversations with references – all of which supported the view that Renée has the calling, character, competencies, and gifting that are needed for the CBAC to embrace our own calling to “join God in our neighbourhoods”.

In the Position Summary of the Job Posting document, we used the following words to describe the kind of person and leader we are looking for: visionary; wise; relational; an effective communicator; someone who can inspire confidence; a person who is always learning; someone who genuinely desires to “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8); and a person who attends consistently to their spiritual, physical and emotional health. Through our interactions with Renée throughout the search process we found compelling evidence that she has all of these characteristics. The Executive Minister serves as both the spiritual leader of CBAC and executive leader of the organization.

Renée has consistently developed and exercised her natural gifts for executive level leadership since her ordination for pastoral ministry in 2009. She has a deep love for, and commitment to, the ministries of Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada. She has consistently proved herself to be a visionary leader who delights in seeking God’s will and walking in His way with uncompromising integrity, and has also demonstrated exceptional skills in the area of team building and mobilization. As we are faced with complex times, including rediscovering who we are as a Denomination amidst multiple complex cultural issues of our day, we believe that Renée’s spiritual gifts and executive leadership abilities are what are needed to propel our denomination forward in this defining moment – for such a time as this.

Biographical Detail
Renée is no stranger to Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (CBAC). She was trained at Acadia Divinity College (ADC) where she earned her Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree in 2006 as well as a Master of Arts in Theology degree in 2008. She was ordained at Main Street Baptist Church in Saint John, NB in 2009, and has served with great effectiveness in pastoral ministry at three of our churches: Alton Baptist Church in Kentville, NS; Main Street/RiverCross Church in Saint John, NB; and Hillside Baptist Church in Moncton, NB.

Renée served as the Director of Youth and Family Ministries for CBAC for a five-year term, from 2014-2019. During this time, her team transitioned the very successful Springforth Youth event to the ONE CONFERENCE (demonstrating both vision and team building in order to implement an expanded vision). She led a re-visioning and strategy process within the Youth and Family Department that resulted in the call to “join God in our Neighbourhoods” which was subsequently adopted by the broader CBAC family of churches.

Her tenure as the Director of Youth and Family was marked by four main areas of concentration: investing in leaders (e.g., NEXT Conference, CBACyf Summit), providing catalytic gathering points (e.g., Springforth/ONE CONFERENCE) encouraging missional and service opportunities (e.g., Tidal Impact and CBM opportunities and partnerships), and providing resources to leaders and churches (e.g., Neighbourhood Assessment Workbook, One Neighbourhood blog, LGBTQ & Ministry Booklet). Her influence on Youth and Family Ministries extended far beyond Atlantic Canada through her work with the Canadian Baptist Youth and Family Team where she has been a highly respected visionary and speaker.

Additionally, Renée was the 2006 recipient of the ADC Silver Medal in Theology, awarded to the graduating student deemed by the faculty to be the best all-round student. She is a graduate of the Arrow Leadership Program (2011). During her term as the Director of Youth and Family for CBAC she was also the Director of the Next Generation Ministry Program for ADC (2014-2019), designing the program and teaching courses such as “Reaching and Retaining Young Adults”, “Leadership and Youth Ministry”, “Camping Ministry”, and “Evangelism and Discipleship with Youth”. As an adjunct professor of ADC, she taught a course called “Transformational Discipleship”.

Renée currently represents CBAC on the Board of Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) and is serving as the Pastor of Community Engagement at Hillside Baptist Church, where she has guided the church through the COVID pandemic, engaged and mobilized the congregation in internal and external community engagement with many opportunities for participants to integrate their faith with service in the community (most recently represented in the “Love Moncton” initiative).

Renée lives with her family – Joe, Emma and Isabell – in Salisbury, New Brunswick. They are all involved in the life and ministry of Hillside Baptist Church.

Please join the Council in prayer for wisdom and discernment as we prepare for our annual Assembly this August and look to our churches to ratify this recommendation. To God be the glory!

Rev. Brent MacDonald
President, Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada

PDF announcement: https://baptist-atlantic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Council-Recommendation-for-EM-June-6-2023-final.pdf

Get to Know Renée: Video and Oasis Q&A Session

Rev. Brent MacDonald (CBAC President, 2022-2023) sat down for a video interview with Renée. Check out the video below!

PLUS: At Oasis 2023, Brent will be hosting a Q&A session with Renée (Thursday, August 10th, 2:30pm — Brinton Auditorium). You can submit a question here.