The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) is pleased to announce Carolyn Ethier as the 2019 ELCIC In Mission for Others Leadership Award. The award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the life and work of the wider church.
Her involvement in the church truly represents what it means to be In Mission for Others throughout all expressions of the ELCIC.
Ethier describes how receiving word that she was this year’s recipient of the award gave her opportunity to reflect on God’s call and on leadership. “What stands out immediately is that I was never called to act alone,” she says. “I’m filled with deep gratitude for companions who have shared the journey.”
In her local congregation, Ethier has served in nearly every conceivable role, most predominantly on the worship planning team responsible for Sunday morning worship.
Since her early teens she has been active in the life of her congregation, serving as an pianist for worship and choir. For the last 20 years, she has chaired her congregation’s worship planning committee. In addition, she arranges for music and musicians for worship, has assisted with planning the Local Ecumenical Reformation Service in Lethbridge last October, serrved on Call Committees when needed, and currently serves as council chair.
Synodically, she has participated in arranging and submitting articles for Adoramus – a newsletter for the Worship and Arts Ministry Team of the Synod of Alberta and the Territories. She was chair of the Worship Planning Team for the past two ABT Synod conventions. And, she has also prepared worship resources for congregations which shas shared at Synodical Congregational Life Events.
Nationally she is secretary of the ELCIC Program Committee for Worship. She attends and participates in the National Worship Conferences and actively contributes with the committee to create worship resources for small assemblies. She has also contributed to our national devotional publication – Eternity for Today.
In a letter of support accompanying her nomination, one individual shared, “I have learned a lot from her, and I know there must be hundreds of people, all across Canada, who have known their spiritual lives deepened and their Sunday liturgies enlivened by her.”
The 2019 ELCIC In Mission for Others Leadership Award was presented to Ethier at the 2019 ELCIC National Convention.
