Time to Get Pastoral
The Board of Directors is delighted to announce the appointment of Tanja Futter and Rachel Tulloch as the new Pastoral Directors for Sanctuary!
Together they will provide senior leadership for Sanctuary, alongside our Executive Director, Simon Beck.
Tanja Futter (left) and Rachel Tulloch (right)
After an extensive search process, we are excited to have these two long-serving members of our staff team step into this critical leadership role in our community. With over 30 years of combined experience doing life in our community, they will jointly fulfill the responsibilities of the Pastoral Director. Rachel will focus on biblical and theological reflection, along with articulating our ministry vision. Tanja will focus on pastoral care and programmatic leadership. The Board has every confidence that their unique gifts and skill sets will allow them to complement each other well in this role, as well as work effectively as part of the leadership team with Simon.
Tanja and Rachel both have deep roots in our community. Rachel started hanging around Sanctuary in 2003 as she did her PhD in Theology at the University of St. Michael’s College. A few years later, she joined the team in 2009 as a “Theologian in Residence,” tasked with reflecting theologically out of the lived experience of our life together as a community. During her PhD, she fell in love with Sanctuary as a place where those who are forgotten or excluded by our society can find home, belonging, and a place to offer their unique gifts. She also fell in love with Sanctuary as a place where she could do the same. Part of what’s kept her here for the long-haul is her deep conviction that when this community lives out its calling, it becomes a witness to the wider world of a different set of values, what matters to God, and the kind of world that God promises ultimately to bring about.
Tanja started as a Registered Nurse in our Health Clinic in 2012. She came to Sanctuary feeling the calling of a God who radically embraces, loves, and welcomes all. At Sanctuary, she has felt drawn into the messiness of a community that tries to welcome each person, in all their fullness. In the midst of this community, she has felt called to be a part of holding a space where people are accepted as they are, irrespective of addictions, mental health issues, wealth or poverty. In that acceptance, all are mutually and non-judgmentally supported to receive and give care, so that the barriers which prevent the giving and receiving of care are reduced. Tanja brings her deep experience in offering trauma-informed care and pastoral support.
The Board would also like to express its deep gratitude for the time and dedication of the Hiring Committee, which was composed of board, staff, and external members, and which led a rigorous and inclusive hiring process over the past 9 months. We are thrilled to be able to appoint such experienced, gifted, and visionary leaders to this position.