Credentials

Rev Annette holds the rank of Appointed Designated Minister with Clergy Support Memorial Church (March 25, 2019). The Board unanimously agreed to appoint her based on her many years of service within the community at large, and her five years of service to the Mapleview Community Church as a leader in the ‘Find your Voice Ministries‘, in particular.

Service Club Membership & Awards

• A member of Toastmasters International (since 1995).
• Current member of the Collingwood Toastmasters Group.
• Participates in two networking business groups in Wasaga Beach.
• Winner of 2 District Speaking Contests with Toastmasters (since 1995).
• Distinguished Toastmasters Designation (DTM) (2018).

Ministry

Annette’s spiritual dimension and belief in God includes an appreciation for other world religions.

Annette’s passion thrives when she is helping people in her community. For a period five years now, she has served the Mapleview Community Church (Cookstown, ON) as a leader for “Find your Voice Ministries”. Her main objective was to help members find their voice by teaching them the skills to stand and speak in front of an audience.

She also created a community-based meet-up group program titled “Shybusters”.  The participants were primarily shy individuals who attended the program to learn about their challenges and accept with pride their personalities of being quiet and introverted.  It is her goal to redesign the very same program to children and youth who are victims of bullying.

Rev Annette has dedicated over 20 years of her life participating in Toastmasters International – a worldwide non-profit educational organization promoting communication and public speaking skills. She has learned that being a Toastmaster is no longer about speaking but about asking the right questions and validating what others have to say. She often applies this technique to her counselling of others who seek her wisdom and expertise by offering ideas and/or suggestions. She maintains her integrity for people’s choices by knowing when a person or a couple can benefit from her experience, as well as respecting her limitations by knowing when to suggest other options for them. Due to her proficiency in the aforementioned abilities, she is looked upon often to help in a communication-based setting.

Spirituality

Rev Annette was born and raised in the Roman Catholic faith. Learning from her many interactions with people from various cultural and religious families, she has opened her belief to the knowledge of others’ spiritual experiences. She also has an interest for the teachings of Buddha from a Christian perspective. It is her solid belief that we all have the right to praise and worship our own belief in God without judgement, as we are all equal and God makes no judgement on any one. Annette also respects those who may not hold a belief in a higher power. She will not preach or try to convert them but guide them to walk their life’s path as she leads by example in her own beliefs. Annette will often attend events at churches regardless of the denomination. It is her belief everyone has a journey in life, and it is their own to follow.

Community Involvement

Since her relocation to the Wasaga Beach area, Annette continues to be active in her community. She will often offer he assistance to individuals in her locale that need support; she does so because it feels right and good. She enjoys making senior residents feel better and adding to her day by inviting them to join her on a social outing and she will often offer to drive many of them to appointments, daily activities or personal social outings. She continues to offer her time to Toastmasters by delivering workshops and presentations.

Personal Growth

Annette believes that a continued education is important and never wants to stop learning. She is currently enrolled in a Personal Mastery program which she is involved in speaking and training related courses. She is continuously looking for different development interests that will enable her to grow into a more confident person. In a continued effort to empower and transform herself, she reads Scripture daily with the help of a phone app and also listens to the daily teachings of Dr. Wayne Dyer.

Annette’s favorite book, since she has read it three times, is “The Shack”, a novel by Canadian author William P. Young, published in 2007.  Young, describes his book as a metaphor for “the house you build out of your own pain”. Annette also has an interest in Forensic Science stories and reading a series of Bones books by Kathy Reichs.

Annette believes that sometimes we must work hard to find the good in life. She loves her life; she is grateful for what she has and knows it is always a work in progress. She is a doer. When she says she is going to do something, she will figure out a way to get it done.

Three words friends use to best describe her

Loyal, reliable and funny.