Featured News5 min readHelping Churches Listen, Discern, and Take Their Next Faithful StepMay 20, 2026May 20, 2026Over the past year, the Canadian Pacific District has taken significant steps to strengthen and expand the PEAK Process across our churches. PEAK is designed to help local churches pause, listen carefully, and discern their next faithful steps in mission and ministry.Through a guided process of congregational input, leadership reflection,coaching, and strategic conversation, PEAK helps churches gain clarity about their current health, ministry opportunities, and the areas where God may be inviting focused growth.For those unfamiliar with PEAK, it is more than a church survey or a report. PEAK is a church health and discernment process that invites leaders and congregations to pay attention to what is truly happening in the life of the church. It offers a structured way to listen to the congregation, reflection key areas of church health, identify strengths and areas for growth, and develop practical next steps for the season ahead. At its heart, PEAK is a discernment journey. It helps churches ask important questions, such as: Where are we healthy? Where are we strained? What are we hearing from our congregation? Which patterns need our attention? What opportunities might God be placing before us? What faithful next steps should we take together?The PEAK process is especially helpful for churches in seasons of transition, renewed vision, leadership development,pastoral change, ministry evaluation, or a desire to better understand how their ministry is experienced by the wider congregation. Some churches enter PEAK because they sense momentum and want to steward it well. Others enter because they face complexity, uncertainty, or decline, and need a clear, guided way to listen and respond. In both cases, PEAK creates space for honest reflection and hopeful movement.We are encouraged by the momentum already building in our District. The Canadian Pacific District now has 20 people trained in the PEAK Process. This growing group of trained leaders and coaches strengthens our capacity to walk alongside churches with care, wisdom, and consistency. It also represents an important investment in the long-term health of our churches, pastors, boards, staff teams, and ministry leaders. This fall, five churches are participating in a PEAK cohort. In addition, four other churches are already on or will soon start an independent PEAK journey with a coach.These churches are taking intentional time to listen, reflect, and discern how God is leading them in this next season of ministry. Each church’s journey will look slightly different, but the common thread is a willingness to engage honestly, listen carefully, and move forward prayerfully.One of PEAK's strengths is its ability to provide churches with a shared language. Often, pastors, elders, staff, and congregants perceive different aspects of the church’s reality, and they may lack a clear way to bring those perspectives together. PEAK helps to gather those voices into a structured process, enabling leaders to better understand what people are experiencing and where more focused conversation is needed. PEAK also helps churches celebrate overall health! The process is not simply about identifying problems but is about noticing where God has already been at work, naming the church's strengths, and discerning how to steward those strengths into the future. At the same time,PEAK permits churches to name areas that may need attention, growth, healing,or renewed clarity.As we look ahead, we are beginning to plan for 2027 PEAK cohorts. We would love to invite your church to prayerfully consider participating. Would your church benefit from a guided process of listening, assessment, coaching, and discernment? Are you in a season of transition, growth, decline, renewed vision, pastoral change, or simply longing to better understand where your church is and where God may be leading? If so,would your church consider participating in PEAK in 2027?Based on the responses we receive, we will begin forming several PEAK cohorts for churches across the district. Our goal is to make this process accessible, meaningful, and timely for churches that are ready to engage. Cohorts will be shaped by the level of interest, timing,and readiness of participating churches.We are grateful to the leaders, coaches,and churches already participating in PEAK, and we believe this process can strengthen local churches, deepen congregational listening, clarify ministry priorities, and help leaders move forward with greater confidence and unity. Asa District, we want to continue helping churches take their next faithful step.PEAK is one way we are seeking to do so. If your church is curious, interested,or ready to explore participation in 2027, we would be glad to begin that conversation with you!