PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Rev. Woldy Sosnowsky, Interim Minister

Woldy Sosnowsky was born in war-torn Germany and immigrated to Canada at the age of four years. He was brought up in the Mennonite Brethren Church, but abandoned his faith life in his youth when he left his home in Chilliwack to see the world. He became engaged in the cultural trends and issues of the sixties and seventies while attending university and later in his working life. Social justice issues, First Nations, and contemporary arts and literature were then and remain of high interest. Woldy and his wife of forty-eight years, Cathy, raised their family in West Vancouver. It was here that they found themselves seeking and finding the support of a faith community at West Vancouver Presbyterian Church. After completing a thirty-one-year career as a school teacher, counsellor and principal, mostly with high-risk and First Nations youth, Woldy became increasingly curious about this life of faith. He enrolled at the Vancouver School of Theology, and after four years completed a MDiv.  After graduating, Woldy accepted a position with St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Salmon Arm, where he served for four years (2011-2015). Family needs drew him back to the Lower Mainland. In 2017 he was called to serve as Interim Moderator at Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church where he remained until March 2020. After several months of preaching at various churches in the Lower Mainland and serving as Missionary-in-Charge for the Presbyterian Church in Kitimat, he accepted the position of Interim Moderator at West Vancouver Presbyterian Church.  Woldy and Cathy live in North Vancouver with their dog Rosie, where they are active in the life of their North Shore community.