New Hope Free Methodist Church in Bracebridge received their new minister on Sunday, Jan. 13, ending a 14-month search for a pastor. Rev. Hilkka Aavasalmi takes her place among several women clergy who occupy the pulpits of this community.

Of Finnish descent, Hilkka said, “I grew up in South Porcupine (where my 89-year-old mother still lives), six hours north of Bracebridge. I gave my life to Christ at a young age after reading a book given to me by a close friend. I have endeavoured to follow God’s reading wherever it might take me; whether it was to a Christian ministry in Texas or to managing a lodge in Moosonee, Ontario.”

In 1989, Hilkka completed the hotel and restaurant management course at Sheridan College, then began a varied career in the food services industry. Initially, she managed Moosonee Lodge then became the assistant restaurant manager at the Harbour Castle Westin Hotel in Toronto.

But it’s of her work with A&W Food Services, Inc. that she speaks of so highly. She spent 10 years with the company advancing to “progressively more responsible positions from restaurant manager to regional manager.” During that time she lived in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver.

Although the offer of greater financial security and more advancement opportunities were possible with A&W, something else happened along the way.

She said, “I felt the call of God in my life to pastoral work. I came to Toronto in the fall of 2000 to study at Tyndale Seminary.” Three years later she graduated with a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Studies.

In 2002 Hilkka began attending the Kingsview Free Methodist Church in the west end of Toronto. Through this denomination she became a licensed lay minister, a ministerial candidate and “was both deeply humbled and grateful to God,” as she was ordained by the New Hope Free Methodist bishop Keith Elford.

As she opened her ministry she spoke on the faithfulness of God. She has a deep desire to help God’s people grow and feels that all of her life’s experiences have given her a “well-rounded view and experience for ministry.”

She openly admits she has “felt called to Bracebridge” and stands amazed at how God worked out all of the details of her coming right down to the home in which she is going to live.

Pastor Hilkka looks forward to pastoring at New Hope and becoming involved in the communities in and around Bracebridge and Gravenhurst where her constituents reside.