The Forde family is relatively new to Sardis Community Church.  They came over from Central MB because they wanted to attend a church in their neighborhood.  This family is very involved in schooling as you’ll discover.  Holly is an amazing student and young person.  Her father Carl is just completing his Master’s Degree in Education and Technology.  He presently manages some of  Premier Agendas’ websites, which is the company that supplies Chilliwack district students with their agenda books.  He hopes to guide Premier into the digital age.  It is one of the major suppliers of agendas for schools in North America.  Carl has also been a corporate trainer and is interested in teaching technology skills at the college level.  His wife, Sydney, has also been a student recently and has just completed her Licensed Practical Nurse degree.  She is presently keeping very busy with two jobs. 

Besides school and church activities, the Forde children are very active.  Both Holly and Ben play in-line hockey.  Holly attends scouts and takes piano lessons while Ben is heavily into Tae Kwon Do.  You may have seen him with his medal and trophy from a recent tournament.  He is very proud of his accomplishments. 

Both Carl and Syd attended Chilliwack schools.  Interestingly, they eloped to Banff in 1990 when they heard that their families were planning to combine their upcoming wedding with a family reunion.  They lived in Victoria until 1996 when they moved to the San Jose area of California.  Their path to faith had an interesting start.  Syd began attending a 12 step program for adult children of alcoholics.  The program met in a Presbyterian Church.  After meeting some great people, she gave the church a try.  She enjoyed the services so much that she got Carl and young Holly to come along.  Carl describes a God-sized hole in his own life, which led him to come to faith. 

They moved back to their childhood hometown of Chilliwack in 2002.  They attended Central for 2 years before moving to Sardis Community Church in Sept. 2005.  It has not taken them long to get involved.  The family regularly brings Holly’s friends to church and Sunday School.  What an outreach.