Presbyterian and United Churches share a minister? Well, why not?
Seven years ago, members of the United Church in Staffa and the Presbyterian Church at Cromarty, two rural congregations in southwestern Ontario, began a conversation about sharing a minister. After all, the churches were only a mile apart, the members knew each other — some were even related — and they already shared many community activities. Why not share a minister? Especially since both congregations were experiencing shrinking attendance and feeling the financial pinch of employing a full-time minister.
A search committee made up from both congregations sent out a call. When it was answered by Rev. Kathi Urbasik-Hindley, a United Church minister, she was hired to lead both churches, dividing her time 60-40 between them. Urbasik-Hindley says she was excited to receive the call because up until then she had seen the Presbyterian Church only from the outside and looked forward to experiencing it from the inside. “I was delighted with what I found.”
Urbasik-Hindley believes “God creates new things out of what we do,” and says it was very exciting to be in on the creation of a new thing. She believes where congregations are small, and especially in rural charges, there is a need to find a way to be viable.
Asked why the churches did not choose to close one of the buildings and have one service instead of two, cutting down expenses, she points out that the buildings are historical, having been constructed by pioneers and are also important because of family connections — grandparents helped build the church, and parents were baptized or children married there. Both congregations remain an important presence in the community. And while the United Church and the Presbyterian Church may share theology and liturgies, the members still wanted to have their own services. “Perhaps when the buildings are no longer of great importance, then it may be that one of them will close. Then God will do ‘another new thing,'” she says.
Urbasik-Hindley served the two congregations for six years and left on the best of terms. Now, the shared ministry of Staffa and Cromarty is conducted by a Presbyterian minister, Rev. Rob Congram, who was inducted last November. Asked what drew him to the joint ministry, he says, “I’ve always been open to doing things differently. In one of my other charges there were several former Mennonites in the congregation who shared their experiences and traditions, some of which I was happy to work into the church services.”
Since coming to Staffa and Cromarty, Congram says there have been no particular challenges but he is delighted with the high regard and respect the congregations have for each other. He says there is a strong desire to co-operate, with the churches sharing special services such as Christmas Eve and the Christmas concert and working together on other events.
One parishioner leaving the Sunday service was asked if he approved of shared ministry. “Yes, it’s good,” he says. “I believe all Christian churches should be under a unity umbrella, not as one denomination but with all denominations co-operating with each other.”
A similar situation exists in the pretty little bedroom community of Grand Valley, 150 kilometres northwest of Toronto, where Presbyterian Rev. Dr. Ron Archer has for the last two years led shared ministry between Trinity United and Knox Presbyterian. He says it is successful only because both congregations were determined to make it work. They wanted to see the churches sharing and co-operating instead of competing.
It started out tentatively when United Church interim minister Rev. Jan Aylward agreed to devote a quarter of her time to the Presbyterians, who were without a minister. When she completed her interim ministry, the congregations both felt comfortable enough to form a joint search committee with Archer hired as a minister for both churches.
Archer, who trained ecumenically at the Toronto School of Theology, says the main reason he came to Grand Valley was the shared ministry concept. He says leadership must be adaptable and flexible. “I tell the people I care more about your loyalty to a community than about where we might differ theologically. What is important is relationship.”
Archer agrees with Urbasik-Hindley that the buildings are valued by the members. “It’s their spiritual home, their identity.” Both churches hold their own services every Sunday morning. The Presbyterian building is 135 years old while the United Church was built about 20 years ago after a tornado destroyed its 125-year-old edifice. The population is made up largely of retired farmers, with another 40 per cent coming from commuters who travel to Toronto and even further to work.
As good friends June Maycock, clerk of session of Knox, and Luella Montgomery, member of the official board to Trinity, talk over a cup of coffee, Maycock muses about the future. “As the years go by and more newcomers attend our churches, the buildings mean little to them so I can see the day when the congregations may want to share one building. But until then, shared ministry works just fine for us.”
Shared ministry is not a new thing! Back in 1946, the United and Presbyterian churches in Inverness, Quebec, formed a co-operative. A few years later, the United Church building was closed but its pews and other furnishings were moved into the Presbyterian church where the congregations hold their joint services. It is known as St. Andrew’s, with neither Presbyterian nor United attached. Lorraine Leirmouth, a Presbyterian member, says, “It’s worked so well for us all these years, we no longer give it a second thought.”
In the early 1980s, two other United churches, one at Thetford Mines and the other at Kinnear’s Mills, joined the co-operative, making it a three-point charge. Presbyterian Rev. Ross Davidson conducted services for all congregations, but he admits he stayed away from controversial subjects. “If you bring goodwill and always try to be fair, shared ministry can work well.”
In Quebec, the reasons for shared ministry are much the same as other places: small numbers, rural or isolated communities, everyone already working together in schools and lodges, etc. There is another reason in Quebec, however: language. Ross says, “Anglophones feel isolated and the English language plays an important role in co-operative ministry.”
Back in Grand Valley, Archer ponders the question of shared ministry. “Unlike 1925, when the Presbyterian and Methodist churches became the same United Church of Canada, in 2007 the churches keep their identity while united in ministry. It’s kind of like a marriage where each spouse remains who they always were but live together in a partnership. Shared ministry is a marriage of two denominations.”
