It seems we’re always hearing about how the church is doomed. How it’s no longer relevant. How congregations must change in order to survive. And change is often desperately needed. Sometimes, things go terribly wrong. But when change occurs and things actually go right, the good news is often left untold. Telling the good stories is important — because when it comes to change and transition, no one has all the answers.
“The good stories get lost,” said Alice Mann, during a conference on helping churches through change. “But there are a number of constructive, creative examples that can be shared. Not to replicate, but to learn from the leadership and imagination that were exercised in those situations.”
Mann is senior consultant at the U.S.-based Alban Institute, which studies nearly every aspect of church and religious life. She led a conference at Crieff Hills organized by Canada Ministries, the Vine, the General Assembly Office, and Ministry and Church Vocations — who all have a role to play when it comes to congregations in transition.
“The purpose of the event was to bring together key gifted individuals from across our denomination and resource them to be helpmates for the congregations within their synods,” said Tori Smit, team leader at the Vine. “Each synod’s regional staff and others who were a part of this gathering came with the understanding that they would make themselves available to congregations and help them as they work through the issues they face.”
John-Peter Smit, congregational development consultant for the Synod of Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda, and husband to Tori, helps congregations assess their strengths and weaknesses, and develop ways to grow and change. “A lot of congregations are stuck, feeling like they have no options or cannot move.
“A big piece [of what I do] is normalizing and reframing; helping people understand that they aren’t unique — this is everyone and everywhere. Also helping people see that they do have options and that there are things they can do.”
During the workshop, regional staff gave examples of congregations that tackled change in productive, amicable, Christ-centred ways, emerging healthier, stronger and devoted to their mission and ministry. The following are just a handful of those examples:
Kirkfield and Bolsover, Ont.
Three small Ontario congregations within 24 kilometers of each other — St. Andrew’s, Kirkfield, St. Andrew’s, Bolsover, and Woodville — have shared ministry for years. Their individual histories go back to the 19th century — Kirkfield celebrated its 148th in June. In an act of good stewardship, the three-point charge amalgamated into a two-point this fall.
Rev. Reg McMillan tells a familiar story: “The congregation [at Kirkfield] is small, the older people are getting worn out, there are few people to do the work. They have money in the bank to keep going.”
But there’s a wonderful twist: “They decided it wasn’t good stewardship to keep going as they were,” said McMillan. “Right from the beginning, people were open and willing to change.”
So Kirkfield moved into the newer Bolsover building, and sold its own building to the local historical society for $1.00.
“I am thrilled that the Kirkfield congregation had the wisdom to move forward with courage and faith,” regional staff person, John-Peter Smit told the Record. “Their decision to bless their community with their building and to bless their pastoral charge with their resources is a powerful testimony, not just to ending with grace, but to truly live out what the Bible says, ‘Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.'” (1 Peter 4:10)
That Kirkfield had visited the idea of closing several times gave members time to come to terms with the idea, said McMillan, leading to a unanimous vote to merge with Bolsover.
Bringing in regional staff to help stimulate questions was also helpful.
Particulars like severing the manse from the property so it can be sold are still being worked out, but McMillan hopes everything will soon be settled. And thanks to some extra funds at Kirkfield, the new charge is able to create a youth and families ministry position. The amalgamation was officially endorsed by presbytery in September, with the amalgamation service scheduled to take place Oct. 17.
Westminster and Erskine, Ottawa
The amalgamation of Westminster and Erskine happened somewhat by chance. About five years ago, Westminster had been doing some soul-searching, preparing to meet the future and taking time to talk, dream and plan for rejuvenation. That spring, in the middle of this self-assessment, Erskine approached Westminster, saying they too felt the need for change, and after considering several congregations and receiving presbytery’s permission, they had chosen Westminster as their future partner.
“They asked if we might be part of a dialogue to see what an amalgamation might look like,” said Rev. William Ball.
Erskine brought with it 134 years of history, but despite this long-standing presence in the community, the congregation realized it was time for a change. Westminster offered a larger and younger congregation, more active leadership, and more money in the bank.
“As you can imagine, the leadership of Westminster truly wondered if this was the path we should take. What would happen to our plans? Would we get sidetracked? Would our energies be misdirected? And underneath all this, what does God want?” admitted Ball.
He said the congregation entered a period of discernment, giving themselves time for prayer and reflection. Through that, they determined that this was more than chance, it was indeed God’s intent, and that they were being given an opportunity to “reach out, to open our hearts and offer a welcome.
“The Natural Church Development process had identified the gift of hospitality as the congregation’s most active gift,” said Ball. “We were being asked to make use of it. Now the question was, how?”
That December, Westminster formally welcomed Erskine to their building as the two congregations amalgamated. On the official amalgamation date a few weeks later, Westminster surprised the members of Erskine by unveiling a plaque affixed on the front wall of the sanctuary stating, “Erskine and Westminster Presbyterian Churches amalgamate to serve God. December 1, 2007.”
A Bible and a cross were brought over from Erskine and now sit on the communion table, and a pastoral care worker was employed to take care of the 30 or so individuals from Erskine who live in nursing homes or seniors’ residences.
“With over 60 years at Erskine, I must admit it was the most painful event I had experienced, but the people of Westminster did their utmost to ensure a smooth, sympathetic transition,” said Doreen McDougall, Erskine’s clerk.
McDougall, who has continued as an elder at Westminster, said the congregations did several things to ensure a smooth transition, including joint services in both buildings prior to amalgamation. The coffee hour helped to establish connections, and Erskine’s members were encouraged to participate in greeting and ushering to ensure they felt part of the family. Members were also kept informed of all things relating to the Erskine building, and decisions were discussed at congregational meetings prior to a vote. As a result, relationships were forged before the amalgamation took place.
Trinity, Hamilton, Ont.
Eastmount and St. Enoch’s became Trinity on Apr. 1, 2005. It is considered one of the most successful amalgamations in the denomination, and, according to Rev. Philip Wilson (who was called to Eastmount in July 2003), “We’re very, very fortunate that it has blossomed into something really wonderful.”
The amalgamation began somewhat unknowingly in 2004 when, after presbytery told the struggling St. Enoch’s it had to put its building up for sale, Wilson spontaneously offered the congregation the use of the Eastmount building while they figured out what to do next. After the offer was confirmed by session, St. Enoch’s accepted, and began worshipping at Eastmount at an early service on Sunday mornings. A few months later, St. Enoch’s asked Eastmount about a possible amalgamation.
Creating a new identity for the new congregation was important to Wilson. “Often congregations will just hyphenate their names. But, I had seen that what they end up having is two congregations who happen to be worshipping in the same place at the same time.”
So, a contest was held to choose a new name for the new church. And though worship continued in the Eastmount facility, the amalgamated congregation decided a renovation was in order.
“If we were going to be new, the building had to be new,” said Wilson.
So they took the proceeds from the sale of the other church and manse and began a renovation project in 2006. “We changed the church drastically. It was not only a new name, but essentially a whole new facility. It wasn’t just a matter of blending two congregations together, but two separate congregations letting go of the past to become something new.
“We covered every base we could possibly think of.”
That Wilson was relatively new to Eastmount also helped, as he didn’t have strong ties to either church.
“This wasn’t the first amalgamation in our presbytery, but it was the most intensive. Presbytery got involved and picked us apart for every little thing. They were very diligent about looking at our plans; they questioned everything we wanted to do. Even though at times we felt they were a pain in the butt, their diligence helped us out.
“We’re stronger now than we were individually, in every way.”
Central and Galilee, Vancouver
Two unlikely congregations in downtown Vancouver enjoy an amazing and fruitful partnership. Central, and Galilee Korean (which is part of the Western Han-Ca Presbytery) operate much like a successful marriage — albeit one that stumbled the first time around, learned from its mistakes and gave it another go. The two congregations are happy and healthy thanks to communication and the right attitude.
In the late 1990s, Galilee shared Central’s building. According to Central’s minister Rev. Jim Smith (who wasn’t there during the first arrangement), it happened at a time when Central was on the rocks financially, and Galilee was looking for a place to worship. The two bodies made a business arrangement. It wasn’t long before Central was grumbling about scheduling conflicts, little financial gain, and friction caused by an overall different way of doing things at Galilee.
“It was a standard landlord-tenant arrangement, which really doesn’t work in intercultural sharing,” said Smith. “They came, it didn’t work, they left, I came, and they approached us again. We looked at why it didn’t work. They came back, and it’s been working beautifully for seven years now.”
Smith said what lies at the heart of the current success — and why it was previously such a disaster leading in 2001 to what Smith calls “the most poisonous divorce you ever encountered” — is a shift in attitude regarding what the relationship actually is.
“I banned the words ‘rent’ and ‘lease.’ We’re not allowed to use them. So we came up with the term ‘shared ministry.’
It kind of changes the flavour and tone. Practically, we’re going to share some of our space, time, etc., and they’ll share some finances. But, it’s a pastoral, ministry relationship.”
If things were so horrible the first time around, why would the two groups take another shot? Smith said when he came to Central in 2002, he noticed they had an international ministry — mostly to Korean students — but that these students were generally segregated; clustering amongst themselves during coffee hour. So Smith and another elder enrolled in conversational Korean courses to learn some basics and hopefully bring the Korean students into the fold. The outreach didn’t go unnoticed. That the minister was now saying hi, how are you, welcome, and introducing himself in Korean got back to Galilee, and eventually they approached Smith about reconciling their differences.
Session agreed, and the marriage was back on track.
“Central discovered a way to make an intercultural and inter-congregational facility sharing work,” said Smith.
Part of that is ensuring effective communication and coordination between the two congregations. To this end, Central posted an elder who became an inter-congregational liaison. He does more than just listen, but rather attends worship services at Galilee and truly believes in the relationship. “He became a conduit to resolve issues instead of just smoothing them over,” said Smith.
The two groups have joint meetings of pastoral teams, and expect to have joint session meetings in the future. They worked together to host the Synod of B.C. meetings in October, and share a music ministry where vocalists and musicians from one congregation occasionally play at the other service.
Twice a year, the partners hold joint clean-up days of the area and then enjoy a barbeque in the parking lot, and both put on a community breakfast, where they feed 300 people one Sunday every month. They also share a ministry to international students.
“We say there’s worship here in English at 10:00 and in Korean at 2:00. We don’t know or couldn’t care less that it’s two different congregations, let alone from two different presbyteries,” said Smith.
Out of the relationship, said Smith, Central is able to help Galilee work towards a full understanding of Canadian Presbyterian polity. Some Han-Ca churches let a traditional understanding of mission influence their placement of ministers — meaning a mission board will often “swoop in” and pluck a minster out of the pulpit and drop a new one in. “There’s no familiarity with the call process,” said Smith.
But when the minister at Galilee recently retired, their session came to Central and asked for assistance in how to call a minister. They called Rev. Hoo Sik Kim, who is also clerk of presbytery.
“If you’re just doing it for the money, forget it. It will cost more than you’re going to get. But if you’re doing it to expand and grow the health of the congregation, then it’s a good thing,” said Smith.
