The Presbyterians of North Dundas share (and wear) their winning ministry idea. They plan to do everything by FROG (Fully Relying On God).
The event was a success. On Sept. 29, 2012, 90 participants from almost every pastoral charge in the presbytery came together to share how they planned to walk with God in their communities. “It was probably the biggest presbytery event we’ve ever had,” said Donna McIlveen, a member of the planning team.
But it didn’t start out successfully. The team originally planned to hold the event in the spring of 2012. “We shared the idea at presbytery and it kind of fell flat,” she admitted.
The team had two choices: they could forget about the idea or they could work on it further.
“We thought, maybe we’re not sharing the excitement we got from the Emmaus conference,” said McIlveen, who attended the national event with other presbytery delegates in 2010. “We retooled the event and didn’t let the project die. We set the date for the fall of 2012. We were more intentional about it. We prayed more about it. The spark caught, the Spirit moved more among people at the presbytery meeting, and the idea seemed to take off.”
It was a simple idea. Congregations and pastoral charges created teams; there were no requirements when it came to membership or size. Each team met together, looked at their church’s context and community, and came up with an idea of how they could walk with God in their neighbourhood. Then they shared their plans at a event facilitated by Rev. Ian McDonald, associate secretary of Canadian Ministries.
The presbytery offered a $1,000 prize to the team whose idea received the most votes from the participants.
“We said from the beginning the ideas didn’t need to be splashy,” McIlveen said. “Sometimes we just need to be intentional, recognizing opportunities and acting on them.”
Congregations brought ideas like offering ukulele lessons in a partnership with an elementary school, creating stand-alone events for children throughout the year, working with seniors, creating a pastoral care course, and offering “free food, fellowship and faith.”
The $1,000 prize went to the Presbyterians of North Dundas (or POND) who, as “FROGs” (“Fully Relying On God”), intend to engage with their community in simple, practical, everyday ways. They presented their ideas in a rap song while sporting felt lilypads and little frogs on their heads.
“They were going to be prayerful about everything they did, seek God’s guidance, look to God for direction in the North Dundas community,” McIlveen said. “What really came through was that they were going to be more present with people.”
An article Donna McIlveen and Rev. Mark Tremblay wrote for the January 2012 issue of the Presbyterian Record also “played into the planning team,” she said. The event theme, Walking with God in the Neighbourhood, “summarizes our role as a sent people who are to be engaged in all of life—not just on Sunday morning when we open the doors of the church. Just because people aren’t coming to church doesn’t mean God’s not at work in their lives. Walking with God is a movement. It’s not static. It involves the whole body.
“It was great to see congregations come together and work together and build on each other’s strengths. As the event was wrapping up it came through loud and clear: we need to do this more often.”
