Whoever said good things come in small packages must have been thinking about St. Andrew’s, Sutton, Ont. The congregation of 20, in a town of about 3,000 near the shores of Lake Simcoe, may be small in numbers, but its heart is practically bursting.
“It’s not the size of the congregation that matters,” said Gayle Clarke, clerk of session at St. Andrew’s. “It’s the commitment. It’s finding what the community needs and fulfilling that need.”
That need comes in the form of a weekly community dinner – going strong now for six years this month – that serves everyone from the homeless to widows to young families, to the deaf community and people living in group homes. They estimate that about a quarter of the meal regulars depend on the dinners for physical sustenance; many of the others simply come for the company and fellowship that is so often found over food.
Despite its popularity, the ministry, which is known throughout the community, isn’t exactly a moneymaker and the organizers are often concerned about funds. “Whenever we get down in our finances, and we wonder how much we’re going to have to kick in out of our own pockets, a cheque from an independent source always shows up,” said Brenda Dickie, an elder, cook team member and baker extraordinaire. “It’s the most amazing thing.
“It encourages us because if we weren’t meant to do this, we’d run out of money, and no one would come,” said Dickie. “God wants it to be like this.”
Congregations within the presbytery sometimes send donations their way, and local businesses donate turkeys for special meals. Individuals will often drop by with a tray of food, or pop in at the end of a meal just to wash dishes. Christmas meals can cause their numbers to swell to over 100, though the weekly average is about 60.
Five teams share the cooking duties; two from St. Andrew’s, one each from local Anglican and United churches, and one from St. Andrew’s in Aurora when there’s a fifth Tuesday in a month. Clarke’s husband, Gerry, coordinates the meals. Together, they’ve never missed a dinner – even if it falls on Christmas Day.
The ministry began when, during a session meeting, the group discussed how they approached outreach, often giving money to designated charities. “We talked about how that’s the easy way. That we didn’t have to get our hands dirty. We didn’t have to get involved,” said Clarke.
So they started to think about what the community needed – undeterred by stories from other churches that community dinners had already been tried and failed.
“Six people showed up to that first meal,” said Clarke. “But by the end of the month, it was up to about 40 or 50, and we found more people willing to contribute. As we got into it, we found there were a lot of people who needed a lot of things.”
When a member of the deaf community – who are now regulars at the dinners – died last October, St. Andrew’s was asked to hold the funeral, since the woman, who never set foot inside the sanctuary on Sunday morning, said St. Andrew’s was “her church.”
“Many of them feel like when they’ve been here Tuesday night for dinner, they’ve been to church,” said Clarke. “This is church for them.”
And is it?
Rev. Kristine O’Brien thinks so. The minister at Trafalgar, Oakville, Ont., was part of the Emmaus Conference held last spring, where presbytery members from across Canada were challenged to re-think church. Many at that conference – O’Brien included – believe the traditional view of church may no longer fit into present society.
“How do we measure church?” O’Brien asked. “Usually by people in pews and money in the plate. But that doesn’t give the whole picture. What about watching lives changed, and mission blossom? Doesn’t that matter too?
“We have to find ways to be self-sustaining without relying on the Sunday morning offering because people are not there,” she continued. “It’s going to need to be different, but what will it look like?”
This is where Rev. Herb Gale comes in. The PCC’s head of planned giving (and Moderator of General Assembly) paid St. Andrew’s a visit last November. “I was struck by the spirit of those engaged in this ministry,” Gale told the Record. “It’s not a group of people sitting around wondering how to keep their doors open. They are spirit-driven. These people have a deep commitment and passion for what God is already doing in this ministry.
“I see them as a real sign of hope for the PCC.”
Gale suggested several initiatives to help foster future success including partnering with local businesses that would each pay for, say, a meal a month; establishing a field placement with Knox College, Toronto, where students would fill the pulpit while getting hands-on experience on doing small church ministry that makes a real impact; and moving worship from Sunday morning to Tuesday nights. While there would be no pressure for diners to attend worship, they would come to know that it naturally follows, and if they wanted to attend, they could do so easily.
Gale said this mission model will likely become more and more common, and that small congregations shouldn’t be slated for closure simply because numbers in the pews are low. “[Church growth guru, Kennon] Callahan says it’s not the number of people in the pews but the number of people impacted by the ministry of the church.”
The vitality of St. Andrew’s ministry despite its small size is one reason why interim moderator Rev. Tom Vais has a soft spot for St. Andrew’s. “The presence of Christ is very real, whether inside the sanctuary at 10:00 in the morning, or out in the community. They’re living out what it means to be part of the body of Christ. I see that as church. Not in the traditional sense, but in a very real way.”
