- 13 years and counting
Today marks the 13th year anniversary of my ordination.
And I would have totally forgotten about it if a friend didn’t send me a picture from that day.
The service was held at my home congregation, St. Andrew’s Brampton, and it was a very hot and humid day. I remember being so nervous and excited. It had been a long 5 years of studying and I was about to become ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament and then start a new job.
Here are the vows that I took that day:
1. Do you believe in God the Father, made known in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom the Holy Spirit witnesses in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments?
2. Do you accept the subordinate standards of this Church, promising to uphold its doctrine under the continual illumination and correction of the Holy Spirit speaking in Scriptures?
3. Do you accept the government of this Church by sessions, presbyteries, synods and general assemblies, and do you promise to share in and submit yourself to all lawful oversight therein, and to follow no divisive course but to seek the peace and unity of Christ among your people and throughout the Holy, Catholic Church?
4. Do you promise in the strength and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to conduct yourself in your private and public life as becomes his gospel, and do you give yourself diligently and cheerfully to the service of Christ’s Word, sacraments and discipline, for the furtherance of his reconciling mission in the world?
5. When the time comes, are you willing to sign the formula, giving your assent to the preamble and questions required of those being ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacraments?
As I reflect on these vows now, I understand how challenging they are to uphold. Vow #1 is the easiest one to uphold, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t experienced times of doubt, especially during the pandemic. Vows #2 and #3 have been particularly challenging for someone who been known to rebel from time to time. And vow #4…oh, how I have failed at this one!!
Thankfully, the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Psalm 103:8) Even though I have failed on many occasions to uphold my vows, I know that I am still loved by the Creator of the Universe and forgiven by Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. The Holy Spirit continues to guide my path in faith, love, and hope.
And for that, I am eternally grateful.
As I seek to uphold these vows in my new ministry, I remember the words of the Apostle Paul from his first letter to Timothy:
Rather, train yourself to be godly.
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things,
holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God,
who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
Command and teach these things. 1 Timothy 4:7-11
Blessings, Rev. Emma
General Presbyter
- The Halo Effect
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! Psalm 84:1
Flourishing Congregations is a Canadian organization based out of Ambrose University in Calgary that supports pastors, denominational leaders, and lay leaders with Canadian data on Canadian congregations. They are an interdisciplinary and ecumenical research centre. If you have never heard of them, they are worth checking out!
I recently watched one of their free webinars called The Halo Effect, presented by Mike Wood Daly, Director of Research for Relèven, President of Sphaera Research, and Research Director for the Halo Canada Project.
What is the Halo Effect?
It is a way of measuring how congregations influence their local communities from a socio-economic point of view. It helps us answer the question – who would miss us if our congregation closed?
Halo Canada did an economic impact survey of 120 congregations in Toronto. Each congregation was evaluated based on 50 different categories, including:
- Open space (outdoor space for public use)
- Direct spending
- Education (childcare, adult education, music education for the wider community)
- Magnet Effect (attractive force of the congregation. When people travel more than 10 km to get to church, they spend on average $20 per visit on gas, food, etc.)
- Social Safety Net (measure of senior programs, families, addiction, refugee and immigration programs, out of the cold programs, etc.)
- Social Capital and Care (measures how we share our buildings with the community. Also factors in volunteer hours.)
Their research also acknowledges decline of religious organizations across the country, especially in the post-pandemic world. Some studies predict that 1/3 of congregations will close in the next decade. The impact of these closures will also have a profound socio-economic effect on communities, with municipalities having to pick up the slack.
Revelen is an organization that works with churches in Canada and the US to help them preserve, restore, and repurpose under-utilized faith properties into community hubs and affordable housing.
Here are some helpful links if you are interested in learning more about repurposing a church building:
- Halo Project – https://haloproject.ca/
- Ministry Forum (Knox College) – https://ministryforum.ca/resource-hub
- Partners for Sacred Spaces (US based but good free content) – https://sacredplaces.org/
- Presbyterian Church Building Corporation (PCBC) – https://presbyterian.ca/pcbc/
- St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Hamilton
https://www.stpaulshamilton.ca/copy-of-home
https://ministryforum.ca/posts/asking-better-questions-highlighting-st-pauls-in-hamilton?rq=lewis
Blessings, Emma
- Flying, Falling, Catching
A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him. Henri Nouwen
I don’t know about you, but I am afraid of heights. I am also afraid of flying. And these fears – rational or irrational – have been with me since I was a child. The fear of falling or crashing in an airplane have haunted my nightmares over the years.
Even though I have these fears, I have been fascinated by a story that I read recently. It is a story that helped me confront my fears through the lens of faith. The story is from the book “Flying Falling Catching: An unlikely story of finding freedom” by Henri Nouwen and Carolyn Whitney-Brown. Henri Nouwen was a Dutch-born Catholic priest, professor, psychologist, and prolific writer. A master communicator, Nouwen wrote and spoke with great openness and vulnerability about faith, spiritual formation, prayer, and social justice. When Nouwen passed away suddenly in 1996 at the age of 64, he left behind several unfinished manuscripts, including one about his relationship with a family of trapeze artists called the Flying Rodleighs.
The Henri Nouwen Society, which protects his legacy, commissioned Carolyn Whitney-Brown to take his unpublished manuscript and journal entries about the Flying Rodleighs and weave them together into an amazing story. In this book, we get a glimpse into the final season of Nouwen’s life and how he struggled with his own doubts and fears.
Nouwen became fascinated with this troupe of 5 European trapeze artists who he first met in 1991. He spent a lot of time with them before his death in 1996. Nouwen was amazed at their phenomenal skills and their ability to trust one another while in the air. He watched them perform and rehearse their act – perhaps hundreds of times – and he realized that their circus act was an analogy for our life in Christ. Climbing up a flimsy rope ladder up to a platform high in the sky, only then to jump into the unknown takes a huge leap of faith. If you have ever seen such a trapeze act, you are more likely to pay more attention to the person who is flying, but Nouwen discovered through his relationship with the Rodleighs that it is the catcher who has the most important job. It is the catcher who has to be at the exact place at the right time to ensure that the flyer does not fall. If the catcher is off by a second – if he misses his mark – the act will fail. Nouwen came to understand that God is our catcher. He is the One who we have to trust to catch us when we take a leap of faith. He will catch us when we are full of doubt and fear as the disciples were after the resurrection.
In our broken world, there is much doubt and fear. This is also true in the Church. Congregations are struggling with declining memberships, unsustainable budgets, older buildings, and the future is uncertain. What is the mission of the Church and how do we fulfill that mission?
As we wrestle with our doubts and fears, we need to remember that God will be there – stretching out his arms to catch us. None of us are perfect and we all make mistakes. As the late Rev. Dr. Timothy Keller once said, the church is not a museum for pristine saints, but a hospital ward for broken sinners. And when we fall, when we miss the mark, we do not fall into the abyss of fear and despair, but are caught in the redeeming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. As Nouwen reflects in this book, our lives in Christ are full of thrilling successes and crushing failures, but in the midst of this great trapeze act called life, there is forgiveness and grace. There is hope and love. There is strength to take a leap of faith as we work together to build the kingdom of God.
Blessings, Rev. Emma
- Church families 101
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12
The late Rev. Peter L. Steinke was a Lutheran pastor, writer, psychologist, educator, and author. Much of his writing applied Murray Bowen’s family systems theory to understanding the way a church community works as an emotional system. Steinke worked with religious leaders in the United States, South Africa, Australia, and Canada.[1]
In his book, How your 21st-Century Church Family Works, he applies systems theory to congregational ministry. This is an excellent book which I highly recommend!
I read this book in the first few months of my ministry as the General Presbyter and it helped me understand both where I’ve come from and where I am going in ministry. In all honesty, I wish that I had read this book in the first few years after I was ordained! It would have helped me tremendously as I navigated the family system of my congregation. I highly recommend this book for Ministers and church leaders.
What is systems theory?
Steinke defines it as a theory that considers the interrelatedness of the parts. He states that “system thinking deepens our understanding of life. We see it as a rich complexity of interdependent parts.” (Steinke, pg. 8)
Steinke helps church leaders understand how systems theory applies to our life in the Church. How does a congregation deal with anxiety and change? How do individuals respond to conflict? How does a congregation forgive? How does a pastor navigate the complexities of their call? His chapter called “Being a Prophet is nice work – if you can find a job” is particularly helpful.
As leaders, we may not be able to change the family system within a congregation, but we have a vital role to play in managing our own responses and behaviours in the midst of anxiety, change, and conflict. We can affect calm, focus and change when we serve as steward of the vision. (Steinke, pg. 103)
At the conclusion of his book, Steinke encourages church leaders – both lay and ordained – to become explorers who embark on an “Imaginative Reformation” in service of the God whom we adore.
Blessings, Rev. Emma
- All ministry is transitional
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)
Earlier this year, I finished a course called The Art of Transitional Ministry (Part 1) which is offered by the Transitional Ministry Pathways at The School of Global Citizenry. It was an excellent course and I highly recommend it!
This was an interesting course take as I transition from congregational ministry into my new role as your General Presbyter. I learned lots of things about myself and my leadership style. I learned new skills to navigate change and conflict within a church setting. I learned about family systems theory in a church context and the life cycle of a congregation. I was also reminded about self-care and setting boundaries for myself and my family.
One of the key takeaways from this course was that all ministry is transitional. Whether you are serving in a congregation for many years or on a two-year contract like me, all ministers are in some way transitional ministers. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end. As King Solomon so wisely said in the Book of Ecclesiastes – for everything there is a season. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
If we accept that all ministry is transitional, then we have to learn how to manage those transitions. There are seasons of joy and accomplishment. There are seasons of conflict and anxiety. For those who were in ministry during the pandemic, the rollercoaster ride of transitions is fresh in our memory.
Most importantly, we all need to be reminded that in all seasons, God is with us. God equips us as leaders in the Church to help the people of God navigate the many changes going on in our lives, our communities, and our congregations. Indeed, God goes ahead of us to prepare the soil and plant seeds of renewal, hope, and faith.
Blessings, Rev. Emma