The Church exists in a succession of generations, and often the shift from one to another feels entering the deepest of mysteries.

I don’t need to tell you that times have very much changed! Many of us still remember the times when many more people went to church regularly, and our buildings hummed with energy. We often struggle to think about how we can entice young people back to church, when in fact the movement away from organized religion has been ongoing for decades.
When I was ordained in 1999, we spoke of Generation X and why they left the Church. We are currently in the middle of Generation Z as now Generation Alpha makes its presence known with implications for all religions.

Gary Nicolosi talks about this in his book Culture Shift: Leading a Growing Church in Uncertain Times which a group of us studied this past fall. Understanding the succession of generations can help us to make more informed decisions as we strategize the best ways to be the Church in the present.

Great Times: Institutional Shifts
Much of our current parish infrastructure dates from the baby boom – a generation born between 1946-1964 during a time of growth and prosperity. The parents of the baby boomers belonged to the Silent Generation (1928-1945), of whom more than 80% were active in Church.

Growing suburbs were where many mainline dominations planted churches with the assurance they would thrive. During this time the Canadian family had on average 4 children; it was a massive demographic cohort. Sunday Schools were full, and every church had a youth group. Church was an important social hub for the community beyond just the Sunday morning gathering; it was a place where much of life played out.

It was our heyday. With nostalgia we wonder: what happened? Was there something we could have done to stem the exodus? As baby boomers reached adulthood, many rejected the faith of their parents. We begin to see the emergence of “Dones”, those who may have grown up in Church but left it behind. For many, it became irrelevant to them.

This demographic change, over which we had no control, had profound impacts upon our parishes. The worst response has been to blame: our clergy, ourselves, our society – even Sunday shopping!! It caused splits in the Anglican foundation as we disagreed over the causes of this shift and blamed each other.

We cannot control demographic trends, but we can control how we respond and think creatively about the structures that sustain us. Many of our beloved parishes were constructed during the boom times, but as we strategize how to flourish today, it is important to honour our vibrant past but plan for a sustainable future.

Changing Times
Subsequent generational cohorts have emerged each with evolving views of church, faith, and religion. Generation X (1965-1980) moved more clearly away from organized, institutional religion. Now spiritual practice became more and privatized. At the same time, the religious “marketplace” became increasingly diverse, offering more choices than the mainline denominations alone. Think of the rise of churches like Willow Creek, for example.

Millennials or Gen Y (1981-1996) saw the emergence of the Internet and were the first to use early social media platforms. This brought new access to information and the sharing of ideas. This generation grew up with few memories of cultural Christianity, and for whom traditional religious language and terminology felt obsolete. It is not that millennials are not spiritual; it is just that they find little meaning in an institutional faith and theology in which they were not raised.

The biggest shift here is that spiritual practice has become individualized and removed from religious institutions. People do not feel the need for Church as they practise yoga, meditation or spend time in nature. For the Church, this does not mean abandoning our core beliefs and the traditions that anchor us, but acknowledging that we are no longer the only spiritual place in people’s lives.

Our opportunity lies in the creation of community that invites and welcomes the experience of others beyond the Sunday morning liturgy. People are far more interested in sharing spiritual practice than we may realize: are we willing to extend ourselves and make space for this?

We are amid Generation Z (2001-2024) who are the least religious generation in history. Yet, with the uncertainty in the world including the COVID-19 pandemic, the rising cost of living, war in Ukraine and the rise of Trumpism, a return to religious observance of this generation has been noticed.

Talk of a Gen Z revival is overblown, but a plateauing out of the exodus from Church is happening. Why? Gen Z craves connection, purpose, and substance, leading some to explore faith for deeper meaning. They have been drawn towards traditional forms of faith including Orthodox, Roman Catholic and (surprise!) Anglican churches. Organized religion can offer community and security that is critical for Zoomers, which goes to show you that you never know how times might change.

The Alpha Generation
Which brings me to the emerging Generation Alpha (2010-2024). Worldwide this is the largest generational cohort ever with more than 2 billion and growing. This is the most technologically savvy generation for whom smart phones are the way they interact with their world. They went through COVID-19 which interrupted their education, and they are part of a global experiment, for screens were placed before them from the youngest age. We are all living now in a great screen age, but with over three hours of daily screen time has impacted this generation’s view of the world.

Yet, Generation Alpha are much more spiritually engaged than we might realize. Smart phones and AI allow for a highly individualized spiritual practice. They explore faith through social media as well as practices like meditation and manifestation.

Generation Alpha learn through short, visual, interactive content, so churches reach them best through embodied storytelling (Godly Play, drama, art, music), micro-videos that invite participation, and strong partnerships with parents and caregivers. To serve them well, make church a safe, joyful place of belonging where kids can ask real questions, practice simple prayer habits, and join hands-on acts of kindness so faith is experienced, not just explained.

If you have questions as to how to put this in practice, please reach out to me; we can explore how to enrich the church experience for Gen Alpha – and perhaps for older generations too!

nmancor@montreal.anglican.ca

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The blessing bags are a gift we give to children who come to Church. They are not just an activity pack to have on hand, they are a gift given with love.

I heard a beautiful story about a boy who was given one in church recently. He carefully opened the bag and took out each item, one by one. He then put each item back and carefully folded the bag. Finally, he took the bag home to put in his treasure box! This little boy thought Church was the best thing ever! This is one small story of one child in one place. It shows the beautiful ways we can thrill a child’s heart and show families how welcome they are.

All Children Welcome – all the time?

When thinking about child friendliness, you need to consider the facilities you offer and your tolerance for noise. At the very least, providing changing tables is essential. But ask yourselves if you are willing to disrupt your worship space to accommodate small children and if you are willing to put up with some noise and chaos.

Rows of pews are not an ideal environment for wiggly children. With sharp edges and confined spaces, they are ripe for falls, bumps, and squeals. It can also be stressful to try to contain a child in a row of pews. It reminds me of flying across the Atlantic with my children sitting in the middle section of a 747. Not a comfortable journey, though my son did try to walk all the way to Germany one time!

I have sympathy for parents on airplanes whose children run a little wild, and I feel the same in Church. If a parent makes the effort to come to Church with young children, let’s try to make their lives a little easier.

Many churches dedicate a section of their pews, usually towards the back of the sanctuary and create a play space where parents and children can be present in Church in a more relaxed way. Some will include a comfortable couch and soft toys or a colouring space.

Remember the stresses of parenting young children. If we make it even more stressful for parents in Church by making no accommodations for their needs or even worse, consigning them to the basement of the Church, why would they come? If we shush children up in church, then are they welcome at all?

The point is to try to show some love to young parents and give them a break so they can be in church. It is also to foster spirituality in the youngest members of the community who are themselves innately spiritual beings. Spiritual formation begins at birth and continues for the whole of our lives.

Small children are noisy little creatures and will not necessarily be silent at the silent times of the service. On the other hand, the raucous sounds of children in church always signifies hope and life. We know there is another generation because they are there with us making their presence felt. This reminds us that, as with youth, young children are not the future of the Church, they are very much part of the now of the Church.

Having children present in a service they can barely follow, is an investment in their spiritual selves that can have lifelong benefits. They may not understand what they are seeing, but these vivid images will stay with them and in time, they will be able to put the many pieces of the puzzle together. Later, this will provide a reservoir of memories and traditions for their lives.

I recall sitting with my parents in Church and found myself drawn to the stained-glass windows. Their colours were mesmerising to me. I was in a service recently where a little baby was trying out her lungs as she sang along with the choir, her special music lingering in our ears after the organ had ceased. Heaven!

Children’s Spirituality: The power of story

Many churches have a children’s “moment” towards the beginning of the service, usually with the priest sitting on the floor. This can be a way to integrate children into the service at the beginning, but it can quickly become little more than a gesture before the children go do their thing downstairs and the adults stay upstairs. I confess that sometimes my children’s story was thought up during the processional hymn as a digest of the sermon. We can do better than this.

Much of Sunday school is based around story, but I have found many adults like to hear the stories of the Bible themselves, stories they may not have heard for years. These are the stories of our faith, and they are meant for all generations. Perhaps sometimes in Church everyone could be integrated into a beautiful storytelling time which invites all to wonder and make meaning.

Godly Play storytelling creates sacred space to present the stories of our faith, wonder about them together and then find open ended ways for us to engage with the stories in our own way. Created by Jerome Barryman of the Episcopal Church, Godly Play tries to integrate what happens upstairs and downstairs to allow children to make connections with the stories they hear and the liturgy they see. I was telling a Godly Play story in church one time during a service and a child looked at one of the stained-glass windows and pointed out that it was the same story.

I have told Godly Play stories to both children and adults and the responses I have heard are always deeply moving. We all have the capacity to wonder. Children are innately spiritual beings, and our role is to create space to allow them to explore faith their way.

What about the Eucharist?

There continues to be debate about allowing young children to participate in the Eucharist by receiving Holy Communion. The reason given is that children should wait until they can “understand” what is going on. Others prefer to wait until confirmation.

Eucharist is a beautiful mystery of the Church, and I suggest none of us understand what it is all about. It is a gift, a symbolic and sacramental action that binds us to Christ and to one another. Why should we exclude children from this? It is a way to include children in the ongoing story of faith and of the People of God. When is the right age?

When I was a young child in the early 70s, it was becoming possible for children to receive communion at the discretion of their parents. As the church we went to tended to be more experimental, I was allowed to receive when my mother thought it was right. This was when I was about four years old. She taught me how to approach the altar rail, to kneel and hold my hands the right way. She taught me the reverence needed for that moment. Over the years of my childhood and adolescence, participating in communion along with everyone else, gave me a deep sense of belonging to the People of God that has formed the foundation of my faith.

Which brings me back to the blessing bags. They are a small gesture, but from the perspective of a five-year-old, a big deal. Think of children’s ministry that way: the giving of gifts to children and their parents, creating the foundation that lasts a lifetime.
For more information or resources contact us!

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A Christian Country?

As the year 2000 approached, the working assumption was that Canada was a nominally Christian country. Yet in 1999 decline in religious attendance had been noted as ongoing for some 50 years already. This led many religious leaders to reflect negatively on the spiritual life of the country and more broadly “the West”.
John Paul II launched a third millennium evangelism movement saying of the West that it was “estranged from its Christian roots”. Victoria Matthews, then Anglican Bishop of Edmonton, saw the challenge in the fact that “a huge proportion of Canada is biblically illiterate”. This comes with an expectation that Canada and western European culture should remain Christian, that something missing needs to be restored.
The writer of this section of the article concludes: “faith was once a central part of the lives of most Canadians and true believers are convinced that it will be again.”
There was a sense that the work at hand was to recover what was lost. It hasn’t worked out that way. Religiosity is continuing to decline everywhere with important implications for denominations and religions. This is because of demographic and generational shifts in society over which we have no control.
In the mid 2010s we began to discuss the “rise of the Nones and Dones” (two terms I’ve come to loathe). It is increasingly common for people to indicate “none of the above” as their religion on the census. Many others have left organised religion for many personal reasons.
Yet over the past twenty-five years spirituality and spiritual practise have become more diversified and individualized. What once pertained to the sanctuary can now be just as easily practised in the yoga studio, out in nature or around the dining table. People may be less religious, but that does not mean that they are not spiritual. Calling people biblically illiterate or spiritually unmoored is not only inaccurate, it’s downright insulting. When adopting this condescending attitude, we miss out on the ways we can connect with others over spiritual practises.

Blame Canadians

In the year 2000 it was thought that much of mainline Christianity had about 20 years left to go. We’re still here, though now our window is thought to be 2040. Our own St James the Apostle was mentioned as an establishment church that had enough endowments to continue in perpetum. It didn’t work out that way, yet refreshed ministry happens in that place. The tendency in 1999 was to blame Canadians for losing interest in traditional Church and finding other ways to spend their time.
As mentioned, Canadians were found to be biblically illiterate. Another cause of decline was attributed to Sunday shopping as well as children’s sport activities. Even the wealth of Canada was seen as a problem. The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canda expressed disappointment that whilst seeing growth in other parts of the world, the economic status of Canadians was posing a barrier. One leader said “Our greatest disappointment is our own country. The message is not spreading as successfully as in parts of the world where people are needy and inclined to dependence on God.”
Illiterate. Disappointing. Unmoored. Spoiled. If religious leaders were thinking of Canadians in this way, no wonder people left established Christianity. Yet this blaming of Canadians still is a dynamic that drives the way the Church engages or doesn’t with the society in which we exist. If only we still had prayer in schools.
Nearly twenty-five years later, there is no point in lamenting changes in the way people live their lives or the place of faith in public. What we can do is find ways to extend ourselves to serve others in new ways The emergence of fresh expressions like Dinner Church, Messy Church and Contemplative Fire shows us that when we attempt to meet people where they are and try to make their lives easier, we can create new community. There is plenty to be hopeful about if we are willing to engage in new ways.

A failing Church?

In addition to blaming everyday Canadians, at the turn of the Millenium there was a great deal of blaming the Church for its own decline. This was a time of increasing dissension within our Anglican family over the blessing of same sex unions. In 1999 a book came out entitled: Suicide: the decline and fall of the Anglican Church. This ultimately led to the formation of the Anglican Network in Canada as a kind of rival. All of this is founded on the assumption that the mainline Church had failed and was now spiritually bankrupt.
When blame is apportioned today, it often focuses on our failure to hold onto the youth in our congregations, or on the work of our clergy. If only we had a younger/more dynamic/better looking/energetic/charismatic priest, they would come.
The truth is that the Church has not failed and neither have our clergy who work with great dedication. We can point to some important achievements in our openness to diversity, our concern for the vulnerable, our care for creation, our desire to pursue Indigenous reconciliation. Our leadership continues to become more diverse and let us not forget that we currently have women in position as our Diocesan Bishop AND National Primate. At its best, our church can reflect the beautiful kaleidoscope that is Canada. We are not perfect, but we continue to seek to grow towards justice.
The Anglican Church was right to move with the times, for it is in these ways we reflect the concerns of most Canadians. In shared values and action, we can still be a relevant and constructive part of our national conversations and connect with others in our communities.
Back in 1999 it was thought that youth-oriented Churches with their energetic music and smoke machines (no Tyson Rosberg – not thuribles!) would grow exponentially and be the wave of the future. It was noted that only .5% of the population ever listened to traditional hymns so the way forward was to ditch outmoded organs and stodgy hymns and bring in the humble guitar and praise choruses with heartfelt, if theologically ropey, lyrics. This would attract young people.
It is true that two of our churches that mainly use contemporary praise music, CMP and St Jax, both have noticeably younger congregations and with-it high energy. We should pay attention to this.
But it is also true that “young people” are not a uniform mob who all want the same thing. What is compelling about these churches is relational and spiritual authenticity: the encounter with God. This can be expressed in many ways – in a worship experience rooted in Catholic tradition, in a small group gathered to read the Bible, or on a walk in nature – as much as in a praise style worship event. You never know what will strike a chord with someone.

Good News Story

The article ends with the story of a parish and priest who were bucking trends. The parish was Holy Trinity in Ste Agathe, and the priest was Mary Irwin-Gibson who is quoted: “In a true house of God everyone feels welcome.” If we can understand welcome in the broadest possible sense, that might just be the best advice there is.

The post Jesus at 2000: A Retrospective appeared first on Montreal Anglican.

1. Ingrid Harloff Brown:
Weird Church
Cumberland BC

Ingrid never set out to plant a new church. As a younger United Church minister living on Vancouver Island, she offered pastoral support for members of a local church that was closing.
Congregants said that they would miss getting together for coffee and meaningful conversation. In response, Ingrid set aside time in a local coffee shop every Friday morning for coffee and meaningful conversations. She put up posters around the town and, to her surprise, a large number of people came to the coffee shop.
Interestingly, only a small handful of people from the closed church came. In those gatherings for coffee, and later for meals, a community was formed, a church came into existence. But there was no intention of moving into a traditional church building.
Things came to a head when the coffee shop filled to overflowing and they needed a larger space. One of the original members of the closed Church, who was a regular at the coffee gathering, still had the keys to the building which had not been sold. With the agreement of the local conference, they moved their coffees and meals into the building.
One of the benefits they found, as church planters, was the discontinuity with the previous congregation. This meant they could go in and clean up, throw junk out, use the cups and saucers and re-imagine the building in a new way without having to worry about how things were done before, or territorial claims to control of the kitchen. The death of one community gave space for the new.
Why the name? Because Cumberland is an idyllic, idiosyncratic community on Vancouver Island over looking the Pacific Ocean which prided itself on its weirdness. Increasing gentrification was erasing that character, to the extent that a local campaign emerged to “Keep Cumberland Weird”!
The name of the Church then keyed into an important value for that community. This is key to Ingrid’s focus: deeply local and locally connected. It is progressive, artsy with an emphasis on the beautiful environment in which Cumberland is located. It is not a model and it is not even a method of any kind. Ingrid read the local community and took an initiative. But what she does in that place would not work in another place. Which leads me across the country to Hamilton.

2. Kevin Makins:
Eucharist Church
Hamilton

Kevin founded Eucharist Church in 2010 and has written a book about it: Why Would Anyone Go to Church? As he works through the story of his church he answers his question: because it matters.
You might think that with a name like that, Eucharist Church is firmly Anglican. Far from it! Kevin grew up in the Lutheran church before moving into evangelical circles.
He was drawn to create a church in downtown Hamilton. This is an area of great deprivation but the more they put down roots in the community, the more diverse and eclectic they realized it was. This gave their church its character. Their first location was in a disused factory space, and they met on Sunday afternoons because everyone wanted to sleep in.
They called their church “Eucharist” because they wanted to use the meal imagery and convey a sense of a diverse group of individuals, gathered around a table with room for everyone. For him, the ancientness of the name juxtaposed nicely with the hipster space they rented: a re-claimed factory space.
A telling part of their story occurred later in their development as a community, when they rented space from an historically significant, but dwindling mainline church – that shall go nameless!
Every Sunday they had to upack and re-pack everything they needed to create their space but it became increasingly clear that the existing congregation didn’t like having them in their building. One Sunday when they arrived to set-up and there were yellow sticky notes all over the building. They were absolutely everywhere. They found a note which said: “EVERY YELLOW STICKY NOTE IS A SCRATCH THAT YOU PEOPLE PUT IN THIS BUILDING.”
Shortly thereafter, their lease was abruptly terminated. It is tragic that a dwindling church would rather dwindle than make space for a new congregation. The lesson is that we cannot put new wine into old wineskins. There sometimes needs to be death before resurrection.
Eucharist Church, though coming from an evangelicalistic background, is also deeply progressive and affirming. This comes from their name and vision of everyone gathered around a table with room for more.

3. Jacqueline Daley:
St Margaret,
New Toronto

Jacqueline came and led our recent clergy conference and talked about the impact the pandemic had upon their ministry. Before she came the parish was slowly dying, and she only went to be an interim priest. This turned into a permanent position.
The pandemic may have shut down worship services, but it did not shutter St Margaret’s. Instead, it accelerated the development of their community engagement and placed this work firmly to the forefront of the Church.
They were able to open as a place where the food insecure could go. That work drew the financial support of charitable organisations. The church demonstrated its relevance by meeting local needs.
A key part of the work they do is Jacqueline’s own listening. She listens to people, listens to other organisations. She listens to people walking in the park or sitting next to her at community meals. The fruit of this is to attune their ministries to the needs expressed.
For example, when listening to parents in the local park she learned where the gaps were in the local summer camp offerings. These camps are essential to parents who work full time. So, she scheduled their Bible camp to fill that gap. This may be a small example, but it makes a big difference to the vitality of their programmes. They are not guessing and hoping for the best. They listen and plan.
St Margarets is now a community hub. Food is central and their ministries attract much support. During COVID a group of local charities gathered to coordinate their collective work. They invited Jacqueline which means the church is at that table. The church can show that it is relevant and worth supporting by actively engaging with the needs of the local community.(A picture of Rev Daley is on page 4.)

What can we learn from each of these stories?

The big lesson I take away is that there is no single model that ensures a vibrant church. Each of these leaders has been deeply implicated into the communities in which they are placed and go from there. Which means that each church is wildly different in its character. Being in the community, being truly incarnational in the community is the starting point. Everything else flows from there.
Second, liturgy follows the mission. Instead of coming with a ready-made liturgical expression, community connection comes first and then liturgy and worship are formed. This brings a new kind of freedom to the worshipping life of the church which we may find surprising.
As an ex-evangelical, Kevin has been discovering Anglican liturgical resources and in particular the Book of Common Prayer. They are finding much depth and spiritual vitality in resources we may take for granted.
Yet they use them in flexible ways which we would do well to pay attention to. For Jacqueline, the mission to the community drives the vitality of the church and financial resources come to support that work. The Sunday morning is not the most important time of week
Finally, the pandemic seems to have served as the final nail in the coffin in some of the ways we have operated our churches. There are communities that never re-opened after restrictions were lifted. But other churches, like St Margaret New Toronto, found a whole new vitality through the pandemic.

If we are in a time now, it is the post-everything church. Begin with the local community, find out what is happening all around you, listen deeply. For if there is a model to be found, it lies in Jesus himself, his death and resurrection. For there needed to be death before there was new life. So it is with the Church: and resurrection is happening right before our eyes.

The post The Post-Everything Church: The model that isn’t a model appeared first on Montreal Anglican.

There is nothing better we can do then to persist and grow in prayer. This is especially true in uncertain times when communities of faith must seek the help and guidance of God as we navigate our way through a changing world. But what a powerful tool we have in prayer!

Prayer is most often a private devotion each one of us does in our own way.

I love hearing from people about the different ways they like to pray. Some sit in the quiet with their Bible and have a routine of prayer. Others sense the awesomeness of God in nature. Labyrinths have been a great way to help some walk their prayers. Some people like to use online prayer resources of which there are many. Still others use art to express themselves in prayer. There can be prayer in wordless contemplation or in vivid imagination.

There are no limits to prayer. When sharing the different ways we like to pray we can encourage one another to find new energy for our personal devotion.

But it is also important for us to pray together. In our Churches we pray liturgically which is very important to us. The beautiful written prayers of our liturgies and music help us express essential truths. But we are in a time when it is important for us in our communities to pray without ceasing together – and that is more than a liturgical function.

In her charge to Synod this year, Bishop Mary set us this task:
“This year I want to invite everyone to join me in a year of spiritual renewal, of intentional discipleship, of deepening our commitment to Christ, and of discerning ways to reach out into God’s world in his love. I want to challenge everyone to take on one spiritual renewal activity in your parish – and invite me to attend!
When we think of all the different ways to renew our Churches, the foundation of everything is spiritual renewal. For the core of who we are as people of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ and he is our vitality and our hope. But what a great hope! If Jesus is alive and is the head of the Church, then the most life-giving thing we can do is press into him and seek his presence. We do that in prayer, meditation and reflection.”

For this reason, w are launching a prayer initiative: 101 Ways to Pray: A Year of Spiritual Renewal.

The purpose of this is to encourage all of us to pray frequently together and find new spiritual energy in the many ways of prayer.

We are asking you to do a couple of things. First, set aside time in your church’s schedule to explore prayer and spiritual vitality. Explore many ways to pray, reflect and meditate and find out what works best for your church. And then: tell us about it. We can encourage each other by sharing the different ways prayer works for us. We will be telling you more about how you can share your stories as the fall progresses.

There are endless ways to foster prayer and reflection in your church that are non-threatening and easy to do.

• Lectio is a simple way to share the scriptures with simple questions that help draw out the meaning of the text for everyone. It comes from the Benedictine tradition.
• Praying imaginatively comes from the Ignatian tradition and is a way you can use your mind to enter vividly into the story of Scripture. Several diocesan spiritual directors are well trained in this practise (and much else besides).
• Praying with images comes from the Orthodox tradition and is a way to centre your reflection on an icon or image that you find helpful.
• Many of us find using a piece of music is a way to open our hearts to the prayer. It can be anything from a piece of classical music to a praise chorus.
• One of my new favourite practises is Doodle Prayer which is deceptively simple. Sitting with some paper and a pen or two, just pray and then doodle your prayer needs. Its easy and fun to do as a group or on your own.
• We strongly encourage parishes to practice prayer walking in their neighbourhoods. Just walk around where you are and ask God to show you who your neighbours are and how God wants you to serve them.

Prayer with Bishop Mary has also been a powerful way for us to gather in prayer. We have done this as a clergy group and at St Paul’s Greenfield Park. It is an opportunity to have some time to worship and for Bishop Mary to anoint those who wish with holy oil. We could love to come to your church, if you are interested. Many people have already been blessed by Bishop Mary’s prayers.

Let’s take St Paul’s advice and Bishop Mary’s exhortation to focus on prayer and spiritual vitality together as people of faith. Whatever you decide to do, get together as a community and figure out a way to pray without ceasing. Pray as if the life of the Church depends upon it, because it does!

The post 101 Ways to Pray: A Year of Spiritual Renewal appeared first on Montreal Anglican.

It could be Bishop Mary, the Vicar General and Archdeacons who help lead all of us. As Anglicans, we are an episcopal Church, and that leadership is important. Perhaps the Diocese is the bishop working with the Diocesan Council and our annual Synod. We are, as the saying goes, episcsopally led and synodically governed, and those meetings when we all gather are necessary and significant expressions of our diocesan life.

Or maybe the Diocese is the Bishop and the staff who work at 1444 Union. Ours is a diverse and energetic staff all of whom care deeply about our diocesan family and can offer helpful, practical services to everyone. On the creative side we have gifts to share to help bring new energy and ideas and make them happen.

All of this is good, but I think there is something missing when thinking about the Diocese. Because the question suggests an “us” and a “them”, an institution that is remote from the reality on the ground. But maybe, the Diocese is the Bishop, the Synod, the staff, the leadership and all the parishes together. Maybe the Diocese of Montreal is all of us, the People of God, working together.

Some of the greatest encouragements I have seen around the Diocese this year all come from places where we have worked together and shared our time, energy and resources. A couple of examples.

This year at our annual clergy retreat, members of our Diocesan Spiritual Directors group led us in prayer and meditation. We have a wonderful group of spiritual directors who meet regularly and are willing and very able to work with you, individually in your own spiritual journey, or at your church. They can put on retreats and lead quiet days. At our retreat they brought many gifts which blessed us in new ways as a clergy group. They can do the same for you – so ask!

Last year I worked with the stewardship team at St George’s Place du Canada on a campaign that focussed on increasing participation in automated giving. We also used the Environics maps the Diocese commissioned to focus more upon who lives all around the Church and how the congregation might connect with them. The good news is that they significantly increased the number of people on automated giving which is making a difference. They also are finding new interest from the younger adults who live in condos all around them. With the arrival of the very energetic Rev Helen Liddell as their new priest and St Michael’s mission moving into the annex, St George’s is well positioned to move towards flourishing. So, we are planning a new stewardship campaign with many good news stories to tell. We share our time and resources and, together, are making a difference.

This year you will be hearing a great deal about the Bible Story Walk (see p.1), pioneered by Lee Ann Matthews. The basic concept is to create an installation for outside Church buildings that might appeal to people walking by and invite them into the ongoing story of faith. Using the creation story as told by Godly Play, Lee Ann has created a series of beautiful panels that combine art and wondering questions. We are interested in moving this installation around different locations in the Diocese – let us know if you are interested. We launched in May at St Paul’s Greenfield Park. There the priest Trevor Potter, together with the congregation, have embraced this project enthusiastically and we are very interested to see what will happen there.

These are a few of the ways all of us, working together, can make a difference in the lives of our parishes, and so in the life of the Diocese of Montreal. Because the Diocese is all of us and when we work synergistically we can have an impact. But it takes all of us: we all have gifts to share and, together, we can make a difference.

The post The Diocese: A Community Working Together appeared first on Montreal Anglican.

We have been writing about the Environics maps we commissioned for the Diocese. These provide a powerful glimpse into the lives and lifestyles of the people who live around our Churches. We would love to come and show this to you and think more about what it might mean for your church. This helps us move from assumptions about people to seeing the facts on the ground.

But then comes the real work with the very real people who live around us. Who are they? What do they care about? How can we love them? How do they want to be served?  These are the question we must now ask.

This is what the event sponsored by Montreal Dio was about: Congregational Ministry in a Pandemic-Shaped World. The conference, organized by Montreal Dio, was hosted by the Church of St Mark and St Peter in St Laurent. And the speaker posed a necessary question: now what?

The speaker was Pastor Tim Dickau, formerly of Grandview Church in Vancouver, who told us about his experience of re-focussing the congregational life on serving in the neighbourhood.

He took seriously the call to love of neighbour and began to shift the focus of the congregation from going to Church to being the Church in and for the neighbourhood. It is this shift in practise that all our congregations can think about and work on now.

Shaped by the Pandemic

There is no question that the Pandemic has had a profound impact upon churches everywhere. If nothing else, COVID-19 has, once and for all, finished off the attractional model of Church.

This trend has been in motion for many years – which is why we have been talking about the importance of mission, being missional. Now the time has arrived in which mission is what lies before us to bring new life to our Churches.

The trends in religious observance throughout Canada have not favoured us for many years.  There is a growing diversity of religious and spiritual expression, and an increasing number of those who claim no religious belief. This can seem threatening to us if we continue to try to attract people to Church on Sunday. There simply are not enough people looking for that kind of worship. Immigration trends favour other religions.

If doing the same thing is yielding fewer and fewer results for us, let’s do something different now. Let us embrace that alternative that lies before us: mission. Your mission-field are the people who live and work around your Church. Try to understand them, listen to them and above all, serve them.

This is the message of Pastor Tim Dickau, formerly of Grandview Church in Vancouver who was the speaker at the event sponsored by the Montreal Diocesan Theological College on October 29th.

Tim took a dying Baptist church in the East side of Vancouver and did not turn it into mega-church. But he did bring about a new orientation towards making a difference in the Grandview neighbourhood. In doing so, over time new vitality and purpose came to this congregation and with it new life.

It sounds very simple and, in a way, it is. But it takes work

and a shift in our thinking. If they could do this, so can you.

Being the Church

We have not been to Church we ARE the Church! We all recognise how important this is, but it is more than a form of words. It involves looking and listening to what is going on in the neighbourhoods around us. When we look at the people who live there from the point of view of attracting them to a liturgy, we can end up in the dead end of trying to tweak the Sunday morning event in a desperate attempt to make it somehow more…attractive! We can despair because people just aren’t interested in Church anymore. In extreme cases we can turn in on ourselves and become hostile to the society in which we live. But none of this is helpful.

Better to think about our neighbourhoods and the many diverse people who live there and ask: what do they care about, what might their needs be?

This is the story Pastor Tim Dickau told about Grandview Church in Vancouver. Embracing the challenge of mission, it became their purpose to transition from going to Church to being the Church in and for the neighbourhood. Over time this shift in focus brought about a new direction and new vitality to the Church which both touched the neighbourhood and changed Grandview Church too.

A Porous Church

People still will ask: yes, but when will they come to Church? There is no clear answer to that question. But if we will embrace mission and service to give life to our Churches, then we may just find our congregations becoming more like the people who live around us. We might just become a more porous church.

I find the vision statement of Grandview Church quite telling in this regard: A community of people who receive and extend the generous welcome of God. This comes out of the lived experience of the congregation in and for the neighbourhood rather than from the denominational background of the Church. Rather than raising high doctrinal or liturgical boundaries, this opens a wide circle.

Because the missional question begins with who is my neighbour and then moves to and how can we serve them but then we need to add and how do they want to be loved?

This is how we move from attractional Church, into mission and service. Instead of doing things for people we learn to do things with. We move beyond what we think people might want and connect with what is happening all around us. In this way, the Church can find true relevance and make a difference in people’s lives.

What is next? First you could consult the Environics maps to connect with what IS in your community. Then start prayer-walking your neighbourhood. Ask God a simple question: Who are our neighbours and how can we serve them? Pray and pray again.

The post What’s next for the church? appeared first on Montreal Anglican.

If you came by St Philip’s MTL West on a Saturday in early June, you would have seen an astonishing sight; more than 100 people; parents, children and friends all playing and having a great time.

They were bouncing away on the bouncy castle, having their faces painted, delighting in the clowns and music. Some were taking tours of the community garden, and most were eating popcorn, cotton candy and Jamaican patties. There was even a craft station where kids were busy making Pentecost wands with doves.

It was all happening in the church yard of St Philips MTL West!!  It was our Diocesan Family Day. 

Under the leadership of Lee Ann Matthews, who oversaw the planning with a meticulous level of detail, we created a safe place for families and friends to get together and have fun. Then it was all over.

This was a one-off event that did not assume that the participants would automatically start worshipping in Church on Sunday mornings, nor did it demand anything of our guests. Instead, it offered something of value to them: child-friendly fun in a safe environment at a time convenient to them on a Saturday, with food included.

There was a lot of planning and organising to do to bring it all together. This was a Diocesan event with resources behind it. But it is worth noting that Lee Ann put in a lot of time inviting people and advertising the event both throughout the Diocese and, equally important, locally.

Was it a success? Was it impactful? It was a roaring success for the most important reasons of all: because people came and had a great time, all at church.

I think this offers a model for our churches to consider. Many of us continue to struggle with the idea that we should be getting more people to come on Sunday morning, and preferably to take envelopes. But there is another way to build up our communities of faith. It involves learning to love our neighbours first and seeking to serve them.

Ministry is service, not mathematics

Many people think that ministry is like a mathematical equation with a direct result leading straight to Sunday morning attendance. People often, indeed almost always, ask me: but how do we get them to come to Church? I know this is a cry from the heart as we see our Sunday congregations growing smaller over time. The same question arises when discussing children & youth ministry. But how do we get them to come to Sunday school?

The people who come to church on Sunday mornings are those who find value in that discipline. Parents who bring their children to Sunday School tend to be those who find value in what Sunday School has to offer. They are willing to make the effort, usually because they themselves grew up in Church.

We need to realise that in many cases there simply aren’t enough people living in the communities around our churches who have experienced traditional church patterns. Many of those that do live very busy, highly scheduled lives.

Does that mean we should abandon all hope of reaching new people? Certainly not! But we do need to recognise that we must need to start from a different place. A missional place.  We need to get to know people and let them get to know us. That begins with embracing the truth that ministry is about serving people without the assumption that they will necessarily start coming to Church on Sunday. It is not a mathematical equation: it is service.

Scattering Seeds

Jesus encourages the ministry of scattering seeds, which I think is an important metaphor for us today. “A farmer went out to sow the seed. Some of it fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop”

For us in the Church now, our task is to re-connect with an entire generation of people who know very little about God or Church and thus do not see value in what we have to offer. We need to think of our mission of scattering seeds in people’s lives by building friendship and positive associations with Church. The Diocesan Family Day did exactly that.

Consider how important it is for the participants to go to church and for the Church to serve them in a way that was appropriate to them.  How important it is that families were all playing and having fun in a Church context. Seeds being scattered: church is fun. Others there saw the community garden. That is a great point of contact around a shared purpose.  People might be interested in getting involved. These are some of the way ways in which the Church can develop relationships with the people who live around our buildings.

The Environics maps we commissioned tell us a great deal about the kinds of people who live in our neighbourhoods. We can give you specific information about your neighbourhood. With this information we can think more about not attracting them to Church but serving them in ways that are relevant to them and putting on events that offer them something, rather demanding something from them.

• People have social needs, for there is much loneliness and isolation in many communities. Would you think about offering a community meal or dinner church at a time people can make?

• Many have spiritual aspirations. I was checking out a yoga group recently started by someone trying to meet the need for “spiritual fulfilment” in their community. Many are finding ways to meet their spiritual needs in many diverse ways. You could think about offering meditation or reflection groups in your space, even yoga.

• Families are often looking for enrichment opportunities for their children. If you don’t want to do a whole Messy Church, think about putting on a Harvest or Thanksgiving event. If you have pie-makers in your congregations, try an apple pie making event for children. Imagine children going home with the apple pies they made in Church.

The sky is the limit if you have enough imagination. Event-based ministry can be a way to minister to diverse people in a way that is meaningful to them and encouraging for you. Who knows – you might just make some new friends along the way.

Next Steps

1. Ask us for more information about your community MAP. You may be surprised to see how much potential there is around your Church,

2. Come to our special webinar on Saturday September 10th on Event-based gatherings. There will be a free e-book and a panel of very experienced speakers.

3. Then let your imaginations run wild.

The post A different Measure of Success – Event-based Ministry appeared first on Montreal Anglican.

If you came by St Philip’s MTL West on a Saturday in early June, you would have seen an astonishing sight; more than 100 people; parents, children and friends all playing and having a great time.

They were bouncing away on the bouncy castle, having their faces painted, delighting in the clowns and music. Some were taking tours of the community garden, and most were eating popcorn, cotton candy and Jamaican patties. There was even a craft station where kids were busy making Pentecost wands with doves.

It was all happening in the church yard of St Philips MTL West!!  It was our Diocesan Family Day. 

Under the leadership of Lee Ann Matthews, who oversaw the planning with a meticulous level of detail, we created a safe place for families and friends to get together and have fun. Then it was all over.

This was a one-off event that did not assume that the participants would automatically start worshipping in Church on Sunday mornings, nor did it demand anything of our guests. Instead, it offered something of value to them: child-friendly fun in a safe environment at a time convenient to them on a Saturday, with food included.

There was a lot of planning and organising to do to bring it all together. This was a Diocesan event with resources behind it. But it is worth noting that Lee Ann put in a lot of time inviting people and advertising the event both throughout the Diocese and, equally important, locally.

Was it a success? Was it impactful? It was a roaring success for the most important reasons of all: because people came and had a great time, all at church.

I think this offers a model for our churches to consider. Many of us continue to struggle with the idea that we should be getting more people to come on Sunday morning, and preferably to take envelopes. But there is another way to build up our communities of faith. It involves learning to love our neighbours first and seeking to serve them.

Ministry is service, not mathematics

Many people think that ministry is like a mathematical equation with a direct result leading straight to Sunday morning attendance. People often, indeed almost always, ask me: but how do we get them to come to Church? I know this is a cry from the heart as we see our Sunday congregations growing

smaller over time. The same question arises when discussing children & youth ministry. But how do we get them to come to Sunday school?

The people who come to church on Sunday mornings are those who find value in that discipline. Parents who bring their children to Sunday School tend to be those who find value in what Sunday School has to offer. They are willing to make the effort, usually because they themselves grew up in Church.

We need to realise that in many cases there simply aren’t enough people living in the communities around our churches who have experienced traditional church patterns. Many of those that do live very busy, highly scheduled lives.

Does that mean we should abandon all hope of reaching new people? Certainly not! But we do need to recognise that we must need to start from a different place. A missional place.  We need to get to know people and let them get to know us. That begins with embracing the truth that ministry is about serving people without the assumption that they will necessarily start coming to Church on Sunday. It is not a mathematical equation: it is service.

Scattering Seeds

Jesus encourages the ministry of scattering seeds, which I think is an important metaphor for us today. “A farmer went out to sow the seed. Some of it fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop”

For us in the Church now, our task is to re-connect with an entire generation of people who know very little about God or Church and thus do not see value in what we have to offer. We need to think of our mission of scattering seeds in people’s lives by building friendship and positive associations with Church. The Dioc

esan Family Day did exactly that.

Consider how important it is for the participants to go to church and for the Church to serve them in a way that was appropriate to them.  How important it is that families were all playing and having fun in a Church context. Seeds being scattered: church is fun. Others there saw the community garden. That is a great point of contact around a shared purpose.  People might be interested in getting involved. These are some of the way ways in which the Church can develop relationships with the people who live around our buildings.

The Environics maps we commissioned tell us a great deal about the kinds of people who live in our neighbourhoods. We can give you specific information about your neighbourhood. With this information we can think more about not attracting them to Church but serving them in ways that are relevant to them and putting on events that offer them something, rather demanding something from them.

• People have social needs, for there is much loneliness and isolation in many communities. Would you think about offering a community meal or dinner church at a time people can make?

• Many have spiritual aspirations. I was checking out a yoga group recently started by someone trying to meet the need for “spiritual fulfilment” in their community. Many are finding ways to meet their spiritual needs in many diverse ways. You could think about offering meditation or reflection groups in your space, even yoga.

• Families are often looking for enrichment opportunities for their children. If you don’t want to do a whole Messy Church, think about putting on a Harvest or Thanksgiving event. If you have pie-makers in your congregations, try an apple pie making event for children. Imagine children going home with the apple pies they made in Church.

The sky is the limit if you have enough imagination. Event-based ministry can be a way to minister to diverse people in a way that is meaningful to them and encouraging for you. Who knows – you might just make some new friends along the way.

Next Steps

1. Ask us for more information about your community MAP. You may be surprised to see how much potential there is around your Church,

2. Come to our special webinar on Saturday September 10th on Event-based gatherings. There will be a free e-book and a panel of very experienced speakers.

3. Then let your imaginations run wild.

The post A different Measure of Success appeared first on Montreal Anglican.

Too often during conversations, when one person is speaking the other is already forming their response. True listening allows us to hear the stories of another, to understand and know them and their experience. 

The last week of September was a powerful one for us as a Diocese and as a country. 

On the Monday our Supper Club watched the Pray Away documentary that addresses reparative therapy for gay, lesbian and trans people. 

As the week of National Indigenous Reconciliation, it was a focal point for us all to address difficult truths about the history of white settlement in this country and the experience of Indigenous Peoples both historically and in present. 

During the weekend our Anti-Racism task force hosted Dr Myrna Lashley for a powerful workshop: Confronting the past, Looking to the Future. 

On Monday, September 27th, members of our Supper Club gathered to watch the documentary Pray Away which told the stories of gay people who went through reparative therapy to try to “cure” them of their sexual orientation and turn them straight, under the umbrella of Exodus International, the now closed ex-gay ministry. 

It is a harrowing film to watch. In it we hear the stories of how many people’s lives were affected by a pseudo-psychological approach mixed with spirituality to help “heal” people but which caused deep suffering. At its core was the admission by many of the leaders of Exodus International that it was all based on lies: they themselves admitted they had not found that their sexual orientation changed. 

Yet they continued to promote their ministry in ways that deeply affected those who were involved. But the power of this documentary lies in the stories that were told by the victims themselves. Painful stories that need to be acknowledged. 

There has been a lot of argument about this in the wider Church for many years. But sometimes these are the stories we need to hear which silence the arguing and help us treat one another as human.

On Tuesday, in honour of Truth & Reconciliation, we hosted two Indigenous priests, Norm Wesley and Rosalyn Elm on Pew & Beyond. Both had removed their collars in response to the news of mass graves at residential schools. 

Norm decided that for him the best response was to consider himself to have given up his priesthood. Rosalyn did not take that view but saw the removal of her collar as a sign of the misused authority it represented. 

Norm wove together a tapestry of stories of past injustice perpetrated against his forbearers with ongoing injustice being experienced now, today, by members of his own family. 

We wonder why people are bitter, but if the past is not acknowledged and the present remains the same, surely bitterness is the correct response. This was the first time I had heard the past and the present brought together like that. 

Rosalyn spoke prophetically about actions we could take to bring healing. She said we should sell our Cathedral and come and worship with them. She laid out a beautiful vision of all our children playing together. I found that compelling.

On Friday and Saturday our Diocesan family held the anti-racism workshop with Dr Myrna Lashley. A powerful advocate, she challenged all of us to confront our own complicity in racisim and racist structures. 

In addition to her teaching, one of the things I found most powerful was hearing the stories of ongoing racism experienced by members of our diocesan family. I found this powerful and unsettling because we are all one big family in our Diocese and many of those who shared their stories are people I know and consider to be my friends. We see each other in Church and at Diocesan events. We know and care about each other. 

Yet I had not ever heard the stories of their experiences of being targeted by police because the car they were driving in was “too good” for a black person or of being singled out for special treatment in the security line at the airport because of the colour of their skin. I learned about lived racism and the pain and frustration it causes in a whole new way. 

These were the stories of people I know and care about. It was powerful to hear.

Whenever we are confronted with prejudice or injustice, our natural response is to want to spring into action, to fix, to educate, to make sure it never happens again. These are natural and important responses. 

But the first and, I think, most important step, is to listen. Listening to the stories of someone else of being coerced into reparative therapy, of inter-generational injustice, of prejudice that happens today. 

Governor General Mary Simon said: “My view is that reconciliation is a way of life and requires work every day. Reconciliation is getting to know one another.”

Being able to listen to one another does not mean doing nothing. However I cannot know what to do about any kind of injustice without hearing the stories of those who have experienced it. 

What I can do, and what you can do, is hold a sacred space that allows someone else’s story to be at the center and honour that story without rushing on to the next thing. It is in listening that we find ways to grow. 

I was profoundly moved when Senator Murray Sinclair pointed out that it has been 500 years of injustice for Indigenous People in Canada: it will take 500 years to move beyond it. But we can make a beginning and we can listen.

So as even as we live out our resolve to build a more just society and Church in which all are honoured as created in the image of God, let us also find ways to sit down in a circle and hold a space and listen. Then we will know what to do.

The post Reconciliation and the power of listening appeared first on Montreal Anglican.