One of the biggest challenges facing ministry in our rural corner of the Diocese is building a sense of unity and teamwork across the twelve churches of the Eastern Townships Regional Ministry. The geography of our region is vast. It is not unusual for clergy to cover 100 or more kilometres between churches on any given Sunday: it often feels like swinging from tree to tree or flying and never quite getting the landing gear down!
Moreover, most of the church communities in this area have a strong historic sense of identity, one which is linked to a particular location and building, and not so easily expanded to a broader notion of the Christian family. Yet, without deep and genuine Christian collaboration, a regional ministry is nothing more than a financial agreement. Instead, the hope is that we are truly building something stronger together, leaning into the vocation that God has for this place.
Ironically, COVID19 provided the initial momentum towards a team ministry here, as we all gathered online for a single Zoom service from across the whole region — and beyond. We regularly had over 100 participants on our Zoom services, and while no one wishes the pandemic lockdowns to return, many reminisce on the creativity and fun that we shared online. We even had a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper online!
More still, these Zoom services provided an environment for fostering new relationships and friendships from across the region. Those who now travel around to different churches for Sunday worship often remark how they already know so many friendly faces because they met online.
To strengthen this sense of unity, our Regional Ministry now hosts special joint worship services on months with a fifth Sunday, during which we all worship together in a single service and share a potluck meal afterwards. There are no other services scheduled in the region on those Sundays.
There is a tremendous feeling of fellowship at these joint services, and it is a real joy for everyone to see their churches so full.
We had an explosive attendance of 147 people for our fifth Sunday service hosted in Bishop Stewart Memorial Church in Frelighsburg in April. In July we always gather outdoors for a picnic service in Stanbridge East under the big, old maple tree at the centre of the church yard. We experimented with outdoor services during the pandemic, and “under the big, old maple tree” has become something of a slogan for our joint ministries together, hinting at the all-encompassing nature of it.
For small, rural congregations that normally get less than a dozen people on a Sunday morning, these big regional services also provide a tremendous sense of life and hope for the future! Alone, the churches of this region have limited futures; together, we have an opportunity for greater longevity. God is not finished with the Townships! God is now calling us to try something new: “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness” (Isaiah 43:19).
