Bursting at the seams: Summer partnership opens new possibilities
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Diaconal Postulant, Laura Woolner (Diocese of Qu'Appelle) proclaims the Gospel in an ecumenical service.
GROWING BEYOND THE DOORS
By Rev. Canon Grayhame Bowcott
IN A PREVIOUS column of Growing Beyond the Doors, I shared how my congregation of St. George’s, The Blue Mountains, had entered into a preliminary dialogue with a neighbouring congregation, Grace United Church, about the possibility of exploring a time of shared ministry together.
When Grace approached our leadership team about this possibility, we were honoured that they would consider reaching out to us in this way. In an age of increasingly congregationalist fear, which often isolates congregations when they find that their patterns of sustainability are becoming harder to maintain, this invitation, by Grace, to explore a short time of shared ministry was innovative, invitational, and, quite frankly, refreshing!
The motivation behind a summer partnership between our two congregations was likely a result of a significant change for Grace, as their minister of two years, The Rev. Dr. John Smith, was concluding his time as pastor of their church, as of the end of July. The suggestion that was forwarded by Grace was to explore sharing two months of ministry together, beginning in July (when Rev. Smith would be serving in his last month) and then continuing to the end of August (where I would be leading worship for both congregations).
After a series of back-and-forth conversations with our leadership teams, (and with approval by our Bishop!) St. George’s and Grace churches commenced with what we lovingly referred to as a “summer of speed dating”: the goal, a desire to get to better know each other in all our denominational differences and similarities.
St. George’s, The Blue Mountains, has two services on a Sunday: an 8:00 a.m. Said BAS Eucharist and a 10:00 a.m. Choral BAS Eucharist. Grace United Church hosts a single 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, which is, more often than not, a non-Eucharistic service of the Word. So, in the month of July, St. George’s cancelled their 10:00 a.m. Choral Eucharist and joined together with Grace’s 10:30 a.m. service. The 8:00 a.m. congregation remained with their usual time and place.
In August, after Rev. Smith had concluded his ministry, Grace United Church joined St. George’s for our 10:00 a.m. services. We chose to alternate between Choral Holy Eucharist and services of Morning Prayer (so as not to overdo Holy Communion for our United Church friends).
What was the result? Well, I am delighted to share that there were much enthusiasm and curiosity among the members of both churches. Members from each denomination were curious to experience the differences in worship and liturgical practices. We asked both congregations to be themselves and to demonstrate to the other what makes them unique. Both congregations are blessed with many lay leaders who are proud to share in readings, prayers, and even officiating. Both churches have choirs that love to collaborate with each other, and so music was a highlight of our summer experiment. This resulted in a 20-person choir that was assembled on three of the Sundays in our time together. The sound was glorious!
Over these summer months, Grace and St. George’s enjoyed attendance that had us bursting at the seams. Volunteers were frequently asked to be on hand to add extra chairs, as 20-30 more people were showing up to check out what it was that we were doing together. In August, three of our services were hosted outside, on the front doorstep of St. George’s in Clarksburg, where dogwalkers and those passing by were serenaded with Christian hymns sung by more than 80 voices. A wonderful way to witness to the neighbourhood that the vitality and joyfulness of our ecumenical collaboration was real and happening!
Now that summer has concluded, our two churches enter into a time of prayerful reflection. Grace United Church is currently without a minister and will be discerning what their ministry going forward looks like. St. George’s has committed to sharing our pastoral coverage with them and to upholding them as a partner in prayer.
We don’t know what the future looks like, but we do know that we experienced a time of hopeful partnership. Together, our two churches’ shared values and desire to serve those in our community have brought us closer than we have ever felt in the past. This, by itself, has been a great blessing shared through our summer experiment. My hope in sharing this update with you is that other Anglican congregations might be inspired to explore an ecumenical experiment of their own! If you do, please pass along your experiences to me, so that we can learn along the way!
Rev. Canon Dr. Grayhame Bowcott is passionate about fostering congregational relationships and sharing our Anglican vocation with others. He serves as Rector of St. George’s, The Parish of The Blue Mountains, and as Program Director for the Licentiate in Theology program at Huron University.