Clergy and delegates from across the diocese gathered in Regina for the 74th Synod of the Diocese of Qu'Appelle, which began Friday October 30 and concluded with a Solemn Eucharist on All Saints Day, Sunday November 1, 2009.  The business of the diocese was conducted; participants worshipped, listened and learned together; and celebrated the 125th anniversary of the diocese.

Kevin Martin - The Church in the Post-Christendom World

The Very Rev. Kevin Martin is Dean of St. Matthew's Cathedral in Dallas, Texas, and the congregational development officer of the Diocese of Dallas.  He spoke on each day of the Synod.  On Friday he described the changed world that the church finds itself in today.  Speaking of the U.S. situation, he described how the "G.I. Generation" came home from the second world war and built up most of the nation's institutions, including universities and churches.  That generation was 60% churched, but that generation is dying off and the new generation is less than 10% churched.

He said that for the past 40 to 45 years, there has been a steady decline in the Anglican and Episcopal churches.  He said the tendancy has been to attribute the decline to recent decisions regarding sexuality, but that is not the real cause.  It is primarily the change of generations; the increasingly secular society; and the fact that the main-line churches have continued to train ordained leadership in the old model of a Christian society.

"We are more like the church in the first three centuries, and that is very exciting," he said. "We need to become a missionary church, not a 'maintenance' culture.  We need to think in terms of discipleship, not church membership.  We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to pass on the gospel, to become the church for the future."

Growing a church and reaching new people is not the same as "doing church better," said Kevin Martin.  "If you keep doing the same things in the same way, you will get the same results."  He gave the examples of church signs which do nothing to attract or interest un-churched people.  "LENT and MAUNDY THURSDAY" does not mean anything to a person who has no church background.  Gothic type tends to make people think the institution is hopelessly old-fashioned.  He encouraged churches to discover one phrase which describes them, and put it on their sign to invite non-churched people.  He gave examples from his own diocese, such as "AIDS Spoken Here" in a neighbourhood with a population of young professionals, in a culture which discrimates against people with the disease; and "The Family Church" to show that children are welcome to services and activities.

"There is no one solution to start growing a church - not programs - not gadgets - not music - you can't just haul out the organ and bring in drums and guitars and expect that people will flood in," he said.  Church has to be relevant to the people; it has to touch their hearts.  He gave the example of a Blessing of the Animals service at the Cathedral in Dallas.  Parishioners put signs throughout the neighbourhood advertising the service, and people came in droves with their pets.  "And not just the Episcopal pets, either!"  He said that many of the visitors were moved to tears.

Developing Small Congregations

Although much of what Kevin Martin talked about was increasing the size of church, he said that congregational development is not necessarily growth, but improving the health of the congregation.  He acknowledged that if a church is located in an area with declining population, it may not be possible to increase in size, but the church can still be healthy and lively.

He told the moving story of the congregation in an historic church in Matagorda, Texas, which had a congregation of only six women when he was sent to meet with them.  He told them, "I believe God has given this church all the gifts it needs," and one of the women said, "All we do well is cook."  From that comment, they decided to serve a free lunch on Wednesday, the day the local restaurant was closed.  Although the area was experiencing tough economic times, they only had about a dozen people attend.  Then one of the guests said, "We're not that bad off, you should charge for this." After they put out a basket for donations, they had up to 200 for lunch.  "When it comes to charity, it is better to give than to receive," said Kevin Martin.  Soon, the Episcopal church became the place to go for lunch on a Wednesday, and even the mayor came every week to keep in touch with the people.  What began as an outreach project has resulted in a revival of the congregation, which has grown to more than 100.  The church now funds a mobile medical clinic which serves the county.

"The function of the elders of the church is to discern the will of God," said Kevin Martin. "Then God will provide all that is needed to accomplish His will.  We are assured this will happen.  We have read the last chapter!"

"You build congregations around vision, mission and goals," he said, "not history." He said parishes should not prop up dying organizations, they should quit them and start new ones - that work. He gave the example of a parish's women's group which had a handful of elderly ladies.  They met on a week day, and resisted attempts to change the time to allow employed women or those with young children to join them.  This is not how to get more people involved in the life of the parish.  Small congregations should have small, simple committee structures to work effectively.

He gave a positive example of what the Cathedral in Dallas did in lieu of a traditional harvest festival.  They advertised widely that a special service would recognize all in the food industry, and annointed the hands of everyone connected to the food industry.  They had a 25% increase in their English congregation service, and 50% increase in the Spanish-speaking service.  People were very moved, and one man told him that it was the first time he felt his church had valued his work.

All Saints Eucharist

Following the prorogation (adjournment) of Synod, delegates, clergy and people from local congregations celebrated the 125th anniversary of the diocese with a Solemn Eucharist for All Saints Day.

Bishop Greg Kerr-Wilson was the presiding celebrant, with concelebrants Archbishop David Ashdown (Metropolitan of Rupertsland) and Bishop Cindy Halmarson (Bishop of Saskatchewan Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada).  Bishop Rodney Andrews of the Diocese of Saskatoon and (Roman Catholic) Archbishop Daniel Bohen and Monsignor Donald Bolen of the Archdiocese of Regina were special guests.

Lay people and clergy from throughout the diocese participated as readers, intercessors and communion ministers.  The servers, choir and greeters were from St. Paul's Cathedral. The service, held in Luther College High School gym, began with renewal of baptismal vows, and though it lacked classical church architecture, included the use of incense.

Kevin Martin began the homily by saying he was somewhat intimidated, as he had never preached before an archbishop, and there were two there!  On the topic of All Saints day, he pointed out that saints don't have last names; we know them all by their first names as we are all in the family of God.  There are many 'named' saints, remembered on the calendar, in the names of churches and in stained glass windows, but there are many saints who remain nameless.  These saints are known to Christ in heaven.  "I remind you as a diocese of all your saints who built the diocese.  Their names are not remembered, but their legacy is."

He then talked about change and growth using the example of St. Alban's, Houston.  This parish was started after World War II by a group of English war brides who settled in a new suburb of Houston.  Over the years the suburb changed, and by the 1990s it was a chiefly Hispanic neighbourhood.  The congregation was down to about 20, and none of them lived in the area.  The diocese sent a Spanish speaking priest, but the English congregation insisted the Spanish service be at 4 p.m., and non surprisingly the attempt at growth failed.

Kevin Martin was sent by the diocese to inform the Vestry that the church would be closed.  He said a building states to society "Faith lives here" so closing a church feels like failure.  When he presented the facts to Vestry, one woman said she couldn't accept that closure was the only option, and asked him "you're the expert on congregational development" what they would have to do to continue.

So, he told them - move the English-language service to 8 a.m. and have a Spanish-language service at the most popular time.  To his great surprise, the woman, whose mother had been one of the war brides who started the church, said, "you're on!"  The diocese sent a priest whose second language was Spanish, but English was his seventh language.  The small English-speaking congregation accepted this priest and his broken English, and the Spanish-speaking people in the neighbourhood came in great numbers.  There has been growth in both services, with the early service now having up to 50 English speakers.

This is an example of what can happen when a congregation is willing to let go of the past and go where God leads them.  Kevin Martin concluded by referring to the Epistle to the Hebrews: "We are surrounded by so great a crowd of witnesses."  He said, "At moments like this, in this Eucharist, eternity invades our moment and we hear all the company of heaven, encouraging us and lifting us up."

Ecumenical Settings for Synod

Synod met at St. Martin's Roman Catholic Church and Hall on Friday and Sunday, and at Luther College High School on Sunday.  Lutheran Bishop Cindy Halmarson attended both the meetings and worship of Synod, and spoke of "the common bond and common grounding that we share."  She also said she was impressed with the Diocese of Qu'Appelle's anniversary project Habitat for Humanity project, and encouraged Anglicans to work with Lutherans "to make stronger witness in your communities; to be the body of Christ in the world."