A short reflection written for the closing service of Wesley United Church in Rockglen SK. August 10, 2024
Friends, I am so glad to be here on this poignant day. Thank you for inviting me to say a few words at the final worship service to be held in this building, Wesley United Church in Rockglen SK.
I first came here on Saturday, May 14, 2011. This was just two days after I graduated from Emmanuel College in Toronto with a Masters of Divinity degree and six days after I had been informed by the Settlement Committee of Toronto Conference that as a new minister I was to be placed here in Borderlands. At the time, Borderlands included Wesley United in Rockglen and the United churches in Fife Lake and Coronach.
When I got the surprising news that I would spend the first years of my ministry here and not in an urban region like Toronto, which is where I had asked to be settled, I said “yes,” for otherwise -- to be frank -- I would not have been ordained on May 29th by Toronto Conference. Later that Sunday, I phoned the minister appointed to Borderlands at that time, Kevin Johnston, and I appreciated my long chat with him.
One of the many things he told me was that Chinook Presbytery was meeting the next Saturday, May 14, at Wesley United in Rockglen. This was a unique event. So, I decided to fly to Regina that Friday afternoon, rent a car, spend the night in Moose Jaw, and drive to Wesley on Saturday morning to attend that Presbytery meeting. I thought this experience would help me decide if I could imagine ministry in such a remote and rural area after living all my adult life in Toronto.
I liked that Saturday gathering and was glad to meet ministers from the huge area that comprised Chinook Presbytery. The next day, I accompanied Kevin to the three Sunday services in Borderlands and met many of the key people in the three charges.
I was shocked by the beauty of this border area, how sparsely populated it is, and how poor the roads seemed to me. But I was also relieved to learn from Arlene Colibaba after the first service on Sunday the 15th in Coronach that the family renting the United Church manse there was moving out, and I could live in it if I chose.
There is much that separates life in Borderlands from life in Toronto, but the five-bedroom bungalow in Coronach, along with cheap long distance phone service, cablevision, and high-speed Internet meant I could contemplate making the leap into ministry in Borderlands. And I’m so glad I did.
On Tuesday the 17th, I flew back Toronto, attended my ordination service at the end of May, and then drove out here at the start of July to begin life and ministry in Borderlands.
Despite all that I learned and loved during my years here, I am not surprised that Wesley is selling this building. The three United Churches of Borderlands were tiny back in 2011, and they didn’t grow during my tenure. Nor was I replaced. Instead, Marilyn Leuty of the United Church in Assiniboia began a circuit that started with a Saturday evening service in Assiniboia followed by Sunday morning services first in Coronach and then here in Rockglen. But after Marilyn retired, it was up to leaders like Carla Yost here in Rockglen and Arlene in Coronach to lead Sunday gatherings with the help of the work of Wendy Gibson, now in Assiniboia. Thank you to everyone who has helped sustain these life-giving churches over the 10 years since I left Borderlands for my first and only call to Edmonton’s Mill Woods United Church.
When I had stumbled back into church in Toronto in 2001, I was aware the denomination was a lot smaller than when I was a child; and it has only continued to shrink since then. But I was OK with this challenging fact. And one reason I was OK with it was the following Gospel passage.
In Matthew 18, Jesus says: “If two of you agree on something and pray for it, your prayer will be granted by God in Heaven. For wherever two or three people come together in my name, I am right there among you!”
We all need community. We need each other to engage with our deepest values and to try to live into them. We need family and friends with whom to gather for celebrations like baptisms and weddings, and to mourn together in the face of death and other great difficulties.
Happily, we only need two or three people to ensure that Jesus and all the faith, hope, and love we associate with that name are present.
While I was living here in Borderlands, I was impressed by the 2012 General Council meeting of the United Church of Canada. In the face of the unceasing and radical decline of the United Church, it created a Comprehensive Review Task Group that would “put everything on the table.” But I was disappointed in its discussions over the next three years and with its recommendations, which have now been implemented. I think we needed more help with the radical changes roiling our society and the precipitous decline of religion in our lives.
One of the things that struck me in my time here was the lack of clergy. The only other clergyperson then was our wonderful friend Father Andrew of the Roman Catholic parish. I was not in alignment with Father Andrew on many theological and social issues, but like everyone else I loved his big heart, his deep engagement with our communities, and his wonderful musical abilities. One of the highlights for me were the Christmas cantatas that Andrew, myself, and the music teacher put together. Such good memories.
Now the churches of Borderlands are without clergy and their buildings are empty or being sold. Happily, our tradition gives us all we need for such wrenching and painful changes, I think. The Gospels are about the shock of the arrest and execution of Jesus, and about the surprise of the resurrection. The resurrection does not give Jesus’ first followers what they want – namely, a warrior King or Christ who would overthrow Roman rule. Instead, they receive what they need: an inner Christ living as a beautiful flame within their hearts and a God who is nothing less than universal Love. We and other faithful pilgrims have been receiving the same gracious gift ever since.
Our churches have shrunk and are being sold; our individual lives are marked by the usual joys of growth and the pains of aging, sickness, and death; and our society is confronted with radical disruptions caused by war, climate disaster, and social change. Happily, like the first followers of Jesus we know that Love is our deepest calling; Love is our destiny; and Love is our sure hope both now and always.
What to do about churches like Wesley United amid all these personal and social changes? There don’t seem to be great solutions at hand. But I know that families will gather around loving tables, friends will be there to help one another in times of pain and joy, and the north stars of faith, hope, and love will help us stumble forward into new communities of wonder, praise, and love.
Thank you, my friends, for teaching me so much, and for reminding me that where two or three are gathered in the name of Love, God is there.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
