This past month, I traveled to Terrace, in the Diocese of Caledonia, for my last in-person training for the School for Congregational Development of the Province of British Columbia and the Yukon. Bishop Lynne invited me to take a team from the
Parish of Kokanee, in order to learn new models for ministry and their practical application in this new ministry setting for me, in the Kootenays. I am grateful to Bishop Lynne for her insight, and so thankful to have participated in this process. It has served to inform the development and renewal of ministry in my current context, as well, has acquainted me with the wider culture and emphasis of ministry in the West.
For those that may not know, or may be considering becoming a part of the School for Congregational Development, it is a two-year hybrid training. We spend two sessions (four days each) in September and May of subsequent years, and in between, we have four Zoom sessions to continue our work. The aims of the school’s program are to nurture:
- Healthy, faithful, and effective congregations to fulfill their calling to be the body of Christ in a particular place and time
- Congregations grounded in a robust identity rooted in an Anglican ethos and spirituality
- Leaders who are more culturally competent, able to respect and support people from a variety of cultures and can foster more diverse, equitable, and inclusive congregations
- Leaders who are more self-aware and who are both self-defined and connected to their communities of faith
- Leaders who make use of a variety of models and facilitate tools to engage people in their congregations to respond to the challenges and opportunities before them
- Leaders who build the capacity of the congregation to discern its future under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to take action over time in changing situations
- A common language and community of practice around congregational development in the diocese
- Stronger connections among congregational leaders for the purposes of learning, community, mutual encouragement, and inspiration
- The creation of useful training programs that can be shared freely and used by others in the broader Church.*(from Provincial School of Congregational Development Manual, 2025 ©Episcopal Diocese of Olympia)
In many ways this is a tall order, and the models, processes, and exercises that we participated in were very engaging, allowing freedom of exploration, expression, and context by the participants.
I was reminded by the Bishop very early in the process that many, if not most of the tools and learning I would have encountered before in my ministry back east; my role was to absorb and adapt the material for use in Kokanee Parish and the wider partnerships in my context.
As I immersed myself in this process, I became more aware of the gift and blessing of the church west of the prairies. You are a diverse, resilient church that does not blindly hold on to tradition, nor embraces innovation for the sake of change. The encounters with other leaders, colleagues, and faith communities has helped me gain a deeper understanding of the beauty and breadth of Anglicanism in the Canadian context, and for this I am profoundly grateful.
Beyond this, immersing myself in this process has enabled me to review and orient my skills and gifts in ministry that I have practiced over some thirty years as a baptized and ordained leader in faith communities. The Bishop’s words were true.
Most of the processes, models and methods were familiar to me — I had encountered them previously in other ministry contexts. The reality for me was that I was experiencing them in transformative ways — the memory and experience of my past ministry was being unfolded, reoriented, and embraced in a deeper way.
I likened this to the final chapters of C. S. Lewis’ Narnian chronicle, The Last Battle.
When the Narnians go through the stable door, they find a new land, one that is larger, more beautiful, more profound than the world they left behind. The call for all those that cross through the stable door is ‘further up, and further in.’ Here they encounter Emeth (Hebrew word for truth), here they encounter Aslan, here they come face to face with a deeper reality of their lives, their meaning, their existence.
Perhaps you won’t find an opportunity to journey with the Provincial School of Congregational Development this year. Perhaps life may take you on different twists and turns of ministry. Nevertheless, consider it in your future, for you as a leader, and for your faith community. Continue to uphold it in prayer, and uphold the work of the Ecclesiastical Province in providing opportunities for growth and development in the life of the church.
