Minister's Annual Report

 Oh a song must rise for the spirit to descend. Oh a song must rise once again.

Singing out God's praises and glory, the faithful voices blend,
Oh a song must rise for the spirit to descend.
(Refrain from Oh a Song Must Rise,#142 More Voices, Written by Paul Svenson)

It always amazes me how the song we lift up changes over the years. 2 years ago as I sat down to write my Annual Report submission we had just had 3 consecutive years of 5 figure deficits – each bigger than the last – and I had to make plain the fact that the congregation was on an unsustainable path. This spurred a lot of discussion and not a small amount of angst. By the end of 2023 we felt forced to make drastic decisions and even last year at this when there was much better news to share there was still a sense of “what do we need to do to ensure our survival as a congregation” in the air.

This year, unless things have changed greatly from the first draft I saw, our financial statements will show a 5 figure surplus. Between 2022 and 2024 expenses have gone up but still the bottom line has turned around by something like $40 000. Where we were lifting up a song of anxiety we can now lift up a song of praise and thanksgiving. I find myself thinking of line in the old Chumbawumba song Tubtumping: “I get knocked down...but I get up again”.

There are a few factors that have led to this turn around (a really successful 2024 Garage Sale, the addition of Card’s as a renter to name two) but the biggest reason is YOU. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the people who gather together, of the people who make this a welcoming place for others to gather a difference has been made. Not only have our Envelope Givings (which include PAR and e-transfers) gone up but the demographics of the congregation are starting to change. When I look out on a Sunday morning I see a different crowd then I saw 5 years ago. Growth gets measured in a variety of ways, and I believe St. Paul’s is growing as a congregation.

So a big THANK YOU to all of you who have made this happen. Thanks for the many many volunteer hours you have put in. Thanks for holding the congregation in thought and prayer. Thanks for showing up even on those -30 degree Sunday mornings. Thanks for your dedication to this community, this family of faith.

From every house of worship, in every faith and tongue,

a song must rise once again.
From the villages and cities a new song must be sung,
a song must rise for the spirit to descend.
(Oh a Song Must Rise, verse 3)

In 2025 the United Church of Canada turns 100 (and this congregation turns 114). Nationally we are definitely not the same church we were in 1925 (or in 1950, or 1975 or 2000...). Locally we are not the same church we were when we gathered at the Elks hall to celebrate our own centennial in 2011. What kind of church will we be in the future? What song will we lift up? As the Spirit descends where might it lead us?

The road ahead has its challenges. Locally and nationally the United Church is not the powerhouse it once was. We definitely need to be open to new ways of living int to God’s call to be the church. Personally I think that includes some more intentional engagement with the digital world even as we continue to maintain traditional physical “real world” connections. We will likely need to find new ways of funding ministry, new partnerships. In 1940 the committee that created the Statement of Faith reminded us of the need for each generation to find its own way of declaring what it believes. I think that each generation also needs to find the best way to be the church, the gathered family of God in a fashion that meets the needs and styles of the world in which it lives.

In the end we don’t know where exactly the Spirit will lead (or drag) us. The future is always in flux. But I firmly believe the Grande Prairie in particular, and Canada in general, needs the unique expression of faith we call the United Church of Canada. I continue to find truth in the confidence shared by a former Conference Executive Secretary almost 20 years ago. He shared his belief that the United Church was the best tool for sharing the Good News of God in Canada today. We are not what we once were, we are not what we once dreamed we could become. We are smaller (though not yet leaner, that is still a work in progress). But we are not gone. I close this with some words of hope from the Rankin Family:

... as sure as the sunrise
As sure as the sea
As sure as the wind in the trees
We rise again in the faces
Of our children
We rise again in the voices of our song...
And then we rise again

May we continue to lift up our songs. May we continue to let the Spirit lead us. May we continue to rise up as God’s people, sharing God’s words of hope, of love, of promise as we live into a transformed world where God’s Reign is indeed known on earth as it is in heaven.
Gord

Looking Ahead to February 23, 2025 -- 7th Sunday After Epiphany

The Scripture Reading this week is Luke 6:27-38

The Sermon title is Go Beyond.

Early Thoughts: When would you go the extra mile? What prompts you to do that little bit extra? Why would you do more than was asked or required?

There is a lot in these few verses from the Sermon on the Plain (or the Level Place) and all of it it pretty darn challenging. Over and over again Jesus challenges us to go beyond what we might consider normal expectations:

• love our enemies
• turn the other cheek
• give your shirt in addition to your coat
• lend without expecting it back
• don't judge others

The most logical piece in the whole passage seems to be the Golden Rule -- "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (which has equivalents in many other traditions) but even then I suspect most of us do that out of self-interest where Jesus would have us do it more because it honours the other person first.

Why does Jesus push us to go beyond what seems sensible? I think because we are called to live into a renewed earth and heaven. We are called to live as transformed people, living by the values of God's Reign instead of the values of a 'fallen' humanity (I do wrestle with the image of humanity as fallen but I have to admit it does seem to describe us in many ways). In those values extravagant love seems to be the guiding principle.

Still it goes against the grain. The instructions here seem to make us very vulnerable -- though the more I think about it the more I wonder if a willingness to be vulnerable is a big part of the transformation Jesus invites us into. Certainly they raise up a totally different set of values and priorities.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus offers us a challenge. Jesus consistently challenges us to be transformed, even (or perhaps especially) when it is uncomfortable. The world is changed when people choose to change the world. Going beyond the bare minimum, living out a different understanding of what is possible, being vulnerable for a higher purpose is a much more loving way to do that than using violence to force others to follow our path. A cynic might see Jesus calling us to be a doormat in these verse. But I think something more revolutionary is in the offing.

What will help us go beyond expectations and live into the new heaven and the new earth?
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 16, 2025 -- 6th Sunday After Epiphany

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Psalm 1
• Luke 6:17-26

Source

The Sermon title is Blessed or Cursed?

Early Thoughts: Looking at the Luke passage, where do you find yourself? Which category describes you better -- the ones told the are blessed or the ones who are told to expect woes?

Source

Or looking at the Psalm...
Are you in the happy folk who meditate on and delight in the Law or are you in the second stanza? Are you a tree planted by the water, growing strong in the word of God or chaff to be blown away?

I think I know where we all want to be....

Living into God has called and formed us to be pushes us to ask those sorts of questions. It pushes us to be honest with ourselves even when it is uncomfortable.

Many of us in the United Church, most of us in Canada in general are not usually among the poor, the hungry, the hated and excluded -- the people promised blessings. In the big picture we are among the rich and comfortable. Often in our culture we end up taking advice from 'the wicked', from those who lead us into the primary sin of idolatry -- putting something other than God in the place of highest importance.

Does that mean we should be dreading the times of woe?

Nor necessarily. It does mean we need to take an honest look at where we fit in the ecosystem. Certainly where it comes to the categories in the Psalm we can make a choice. We can choose what we put in the place of highest importance. As for Luke's categories of blessing and woes, well we can choose how to use our wealth and privilege. In the end, I think those choices are the path that leads us away from woes and toward blessings.

Together let us lead each other to the path of blessing. Together let us plant ourselves in the streams of wisdom so we can grow strong and fruitful. Let us be ready to be different from the world around us, even pushed out to the margins, as long as we are being faithful to the God who made us in their image.

At the same time, maybe we should be ready for the possibility that there will be woes along the way...
--Gord

Looking Ahead to February 9, 2025 -- 5th Sunday After Epiphany

The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Jeremiah 1:4-10 
• Isaiah 6:1-8 
• Luke 5:1-11

The Sermon title is Not ME!!!

Early Thoughts: Annual Meeting season can be dangerous. It is the time of year when Nominating Committees are out and about and recruiting. How will you r4espond when asked to take on a task?

Source

This week we have a set of call stories, where the Divine nominator taps someone and says "I want you". ANd in all three stories the person feels unworthy.

Jeremiah claims to be too young. Isaiah declares himself a man of unclean lips. Peter declares himself unworthy of even being in Jesus' presence even before the invitation is issued. In all three stories the invitee is told that they are indeed the right one for the task, so don't be afraid. God empowers the one God has called.

There is almost always a reason to try and avoid saying yes to an opportunity. We are too busy. We don't know what we are doing. We might mess it up. We don't have the skills/knowledge/ability. What might make us move from "you got the wrong person" to "Yes, I would be happy to do that"?

I think there are several answers to that question. Sometimes organization try to guilt people into "doing their part". That might work, though it is, in the end a very unhelpful approach. Much more helpful and empowering is to share why you think that person is suited for that particular task. Sometimes, maybe even often, we need help to see where our strengths might lie. Many people would not think of putting themselves forward until someone else says "you would be good at...". The other key part in recruiting, especially recruiting those who are unsure, is to remind them that they are not alone, they have support to complete the task.

GOd, it seems, is really good at recruitment and convincing the reluctant. Over and over again in Scripture God taps someone on the shoulder and they are reluctant to respond. Moses insisted he could not talk well enough. Jonah got on a boat headed the exact opposite direction. But over and over again God convinces the person to agree to the task.

When have you been invited to take on a new role and were sure they had the wrong person? What changed your mind? When and how have you coached someone else to move from "no way" to "I'll give it a try"?

I firmly believe that we live in a time when something will be asked of all of us. (Actually this is always true, I just think that given the political and economic climate right now this is a bit more urgent.) God needs more voices sharing a different view of the world, a different understanding of what is truly important, a different vision for how we work together. God needs loud voices reminding us that we are ALL God's beloved children, made in God's image, worthy of life and respect and love.

What might GOd have in mind for you? What risks might God invite you to take so that the Good News of hope and love, renewal and re-creation, can continue to spread around Grande Prairie, Alberta, the whole world that God loves so very much? How will each of us respond?
--Gord