Recalled Harton:
"It's just that we were very aware that as we came up to celebrate the
50th anniversary, we wanted (St. Paul's) to be around for another 50 years."
A profound thank you to Don Retson and the Edmonton Journal for permission to reprint this article first published in October 2003.
Don McPherson has a rare talent for playing drums - and crafting them out of discarded items like waterbed frames.
"Drums have been part of religious ceremonies for centuries," McPherson, who teaches construction tech at Salisbury Composite high school, told about a dozen people seated in a circle at St. Paul's United Church.
His interest in playing drums was piqued during the year his family spent in Ghana, West Africa where he worked as a development aid worker. "In Africa, drums were part of every church service. If a church has only one instrument, it will be a drum."
Few churches follow up a worship service with a hands-on workshop on the rudiments of drumming. But at St. Paul's, the hour-long session - held in the basement every second Sunday - is just part of a smorgasboard of small-group sessions. The numbers usually don't exceed 12 people per group.
Soul-searching about the congregation's future led the south-side church to small group ministry, borrowing a concept credited by some for the phenomenal growth of evangelical churches.
St. Paul's group topics run the gamut - everything from a session on percussion and songwriting, study groups on the Bible, faith talk and even common-interest groups, like one on retirement planning.
About five years ago, officials at St. Paul's pondered where the church was headed. Pastors Gordon Oaks and Kathryn Harton wanted to make sure St. Paul's didn't experience a steady membership decline, like a number of other United churches.
Recalled Harton:
"It's just that we were very aware that as we came up to celebrate the
50th anniversary, we wanted (St. Paul's) to be around for another 50 years."
Fairly large by United Church standards, St. Paul's deliberately set its sights on "small." That's "small" as in small group ministry. The thinking is that ministers alone just can't be expected to respond to the diverse needs and interests of church members, especially in large congregations.
Only in smaller groups are people truly able to get to know and support one another. Small group ministry means developing leaders or tapping into the potential of lay people, which is why a drummer like McPherson is a natural as a small group leader.
At St. Paul's United, "cell group" was the term chosen for its small group ministry. "A cell is a living organism, and the idea was that these could multiply and divide as they grew and expanded," explained Oaks, now part of the ministry team at downtown McDougall United.
As McPherson led the drumming workshop on Sunday, over at St. Andrew's United in the west end, Jackson Mooney was encouraging folks to attend an upcoming weekend gathering where they will learn more about being a "cell group" facilitator.
Mooney likes everything he's heard about cell groups at St. Paul's. Not that he needs much convincing. Years ago, he started a small support group at a United church in Regina. It was just five guys who met every second week.
Recalled Mooney: "We really got past the locker-room talk and down to the nitty gritty of how our lives were really going, spiritually and otherwise."
St. Andrew's will be getting expert help in designing its cell group ministry from Joyce Madsen and Clair Woodbury of the local non-profit Congregational Life Centre. The mission of the centre is to help congregations be more effective in their ministry.
In an interview,
Madsen said there's been a "groundswell" among churches of all stripes
wanting to put more focus on the individual rather than on the institution.
"Small groups allow people to have a place where they can actually connect
with other folks and feel like they really do belong," Madsen said.
Geoffrey Wilfong-Pritchard, the minister at St. Andrew's, notes the concept isn't cutting edge. It was the organizing principle upon which John Wesley founded Methodism about 275 years ago. Still, Wilfong-Pritchard believes small group ministry is catching on because churchgoers miss the kinds of close connections they used to have.
"You've heard the stories of how people always knew their neighbours or knew the people they sat beside in the congregation, or grew up with their families. Those kinds of ties just don't exist naturally anymore, and really need to be fostered."
Millwoods Pentecostal Assembly fosters close ties, even in a congregation of about 1,500 people. Church administrator Pat Kerychuk admits it can be hard, if not intimidating, for first-time visitors to get to know people just by standing in the foyer talking after a church service.
Small group ministry - now known as "life teams" - have been part of Millwoods Pentecostal since it was formed in 1976. Today, the church boasts more than 300 life teams.
Pastor Randy Tonn says life teams may range from Bible study groups to those that meet to discuss, pray and seek support over divorce or child rearing. "It's a safe place where people can just share their concerns and learn together and pray together and just be a support network for each other," he says.
"It's all about helping people live life to the fullest. As people are learning how to live life to the fullest, they also are a team where they're reaching out to other people and including other people. It's helping to build fervent, stable disciples of Jesus Christ."
At Inglewood Christian Reformed Church on 124th Street, small group ministry has existed for almost seven years. Newcomers to the church in particular are encouraged to join one of a variety of small groups.
Aside from
connecting newcomers and providing them with a sense of belonging, small group
director Anne VanderHoek said small groups help individuals develop and use
their God-given gifts.
Even at smaller churches, such as Strathcona Baptist, Pastor Shelley Schneider says she was keen to incorporate small group ministry after moving here from Victoria in 1997. It's now a key part of church life.
"We use the term 'home groups' to emphasize that they meet in a home and they create something like a family," says Schneider.
"It's at the heart of what we do because of the need to create community for people."
Congregational Life Newsletter Vol. 10 No. 3 March 2004