A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. Ron VanAuken is the minister at Celebration! Presbyterian Church in Whitby, Ontario.
Celebration! Presbyterian Church began on April 19, 1992 as a mission to the unchurched. A faith mission, it is being supported by the gifts of individuals and congregations who have a vision for the renewal of the church and its mission and a desire to reach others with the good news of Jesus Christ.
Every congregation is unique, and Celebration! Presbyterian Church is no exception. While we would hardly claim to be breaking new ground, there are a number of distinctives that set Celebration! apart from most other churches within The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
A Faith Venture
One of the most notable distinctives is found in our origin. Celebration! is not a new church development project of the (former) Board of World Mission, or the presbytery. It is realization of a vision of a handful of people for a mission to the unchurched. Financially, Celebration! is not being underwritten by the Presbyterian Church in Canada. It exists as a faith mission, being supported by the generous contributions of individuals and congregations who share our vision for ministry and mission. Celebration! may be the only congregation where ministry and mission expenses come before stipend. We do not pretend that this is “kosher.” It does, however, reflect our mutual commitment to establishing the work.
A Commitment to Mission
Another distinctive is Celebration! ’s sense of mission: to reach the unchurched with the good news. Our target group is those persons who have given up on the traditional church and those who have never given the Christian faith a serious look. Celebration! does not exist for the committed, but for the uncommitted. It does not exist to enlarge The Presbyterian Church in Canada, but to extend the influence of God’s Kingdom. The question, “Will this help to draw people toward Christ and his church?” is the yardstick by which we seek to evaluate both what we do and how we do it.
A Goal-Driven Ministry
Celebration! is also goal-driven. These goals are essential in moving us toward the realization of our mission and helping sort through the myriad things that we might do. They reflect the three foci of our ministry and mission: our relationship to God, our relationship to the family of God and our relationship to the world God created.
Ministry not Meetings
Celebration! is being styled to emphasize ministry and mission rather than meetings. We do not have committees or boards. Rather, we are structured into ministry teams, each with a team leader or leaders who are responsible for decisions affecting the ministry. Our organizational goal is to have all decisions made at the lowest possible level and by those who are actually engaged in the ministry. This delegation of authority and responsibility is made possible by the fact that we function under the guidance of a mission statement and goals which are mutually understood and agreed upon.
A Collaborative Ministry
Though ministry decisions are made by team leaders, Celebration! encourages and solicits input and comments from everyone. No individual or team is expected to work interdependently, but to consult with others. Each of our ministries, worship being a prime example, are being constantly evaluated by persons other than those who are a part of the ministry team.
Initiative
Individual initiative is encouraged at Celebration! Our mission statement and goals free people to initiate ministries and to contribute ideas. A guiding principle is, if it helps us to be what God has called us to be and do what we believe God has called us to do, we’re all for it. In the best of our Reformed tradition, we believe that God leads and works through all of his people, not just through sessions and committees. Our desire is to see the formal leadership of the congregation serving not to decide what will be done (or not done), but to assist the congregation in fulfilling its mission and goals. We want leadership to be seen as supportive and encouraging.
Worship for the Unchurched
One of the greatest challenges Celebration! faces is formatting worship to reach the unchurched. Eighty percent of those who have become regular attenders at Celebration! have been unchurched for at least three years. Among them are three professed atheists and one couple who had been in a church only once prior to coming to Celebration! We are sensitive to the fact that many who come may do so cautiously. Our desire is to make them feel comfortable and to conduct the service in such a way that it will be meaningful to them. To accomplish this we have dropped, as much as possible, theological language. We use music with a contemporary flavour and we neither sing nor say anything from memory. We also offer two disclaimers. At the beginning of the service we tell people that they are free to participate or not participate in any aspect of the service. Prior to the offering we invite guests and visitors not to contribute. We do not want to intimate in any way that we are “in this for the money.” Similarly, you will never see financial figures in the Sunday program.
Relevant Messages
Messages are life related. We believe that Jesus came to give us life and life to its fullest. We believe that the measure of the Christian life is not so much knowing, but growing. Our desire is to show people how practical God’s truth is – that it is life changing. Our messages, done in series, have focused on family, the nature of God, stress and the good life. They are designed to appeal first to the uncommitted. Theological truths are conveyed in every-day language and their practical relevance is demonstrated. At the same time we strive for balance in our messages. A recently established goal for the morning service is, every two years, to speak on each of the 34 doctrinal points covered in Living Faith.
Embracing Change
In our desire to be effective communicators of the good news, change and innovation are becoming premiums at Celebration! Many times this will mean moving out of our comfort zones and letting God challenge us and stretch us. This is true for our members, but especially for the pastor.
A Very Human Pastor
Another premium at Celebration! is that the pastor is human. He is not infallible. His children are not perfect, he argues with his wife, and has faults aplenty. He does not run the church and is not the best person to do everything … or even most things. What has been unique in Celebration! is that we began as friends. We’re working hard at ministry being relationships, not roles.
Gifted People
Giftedness and passion are the criteria for ministry involvement. Though in a new and smaller congregation some people serve out of necessity, it is our goal to place people in ministry according to their spiritual gifts, their interest, their spiritual maturity, and the time they have available to serve.
Pump the Philosophy
We continually pump our style and philosophy of ministry. We have, at present, ten different vignettes which we use in our Sunday programs both to introduce visitors to Celebration! and to remind our regulars of how we understand our ministry. This is essential. It is easy to fall back into old habits and traditions and to lose sight of the mission, goals and style of ministry that are Celebration! The frequency and variety of these short messages help to reinforce who and what we are.
Enjoying Ourselves
We focus on enjoying our faith, and having fun. We believe that we are to enjoy God forever and enjoy the life that he has given us. We want our faith to be a celebration! We want it to be contagious. When we cease laughing and enjoying one another, the church has died.
Integrity
We also focus on integrity. Being a Christian does not mean that we are mystically immune from disappointment and failure. The day will come when we are changed “in the twinkling of an eye” but right now we are still people who display all the imperfections of a fallen humanity. We want to be honest about that. This is one of our toughest challenges. As young as we are, we are facing the pastoral concerns presented by marriage break-up, cancer and rape. These are a part of our life in the world and a part of our ministry.
Embracing Other Traditions
We want to embrace people and acknowledge the traditions from which they came. We have persons from a variety of backgrounds: Anglican, Baptist, Brethren, Methodist, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, and United. We are less concerned about making them “good Presbyterians” than we are helping them to be better followers of Christ.
Taking Theology Seriously
We take theology seriously, but we aren’t stuffy about it. We are all striving to be better theologians. We want to be driven by at least three premises. First, that all good theology is practical theology. If it doesn’t touch people where they live, it isn’t good theology. Second, talking theology should be a lively and enjoyable part of every-day life. Third, theology must be approached from the perspective of mission. With the help of our new believers and atheists, we are asking and answering questions as if they have never been asked before.
We’re Growing
If you spend time with us, all of the above distinctives may not be evident. Why? Because we’re growing. We are all learning to be the church in a different way. Old traditions and expectations die slowly as new values emerge. Some of us “catch the vision” more quickly than others. But we’re on our way.