A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. This article is a record of a presentation at the Renewal Day at West Flamborough Church on Nov. 7. Rev. Neal Mathers is the minister of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, Nottawa, Ontario.
I. We Have Been There
It’s always dangerous to speak about your own congregation because when you do so it’s intensely personal. You speak with an excitement and an enthusiasm that presents the vision of the perfect church, and which forgets the pain of the journey. You even give the impression that somehow your congregation has arrived at its destination rather than the real truth that it’s still on a journey.
You may even give the impression that what was accomplished was achieved by human hands, not by divine power, all because it has become so deeply personal.
The end result is that everyone thinks your congregation is wonderful and they wish they could be just like you but they’ve already decided that’s just unrealistic. They’ve decided you got all the breaks!
That’s why I pray you’ll find hope in the story of Emmanuel because we were a typical, traditional, mainline, Presbyterian Scottish-rooted congregation. We’ve been where you are, and we’ve paid a high price to get to where we are now. My people and I have got battle scars to prove it, but also the faith to believe God can transform your congregation too.
II. The History of Emmanuel
The roots of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church go back to 1834 when the Township of Nottawasaga, which is the area south of Collingwood, Ontario, was opened up for settlement. Many of the first settlers were Scots, who brought their Presbyterian faith with them, and soon Presbyterian congregations dotted the landscape.
One of these congregations was St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in the hamlet of Duntroon, a congregation that had strong Free Church of Scotland roots. The second was West Nottawasaga Presbyterian Church. Set out in the country, it had strong Church of Scotland roots. The third congregation was Nottawa Presbyterian Church, set in the village of Nottawa, and originally a joint mission of both the Free Church and the Church of Scotland.
With very different histories, backgrounds and emphases, the congregations were eventually brought together as one pastoral charge in 1894, and although staying independent of each other, they shared the services of the same minister.
Although vibrant in their day, the steady decline of the rural population, improved methods of travel, the growth of nearby Collingwood with a large and active Presbyterian church, and changing attitudes in society towards church attendance, began to affect what was now known as the Duntroon Pastoral Charge.
In 1972 the three congregations decided to worship together each Sunday but to rotate church buildings, one Sunday in West Church, another in Nottawa and the next in Duntroon. Although still independent of each other, changes slowly began to take place. They now had a joint choir; any new ministries begun after 1972 tended to be done jointly, and the Sessions worked together on issues of worship and pastoral care.
III. The Transition of Emmanuel
Several times both before and after 1972 a number of perceptive people raised the question of the future of this three point charge. Reaction to this was both positive and negative, and always passionate. In 1984 the charge found itself vacant and once again looking at its future. The Search Committee intentionally sought out an experienced minister with church growth skills, and with understanding of rural ministry, and patiently waited, not knowing that God was preparing me to accept a call there.
I became their pastor on July 1st 1985 and found myself in a charge where some people were waiting to see something happen, and others were already preparing to vote against it! But the most perceptive were simply praying for God to bring renewal. To cut a long story short, in 1986 we began a three-year process of prayer, discussion, argument, planning and preparation that resulted in the three key decisions: the first was to amalgamate our three congregations into one and to call ourselves Emmanuel Presbyterian Church. The final vote was 93% in favour! The second was to dispose of the present buildings and build a new facility in a central location. This was opened in July of 1989. The total project cost was $535,000. We had $18,000 in the bank, and three and a half years later we are only $30,000 from being debt free! Isn’t God good!
The third key was only to do these things after we had determined what our purpose and philosophy would be as a congregation. Briefly stated we decided that we wanted to offer something more exciting than what is offered in the typical mainline church, especially at worship, and yet we wanted to avoid the perceived extremes of the pentecostal/charismatic churches. At the same time we wanted to address people’s felt needs in a positive hopeful way, and to offer messages and programs that would do just that. In particular we wanted to reach the people who had given up on the church, and those who we call the “unchurched.”
IV. The Present
Now again let me assure you that the process of turning our very traditional congregations around was not easy! Sometimes I felt like Elijah after his encounters with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel when he said “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life.” Sometimes the elders felt overcome like Moses by God’s stubborn and stiff-necked people, and sometimes, to be honest, the elders felt they’d had enough too. If you’re looking for an easy way to change your church, don’t ask us! We’ll only tell you how much it cost, though we’ll also remind you, I hope, that it cost Jesus much more!
We lost about 10% of our active membership in these years, people who couldn’t make the journey with us, but we tried to understand and to help them find another church home. The year before we entered our new building we averaged 70 adults and children at worship. Three and a half years later we average 180 and the challenge before us is to go to 250 by 1994. I believe that is a realistic goal. Almost all of our growth has come from tuned-out, turned-off nominal Christians, and from totally unchurched people. We have recorded on average one new decision for Christ every month for the last two years, twice that number of recommitments each month, and we know we’re only scratching the surface.
We are continuing to retool our church for ministry to the unchurched, and for ministry in the next century. This is often difficult but we’re learning to be both innovative and patient, and with God’s help it will be done.
V. Summary
Here are some of the most important things I think we do.
We are committed to be a praying church. Prayer permeates everything we do, and we train people as prayer warriors.
We are committed to the principle that every member of the church is a minister and is gifted by God for ministry. So we help people discover their spiritual gifts and give lots of opportunities for people to become involved.
We accept that my main task as pastor is to equip the congregation, as in Ephesians 4, not to do all the ministry myself. We affirm the ministries of our lay people and work to make them more effective ministries. For example, once a month all of our church leaders gather for two hours to be trained and to share fellowship together.
We have remained willing to ask as our primary question ”What does God require of us?”, and we have tried to be faithful in following his direction.
We have committed ourselves, at all levels of church life, to talking to people about the day-to-day struggles they have in a language they understand and in a way that they can see the relevance and power of Jesus to their situation.
We strongly maintain that people are more important than program and we are developing a small group ministry to achieve this.
The elders and leaders of the church are willing to step out in faith and to follow the leadership of the pastor.
We have been willing to seek new ways of understanding church life, and for those of you who are into the technical language of the church, we can probably be defined as a “third wave” congregation, that works with a “metachurch” model!
VI. Conclusion
If I were to best describe Emmanuel, I think I’d say that we have become a transformed congregation. I would then direct you to be the only One who can transform a life, or transform a church and bid you to give the glory to God. Eight years ago, when I became pastor of the Duntroon Pastoral Charge, I wouldn’t have believed you if you’d told me what Emmanuel would become – and I was willing to believe almost anything! It just goes to show that the Church really can be a tool in God’s hands!