Can We Do Better? Moving Forward on Contextual Ministry in Canada
Introduction
The importance of contextual ministry has been a strong theme in the history of the CRC in Canada and in the first two rounds of discussion. Below are three key learnings that serve as a basis for moving forward.
- More focus on the Canadian context is needed for the following reasons:
- To attract Canadian residents who are looking for a church that shows engagement in Canadian society and are less attracted to a US-dominated church/website.
- To enfold newcomers from different cultures who want to be part of a church that is aware of and engaged with the factors that affect their settlement in Canada.
- To engage more effectively in diaconal and justice ministry at all levels of society from local to provincial to national levels.
- To expand our ecumenical work within the Canadian context, which has different opportunities for influence and responsibility than the CRC has in the US.
Under the current system, so much time and energy are spent explaining and justifying our work within the CRCNA, which is understandably dominated by the US context, that we are missing good opportunities to make a difference in Canada. Promising efforts are sometimes held back instead of being allowed to grow and flourish, with frustration and failure to use all the gifts of all members for ministry. Examples of inhibiting progress are work on indigenous justice and anti-racism in Canada. Sometimes gaps develop because the context in Canada is different. Examples of gaps are areas like emergency preparedness and cross-cultural ministry. Sometimes opportunities are missed because the systems in which ministry occurs are different. Examples of missed opportunities are restorative justice, spiritual care in health care systems, university chaplaincy, and ecumenical work. (See points under Lesson 3 for more details)
- Our vision is active engagement in God’s work in Canada; it is not a nationalistic vision.
- Constructive engagement critiques Canadian cultural and social developments from a Biblical and Reformed perspective and contributes constructive alternatives through practice and public witness. It is not identification with Canada as is or an assumption that Canada is better or more Christian than other countries.
- Our vision is not Canadian flags at the front of churches. Many US churches have US flags and other symbols of a convergence of faith and patriotism; CRC churches in Canada do not identify with the flag or other nationalistic expressions in that way.
- Nation, in Canada, is understood differently than in the US. For example, Quebec is considered a distinct nation within Canada, and First Nations are respected as part of Canada’s diverse culture. Canada does not hold to the notion of “one nation under God.” Respect for deep diversity is part of what makes our context distinctive.
- Concern about unhealthy nationalism is one of the reasons for wanting more space to deliberate within the context of Canada. Concern about the influence of Christian Nationalism has been repeatedly named by participants in the Kitchen Table dialogues. Nor does our vision propose identification with Canadian conservatism, liberalism, or democratic socialism. Parallel spaces for ecclesiastical deliberation and ministry within a Canadian context and a US context are likely to provide a richer understanding of constructive engagement without nationalistic assumptions or overtones.
- The global church is very important. This is not about isolation within the borders of Canada. In reality, there are opportunities for Canadian churches to engage with fellow believers in some countries more easily than representatives of a US church. That has been used in the past, e.g. relations with churches in Cuba, and is likely to grow in the future. International work can benefit from differentiation between the Canadian and US churches.
- Specific Areas for Contextual Ministry across Canada
We can seize new opportunities through stronger cross-Canada cooperation. Every round of dialogue brought forward specific areas of ministry that would benefit from more focus on the context in Canada and more cooperation across Canada. Could they be pursued as well under the current binational structure? Experience suggests time and energy would be better spent creating space for cross-Canada deliberation and cooperation, to do well what we need to do in Canada, and then share with US counterparts, as well as engaging with ecumenical partners in Canada and globally.
Below are just some of the ministry areas that require greater consideration of context in Canada. The range and depth of these is more than enough to form a productive agenda for some form of regular Canadian ecclesiastical assembly. Each area would benefit from being able to deliberate and make decisions together for ministry in Canada.
Rural as well as urban churches are welcoming newcomers to Canada. This is a prime area for learning from others and cooperation across Canada for greater impact. Immigration patterns in Canada are different than the US, bringing different people groups with different needs, within different policies for settlement services. Refugee systems also work differently in Canada.
Integrating cross-cultural ministry with anti-racism work is important and requires a stronger focus on the context in Canada to do this well. It would benefit from cross-Canada dialogue and constructive, co-ordinated engagement at all levels from the local to the national level.
- Diaconal ministry at the heart of ministry in Canada
Emergency preparedness and response is an important area for immediate attention. We do not have a system for churches across Canada to rally behind local churches in situations like the BC floods, the storms in Atlantic Canada, or flooding in Gatineau, Quebec a few years ago. Meanwhile, crews from Canada continue to rebuild houses after similar disasters in southern parts of the US. Emergency response works differently in Canada. This is a missed, growing opportunity that requires a different way of organizing ourselves across Canada.
This area of ministry also relates to mitigating climate change, care of creation, and justice for Indigenous people, which are strong themes in churches across Canada, and it could contribute to our public witness in Canada as well. We could do much better with a specific focus on the Canadian context and stronger, regular ways of working together across Canada.
Diaconal Ministries Canada, a Canadian CRC agency, was a leader in the initiative to strengthen and integrate diaconal ministry into ecclesiastical decision-making through emphasizing that everyone is a deacon and delegating deacons to Synod. Diaconal Ministries Canada has no role in the current CRCNA Synod. The approach to diaconal work is significantly different in Canada than in the US. In a Canadian ecclesiastical assembly, the work of Diaconal Ministries Canada would inform deliberations, receive more attention, and be better incorporated into the life of the church. That would better implement principled directions that the CRCNA adopted a decade ago.
Creation care, poverty reduction, and refugee settlement are other areas of diaconal ministry that call for greater integration with the faith formation and teaching side of ministry and greater cooperation across Canada. The outcome would be greater impact by building on excellent, small-scale ministry occurring in many places.
- Spiritual Care in Healthcare Systems
This is a growing ministry area for local churches and across Canada. We have excellent healthcare chaplains in some locations in Canada; they could provide stronger leadership, also within the professional field of healthcare chaplaincy, accreditation bodies, and healthcare systems, but there is no infrastructure to do so. Canada had a chaplaincy director, but that position was amalgamated with the US office when the Council of Christian Reformed Churches in Canada was absorbed under the Board of Trustees. Healthcare chaplains in Canada have tried for more than two decades to make the current system work better and repeatedly express frustration. Chaplaincy in the US is heavily influenced by military chaplaincy, which shapes its focus. Within healthcare, the healthcare systems in Canada are substantively different than those in the US.
Spiritual care in end-of-life healthcare and decision-making is a growing area of ministry because of the aging population, greater attention to palliative care, and medical assistance in dying. The context in Canada is very important for effective ministry and constructive public witness. This is another area for immediate attention with good opportunities for the CRC to integrate pastoral care with a positive public contribution to a growing and changing field for ministry. To do that well, we need to work together across Canada.
Churches in Canada have invested heavily in campus ministries and many of them have also established themselves as centers of excellence for spiritual care and development within wellness strategies on many campuses. The relationship between Canadian universities and the chaplaincy ministries is very different than that in the US. Stronger cross-Canada cooperation and stronger linkages with other aspects of the church could extend the positive impact of this ministry, which fits well with a Reformed worldview and our heritage of focus on education.
While Canadian university chaplains work together in a network under the current system, it is not well-connected with churches who support their work and churches are not able to benefit from the insights of their work for other areas of mission and chaplaincy in Canada.
- Corrections and prison ministry
CRC churches in Canada were strong leaders in this field at one time. BC churches initiated thinking about restorative justice, which led to an excellent Synodical study, which was adopted but only minimally implemented. Prison ministry in the US has focused on worship and education inside prisons, with less focus on alternative approaches to corrections and rehabilitation. Meanwhile, in Canada, we have not been able to take advantage of openings toward more use of restorative justice, such as its expanded use in youth justice systems, which is having positive impacts for reduced incarceration of young people and dropping crime rates. Rev. John DeVries, a highly respected prison chaplain and leader in restorative justice, who recently passed away, worked for change within the chaplaincy program under the current system throughout his long career, with great frustration. In recent years there have been some significant changes in the correction system, chaplaincy, and relations with faith communities. CRC churches and other churches in Canada are less engaged with the corrections system, and there are fewer advocates for just treatment of prisoners in Canada. This runs counter to clear Biblical calls to minister to those in prisons, seek their rehabilitation, and speak up when injustice is done. In Canada there are also opportunities to contribute to a growing focus on community-based crime prevention, including the use of alternative measures such as restorative justice.
People with interest in this field may be few and scattered across Canada. Bringing them together could add to the work of individuals and local churches by providing avenues for persons with a calling in this area of ministry to work together, given the federal/provincial nature of the corrections systems in Canada.
- Hermeneutics, Ethics, Faith Formation
Collaborative study and reflection through a Canadian ecclesiastical assembly would add to the richness of theological resources in the Reformed tradition, because of intentional engagement with the context in Canada, and robust comparison with the context elsewhere that also affects how the Bible is interpreted and applied in the life of the church. Productive collective reflection happened during the years when the Council of Christian Reformed Churches in Canada (CCRCC) met semi-annually. More recently, evidence of the need for such spaces surfaced during the deliberations on the HSR report, with many Canadian leaders and classes calling for a more holistic approach to Biblical interpretation, different ways of listening to alternative voices, and deliberations that do not muzzle minority voices in a search for wisdom. Appointing 1 or 2 persons to a study committee is a weak way to contribute and does not serve the churches in Canada well.
Current tools for faith formation and ethical guidance tend to reflect the US context more than Canada. If there was a different balance between the resources spent to bring Canadians together across the country and the resources spent to integrate gifted, individual Canadians into US-dominated systems with the hope they will have some influence, the outcomes would be more productive for everyone.
- Ecumenical ministry within Canada
It is regrettable that the role of the CRC in ecumenical work in Canada has been reduced in recent years, compared to some previous more fruitful periods. We are missing opportunities for the use of all the gifts within the CRC churches for broader ecumenical ministry in Canada. The position of the CRC within the church world in Canada is significantly different than the role of the CRC within the church world in the US. While ecumenical doctrinal discussions are important, the Canadian approach to ecumenical work is to integrate theological reflection with more public service-oriented, practical actions, seeking unity in service to God and others.
Those who engage in ecumenical work have made repeated requests over the years for a better way to coordinate work between them and connect their work with local churches. Early in this century, for example, there was a meeting of people from across Canada dedicated to a more effective approach to ecumenical work, also for greater benefit of local churches. Good, feasible ideas were presented. Nothing came of it because north-south relations took priority for allocation of time, resources, and attention. In some areas, however, such as Indigenous Reconciliation, the CRC in Canada has played a strong role, including commitments made on the national stage during the official presentation of the Truth and Reconciliation Report. This illustrates potential and the need for better ways to deliberate and collaborate across Canada.
During the years when the Council of Christian Reformed Churches in Canada held regular meetings, there was robust discussion about our role in various ecumenical initiatives in Canada, with more healthy engagement by members in local churches across the country. We have lost something rich for both the depth of reflection in local churches and our presence in the larger church world in Canada.
The history and current reality reveal a gap between potential and outcomes that could be closed by regular attention at regular Canada-wide ecclesiastical assemblies and a better balance in the use of resources between collaboration across Canada and north-south collaboration.
- Indigenous Ministry, Justice, and Reconciliation
The approach to ministry with Indigenous Peoples in Canada is widely recognized as substantively different than that in the United States. Mutual learning will be most beneficial if there is more focus and space for building on and expanding this work in Canada.
The difference is rooted in the birth of this work through the Council of Christian Reformed Churches in Canda which took the Canadian context seriously. What is less known is that there were attempts during its history to squelch the distinctive approach in Canada. Fortunately, Canadian members of the Board of Trustees at various times insisted on maintaining the distinctive approach, rather than amalgamating with the US as happened with chaplaincy, for comparison. Now the distinctive approach in Canada is more appreciated in the US as change in thinking about just relations with Indigenous People also grows in the broader US society.
Meanwhile in Canada we are just beginning to realize the potential for local reconciliation ministry linked to cross-Canada work and the three Indigenous ministry centers. This comes at a critical juncture in the context of Canadian history with significant potential for impact. It also comes at a critical time in the life of the CRC when directional shifts within the US and the loss of equal voice in the Council of Delegates could lead to new pressures to be more like the US rather than continuing to fully live out of the approaches we have tested over many years in Canada.
Summary
There are other examples and each of these deserve more detailed exploration. They are enough to show the need for and the benefits of having a regular ecclesiastical assembly in Canada to focus on ministry in our context. It would enable CRC members and churches across Canada to respond more robustly and effectively to the call to join in God’s work in God’s world in Canada, and work in partnership with CRC churches in other countries and the US, to live out our common confession that “Our World Belongs to God.”
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