What is contextual mission? The context for Anglican churches in the Diocese of Ottawa and in Canada has changed dramatically in recent decades. No longer predominantly Christian, Canadian society is now pluralistic, multicultural, multifaith, and largely secular, so contextual mission is about sharing the love of God in ways that help the church connect with and serve people in the wider community in this context.

Introducing two people presenting examples of their parishes’ forays into contextual mission at Synod in November, the Rev. Thomas Brauer reminded everyone that contextual mission is not about getting more people to attend church or something a parish imposes on the community. It must be “a ministry of the resurrection, a ministry of Jesus, where we enter into the community as we find it and hear the need that is there and respond out of compassion, grace and love.”

Epiphany’s wish list

Kitty Galt, the Rector’s Warden at Epiphany church in Ottawa, described a project that was inspired by a discussion following a Time of Prayer Bible study of a passage from the Book of Acts that described how a group of people in the early church did not claim private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. “Those gathered talked about what we felt God was calling us to as a community. We heard that there were several people within our parish and just outside its walls who had significant unmet needs. And we reflected that even though there were many within our parish who had resources to meet those needs, we couldn’t connect the two because it’s often difficult for people to speak up about their needs. We asked ourselves, how we could live out this calling to hold everything in common,” Galt explained.

They wondered if they could create a wish list, similar to that used by Cornerstone Housing for Women with requests for specific items the women need. Talking it through, they came up with a plan for how Epiphany’s wish list could work. “If someone had a need, such as money for groceries, a mattress, funds to register a child in a soccer club, they would send an email to an anonymous person called the wishlist coordinator. Wishes could be published each week in the bulletin and the weekly parish email. If someone could fulfill a wish, they would also contact the coordinator who would facilitate the transfer. The names of wishers and wish fulfillers would remain confidential as much as possible.”

Galt reported that from the time they began the project in May until Synod in early November, 10 wishes had been fulfilled, including a registration fee for a training course to become a new security guard for a new Canadian, a new tricycle for a grandchild, a ride to a medical appointment. “We are assessing the project to see whether it is meeting its original goal, and if not, we will adjust accordingly. We hope to be fulfilling your wishes for months to come,” she said.

Crosstalk contacted the Rev. Simone Hurkmans at Epiphany for an update since Synod and indeed more wishes had indeed been fulfilled, including:

• A winter coat for a new mother for her first Canadian winter
• Used cellphone for preteen who cares for her siblings to contact her mom while she’s on shift work
• Ladies’ tap shoes
• Used laptop for preteen’s homework needs
• Desktop monitor for new Canadian taking online classes

South Carleton Jazz Vespers

The second example of contextual mission in action came from the Parish of South Carleton. Churchwarden Dorothy Svendsen told the story of how the Rev. Allan Budzin was inspired by the long-standing jazz vespers service at All Saints Westboro in Ottawa and wondered if similar services could also attract a new worshipping community in a predominantly rural environment. “He took the risk and initiated jazz vespers, first at Holy Trinity North Gore, and then found its happy home at St. Paul’s, Osgoode. Who knew that it was the motherload of jazz aficionados in Ottawa South,” she said.

Jazz vespers is an hour of music, prayer, poetry, and reflection. The services have been held once a month (except for July and August) at 4 pm on Sundays since December 2023. The Mark Ferguson Quartet provides the music. “We have done jazz tributes to Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot, The Beatles, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Duke Ellington, and for the 100th anniversary of our church, we did the jazz music of the 1920s,” Svendsen reported. “Reverend Al provides the prayers, the poetry, and the reflections. It is a wonderful and different way to worship. We have attracted a core following and draw people from about six surrounding communities. On average, 60% of the congregation are new attendees and not regular members of our parish. Our numbers have steadily grown over the year, and we average about 55 congregants, sometimes more, sometimes less, often depending on the weather. We request a free will offering to help pay for the musicians, and we’re about breaking even.”

The reviews have been fantastic, said Svendsen. “One woman came up to me after her first visit, and she said, ‘I just loved everything about this. I love the music, I love the storytelling,’ and she said, ‘I love the reflection, and I just love your minister. I’ll definitely be back.’ I’ve even had people stop me on the street telling me how much they enjoyed it and asking when is the next one. It’s a joyous way to worship through music. [In October], Reverend Al has introduced Sunday Vespers for harp and flute at St. John’s Richmond, and 50 people attended the service. The seeds for another new worshipping community…”

More information and a step-by-step guide to contextual mission are available on the diocesan website:

https://ottawa.anglican.ca/resources/for-parishes/contextual-mission/

Your parish can also request a consultation with a contextual mission facilitator who will visit your parish, conduct workshops, help assess your proposed initiatives and assist you in completing your Future Fund Application. You can request a facilitator by email, contextual-mission@ottawa.anglican.ca

Crosstalk wants to publish more stories of contextual mission and new worshipping communities. Share your story and inspire others.

Email Leigh Anne Williams: editor@ottawa.anglican.ca

The Mark Ferguson Quartet can be heard at St. Paul’s Osgoode for monthly jazz vespers. Mark Ferguson on piano and trombone; Mike Tremblay on saxophone and flute; John Geggie plays bass; and Jamie Holmes is on drums. Above: Scott Latham plays the vibraphone. Photos: Joanne Swift

Related article:

The Future Fund launches — first application deadine is March 25

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Epiphany emerged from the amalgamation of two parishes, the Church of Saint Christopher in Gloucester, and Saint Paul’s Church, Overbrook. These two emerged in the 1960s, either at the same time or just a little after an Ontario conference on church architecture was being held in Toronto in 1961.

At the conference, Edward Frey from the department of church architecture of the United Lutheran Church in America challenged the traditional way in which building committees arranged for the design of churches. “For them it is a settled matter that the interior of the building should be longer than it is wide, filled with the familiar furnishings so arranged as to conform to the stereotyped image of the meeting house or the medieval cathedral,” he asserted.  “The building and the idea of the building are all pervasive and this must not be because the building is not the thing. Worship is the thing.”

Frey noted that an important aspect of the liturgical awakening taking place in contemporary Christian society was the rediscovery of the laity. Worship in church was not a solo activity of the priest or minister, but rather the essential and active participation of the “whole people of God.” To encourage such participation, the architecture and furnishings of new churches should encourage people to participate fully in public worship rather than be forced into the passive role of mere observers.

The same year as this conference, Victor Fiddes published with Ryerson Press at Toronto The Architectural Requirements of Protestant Worship. In his survey history Fiddes, like Frey, urged a return to worship in the round such as the early Christians had practiced in their house churches before the toleration granted to Christians by the emperor Constantine had prompted the church to merge its worship practices with those of established pagan religions. Principally, Frey and Fiddes argued for locating a communion table in the middle of a circle of worshippers.

Back in Gloucester, both St. Christopher’s and Saint Paul’s claimed to be innovative in physically arranging worship. Take Saint Christopher’s for example.  Lacking the funds to build a church, they settled for building a functional parish hall, making use of stacking chairs rather than pews, but laid out for worship facing a free-standing altar at one end. As for Saint Paul’s, the new house of worship they built at the end of the decade had the altar in the centre, as Frey and Fiddes recommended. The only problem was no immediate prospect of growth.

With prodding from the Diocese, the two small churches amalgamated as Church of the Epiphany, and their new worship space opened in 2003. Not only was the altar in the centre, but baptisms took place there too in a cruciform immersion tank seen here in the foreground. The only connection with traditional local church architecture was the octagonal shape of the worship space. The only colour in that space was provided by the red chairs grouped in a circle.

The Diocesan Archives collects parish registers, vestry reports, service registers, minutes of groups and committees, financial documents, property records (including cemeteries and architectural plans), insurance policies, letters, pew bulletins, photographs and paintings, scrapbooks, parish newsletters and unusual records. 

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