canang-l Church cooperation in Moncton
Noeline Bridge
We have been undergoing some changes over the past couple of years. There are six Anglican parishes in the Moncton area, and, following a couple of clergy leaving, four of us smaller, more financially-challenged ones were amalgamated (sort of) into a one rather loose body sharing two priests. There have been several innovations besides the administrative. One is that all our parish activities and prayer lists now appear in one general Sunday leaflet for all to share, resulting in parishioners from all the parishes helping out with one another’s fundraising activities and each other’s prayers and outreach. The fifth Sunday of each month sees a combined service, and also at Christmas and Easter. Also, our priests have introduced – at least to the church my husband Dave and I attend – the BAS once or twice a month and other diversity in the services; our particular church was previously BCP only and with an emphasis on the need for redemption in the liturgy.
Apart from feeling rather sorry for our busy priests, for myself I have welcomed the changes, and, to my amazement, very few people indeed have left but others have joined. Some of us who’ve been members for years don’t necessarily like all the changes – e.g, a few (not Dave and myself) don’t like the exchange of the peace or other aspects of the BAS (or the BAS itself) but they grin and bear it. In discussions with other parishioners, I find that they, like myself, feel a breath of fresh air blowing through our church, more dynamism with the “modernization” and with the sharing and cooperation with the other parishes, an outward-turning rather than being focused only on ourselves and preserving our own church fabric.
Further consolidation is under discussion, like one combined corporation and, more drastically, some of us combining within one new building to be constructed in a large, newer and expanding area of Moncton without an Anglican church, but these changes are a lot more sensitive, of course!
Noeline Alston
Moncton, NB
Mary Mainwaring
Noeline Bridge
I’m also amazed, Mary, because I lived in Edmonton before moving to Moncton, where the BAS and consequent “innovations” were pretty standard! But since moving, I’ve seen change come to the Fredericton (New Brunswick) diocese of the same sort; e.g., a lot more women priests.
Regarding the consolidation, the two priests now share the four parishes I mentioned – the other two of the six parishes in Moncton are larger and more financially viable, each with its own priest. And related to my first paragraph, one of those two is solidly BCP and the other mostly (I think) BAS.
Noeline Alston
Moncton, NB
Mary Mainwaring
Steve Koning
Alan T Perry
Edmonton is now on a flood watch, as is the town of Devon. I'm not
aware of any churches at immediate risk. I live near the river
valley, but the valley is deep and there is pretty much no chance of
the water getting up here. This part of the river valley is mostly
parkland and walking trails. We'll be watching elsewhere in the
valley.
alan
The Ven Alan T Perry
a...@AlanTPerry.ca
http://alantperry.blogspot.com
@AlanTPerry
"In theory there's no difference between theory and practice;
in practice there is."
-Jan van de Snepscheut