Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

The Globe and Mail hit our front door with its usual 5:00 a.m. thud, courtesy of our faceless, minivan driving, newspaper carrier and his now familiar side arm pitch out the passenger side window. 

The arrival of the newspaper usually coincides with the wake up of our two young children, and so I once again began scanning the headlines just as the sun was thinking about getting up in the eastern sky. The news suggested that this latest federal election campaign was a struggle between whether to reach people most effectively through "The Brand" of the party or "The Leader." It appears, as our political leaders rush to don cardigans like Mr. Rogers, and play the family card, that the latter of the two strategies has won out.

It led me to think about the Emerging Spirit campaign and whether we as a denomination should be trying to best reach Canadians without a church family through "The Brand" of The United Church of Canada or instead through "The Leadership" of our local congregations. 

Now, I know, I know.  Leadership is a bad word these days in the United Church. We are somehow predisposed to assume that strong leadership, or leadership models with any hierarchy, are the work of the devil (oops, we don't talk about him either) when we know from experience that just as many "team ministry" models explode through immature ministry partners or congregations who feel the need to pick a "de facto" leader instead of following the model of leadership promised in a long ago forgotten JNAC document. 

And yet, the research from Emerging Spirit is clear - those who still want to advocate a model of mission based on "The Brand" of The United Church of Canada will have a steep hill to climb indeed. Emerging Spirit has taught us that for many Canadians, both those born here and those who have joined us from other countries, the UCC is not on many people's radar screens. While there may be a vague yet positive view of the UCC in the Canadian culture, for the most part we are lumped in with other Christian denominations. 

In a recent study published in the Toronto Journal of Theology, Brian Clarke and Stuart MacDonald examine the most recent Statistics Canada census results on religion to illustrate that not only are mainline Protestant Churches decreasing in size but the number of Canadians who consider themselves "Christians" but who are unwilling to identify with any particular denomination is growing significantly. 

These Christians without a denominational home now account for 780,400 Canadians. As Clarke and MacDonald argue, "if these people constituted a denomination, they would represent the fifth largest denomination in the country." [1]  Clarke and MacDonald summarize the state of Canadian society and Protestantism by concluding,

There may be a vague or residual Christian memory, but one not salient enough to prompt the Canadians to identify with a specific Christian community. Memory that one's family was once United Church or Lutheran is fading. One begins to think of oneself as a Christian as opposed to something else (ie. A Muslim, a Jew, an atheist). Or to state our case in different words, these Canadians are cultural Protestant. [2]

I believe that the way forward for our United Church of Canada is to rely less on "The Brand" and more on "The Leadership" despite the risks inherit in placing greater emphasis on individuals. 

Perhaps a balm to sooth the troubled soul of those who prefer to wave the UCC flag rather than promote leadership in local congregations is to confess that when I say "leadership" I mean all congregational leaders - not just those who get a pay cheque. I believe the Holy Spirit is working most powerfully today through the lay and ordered leaders of our congregations rather than the "brand" of our particular branch of the Reformed tradition. 

A good example of this is an educational event we've launched in Belleville Presbytery this month that is hosted by St. Matthew's Church entitled, "So You Think You Can Preach?" 

Yeah, yeah...it's a take off, in part, on the TV reality dance show but it focuses on the call, education, and ministry of lay preachers and worship leaders in our region. The response has been amazing. We have over 30 lay people from 4 different presbyteries (bigger than most first year seminary enrollments) driving incredible distances, taking time off work, and carving out space in their busy lives to learn how to preach and lead worship because they feel the Spirit is leading them to be leaders in their home churches. 

Focusing on "Leadership" rather than "The Brand" means helping these 30 lay people, and all those who long to serve in our churches, move from being tongue-tied Christians to gospel witnesses who offer the testimony of their words and actions in the places where they live, work and play.

In a sense, it reminds me of Jesus sending out his followers in Luke 10. He didn't ask them to wave a particular flag or carry a brand in their purse or bag, rather he commissioned them simply to declare peace, offer healing when necessary, and boldly proclaim that the reign of God is hitting people's doorsteps with the accuracy and power of the 5:00 a.m. newspaper. Brand vs Leadership. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

 [1] Brian Clarke and Stuart MacDonald, "Simply ‘Christian': Canada's Newest Major Religious Denomination, Toronto Journal of Theology 23/2, 2007, 109.

 [2] Ibid., 123.