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

The following article taken from: Red Deer Advocate, June 14, 2008

Care for some caffeine and religion? By Penny Caster - Red Deer Advocate - June 14, 2008

If you are the chatty type you can usually drum up a little small talk at a typical coffee shop but there’s a place in Red Deer that serves up coffee with a little spirituality on the side, plus babysitting, if you need it.

It’s the WonderCafé and it runs on Sunday mornings downstairs at the Gaetz Memorial United Church.

And though it may not have the brand recognition factor of, say, a Tim Hortons, there are WonderCafés in various forms all over the country.

“Some churches have chosen to open it up to the community like we have while others haven’t yet,” says Jennifer Wright, a young mother of two boys who facilitates the Sunday morning sessions at Gaetz Memorial. WonderCafé is an initiative of the United Church targeted at the 30-45 age group. In the case of the Red Deer group, those parameters are flexible.

There’s a core of 20 and 30-somethings, but some older folk drop in and there are regular attendees from 15 and up.

Wright picks her topics from the church’s online version of WonderCafé, though topics can also come from members, and the group goes from there, tossing ideas and thoughts back and forth in an accepting environment.

Recent topics have been challenging, including: water as a commodity, family values, and global warming.

One of the liveliest subjects turned out to be: “Was Jesus married?”

“That really got quite heated,” says Wright.

Ultimately, the group stood at about 50-50 on whether indeed Jesus was a married man. Those on the no side felt he couldn’t have been married because celibacy was an integral part of his purity.

Others said they thought a wedding described in one of the New Testaments at which Jesus called for more wine was evidence it was His own wedding, since wine was traditionally the groom’s responsibility.

Another argument that came up, says Wright, was that it would have been uncommon at the time for a man of Jesus’s age to be unmarried.

The subject on a recent Sunday was whether members of the Iraq and Afghanistan armies suffer the sort of post-traumatic stress syndrome reported by American and Canadian soldiers.

Those around the table thought initially it must be so, but then wondered if there were cultural influences that they simply weren’t aware of. The conversation included the emergence of post-traumatic stress syndrome with what was then called shell-shock in the First World War, and the problems some contemporary Canadian soldiers have exhibited once they got home.

Sometimes the topics aren’t quite so heavy. What would you serve Jesus if you invited him for supper was another recently tackled subject.

Some thought they would dish up Alberta beef and all the trimmings, and showcase homegrown fare. Others thought they would serve more Mediterranean-influenced foods, like flatbreads, to make Him feel at home, says Wright.

There are a number of benefits to the WonderCafé, she says. “It has made my faith stronger and I have noticed a change in myself,” says Wright.

“I feel more comfortable talking about things, and being a stay-at-home mom, mostly, it’s nice to have that adult conversation and to know I have the ability to back up the arguments. It makes me feel intellectual again.”

Another young mom, Elan Buan, expressed a similar sentiment. “I like good discussion and I like looking at different angles on situations.

“To me, things aren’t ever black and white, they are quite grey.” Buan says she liked the United Church for its open-mindedness on many issues and recalls Gaetz Memorial’s Rev. Fran Hare saying that we need to strive for justice.

“I think the WonderCafé is kind of a venue for that,” says Buan.

Another regular at the café is Kathleen Reid, a single woman who has just graduated from University of Alberta. She enjoys the social aspect of the group, and getting to talk about topics that appeal to her. “And it’s a place for adults our age,” says Reid.

Buan adds another advantage. “We have great ministry upstairs, but here we get to debate.” Vanessa Croken says she had no spirituality growing up.

“And I found this church and I fell in love,” she says. Though on this particular Sunday only one man was present, there are more who attend regularly, says Wright, including her husband, who was home sick this time.

There’s another good thing about WonderCafé, though, says Wright. Thanks to the online version, it’s never closed. Recently, while in the throes of purchasing her first house with her husband, she found herself stressed and sleepless. So she visited the online WonderCafé and posted a message about what she was experiencing.

“It was amazing how many people replied and said here is what you can do,” says Wright. “It’s like phoning up a friend in the middle of the night and getting a happy answer.”

The WonderCafé meets Sundays from 10-10:30 a.m. downstairs at the Gaetz Memorial United Church. Anyone is welcome to take part and enjoy a cup of Fair Trade coffee or tea. The group also sells Fair Trade coffees and teas to raise money for church projects.

For more information go to Gaetz Memorial’s website at http://gaetz.anwc.net/default.htm or the United Church’s WonderCafé’s site at www.wondercafe.ca..