Three Cheers for a Quixotic Church

I spent this past weekend in Daphin, a little town in the Manitoba Northern Ontario Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Dauphin is about a four hour drive from Winnipeg, through some of the flattest terrain I've ever seen. The purpose of this adventure was to present a day long "renewal event" for congregational leaders who had gathered for a rather quixotic synod convention.

I don't usually write by name about the people and organizations we're working with at A Renewal Enterprise, Inc. Our friends, clients, and partners can count on us to maintain their confidentiality. But I asked for (and got!) permission to share the story of what I experienced this past weekend because, well, it's just such a good example of the kind of brave and wacky things mainline church leaders are willing to do for the sake of renewal.

MNO Synod leaders, in a bold moment, decided to put their words about being committed to rural folk, congregations, and communities into ACTION when they chose this out of the way place to gather. Most of the 150 or so delegates came from Winnipeg (where most people in the synod actually live) by bus, specially chartered for the event. It took all the Lutheran churches in the area working together to pull off the event, together with help from their friends and neighbors who belong to congregations of other denominations. The convention itself was held in the church building of the United Church congregation in town because none of the Lutherans had a big enough building. And the banquet was served by the people of the Ukranian church down the road; it was held in their building and their traditional dancers provided the entertainment. The roadside motel where most of the delegates stayed (one of the few if not the only real lodging option in Dauphin) was packed out; I'm not sure they've often (or ever) seen such a big group of people descend on them all at once. They were so excited they kept the motel pool open until midnight each evening in order to accommodate our group, a mild mannered but merry group if you ever saw one. On Sunday morning, during the final worship service of the convention, we packed into the small Lutheran church building in town and sat shoulder to shoulder with the members of that congregation...folks who had been our gracious hosts all weekend long. My guess is that the Lutherans in Dauphin will remember this forever. The weekend they hosted the convention of the MNO Synod will be written down in their history books, right along with building projects, special anniversaries, and their roster of those who have served as pastor. Everybody who experienced being honored guests in this little town will remember it, too.

I know I will.

It was an expensive project. And I heard several people wondering out loud if this was the best use of what sometimes feels like scarce funds. Even the planners had to be a little worried that this was a big mistake. Not only had they chosen an unusual location, they had changed the whole structure of the convention. Instead of day after long day of "business," they did their work in a single day and spent the rest of their time having fun, in prayer and Bible study and holy conversation about what in the world God is up to and what it means to be a church in mission for others and learning some things they can do "back home" to help their congregations engage in this same kind of process. In all kinds of ways, this was a risky thing for the leaders of this synod to do. But by the end of the event, my hunch is that evaluations said something like this: We're not sure about transporting the whole synod convention across the province ever again...but this was awesome.

Now, I know this much is true: Changing up the way they do convention this year didn't add a single new member to a single congregation in that synod. At least as far as I know. It didn't solve the problem of membership decline or shrinking funds. It didn't put a stop to the rural despair so many who live in Manitoba and Northern Ontario experience. It didn't bring Christendom back to life and it didn't move us, in one fell sweep, into a new post-Christendom age, either. It didn't suddenly turn each one gathered for the convention into an enthusiastic evangelist. It didn't magically reclaim the e word or the c word or the l word or the f word.

But it WAS different.

It was a CHANGE.

It was not without risk.

And therein lies a kernel of hope.

I believe that, in the end, the people of that synod will look back and agree: What we did in Dauphin and the fact that we did it IN Dauphin mattered.

All across the mainline church there are people who are trying new things, taking risks for the sake of a new day, dreaming about what might be even as they mourn the end of what has been, and suiting up to confront the windmills/giants/challenges of this age. They don't all dress in torn up jeans, wear funky glasses, meet for church in coffeehouses, and txt 2 b cool. A lot of them are trying to figure out how to do church and BE church in a new way...in places like Dauphin, 200 miles northwest of Winnipeg, in southwestern Manitoba, where Ukranian folk dancing is still on the list of most fun things to do on a Saturday night.

What a great (and goofy God) we have.

For more scenes from the MNO Synod convention, click here.

What's the most hopeful thing you've seen happen in the church lately??

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Comments

[Elaine Sauer]

Kelly,

Thank you for your wonderful presence in our "quixotic" convention. Your presentation made a substantial difference in our convention outcomes and the words you used above describe beautifully our efforts to change how we be and do church in our corner of the world. Thanks be to God through you for inspiring us to take risks. It will take a lot more but we are up for it.
Peace
Elaine

KELLY'S RESPONSE: It was an honor to be a tiny part of what you folks are doing up there, Bishop. May God bless you and the creative, courageous leaders of the MNO Synod!

[Marilyn Crosby]

Kelly
Thanks for affirming that new life, not new members and more money, is what God is up to in the world. We tend to be so "results oriented" (our results) that we totally miss what God hopes for and dreams about.