CANADIAN RURAL CHURCH NETWORK
Newsletter for March 1, 2006
Index
3rd Newsletter of the CRCN
Rural Issues
♦ Land Stewardship Alternatives
Rural Ministry (life and faith)
♦ Visions for Faith Communities in South-West Saskatchewan - Catherine Christie
Worship Resources
♦ The Celtic Cross, Celti Prayer of Thanksgiving, Prayer with those who farm the land, a Celtic blessing
Other Helpful Resources
♦ The Celtic Connection to Rural Ministry
International News
♦ Spirituality in the Context of a Rural Christian Community (Part 1) - jon Watson (Australia)
Looking for Ideas
(Responses to this question will be summarized and posted in succeeding newsletters)
Question:
How do pastors and churches try to meet the pastoral care needs of their elderly
in Nursing Homes located outside the local community?
Send your response by clicking on this link Canadian Rural Church Network.
Responses to Question From Past Newsletters:
To the question: "How can the CRCN be of help to a busy rural pastor?"
To the question: "about minister serving Part-Time (Web 1 Newsletter)"
News
Future
Topics
Rural Issues
Land Stewardship
Alternatives
(Rumour and innuendo can be cruel to people in local
communities. A church leader recognized the need to bring the issue of
land stewardship alternatives to a public forum, and asked the
Agricultural Society Board to sponsor the event. The story tells
itself.)
When a corporation with deep pockets wants the resources under your land, or outsiders are prepared to offer unimaginable prices for acreages-with-a-view, the temptation for landowners to cash in on the bonanza is great.
What alternatives do farm families with an environmental conscience have when faced with this dilemma?
Rumours flew in our area a few years ago about various individuals "selling out" to certain environmental organizations in exchange for some favourable considerations. But the talk was by whisper and innuendo, and never with the persons involved. Did these people really want to conserve the land? Where they being responsible stewards, or where they just making things harder for the next guy?
Our Agricultural Society agreed to hold a Community Round Table Discussion on "Land Transfer Alternatives" so neighbours could talk outright with each other about what they did and why.
When 80 people showed up for the discussion on a cold, stormy night, we knew we had hit on an important issue.
Local landowners, known to have dealings with conservations agencies where asked to speak about their experiences. Representatives from Nature Conservancy, Southern Alberta Land Trust Society, Ducks Unlimited, Rocky Mt. Elk Foundation, Fish and Wildlife, and the Cows and Fish program came and answered questions about the tax implications, management policies, succession implications, etc. that were involved when you made a transfer agreement with their group.
What an interesting evening! Proper information set gossip rumours right. Evidence of improvement of riparian areas was presented. Sustainability of the land and the landscape was front and foremost.
Representatives described the focus of their particular organization, and told how they worked together with each other to insure the most satisfactory results for land owners. Their level of commitment to see that things worked out was very apparent.
The discussion didn't end there. Among families and
within the extended community, the dialogue continued well into the New
Year. Locals now turn to each other for advice, and know where they can
find detailed information. They trust that the organizational
representatives will do their best to help them pursue their stewardship
goals.
For the people, the community, and the stewardship of the land, this was a win win occasion.
(Review written by Joyce Sasse - February 25, 2006)
Rural Ministry (life & faith)
Visions for Faith
Communities in South-Western Saskatchewan
It is a time for all communities to consider their future options. The Saskatchewan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada took on this task for its parishes throughout the province, meeting in district workshops. Rev. Roger Haugen, the leader of these area strategy sessions, (and representing Bishop Cindy Halmarson) invited the Anglican and United Church congregations to join in the conversations. The session in the Southwest was held at Day’s Inn, Swift Current, Feb. 3 and 4, attended by a good number of people from the three denominations.
Roger led us through a process that could be used with congregations thinking about their futures. First of all, he challenged us to see that the world has changed, using a wonderful image by the author Kitchens to consider, that we are like those who came to play a football game, but at half time the field was rearranged into a baseball field. So many of us in the church are continuing to play the football game, wondering why it is so frustrating. We were given statistics of declining church attendance, holding them up against the 84% of Canadians who describe themselves as spiritual. The advertising industry recognizes the spiritual hungers and questions of today’s world, and they are some of the most successful at tapping into the spiritual issues with their answers.
The ministry we are in is God's: God's purposes remains constant, and we are invited to participate in God's plan. We were invited to mull over another image, that of "chaordic times", the instant between chaos and order, those most creative points in life. There is wonderful opportunity for the church to minister to the world of today.
We turned to Bible study, dividing into three groups to study Acts 2, Acts 10 and Acts 16, seeing what the early church did with a time of changing paradigms, and each small group came up with principles which they perceive the church is to act from. It was a joy to see that although we stumbled over the different labels used by the various denominations (e.g.,
'presbytery',
'synod',
'diocese', etc.), when we got to the heart of our faith, we were as one. Later we would be talking about working together in shared ministries within communities, and the question was asked, "We are friends at coffee row and the curling rink, why doesn't it make sense to worship together?"
We practiced Asset Based Community Development, an approach "based on the premise that the resources which a community requires to function in a healthy manner are already present in the community". The group watched an ELCA video, Reinventing Rural Ministry, and talked about the possibilities and challenges around shared ministries.
It was a very positive day and evening, and a great deal of information was crammed into it. We are left with possibilities, and the challenge to continue the process begun at this "chaordic time". I appreciate that the Lutherans invited us to share this process.
For further information, or to receive a copy of the power-point presentation, contact the Rev. Roger Haugen, rhaugen@elcic.ca
(Submitted by Rev. Catherine Christie, Abbey Saskatchewan)
Worship Resources
The
Iona community provides many helpful resources for worship leaders in
rural communities.
The
following is a sampler -
The Celtic Cross (or High Cross)
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This cross has been described by a rancher friend of mine as a cross with the sun at its heart. She sees this to be a fine way for people-of-the-land to express their spiritual understanding |
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Celtic Prayer of Thanksgiving
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This we know: the earth does not belong to us,
we belong to the earth.
This we know: all things are connected
like the blood that unites one family.
This we know: we did not weave the web of life,
we are merely a strand in it.
This we know: whatever we do to the web of life,
we do to ourselves.
Let us give thanks that all things
hold together in Christ. Amen
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Celtic Prayer With Those Who Farm the Land
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Remember the poor when you look out on fields you own,
on your plump cows grazing.Remember the poor when you look into your barn, at the
abundance of your harvest.
Remember the poor when the wind howls and the rain falls,
as you sit warm and dry in your house.
Remember the poor when you eat fine meant and drink fine
ale at your fine carved table.
The cows have grass to eat, the rabbits have burrows for
shelter, the birds have warm nests.
But the poor have no food except what you feed them,
no shelter except your house when you welcome them,
no warmth except your glowing fire.
Celtic Fire, by Robert Vander Weyer, 1990
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A Celtic Blessing
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On our hearts and our homes,
the blessing of God.
In our coming and going,
the peace of God.
In our life and our believing,
the love of God.
At our end and new beginning,
the arms of God welcome us
and bring us home.
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Other Helpful Resources
The Celtic Connection to Rural Ministry
The Celts were a distinct race who inhabited Europe, some say as early at the 8th c BCE. As the Roman Empire grew, the Celts withdrew to what we know as Great Britain. When the Romans came to Britain, the Celts withdrew further, to the Islands and edges of Britain, for they had strong issue with Rome's kind of governance and control.
They were a spiritual people who embraced the Christian Faith that was brought to them, and integrated the Faith within their lives as a rural and sea-faring people.
They were open to seeing God′s spirit revealed to them through nature and the concerns of an evolving community. Their belief system was mostly concerned with how spirituality works in everyday life, and in sync with the rhythms of nature. It was inclusive (men and women), non-hierarchical, non-denominational and intuitive. Through music, poetry, storytelling and literature, they expressed special connection with the spiritual world. Worship was an important part of their daily lives.
In the 5th century the Celtic Church became very strong: partially because of the opposition of poverty stricken people to Roman regulations and institutions, and the corruptions that accompanied these institutions. Again, in the time of the "Enlightenment", when the mind-set was that reason and science was the measure of all things, the Celtic people again found themselves marginalized, and fought against that marginalization.
The 6th century was, for the Celts, a time of active evangelism. Home-grown leaders emerged from large communities of faith. Iona (established in 560) and Lindisfarne / Holy Island (established in 635) continue to be sacred centre for Celtic thought. From the 6th to the 9th centuries, Celtic churches sprang up across Europe. Since the 1990´s waves of Celtic spirituality reverberate around the world. Aidan, Hilda, Patrick, Brendan, Brigid, Columba and Cuthbert are all Celtic Saints.
From the Celtic Catechism: "What is the fruit of study?" "To perceive the eternal World of God
reflected in every plant and insect, every bird and animal, and every man and woman."
(The
above notes written / gathered by Joyce Sasse, Feb 2, 2006)
International News
Spirituality in the Context of a Rural Christian
Community - From Australia
"People have become so wrapped up in making a living" concludes jon Watson after examining a segment of the rural scene in Australia, "they forget they have to make a life."
As part of his research on Spirituality in the Context of a Rural Christian Community and its Relationship to the Mission of the Church, Watson asked rural people how they gave expression to their faith, and how they "connected that faith to their rural setting, way of life, and interpretation of life-events."
His paper, written for the Melbourne College of Divinity in 1999, underscores the significant role landscape and community play in the lives of these people.
"Landscape" includes soil, weather, grains, the sky, the environment, fauna and flora. It carries within it an experience with the sacred, and is therefore understood as a place of revelation and connection with the Creator. Many rural people look on land as a gift shared with them, for which they accept stewardship responsibilities ... which they expect to pass on as an inheritance. They prefer to think of themselves as pilgrims on the land, rather than consumers of the land.
Participating in "community" with other humans, as well as with all aspects of the landscape, is another significant part of the spirituality of rural people. Their commitment is to give witness to God′s love as they relate with people through a wide range of circumstances. They feel responsible for each other, and seek to find ways to respect each other and respect the land. An important practice within community is to help people make connections with each other.
"When society and nature, conscious and unconscious, are organically related, there is no more talk about the problem of identity; the emotional depths of existence are filled and a sense of character or personality is assured". God not only provides the food, but also the means for humanity to get healing. "Land is a bit like an umbilical chord
..."
Watson draws significant connection between his research findings and the future of the church:
- "The Church must assist rural people to develop a theology of stewardship of the landscape. Such a theology will envisage caring for the land and articulating that experience of hope and healing that can come from the land."
- "Helping people to understand that the incarnate Christ is found in caring for the land, and all the experiences of people on the land."
- "The reconciling work of God is not just about the reconciliation of humankind but of the whole created order."
- "The Church must find appropriate ways of communicating with all people of our rural areas. This will require the development of skills by people within our congregations so they may exercise Christ′s ministry where they live."
(In our next Newsletter, we will include notes about the conclusions jon Watson draws concerning how rural spirituality helps define the mission of the rural church.)
(These notes written by Joyce Sasse, February 25, 2006)
Links
www.agri-ville.com/spiritualvignettes
Joyce
Sasse's writing's as a rural theologian and pastor, and her collection
of writings from October 1999, can be found on this agricultural web
site.
See summary notes
from presentation made at the Tiffin Conference, Lethbridge, by Dr. John
Ikerd (Sustainable Family Farms) and a true story from Japan,
Ducks and Dreams, told by Dr. Fred Kirschenmann of the Leopold
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
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