|
CANADIAN RURAL CHURCH NETWORK
Newsletter for April 1, 2006
Index
Looking for Ideas
(Responses to this question will be summarized and posted in succeeding newsletters)
Question: (Your questions and responses are
solicited)
Send your questions and responses by clicking on this link Canadian Rural Church Network.
Responses to Question From Past Newsletters:
To the question about: "Giving pastoral care
to the elderly in nursing homes away from the local community".
News Up Dates
Dr. John Ikerd has been invited as a theme speaker at the International Rural Church Association (IRCA) Conference at Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba July 2
- 9, 2007
Topics
Rural Issues
Churches Working Together In Ontario Influence
Government Decision
What can we do? The question was asked in rural
communities across the Province of Ontario as we faced yet more
government regulations which would impact rural churches and the
communities they serve. With no budget, no lawyers and no formal
organization a coalition of churches was able to do a lot. But the story
started six years ago.
On the holiday weekend in May 2000, the small town of Walkerton in Bruce
County, Ontario, became international news because of the most serious
case of water contamination in Canadian History. Seven people died and
2300 others became ill after the Walkerton water supply became
contaminated with manure spread on a nearby farm.
After a lengthy Inquest into the event, Justice Dennis O′Conner
identified 14 actions that could have reduced the effects of this
contamination. Human error topped the list and resulted in criminal
charges, but government cuts and ineffectiveness were also high on his
list.
The Government of Ontario countered the report with the
"Safe Drinking
Water Act" in 2002, in an attempt to guarantee safe drinking water for
all residents of the province. The ensuing regulations aimed to meet
that goal, but the demands of the regulations on rural communities were
overwhelming.
The new "small water system" definition included churches, camps, bed
and breakfast operators, rural restaurants, hockey arenas
- and the list
could go on. Wells that had provided safe drinking water to these kinds
of facilities for decades were now considered suspect, and subject to
the regulation. Hundreds of thousands of dollars would have to be raised
by church members, rural residents and community organizations to meet
new requirements.
It wasn′t long before Church leaders across the province were voicing
concern for the future of rural churches in the communities we serve. It
was time for action.
In the summer of 2004, I was part of a small group of United Church
leaders who gathered with Ministry of Environment officials to state
emphatically that the new regulations were "too much". While stating
quite clearly our faithful concern for safe water in our province, we
set before them concrete suggestions for change, regulations we could
live with and still guarantee safe water.
This meeting was followed by a second gathering of church leaders
comprised of Anglican, Lutheran, Roman Catholic and United Church
representatives. Letter writing campaigns, hundreds of post cards and
church presentations at public meetings followed.
We made a difference. The government realized that one regulation could
not govern every type of water system; rural communities are different
and rural residents share the same concern as government for safe water.
Together, we made a difference.
(Submitted by Jean Wilson, March 2006)
No More "Perogy Police" in Alberta
Another matter of concern to rural church and rural
community organizations in Alberta has been eased when the Alberta
Health and Wellness folks recently announced the disbandment of the
"Perogy Police"
- a term used to describe health officials who have in
the past strictly monitored applications from event organizers looking
to serve food.
"Thanks to the provincial cabinet those restrictions will be
significantly eased starting this spring," the Lethbridge Herald
reports. "Community Events like bake sales and harvest dinners are an
integral part of Alberta life", said Howard May.
"In the past, he added, every application was treated with the same
′blanket rules′ which didn′t
make much sense. Now anyone serving food at a public event need only
contact their local health region and inform them of what is happening
and what food will be served...
Many agreed there definitely needs to be a different set of regulations
for restaurants and serving hundreds versus an annual pancake breakfast..."
(reported in the Lethbridge Herald, February 21, 2006)
Other Helpful Resources
Professionals Prepare for Entry into Rural Community Life
Rural communities across Canada face many challenges these days, not the
least of which is how to attract and keep rural professionals. Queen′s
Theological College began a discussion of just that topic with other
faculties at Queen′s University in 2002. The result of that beginning
was a course offered in the Fall of 2005 called
"Professionals in Rural
Practice: An interdisciplinary Approach".
The program brought together students and faculty from Nursing,
Education, Medicine, Occupational Therapy and Theology. The named
objective of the course was to help prepare for the reality of working
and living in rural and remote Canada, maintaining sustainability of
their professional practice, while being able to live within a community
and maintain a life outside of work.
The course was structured to use a variety of techniques, to present
information and promote learning: including large group and small group
discussions, opportunity to interview rural residents, small group
presentations and an immersion experience at the small community of
Sharbot Lake in north Frontenac County. It was a good model for adult
education and the interdisciplinary approach was an asset that provided
a positive example of bridge building between disciplines.
The interaction with rural residents and rural professionals was a great
opportunity for students to ask questions and have their assumptions
challenged. During the interview project, students of different
disciplines were paired and asked to conduct an Interview of rural
professionals from nearby communities who volunteered their time to take
part in the program. Not only did the students get the opportunity to be
in dialogue with rural folks, but were impressed with their enthusiastic
participation.
The highlight of the course for all students was the weekend immersion
event. The class was given the use of Sharbot Lake High School for
dining, sleeping and educational purposes. Over the weekend five panels
of local professionals and residents shared their views of life in a
rural community and opened themselves to questions from the students.
One of the panels, a group of First Nations professionals, brought some
perspectives on living in more remote communities. The class also
highlighted the "bonding" that occurred as they lived in each other′s
pockets for a weekend. It was almost like creating a
"mini" small
community in which the group had to work with each other and depend upon
each other.
I was given the opportunity to participate in the course as an observer
and, overall, I believe it was a huge success. In the class I watched
the change in individual perceptions, as well as a willingness to engage
rural perspectives. Overall attendance at class was high. A sign, I
believe of the commitment to learn some ideas and concepts that would be
of assistance to a trained professional working in a community. I also
believe that the program has promoted bridge building between
professionals of different disciplines, whether the future includes a
large institutional setting or a small rural community. I have hope that
each of the participants will see their professional counterparts in a
new way.
Additional Notes: a few things stand out in our discussion with rural
residents and their professionals ...
(Submitted by Jean Wilson, March 2006)
Worship Resources
Precious Lord, Take My Hand
"We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for
us with sighs too deep for words." (Romans 8:26)
I am encouraged when I glimpse here the apostle Paul on his knees, and
overhear him confess that "we do not know how to pray..." In spite of the
profound teaching of Jesus, and the careful formulae of the church′s
prayers, sometimes there are, for all of us, moments that feel like
wilderness. The yearning lacks focus and direction, the centring-down
feels empty and barren, and no prayer will come.
For a whole year Henri Nouwen, professor, writer, missionary, had
wandered in a valley of spiritual despair, trying to sort out the
meaning in his life. At Jean Vanier′s invitation, he was spending the
year at L′Arche in France, trying to discover how God would use the rest
of his life.
In his journal, he describes how every day, whether he felt like it or
note, he mustered the energy to go to L′Oratoire
- the sanctuary space
that is the heart of L′Arche.
"Every time I enter L′Oratoire I feel a
deep rest coming over me," he writes.
"And even if it is hard for me to pray, I feel
held there. It is as if the room prays for me. And if I cannot pray, I
still go there so that I can at least breathe air that is rich with
prayer."
There are wilderness moments when "We do not know how to pray as we
ought." But something keeps tugging us towards whatever is L′Oratoire
(sanctuary space) for us. We keep at it, even when it feels so sterile
and difficult. We keep at it when the words just won′t come, and the
yearning is nothing but a sigh. We keep at it, because we believe with
Paul that those sighs are our most honest prayers.
Perhaps when what we are experiencing feels heavy and parched like
wilderness, we need to place ourselves on some kind of holy ground. It
could be that such a setting will offer us the gift of breathing air
that is rich with prayer, and that this sanctuary space itself will pray
on our behalf.
Perhaps, in such moments, the Spirit will help us in our weakness,
weaving our sighs into a tapestry of prayer through which God will take
us by the hand, and lead us on ... lead us home.
For Prayer
(Written by Don Parsons in the Lenten
Devotional Booklet Seed that Dies to Rise)
Stay With Us Through The Night
This is how it happens. The Disciples meet the risen Jesus on the road
to Emmaus. They are drawn to him, as we sometimes are to certain people,
without recognizing him. They tell him about their grief over the loss
of their friend, the one they had hoped "would
set Israel free."
The conversation gives them comfort, and they press him to stay and have
supper with them.
It′s a simple story. This is what it is to be human, to find pleasure
and comfort in simple things - walking, talking through troubles,
sharing a meal, discovering a friend in a stranger.
But then there is this explosion right in the middle of the narrative.
Jesus breaks the bread and gives it to them, and immediately
"their eyes were opened, and they recognized
him."
We see Jesus just the same way, in the breaking of bread; a friend comes
to the door with a drive-through coffee and doughnut.
"Knew you were
having a busy day," she says and vanishes. A small boy says grace before
supper on a sticky August day: "Summer," he says happily,
"is the nicest
time of the year." And a long-gone, much-missed daughter makes it home
for Easter. The table is complete. And the risen Christ is there, as he
is always there, in the circle at the food bank and at the premier′s
feast. Always.
For Prayer
(Written by Donna Sinclair in the Lenten
Devotional Booklet Seed that Dies to Rise)
International News
Rural Spirituality and the Church (Part II) - from Australia
As a result of his research, jon Watson underscores the significant role
landscape and community play in the lives of rural people.
′Landscape′
includes soil, weather, grains, the sky, the environment, flora and
fauna. "Land", one interviewee said,
"is a bit like an umbilical chord (by which we
are attached to the Creator)."
Traditional rural culture has shaped rural people’s perception of God
and how they see their place in creation. But the church seems unaware
of this rural spirituality and often advocates an opposing theology that
leaves rural people feeling "the church has no value for them". To
illustrate, Watson quotes Henk Verboog (author of Agriculture and
Spirituality, The Hague, International Books).
"Nature was seen as an enemy which had to be
conquered; the power of nature had to be broken. It is an attitude of
distrust of nature. An experimental natural science was perfectly suited
to achieve this end, taking nature as an instrument for man. The
Christian theological concept of man′s
stewardship over nature was most of the time interpreted with this view
of nature. It was anthropocentric, the rest of nature existing to serve
man. It was even believed that it was man′s
duty to perfect nature."
Let me elaborate on three of jon Watson′s points
1. Rural Celebration of the Gifts of Creation2. The Incarnate God
3. Reconciliation Belongs to the Whole of Creation
(These notes written by Joyce Sasse in March 2006.
Concluding notes from this thesis will be included in the 5th CRCN
Newsletter)
Links
www.agri-ville.com/spiritualvignettes
Joyce Sasse invites viewers to look as the close links
between pain and laughter and the therapeutic role of the clown
... and
Easter message of hope for those facing difficult times.
www.earthcare.sk.ca
Earthcare Connections was one of the organizations that
was instrumental in supporting the founding Harvest Conference of the
Canadian Rural Church Network. Its theme is "to live in harmony with one
another and the planet".
www.ruralmatters.net
Ceri Rees (studying at Queen′s Theological College) has created a forum where those with a love for the rural church (and the communities they serve) can voice their opinions and share their experiences with others. |
