This past week I presided at services of leave-taking for two of our synod’s congregations. It was deeply moving for me to be present for these very poignant and profound moments in the life of these faith communities.
In 2022 our synod staff made some projections on what we thought our ministry footprint might look like in 2028. We anticipate that as many as one third of our synod’s 170 congregation will either merge with another congregation or close within the next five years.
Recent congregational mergers in Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton and Sudbury have proven to be lifegiving and have reset our ministry profile in very good ways. Shared ministry partnerships in a variety of settings have likewise served to strengthen and support the life of many congregations. But sometimes those options either can’t or won’t happen. Sometimes congregations need to bring their ministries to a gracious and faith inspired conclusion.
Circumstances change. Contexts change. And that means that we will change; our ministries will change, even if it means acknowledging the conclusion of a particular ministry. And there should be no shame in this. For heaven’s sake! Aren’t we in the dying and rising business? Why should we be so averse to experiencing such necessary transitions in our institutional life together?
The two congregations whose ministries ended this past week did not fail. They discerned that the best and most faithful course of action was to end their lives and thereby provide legacy gifts that will seed and support new expressions of ministry in the future. And in doing so, they were mirroring the actions of previous expressions of church that had birthed them decades previously.
Each of those congregation had been launched with the support of denominational gifts and subsidies provided by preceding generations who had “paid it forward.” And now, they were doing the very same thing. “Paying it forward” to other expressions of church and the generations of believers who will follow us; ensuring that they will benefit from the same measure of generosity which has served and supported our ministries in this present day.
In John 12 Jesus tells us, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” In this way, the seeds that have been sown throughout these congregation’s histories will continue to grow and bear fruit. Blessings that have been bestowed will continue to ripple forth and bring new blessings in the life of our world.
Nobody wants to see a particular ministry end. But sometimes ending is the most responsible course of action. And if it’s done well, it can lead to new beginnings and new life. Death can lead to resurrection. For such is the promise of the Gospel!