I find myself in a small rural United Church in East Central Alberta. When I first arrived and moved to this town, this little rural church had as close to a full house as I have known it. As time went on and my children grew, we were lucky to have 30 to 35 children in Sunday school for many years. Flash forward to the present day, and it is a very different picture. When I am one of the youngest in the group, that says something.
We are now entering our 6th year without a minister. We have joined in an MOU with a neighbouring town and are in our fourth year of doing so. As an MOU, we recognized that we had to make some changes. And thus, another and I, from our MOU partner, have decided to take the LLWL training. We refuse to believe that our ministry is over and this means we must investigate and act on changing how we do things, and in turn, walk our church family through these changes and invite them in for the journey.
What has always been is no longer. Nor do I see it going back. So, we are going to buckle up and get ready for a ride of change and innovation in ways we, as a whole group, would not expect. Let the journey begin.