A moment with your CEM Mission Centre President

By: Vonda DenBoer Canada East Mission Centre Co-President

​This spring I was blessed with an invitation to join with other denominations to learn about meaningful worship and Renewing Rural Worship.  The invitation read “In a season of church transition and decline, we want to foster kinship instead of competition between rural congregations navigating these realities.  Together, we can exchange resources and imagine a sustainable future for worship in rural communities”

I said yes and signed up. A grant to a doctoral student enabled people from Mennonite, Christian Reformed, United, Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist,and Community of Christ to come together and learn from one another, most of whom had church services with 20-40 people. The event was free, and food was provided- what better way to draw us together than sharing over a meal?  The Church at Nairn, a Mennonite church was the sponsoring organization, but the funding came from a Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. 

When I walked into the social hall, I was greeted with banners that confused me.  Was I in a Community of Christ church or a Mennonite church?  The banners read “Jesus our Center”, “Community our Focus”, “Peace and Justice our Purpose”.  I knew I was in the right place to learn something valuable.  We sang, we shared stories, we explored what was most important to us in our worship experience and we learned we were similar in our desires, worship challenges and worship practices. We learned how pastoral care and worship are interconnected and how important it is to listen for the relational richness that comes when we listen for what is valued and hoped for in one another.  This transcends doctrinal beliefs and theology and enables us to find ways to sustain and support one another across the boundaries of our diversity.

I shared about our communion practice with written prayers, invitation statement and scripture and that we had not always had open communion and how important it was for me when we were able to welcome all believers to the table.   A line from one song we shared was especially meaningful: “when there’s trust in the room we can breathe” ["Trust in the Room” by John Thornburg and Mark Miller]. We had trust in the room, and openness, and solidarity, and grace. Together we shared the Lord’s Supper, prayers, music and scripture. We heard excellent speakers from across North America- one is a friend of Dawn Dawson’s who shared his use of music in worship on Manitoulin Island.  Another had written a book about her experience with shared spaces – where two or more denominations shared a building and rotated worship practices.
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Many years ago, I attended Pulse’83 where our denomination led us in new and exciting ways to develop our worship experiences.  The difference here was that it was not limited to our denomination, and we were blessed with the giftedness of others who also had a rich heritage in worship planning and leadership and much to offer. Both those learning experiences have been transformational for me.  I believe we will hear more from this young woman who is embarking on a second doctorate degree in Music and Worship experiences. If Mykayla Turner offers another opportunity, or writes a book, I will definitely take advantage of it.