EDGEy Conversation—The Rev. Stéphane Vermette  The Rev. Stéphane Vermette is clear in his recent EDGEy conversation with EDGE’s Zoë Chaytors that he didn’t intend Église Sainte Claire to be a just a church offering worship services online, but rather an online community of faith.
Considering that Église Sainte Claire had its online launch only four weeks after the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 began, it would be easy to assume that Église Sainte Claire was another church offering worship online while physical buildings had to stay closed. But Vermette knew going in that he was creating something totally new, something that would, “respond to all those who don’t have a United Church community, in French or in English, in their area.” Vermette admits that in the beginning it was just him, but that once he started reaching out, he found a lot of people “out there, at the fringe of the church, looking for safe space to talk about faith and spirituality.”
For example, in the interactive worship experience available at Église Sainte Claire, Vermette reads the scripture of the day and then opens the floor so that people can talk about how it affected them. He adds his own thoughts, but as a reflection from “another face in the Zoom box” and not as a minister giving the final word.
Based on the feedback he’s received, people like that they can say what they want, that their opinions are valued, and that their life experience counts even if it doesn’t come with a PhD in theology.
“We’re learning from each other, not just the minister teaching,” Vermette says.
Vermette says that the experience of building Église Sainte Claire’s online congregation has made him ask questions about how we as people live the church of God, and what our mission is. He talks about Pentecost, and how after receiving the Lord’s Spirit, the disciples immediately went into the public space with their news— they went where the people were. Citing a statistic that people now spend at least four hours a day on their phones, he wonders if the United Church is “where the people are.”
“Other churches are already there, and they’re effective,” he says, speaking about social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. “These days, it’s fairly simple to do digital ministry. You need a phone.”
He acknowledges that building a ministry online to bring a “positive, inclusive message” about God to the world means change, and encountering potential gray zones, such as: who are the members of an online community of faith? Are they:- Social media followers?
- The ones who watch services on YouTube and leave a comment, but don’t interact otherwise?
- Podcast subscribers?
But he also emphasizes that communities of faith should look at methods of interacting online as they’d look at a church building and other ways of spreading God’s message— tools.
“The goal is not to nourish a Facebook page, but to reach out and do ministry.”
Vermette encourages communities of faith to take stock of all their tools for doing ministry, not just the online ones, and to know their goals and how they can use those tools to meet them.
And for communities of faith that want to start making digital ministry a tool for spreading the good news? “Sometimes it’s just the guts to take that leap of faith, not knowing what will happen.”
[Image credit:Canva]
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Rural Ministries Town Hall  EDGE invites those involved in rural ministries within The United Church of Canada to the first of a monthly Town Hall Gathering on Zoom on November 28, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST.
This open forum will be a place for to discuss rural ministry— joys, challenges, and hopes for the future. Attendees will have the opportunity to:- Develop relationships.
- Support each other.
- Participate in small group discussion and brainstorming.
EDGE will welcome feedback and ideas of potential future supports for rural ministries. Register in advance for this meeting.
Please contact zchaytors@united-church.ca for more information.
Also, the please note that the 2023 dates for Curiosity Cohorts have been set! Registration will open soon for:- Winter Cohort: January 24 to February 21, every Tuesday, 6:00–7:00 p.m. EST.
- Spring Cohort: March 23 to April 20, 2023, every Thursday, 12:00–1:00 p.m. EST.
- Spring Cohort, Rural Focus: May 12 to June 9, 2023, every Friday, 1:00–2:00 p.m. EST.
- Fall Cohort: September 21 - October 19, 2023, every Thursday, 6:00-7:00 p.m. EST.
- Fall Cohort, Rural Focus: October 31 to November 28, 2023, every Tuesday, 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST.
[Image credit: Sigmund on Unsplash] |
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Canada Summer Jobs Applications Open Soon  Canada Summer Jobs grants money to non-profits and public sector businesses with 50 or fewer employees to help hire a student for the summer. Non-profits can receive funding to hire a student for up to 40 hours a week to do a job that provides community service or supports to underrepresented groups and groups with barriers to employment. They will consider and have funded applications from United Church congregations! Some have been able to hire multiple students.
Using Canada Summer Jobs money is an excellent opportunity for communities of faith to give a student between 15 and 30 years old the opportunity to gain valuable experience doing work that is meaningful to their community, while getting funded support to help your community of faith with its projects and programs.
Canada Summer Jobs will soon be accepting applications for grant money, so bookmark the grant website the link below and check back often to. If you are wondering how to connect with youth, this could be the chance you have been waiting for.[Image credit: Cytonn Photography on Unsplash] |
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Reflections from the EDGE: Lori Houle Have we talked lately?
Chances are that we have— I spend much of my time with the EDGE team reaching out to communities of faith across Canada. You might be familiar with some of my questions and ponderings:- What is happening in your community of faith? What is taking place outside of worship?
- How can we get your community of faith out into the larger community?
- What do you need? What would be helpful?
- What is working? What is not? What else can be done?
- Do you know about these grants? Would you like to take part in these workshops?
- Have you heard about what this community of faith is doing?
- Can we chat about Embracing the Spirit?
- Did you know these tools exist?
If you have not connected but would like to please feel free to reach out to me at lori@edge-ucc.ca.[Image credit: Courtesy of Lori Houle] |
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Embracing the Spirit is a learning network and innovation fund. It offers funding and support for innovation ideas hatched out of faith communities and communities in ministry. Some of the stories and best practices that are happening throughout The United Church of Canada are shared in this newsletter. If you have an idea that you want to launch, reach out and tell us about it! Proposal deadlines are quarterly, and due on the 15th of the month: January, April, July and October. Find out more. |
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