Feb
1
By Jack Krayenhoff
Talk with the new minister of James Bay United, and you think: this church is heading for growth. The minister's name is Karen Dickey, and she is a youngish (from a senior's point of view), friendly and affirming, energetic woman. She both speaks and listens well - important assets for a pastor. And then: she likes a challenge. One thing that attracted her to this church is that it had been looking for a part-time minister. "That often indicates a congregation that is in decline", she says.
But let's talk first about the history of this church. It was a plant in 1891 of Metropolitan Methodist Church on Pandora and Quadra, to serve as a Sunday school, which reached at one time an enrolment of 245 children and adults. That history is an inspiration to Karen, for the church had not had a Sunday school for at least ten years, but last year a new one was started by Grant Kerr, himself the father of two boys. Under his leadership it has already grown to nine, with a Christmas pageant being prepared at the time of writing.
Soon the Sunday school became a Methodist church in its own right, but it did not thrive according to expectation, probably because James Bay as a whole lagged in growth compared with the rest of Victoria. In 1925 the Methodist Church in Canada joined with the Congregational and part of the Presbyterian Churches to form the United Church. In the course of its life, James Bay United underwent several restructurings of its interior as well as face lifts, and in 1979 it was designated a Heritage Building. Today the main auditorium is definitely handsome, with curved pews from Oak Bay United (when that building was declared to be unsafe, which has now been remedied), a restored balcony and an interesting stained glass window. The exterior on Michigan Street is also quite attractive.
Karen finds another source of inspiration in the history of the church, this time from the nineteen seventies. The church had contemplated closing, but under the leadership of Rev. Kenneth Wood and his wife Marian, it exploded into life instead. Most remarkable was its impact on the James Bay community: church members branched out and were vital, if not in fact instrumental in starting no less than three vital James Bay operations: Beckley Farm Lodge, James Bay New Horizons, and James Bay Project. She says, "Like then, we are located strategically at the heart of a dynamic community of a cross-section of people of all ages, who care for each other. No reason why it could not happen again."
"Already we have a thrift store, where people can offload good stuff they no longer need, and make it available to others who cannot afford the new. It provides meaningful employ to many folks, and brings in significant money".
And encouraging new things are happening: "Most Sundays a handful of new people join us. They say, 'I live in the neighbourhood, I walk by here every day and I thought, 'Let's check it out'. Already it no longer feels like a church of only old people."
This past September a new worship leader came on board, Daniel Brandes, a young graduate from Uvic. "He brought a new spirit of what can happen musically. People who enter wonder, 'What's going on here, to allow this music mix to take place?' We are using the new hymn book supplement of the United Church, which uses contemporary language that connects with people who have no church experience. Of course we've had our bumps, but I think the people are already getting more regard for the people who enjoy the newer ways"
In the New Year, she intends to take the congregation through a book entitled 'Radical Welcome'. It will introduce new ways of making people feel welcome who normally would never think of making connection with the congregation, Karen says, and of exploring new ways of thinking in various ways - but she avoids going into specifics at this point. However, she sees it as part of what she hopes will be a new dawn for the church.
She concludes, "I've felt drawn to be part of a community that would be open to an experience of revitalization, and I wonder if this could be a time of re-birth, like it was in the seventies. What would it take for that to be re-ignited?"