Mission & Ministry

CALGARY SCHOOL FOR MISSION & MINISTRY ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF CALGARY ISSUE NO. 1 FALL 2018 Four Kinds of Lay Ministers Committee to create four different 2 Lay Reader Licenses to address churches’ individual needs. The Rocky Road to Consistency Licensed Lay Ministry Program to 3 honour various skills and experiences laity bring to the table. Calgary School for Mission and Ministry Equipping Lay Ministers Four Common Questions asked in 4 st the Diocese when people hear for the 21 Century about the new Licensed Lay Ministry. Southern Alberta has its share of schools – grade schools and trade schools; charter schools and barber schools; business schools, bible schools and more – but the Anglican Diocese of Calgary has discerned a call to develop a new kind of school to help our churches st Meet the Teams to thrive in the 21 century and beyond. Lay leaders play an increasingly vital role in Anglican parishes Meet BCOM members, and those today – and the Calgary School for Mission and Ministry is designed 5 to equip them to lead, preach, teach and administer sacraments, under on the Board of the Calgary the Diocese’s new Licensed Lay Ministry Program. School for Mission and Ministry. The school’s story began four years ago, with the Bishop’s Committee on Ministry (BCOM) – a demographically diverse group of clergy and laity from across the Diocese. They began by noticing Ordained Ministry? what kind of ministries were being offered by Licensed Lay Readers Missionaries? and lay leaders across the Diocese. They soon realized that incredibly faithful and dedicated lay people all across the Diocese were offering vital ministries in their parishes – yet there were few systems or Work continues for Bishop’s 6 resources to support them. Committee on Ministry as they prepare for the future. Continued on page 2 ISSUE NO. 1 FALL 2018 “One of the reasons to regroup and reconsider how to provide Lay Leadership and training is that churches across the Diocese are doing things very differently.” — Most Rev. Gregory Kerr-Wilson CENTURY: From Page 1 Furthermore, it became clear that this wonderful lay ministry looked very different from Four Kinds of parish to parish. Some Lay Readers had taken this course, others took that course, others got licensed when there were no courses offered! Still others Lay Ministers were offering vital leadership for which the Diocese hadn’t yet ever offered any training or support. The BCOM also noticed that the Diocese Since the duties of Lay Readers vary significantly across had no resources to raise up the new generation of the Diocese today, it’s clear that different churches have different needs. So rather than trying to standardize all lay lay leaders for the Church. Over time, the call ministry into one model, the Bishop’s Committee on became clear: equip lay leaders by focusing on Ministry (BCOM) decided to create four different licenses to specific licenses and offering high-quality raise up Licensed Lay Ministers in four different ministry programing so that our lay leaders feel confident areas: and competent to offer vital, flourishing ministry in their local churches. ➢ License A: Leading public worship in Morning and “One of the reasons to regroup and reconsider Evening Prayer, including the reading of sermons or how to provide Lay Leadership and training is that homilies approved by the designated local or churches across the Diocese are doing things very regional clergy. differently,” says the Most Rev. Gregory Kerr- ➢ License B: Administering Reserved Sacrament to the wider public (and, with permission of the Wilson, Archbishop of Calgary and Chair of the Bishop, at parish services). BCOM. “In some churches, Lay Readers only read ➢ License C: Preaching in public worship. This the readings on a Sunday. In other places they take includes the preparation and writing of the sermon reserved sacrament to seniors’ homes. In others, as well as delivery. Lay Readers do everything except baptisms, ➢ License D: Catechists: teaching those preparing for weddings, and the Eucharist.” Baptism or Confirmation. It’s not all that surprising that lay leaders offer such a wide diversity of ministries. The Anglican “The licenses are not intended to be hierarchical, and Church of Canada’s Lay Reader Program began none of them are meant to be prerequisites for the others,” more than a century ago, when the dynamics says the Rev. Clara King. “The question is, what ministry or ministries is God calling you to? It may be that you’re between clergy and laity were very different than called to one kind of Licensed Lay Ministry; it may be that today. you’re called to several. At that time, clergy did everything in the “It may be that you’re called to a ministry that you no service; laity didn’t read any Scripture lessons, longer have to have a license for at all, like leading the didn’t lead any prayers and never touched the Prayers of the People. It’s all about the ministry God is chalice or paten. calling you to offer in your community.” † † † Continued on Page 3 2 ISSUE NO. 1 FALL 2018 The Rocky Road to Consistency One of the biggest challenges faced by the Bishop’s Committee On Ministry (BCOM) in designing the LLM Program has been how to honour the different skills and experience that people bring with them – especially the Licensed Lay Readers. “It was one of the toughest problems we wrestled with,” says the CENTURY: From Page 2 Rev. Pilar Gateman, a BCOM member and Regional Dean for the The Licensed Lay Reader Program was High River Deanery. “We spent quite designed to help change this culture, to make “Lay ministry literally months of bi-weekly meetings it more acceptable for laity to be involved in really took on a talking about this issue, because it’s so important to honour the ministry the service. life of its own and people have offered faithfully for so This proposal was made acceptable to blossomed and long while also moving into the the clergy and Bishops by the promise that adapted into no lay people would take leadership in the future.” something that’s service without being rigorously trained and The BCOM identified two much bigger and licensed. It started with reading Scripture prevailing approaches that have been lessons. more important used elsewhere: to “grandfather” in all Now we look back and see that the than they the Licensed Lay Readers into the new Licensed Lay Reader Program has been originally system en masse; or force everyone wildly successful – much more successful imagined.” back to Square 1 as if they were new recruits. But neither of these options than the original founders could ever have — Rev. Clara King imagined. Now, every parish in the Diocese worked for the BCOM when involves lay people in worship, and it’s all compared against people’s lived thanks to the Licensed Lay Reader Program. It is because of the success experience. of the Licensed Lay Reader Program that we now need a new program At the same time, one of the for the next stage of the Church’s life. complaints the BCOM has heard from “Lay ministry really took on a life of its own and blossomed and Licensed Lay Readers and lay leaders adapted into something that’s much bigger and more important than is that everyone in the Diocese they originally imagined,” says the Rev. Clara King, Rural Missioner received different training from each for the Diocese of Calgary and a member of the BCOM. “That makes other, depending on what program the Lay Reader Program a spectacular success. Our goal is to build on was in use under what Bishop. that success – to support, build up and celebrate lay ministry – not to try What was taught under one to undo any of it.” training program was ignored under The BCOM talked to stakeholders across the Diocese informally another, or contested under a third; and through focus groups and surveys. They researched other lay and some folks had no training at all. licensing and training programs, like the Qu’Appelle School of Ministry All this has led to confusion and and the Kootenay School of Ministry. anxiety. The BCOM found that consistency Continued on Page 4 Continued on Page 6 3 ISSUE NO. 1 FALL 2018 CENTURY: From Page 3 Bringing all the information together and “It’s a ‘school’ in the sense that it’s an considering the local conditions here in the Diocese of organization that provides education,” says the Rev. Calgary, they crafted a skeleton of what it could look Bob Mummery, Deacon at Holy Nativity Calgary, like for us to have an excellent program to develop lay who co-chairs the board of the Calgary School for ministries and raise up lay leaders here in this diocese. Mission and Ministry, with the Rev. Clara King. Then Archbishop Greg directed the committee to “Logistical details like where, when and how are still establish the Calgary School for Mission and being worked on, but we certainly plan to use existing Ministry, to put flesh on resources across the these bones and breathe “It’s a ‘school’ in the sense that it’s Diocese as much as life into this vision. an organization that provides possible.” The first step was to education. Logistical details like To that end, the board establish a board, so where, when and how are still being has established three sub- members of the BCOM worked on, but we certainly plan to teams to simultaneously spent several months use existing resources across the Diocese as tackle the three key areas: (1) curriculum/program recruiting a team of much as possible.” Clergy and Laity with a design, (2) logistics, and diverse range of expertise —Rev.

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