By Lloyd Mackey

THAT picturesque inverted-V of a church, toward the top of Victoria’s Fort Street hill and across from Central Middle School, has been a place of celebration the last few months, focused on the theme of ‘100 Years of Grace.’

Brenda Nestergaard Paul – Grace Lutheran Church’s pastor since 2006, when she moved here from Saskatchewan – speaks of the church’s past century as a process of growing as a “grace” community, as well as being aware of the community around the church.

As a part of the Downtown Churches Association, Nestergaard Paul says Grace’s linkages with churches such as St. John the Divine Anglican and the Our Place ministry, help to nurture awareness of the challenges of urban ministry.

Grace is able to provide support to St. John’s food bank program, for example. Further, the church’s sign and the presence, across the street, of Central Middle School, help to keep church and community connected.

The sign has brief statements about faith and life, and is changed weekly. “We are always hearing from people throughout the city who have read the sign” as they drive by on the busy thoroughfare.

The rapport with Central School is pretty special, too, she says.  “It is a long-standing relationship, that has deepened and grown. It happens when leadership in the school and church find straightforward ways of working together.

“We try to help meet the needs of kids falling through the cracks.” One small but significant example is the practice of supplying granola bars “to young people who arrive at school not having had breakfast.”

At the music and arts level, as well, the church-school linkage is robust.  “Many of our people are blessed with theatrical and musical backgrounds. When the idea was raised by some of them to help put on a musical with Central students, the principal jumped at the idea,” Nestergaard Paul recalls.

The musical will portray the stewardship of creation. It is a good fit, says the pastor, because the school is involved in environmental issues.  

Regarding the start of the next 100 years of Grace, Nestergaard Paul observes: “It’s exciting that we are not looking back, but forward . . . recognizing we are on God’s mission, because it is God’s church.”

But what of the past? Here it is, briefly:

On December 6, 1909, some 15 mostly northern European immigrants met to organize what is now Grace Lutheran Church. Between then and June, 1911, when the church’s first edifice was completed, they met variously in a tent and rented halls. The church, built for $6,000, was at Queens and Blanshard.

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Then came a setback. According to the church’s historical account: “For a time during World War I, the work of the congregation, including worship, was discontinued entirely . . . Feeling against the German people was especially strong in Victoria.”

The move from Blanshard to Fort Street began in 1953, with the sale of the 1911 church and acquisition of the highly-visible Fort property. The first unit of the new church was dedicated in 1957. The present sanctuary was built in 1970–1, during the pastorate of David Metzger. A pipe organ was installed in 1972.

A team ministry in the 80s, involving Jack Larson and Greg Barker, provided the church with a good deal of outreach into the community – some of it modeled on the Willow Creek seeker-sensitive ministry model out of the Chicago area. Such was the impact that the congregation briefly considered becoming a nondenominational community church, rather than remaining Lutheran.

The decision was to stay Lutheran. And, under Ron Bjorgan’s early 2000s pastorate, his skills helped encourage that decision, without becoming isolated from the rest of the community. Today’s congregation is quite diverse, Nestergaard Paul notes. “Only one third would come from [a Lutheran] background.”

Pastor Brenda, it should be noted, is not only lead pastor but part of a husband-and-wife pastoral team. Her husband, Ian Nestergaard Paul, splits his time between the chaplaincy of a seniors residence, Luther Court, and co-ordinating children’s ministries at Grace.

January 2010