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By Steve Weatherbe
THE worldwide schism plaguing the Anglican church,
sparked by debates over homosexuality, has taken a toll on many
congregations.
The tumultuous departure of the majority of the St.
Mary’s Metchosin congregation from the Anglican Church of Canada
(ACC) in February created a situation akin to the aftermath of a divorce
– with hurt feelings, depression and relief all intermingled.
 | Two sides of a coin: Larry Seyner (above), new priest at St. Mary's Metchosin; and Bud Boomer, one of 130 people who left the church. |
So the surviving congregation at St. Mary’s
probably couldn’t have done much better for their new priest than the
Rev. Dr. Larry Scyner – a retired family therapist and personal
counsellor.
“There is shock, disappointment, a real sense of
loss,” reports Scyner. “But above all, there is relief.”
Scyner, something of a troubleshooter for the
Victoria-based Diocese of British Columbia, says the split left about 30 in
the parish, and half a dozen have joined since it occurred – people
who had left in the past few years, because of the policies of the majority
and the leadership.
“My job is to help them move from loss, sadness
and depression to someplace a little healthier. The sad part is the
fracturing into two groups of the community. And it has extended into the
larger community of Metchosin. People don’t know how to approach
people on the other side of the split, how to invite them over to
coffee.” He doesn’t know if the wounds will ever heal.
Some members of the congregation have gay children,
some dying of AIDS – and these people felt they were getting little
support from the majority, says Scyner.
The surviving congregation falls well short of the 100
families which the diocese believes is needed for a self-sustaining parish.
Scyner says the congregants know they have to face the alternatives soon
– but have consciously put that off while they pull themselves
together spiritually and emotionally. “They are planning to
plan,” but not now.
The decrease in numbers has meant the abandonment of
the annual Blackberry Festival fundraiser.
“We can’t do everything we used to
do,” says lifelong member Isobel Tipton. However, the congregation
has decided to carry on with a monthly free meal for seniors.
The future for St. Mary’s is far from bleak. The
population of Metchosin is starting to grow; and the remaining congregants,
strengthened by their experience, are determined to carry on. Many, says
Scyner, can trace their membership back several generations in the
150-year-old parish.
Tipton, whose grandparents were married in the
parish’s original church – still standing and occasionally in
use – says the atmosphere in the church has much improved
because of the split. “It’s the relief that it’s
settled.”
The alternatives are amalgamation (which Scyner says is
a no-go), team ministry (with administration and clergy shared with
neighbouring parishes), or carrying on independently, with part-time clergy
as now.
“I don’t think we’ll
disappear,” says Tipton. “I think we’ll get things going.
Already people have come back, and more have promised to. People are
looking forward to going to church again. I used to get so angry at church,
I would threaten to join the Unitarians.”
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Meanwhile, a few miles to the east at Lighthouse
Christian Academy, the majority who left the ACC over the same-sex marriage
issue are “doing very well,” reports layman and 35-year St.
Mary’s member Bud Boomer.
The re-formed group, calling itself St. Mary’s
Open Gate, claims 130 members – and actually grew over the summer.
“It surprised us,” admits Boomer,
“because attendance usually falls off” during the summer
months. He attributes the new group’s adherence to scriptures as a
key reason the new people were attracted to the congregation.
Boomer says the new group, which is affiliated with the
larger group of like-minded congregations called the Anglican Network,
comprises largely the younger members of the original congregation –
attracted by the charismatic style and modern worship forms introduced when
the parish was inspired by the charismatic renewal in Anglicanism 34 years
ago.
The people drawn to the parish subsequently came
largely from non-Anglican backgrounds, says Boomer – perhaps
explaining their willingness to break from the Canadian organization.
Long-time pastor Sharon Hayton and assistant pastor
Andrew Hewlett have stayed with the majority, moving with them to the
Lighthouse facility.
Boomer says the clean break has “absolutely
improved things. We don’t need to talk about the issues that led to
the break. We can just move on.”
Boomer affirms that “We still love the people
back at St. Mary’s Metchosin. We hope that they flourish, and the
church is used for the purpose it was built for.”
The building, and the land it sits on, is indeed a sore
point: just 17 years old, and completely paid for, the property now rests
with the owner of record, the Diocese of British Columbia. Appeals of
similar court decisions across Canada are still pending. They are based on
the claim that the larger church organization does not actually own such
properties, but merely holds them in trust for the congregation.
St. Mary’s Open Gate isn’t holding its
breath, says Boomer, but is planning community outreach in its new home, in
a much more populous part of the Capital Region.
Hewlett says the congregation “can see
God’s hand” in the forced move, though most if not all are sad
to leave the church they worked so hard to pay for. “But church is
people, not a building,” he says.
The church’s new location, within a thriving
Christian school and the community of Langford – which is growing
much faster than Metchosin – clearly offers fresh opportunities for
evangelization, says Hewlett.
“We were always strong on foreign missions,
“ he adds. “Here we have an opportunity for evangelism right on
our doorstep. We already have our Alpha courses. Now we will be looking for
new ways of pounding the pavement.”
October 2008
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