The tea-group: a fresh ministry serving the elderly out of St. David's, Edmonton

It seems that all parishes everywhere cry out for more youth ministry, believing that if only they can get the young people in, they'll be alright.  However, many parishes and ministers forget that there is still need among the elders of our communities, and that reaching out to those elders in creative ways can bring comfort and hope into the lives of many of our elderly, and those who support them.  The Rev. Cameron Burns, and the people of St. David's Anglican Church, Edmonton, have not forgotten the elderly, and have expressed their care for them in a fresh take on the church-basement tea.  Read on for more...

It seems that in conversations around Mission and new ministry, two groups are most often left out: rural communities and the elderly.  Similarly, smaller parishes looking to explore new directions of ministry and service tend to default to children and youth ministries.  However, under the leadership of the Rev. Cameron Burns, St. David's Anglican Church, Edmonton, are also exploring how they might serve the elders of their community, starting first with those affiliated with the parish, and now beginning to reach out to the elderly in the broader community.

One of the key principles of shaping a congregation for mission, is to realize that for many in our society, the regular Sunday service is impossible.  There are many reasons for this, and there are many groups affected by these reasons.  A key group for whom regular Sunday service is difficult or impossible is the elderly, and those who are shut-in for health reasons.  Early in his ministry at St. David's, the Rev. Cameron Burns realized that many of this group were desperately missing the community of the church, as well as the church building itself, and the worship that happens there.  After slowly testing the waters to make sure that there would be support among parishioners, Cameron began inviting the elderly and shut-in members associated with the congregation to a monthly tea.  It was an immediate hit.  Those who participated rejoiced in being in their church once again, and greatly enjoyed re-acquainting with their friends.  And they were overwhelmed by the fact that the tea and the scones were prepared for them by their priest, himself.

Within a few months of this, it became clear to Rev. Cameron, and the volunteers, that the tea group was a success, but that the participants still desired to worship together.  Responding to this desire, a communion service was added to the afternoon's experience, immediately before the tea itself.  Now, in many missional church endeavours, it is a kind of shibboleth to ensure that the worship involved is dramatically different from traditional worship patterns.  However, St. David's wisely understood that it was those very traditional worship patterns that were being missed by the participants of the afternoon tea group, and so they have carefully ensured that the shape of the communion service is very much what the members have known for many years - familiar, comforting, and encouraging.

The nutshell...

What happens...

The first Wednesday of every month, volunteers help first by agreeing to pick-up and drop-off participants at their homes, lodges, and care facilities.  Other volunteers also assist by helping set up tables, and utensils, and what-not for the tea following the service.  Rev. Burns prepares the scones, and gets them ready for baking.  He is also responsible for preparing for the service (including a sermon - the one I heard was excellent).

The participants gather in the church, and in traditional Anglican fashion, sit as far away from the front as they can while still being polite.  Following the service, the participants make their way downstairs where chairs are arranged around a single large table in the centre of the room, and hot tea is prepared and scones are baking.  While they enjoy the tasty comestibles, they engage in conversation - sometimes one on one, and sometimes the conversation is directed around a theme.  After all have partaken with joy, volunteers are prepared to take everyone home and to help with final cleanup.

It sounds very simple, but it has become a significant part of many people's lives, and experience of community and worship.

Who comes...

Participants are mostly members of the St. David's congregation.  Some have been attending for as many as 50 years, while the least experienced member has been there for only 7 months (more on her in a moment).  However, on the day that I attended, some unknown person had put up a poster in a lodge where two ladies of another parish lived, and were enticed to come.  The group is predominantly white women over the age of 70, primary exceptions being the volunteers.  Many of the participants are still fairly mobile, which is necessary as there is no elevator or ramp to the basement where the tea is served.

What next...

There are plans beginning to explore how St. David's might further serve the aging demographic in their area.  During the past year, the program has been run in a quasi-pilot fashion, focusing primarily upon those elderly members known to the congregation.  In the year to come, the plan is to extend that reach to the elderly in the broader community, inviting members of local senior’s lodges, and other associations for the elderly directly.  There is also the hope to partner with the local library to offer book study and reading groups for seniors in the neighbourhood.  Conversations have also begun with the nearby L’Arche community to see how their constituents might be welcomed into the tea group's activities as well.  It is impressive to see how St. David's and Rev. Burns are thinking missionally in this area.  Rather than focussing only inward in their efforts, there is the constant desire to look out, and to serve as many of the elderly in the wider community as possible.

Is it a fresh expression of church...

I believe that what has begun at St. David's is truly moving to become a 'fresh expression of church'.  But wait, you might cry, how is this fresh if its a traditional communion service in a traditional church building, offering traditional church tea?  What makes this expression fresh is both it's missional focus, and origin.

Fresh expressions of church are called fresh because they are created to serve the needs of those for whom the inherited model of church (the way we've always done things) just doesn't work for them.  Here we have a situation where a significant group of people were no longer being served by the traditional Sunday morning service.  Fresh expressions seem mostly to begin around a need, or a mission.  Here we see a need among the elderly for fellowship, and to re-acquaint with old friends and their old church.  The people of St. David's reached out in mission to fulfill that need, and in time, the second phase of the development of a fresh expression began - community.  First they reached out in mission to serve a need, then a community began to form around their missional response.  In time, the community, of its own accord, began to desire worship together, which is the third phase of the development of a fresh expression.  The pattern is this:

Mission → Community → Worship 

A need is recognized, and is begun to be met through mission.  A community is formed around the meeting of that need, and to support the missional activity.  The community that is serving in mission, and being served in mission, discern appropriate worship to help sustain the community in mission.  This is the text-book flow of the development of a fresh expression of church.  And this is precisely what has happened at St. David's.  The joy of this is that no one decided "today I will start a Fresh Expression of Church."  Without knowing the language, Rev. Burns and the people of St. David's instinctively and effectively responded to a need missionally, and so was born a fresh expression of church.  In the end, it doesn't matter if the constituent parts of the fresh expression is actually novel.  What matters most is that they are genuine and missional responses to the need of a given community.  In this case, the need was best met not with novelty, but with tradition with a twist.  That twist is that it came out of the community, for the community, and was not imposed by the leadership upon the members.

Is it changing lives...

Church should be transformative.  It should change lives.  If the tea group at St. David's is becoming Church, then we should see transformation in the lives of its members.  Is that happening?  Well, while I was there, I asked to interview two ladies, Marilyn Andressen, 78, and Colleen Banks, 83.  Both are relative new-comers to St. Davids, with Colleen having been a member for 7 years, and Marilyn a member for 7 months.

During the interview, I asked the ladies whether or not their membership in the tea group had had an impact upon their lives.  They could hardly hold back their enthusiasm.  Marilyn relayed a story of how she had never felt welcomed at the large church she used to attend, "But here," she said, "the people are so heart-warming and friendly."  This sentence became the theme for our conversation - I could not count how often both the ladies mentioned the warmth, friendliness and affection with which they were received at St. David's in general, and how this was so clearly exemplified in the tea group.  Colleen began to cry as she told me how she felt about the efforts Rev. Burns went to to cook for them, and welcome them, "The priest does the cooking!  What he does is so overwhelming...."  Marilyn added to this, "I tell my friends that our priest cooks for us, and they can hardly believe it!"

When asked if groups like this for older people are important, they told me that many older people feel alone, and have nobody, needing attention and kindness, and what is happening at St. David’s fulfills that need.  Colleen added, "These groups help me to get out of myself," meaning that they help her to not only live within her own mind and life, but to share life and ideas with others.

The welcome and fellowship that these two ladies have found in the tea group, and the way in which they are being served by the clergy and people of the parish, has clearly made a significant difference in their lives, both of whom identify the people with whom they gather as their "church family."

Danger signs...

The tea group is still new, and growing.  With continued support from the parish of St. David's and a continued desire to reach out to older people missionally, I have no doubt, and indeed expect to see, that this ministry will continue to grow in health and impact among older people in the parish and beyond.  However, there is the appearance that the driving force is the priest, and I do worry that should Rev. Burns for some reason be unable to continue his own efforts for the tea group, that it would likely cease to continue.  My feeling is, and truly this is only a feeling, that there is no other person or group as committed to this ministry as Rev. Burns.  It is important then, for stability, and sustainability, for the leadership and volunteers of the tea group to begin considering how the ministry could move forward, even should Rev. Burns no longer be able to serve as he has been.  It seems to me that this is an important and inspiring mission, and truly deserves every possible support for sustainability.

Conclusion

The tea group at St. David's is an exciting and inspiring endeavour in both shaping an existing parish for mission, and in the formation of an effective and transformative fresh expression of church.  When good welcome and fellowship, meets good food and good worship, what is served up is a life changing experience of Church.  St. David's has done a commendable work in reaching out to an often overlooked group of people by serving the elderly of their community in mission.  I can't wait to see how the tea group continues to grow and to serve older people in Edmonton.

Addendum

After reading the above, Rev. Burns sent the following comment regarding the thought process in the tea group which I thought helpful.  With his permission, I've added it here:

"I definitely think that the tea group is an example of responding before thinking (from an explicitly missional point of view), and I think that what has helped me to move in a missional way about it has been to consider the universal inherent in the particular.  For example, the particular sensed need ("seniors in our parish have trouble attending church and are feeling left out") is really only one particular manifestation of the universal ("as our bodies are limited, so is our ability to participate in creation").  That's why the community piece is so important; I mean, one way that we could have responded was just to send me out more often to bring communion to people, or to try to tack on an extra service here and there, which are kind of the standard responses.  But considering the universal allows you to say, "Wait a minute...it's not just that they miss church and friends on Sunday....this is something they struggle with everyday."  Then, your response is shaped into something more like, "What does the gospel of Christ have to say to that struggle?"  You realize that you need to create a place where the gospel speaks directly to that struggle, in all of its complexity.  Responding to the universal by targeting the particular is what popped the idea of simple, relaxing tea growing into community, worship, study, prayer, support, hope, etc. into my head in the first place.  It meant that I knew we had to start with a simple community gathering, and to let the other components come in their due time.  As well, it kind of guides my thinking and planning for the future of said group."

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