2008 Canadian District Synod - Stepping Stones to Our Future

The 2008 Canadian District Synod was held April 25 - 27 at the Millwoods Community Church, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. However, as Synods go, the preparations began a year earlier.

At the first meeting of the Synod Planning Committee, the role of Synod was discussed, and because of various requests, the traditional way of “doing Synod” was evaluated. Often, first time Synod delegates, and regulars for that matter, feel somewhat bewildered by the invariable enactment of legislation following a familiar pattern of memorials, committees, resolutions, debates, and votes. It was recognized that the “wordsmith” of resolutions, first readings, debates, and votes are not only time consuming but can be adversarial.

Planning for the 2008 Canadian District Synod envisioned that a process to determine the agenda would involve the laity and the clergy. Thus, congregational meetings were held asking individual members what it is that concerns them as Moravians in the Canadian District. This resulted in a compiled list of the top concerns which were discussed at area meetings in Calgary and Edmonton and then reformulated into five Core Issues:

• Congregational Growth
• Moravian Identity
• Pastoral Recruitment
• Camp Van Es Programming
• District Programming

These Issues focused the legislative agenda of the 2008 Canadian District Synod.

Friday Opening Worship was highlighted by the inspirational message given by Guest Speaker, the Rev. Maggie Wellert of Sister Bay, Wisconsin. The Rev. David Wickmann, PEC President, opened the first plenary session and introduced Bishop Paul Graf as the Synod Bishop in Residence. Feature/Presentation time was followed by lunch prepared and served by the Millwoods women. Elections began with the Rev. Stephen Gohdes (Christ Church) being re-elected as President on the first ballot. Other elections named District Board members: Pat Wollf (Christ Church), Anne Tyrell (Good Shepherd), Lynne Hennig (Good Shepherd), Kerry Bloomer (Millwoods), and Ryerson Christie (Bruderheim). Marion Perrin (Rio Terrace) was elected as the Canadian Representative to the Board of World Mission and serves as District Board ex officio and Alice Sears (Rio Terrace) as the Camp VanEs Board Chair. Installation occurred at the Saturday evening worship service.

The business of Synod truly started Friday afternoon when Dialogue Groups discussed each of the Core Issues named above. There were six Dialogue Groups: four for lay delegates, one clergy, and one youth. Discussion around each of the five Core Issues was led by a pre-assigned facilitator, and all points made were recorded and will be kept.

Following the Dialogue Group discussions on Friday, each delegate was asked to choose their Core Issue Group of interest. Laity, clergy, and youth were all interspersed in the five groups each dealing with only one Core Issue. A moderator and recorder were assigned to each group. These Core Groups were given their respective Dialogue Group’s list of ideas for input. Now each Core Group was asked to generate ideas and suggestions formulated as Essential Goals that would instruct the District Board for the next four years. However, their final lists were limited to no more than ten points.

Saturday evening each of the Core Groups’ list of goals were presented to all delegates who were then asked to rank the top three on each list. The result of this was tabulated, announced on Sunday morning, and then presented to the President and BECD. It was affirmed with applause, with no debate or vote, and entered into the Synod minutes as the work of the Synod. The process begun last fall was now completed.

Other highlights included the Friday evening “Mission Meal,” a celebration honoring all the work done by the newly formed Mission Society and the work of Chair, Alice Sears. On Saturday the budget was passed without much debate but with some clarifying questions being asked. Meals throughout Synod were deliciously prepared by a crew from Rio Terrace while folks from Millwoods diligently and cheerfully kept the building clean and organized. (It should be noted that they also cleared two feet of snow from the parking lots on Thursday due to untimely but severe snowstorms earlier in the week.) Worship continued throughout Synod and was led by different people with a variety of musical styles to show the diversity even within a small eight congregation District.

Synod adjourned and joined the Millwoods congregation for worship with the Rev. Maggie Wellert preaching and the Rt. Rev. Paul Graf presiding over the Holy Eucharist.

The Canadian District Synod of 2008 was an experiment. A few minor glitches were overcome during this new process of “doing Synod.” Evaluations indicate a high degree of satisfaction with the way Synod met and deliberated, and the Planning Committee will further evaluate the process and present its findings.

Regardless of all that, it must be remembered that the concluding Communion service and the prayer of the planning committee both ended with the familiar “In the name of Jesus. Amen.”

Article by the Rev. Roger Hildebrandt, Planning Committee Member and Pastor, Millwoods Community Church, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.