In June, delegates from the six Moravian congregations that make up the Moravian Church in Canada, met at Millwoods Moravian Church in Edmonton for their 2024 Synod. And this year, the Canadian District took a different tack by re-imagining how a synod could function.
Bishop Amy Gohdes-Luhman installs the new Board of Elders Canadian District: Jeff Pratt, Brandon Salyzyn, Jamie Almquist, Aaron Linville and Dave Jones.
Like most district synods, during the three-day gathering chaired by Ricky Santee, provincial chancellor for the Northern Province, delegates heard from ecumenical partners, provincial leaders and the Rt. Rev. Amy Gohdes-Luhman, synod chaplain. District President Dave Jones provided a state of the church address, outlining some of the challenges and hopes for the church in Canada. And each day featured meaningful, musical worship, plenty of discussion time over meals, and opportunities to discern the future of the Canadian district.
But while the usual work of a synod —elections, receiving reports, passing legislation—were undertaken by Canadian delegates, the bulk of their time was spent in training and conversation.
Through a program led by the Rev. Zach Dease, a Southern Province Moravian pastor, delegates learned new ways to connect to their communities using story mining and asset mapping. While these sound like high-level concepts, Zach shared that understanding what makes church life meaningful and the assets a congregation has to help bring that meaning are critical to a congregation’s success.
Zach Dease works with a discussion group.
In mixed discussion groups, delegates sought to answer four questions:
- What is the most meaningful event that has happened to you in the church?
- What is or are the core values in that meaningful event?
- What assets were needed to make those significant events and their core values come to pass?
- What are the needs you see in the community…and what can people do to help?
“Through the four-step process of storytelling and deepening, we worked to create asset maps of the things within our congregations that are available to us as we think about doing ministry together,” said Jamie Almquist, pastor of Good Shepherd Moravian in Calgary. “The intention of this process was to allow delegates to return to their churches with a tool and process to work through together as they reimagine ministry in their contexts. We hope that doing this work together at synod will get the creative juices flowing for the churches in our District.”
Synod legislation
During this Synod, delegates discussed and legislated on the needs of the Canadian District. They received reports from the district’s commissions and organizations, addressed the needs of
Lynne Hennig and Megan Bedford discuss Camp VanEs during Synod.
Camp Van-Es, reviewed and passed financial reports and budgets, and more. They also passed legislation requesting provincial action on electing a bishop that would provide a closer connection to the Canandian congregations and propose Synod voice and vote rights to full communion ecumenical partners in future Synods.
Completing a very important aspect of district synods, delegates elected new leadership for the coming four years. Br. David Jones was re-elected as the President of the Board of Elders Canadian District (BECD), after serving for the past three years in that role. Other members of the BECD elected at this Synod include: Jeff Pratt from Christ Moravian Church in Calgary; Brandon Salyzyn from Millwoods Community Church in Edmonton; Rev. Jamie Almquist from Good Shepherd Church in Calgary; and Rev. Aaron Linville from Millwoods Community Church in Edmonton.
The newly elected BECD will oversee the boards and institutions of the Canadian District, supervise pastoral changes, manage district funding, advise congregations and extend the work of the Church within the district. They will serve through the Synod of 2028. During closing worship, the incoming BECD was installed by Bishop Gohdes-Luhman.
Being in Edmonton during the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs added a touch of color to this year’s Synod, too. As the Edmonton Oilers were in the finals (alas, they were defeated by the Florida Panthers after synod concluded), hometown pride was very evident. Many delegates and guests were festooned in Oilers gear, including the Northern Province PEC President Dave Bennett, who served his first years in ministry in Canada.
