PREACHING A CHURCH BACK TO LIFE

Do n n a Wi l s o n

In 2000, I answered the call God had placed on my heart to go to seminary. My family packed up and went to Saskatchewan as I studied at Briercrest Seminary. Those were not easy years, and at times, answering God’s call had a high cost. This included uprooting our family, changing jobs, and moving far from extended family members. But during those lean times, our family witnessed God’s kindness and provision when gas and food money were short for our family of four. These short years also shaped us in other ways—through the study of the Word and through enriching relationships with fellow students and inspiring professors.

When our time at Briercrest ended, we were eager to move home to Ontario and reconnect with our family and church family. We loaded our few belongings into an eight

foot U-Haul trailer and travelled 2,000 km home. However, our homecoming was different than I expected. We arrived home with our precious children, including a sixweek-old, to learn my father had suddenly passed away four hours earlier.

Our return home from seminary now brought a weight of loss and grief. The following months held times of sorrow, testing, and silence, which was followed by a time of healing as God carried us though this time of relocation and family adjustment. Meanwhile, I continued my studies and a pastoral internship to receive a master of divinity degree, and two years later, we were asked to consider a small pastorate. Our district superintendent met with me, my husband, and a pastor who led two congregations near us. One of these congregations was a restart church with declining membership. The minister told us he wanted to continue to serve his congregation full-time and had been praying for another pastor to succeed him at his second charge, the restart church. Even though the congregation was small and had been on the decline for several years, I listened to the proposal with anticipation, excited about the possibility of leading my first charge as a pastor.

We moved into the small church’s attached parsonage. I was grateful for the opportunity but was filled with a sense of inadequacy knowing the district desired this little church to experience revitalization. It longed for the faithful members in Collingwood, Ontario, to hear and respond to the preached Word of God, experience a personal transformation through Jesus, and be consumed by the infilling power of the Holy Spirit.

The church had flourished in the past, so the reality of a declining attendance and dwindling offerings had discouraged the remnant. Through this time, the core stood firm, immovable, and bonded by deep roots, tight relationships, and a determination to keep the doors open. In such a time, my family and I arrived to work alongside them. The sanctuary, built in the late 1970s, was decorated with hanging chandeliers and orange commercial carpet. On Sunday afternoons, the room would fill with life as a small group of believers gathered for worship. Then, after the last person went out the door, an ominous silence filled it throughout the week.

Only God could provide the hope needed to restore this ministry. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you

We said “yes” to the appointment, and as we arose from our meeting with the district superintendent, we felt confident the Lord was leading us, our footing felt sure, and our desire to be faithful was strong.

I now anticipated the new reality of preaching. I had longed for this opportunity, knowing its significance in shaping the people of God. Yet at the same time, inwardly, I questioned God, especially since we were being appointed to a church close to home. If, as believers, we are sent people, why was God sending us “home”? If God had chosen me as His vessel to lead this little church, what would He ask me to do? If God was asking me to speak His Word, what would He ask me to share?

with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

These precious words brought me comfort, and they spurred me to lean into the Lord and listen for a fresh Word from Him. I understood in profound clarity that I could not conjure up hope; I could only trust that the Lord would provide.

Although trained vocationally for the ministry, I had arrived at this church broken and still recovering from the loss of my father. On weekdays, as I faced the empty sanctuary, I did not feel as if I had anything left to give. I did not have the energy to try to stir up vigor in others or to create synergy among tired

workers or to develop new programs. After a few months, although I loved the people and I knew God had led us to this place, I was quickly becoming emotionally depleted.

As I began to doubt this ministry where the Lord had placed me, the Lord gave me a vision of many people streaming through the hallway and into the sanctuary. Instead of our attendance of 18 people scattered throughout the sanctuary, I pictured the sanctuary being full.

This was certainly not our reality, but I believed the Lord had spoken and was perhaps asking me to lead this congregation as if the sanctuary were full. This changed my perspective on how I prepared for services. It changed how I crafted sermons and how I approached the pulpit on Sundays. It strengthened my prayer life.

I looked to God as I served our small congregation, and I believed that He would provide direction for the worship services as I sought His presence. I grew confident that God would speak to the people and stir up something new because He was truly present. I began to feel a sense of relief, knowing the renewal did not have to come from me. The people themselves could learn to anticipate and know the power of the Holy Spirit and experience their own spiritual revival.

I thought about the development of the early church of the first century. Could telling the stories of God working on behalf of the biblical apostles and the first believers help our congregation reimagine hope? I began preaching through the book of Acts over a year and a half. During this time, we also watched a visual presentation of the applicable scriptural passage each week. We could see and trust that God’s Spirit was active in the midst of His people, and we had a renewed sense that only He could breathe new life into us.

I witnessed our small core of leaders renew their faith and trust in Jesus. I now had full assurance Jesus would fill them, just as when Jesus filled his disciples after

His death and resurrection, “and with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). The individuals in our congregation were increasingly ready to experience renewal, both in their personal lives and in the church’s ministry.

When I started at the church, the weekly service had been on Sunday afternoons. We rescheduled that to the mornings and continued to encounter a living God, who cared for broken hearts and tired souls, and our worship services offered a newness in spirit that could only have come from Him. We experienced new hope through the inspired Word of God, which increased our ability to see the needs around us. Through our new lens, we began to envision a fresh ministry growing out of the older one that had been established a century earlier.

With our hope restored, we began making new connections in our neighborhood, believing God was doing something new in us and that He could do something new in the people around us, too. God could transform our community. We leaned on the promise of Ephesians 3:20–21, “Now to him who is ableto do immeasurably more than all we askor imagine, according to his powerthat is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Thankfully, God used the challenging experiences of those past years as building blocks to help us grow in faith and depend on Him to preach a church back to life.

DONNA WILSON is pastor of Erie Street Community Church of the Nazarene in Collingwood, Ontario. She is the Ambrose/ Canada representative for Nazarene Women Clergy Council USA/Canada and serves the Canada Central District on the Board of Ministry and MDC program, the district camping board, and the district Nazarene Missions International. Locally, she serves on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity and other community organizations.