How to Measure Spiritual Vitality

People often ask me: How's it going downtown? My short answer is that things are going well. God is good!

My long answer follows in this e-letter. How's it going downtown? It depends on what you want to know. Churches often speak of attendance numbers and offering totals in order to answer the "How's it going?" question. While those are valid ways to assess where we are, they only tell us so much. In answer to the 'numbers' questions: Sunnyside Downtown people have been giving in such a way that we slightly exceeded budget during the previous quarter. Sunday Downtown worship attendance over the past six months was anywhere between 34 to 82 people, and during the month of September the average number of people in morning worship services was 54. What I see as I look at these numbers is evidence of faithful people giving and gathering in the name of Jesus. I also see future possibility and room to grow.

The numbers tell us a little, but not a lot, about spiritual vitality at Sunnyside Downtown. I think we need better ways to answer the question, "How’s it going downtown?" I recently came across a Leadership Journal article that introduced "a new way to measure spiritual vitality". I approached the article with some suspicion but found it held helpful wisdom to aid us in answering the question "How’s it going downtown?" The article referred to a measurement tool, the APGAR score, used by nurses at 1 and 5 minutes after the birth of a newborn to rate the health of the baby. Having worked as a Registered Nurse, with some experience in labour and delivery, the article resonated with me. Each letter of the word APGAR stands for an aspect of health: Appearance (colour), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace (reflex irritability), Activity (muscle tone), and Respiration (breathing). The baby is assigned a score of 0 (low), 1 (middle), or 2 (high) for each of the five aspects of health. When I had my own children, my first was born 6 weeks early and at 1 minute after birth had an APGAR score of 6. She was whisked away by the nurses for stimulation, warming and suctioning. Soon her APGAR score climbed to 10 out of 10. My ears heard the music of her cry and my eyes saw her skin colour change from bluish to pink. My second child had an APGAR score of 10 from the beginning. He entered the world loud and vigorous and has been talking ever since!

I think Sunnyside Wesleyan Church can agree that we want to see each of our 3 congregations at two locations living as vital, thriving communities of believers. As we consider our newest addition Downtown, my question is this: "What is 6-month-old Sunnyside Downtown’s APGAR score?" The APGAR test has been modified by Pastor Kevin Miller to measure spiritual vitality in the church, based on Acts 2:42-47.
(Miller, Kevin A. (2010). Your Church’s APGAR. Leadership Journal, vol. 31(3), 72-76.)

Apostolic Teaching and Worship ("They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.")

• Little or no devotion to these practises = 0
• Moderate devotion to them = 1
• Strong devotion to them = 2

Power ("Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.")

• Few or no "wonders and miraculous signs" of God at work = 0
• Occasional "wonders and miraculous signs" of God at work = 1
• Many "wonders and miraculous signs" of God at work = 2

Generosity ("All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.")

• People give, but with little sacrifice involved = 0
• People give, with some willingness to sacrifice = 1
• Sacrificial generosity is frequent and characteristic = 2

Association ("Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.")

• Little meeting together and sharing of meals beyond "church services" = 0
• Occasional meeting together and sharing of meals = 1
• Frequent and regular meeting together and sharing of meals = 2

Reproduction ("...praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.")

• Rare or no addition of those who are being saved = 0
• Occasional addition of those who are being saved = 1
• Regular addition of those who are being saved = 2

So, "How is Sunnyside Downtown?" I'd say our "APGAR score" has room to grow. (If I said we were a '10' you'd say I'm lying and you'd be right!) We are alive and we have opportunity to become even more spiritually vital. Our strongest suits are Generosity and Association as defined above - simply put, we love each other well. I think we are still learning about the importance and value of gathering together in worship. We are open to growing experience of the power of God and have seen His movement through weekly fasting and prayer times. We pray that U of O students, people in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood, and those who are poor (in spirit or otherwise) will trust Jesus as Friend and Saviour.

Our hope-full God has even more abundant life in mind for us and I see many individuals in our congregation hungering for the 'more' that He offers. The great news is that it is God's pleasure and desire to respond to our asking and seeking for Him. We are in good hands and we have hope and a future.

Conversations

Let me tell you about some of the conversations that have happened these past four weeks as Sunnyside Downtown discerns how to actively be the presence of Jesus in U of Ottawa, Sandy Hill and the greater downtown area.

As we engage in conversations with some of our neighbours and with one another, we ask God the questions, “What are you up to here? How would you like us to partner with you?”

Conversation #1 happened with Minister Madeleine Meilleur, M.P.P. Ottawa-Vanier, in her Montreal Rd. office. Minister Meilleur affirmed Sandy Hill as a neighbourhood with an active community association, Action Sandy Hill.

This conversation, along with our attendance at Sandy Hill’s AGM, raised the following question: “God, what are you up to in and through the Sandy Hill community association? Is there some way you want us to come alongside you in your work there?” We continue to watch and pray. A member of our congregation, Andrea Hook, lives in Sandy Hill. She is already loving her neighbours in the biblical sense and is keeping her eyes peeled for ways that God might have our congregation do the same.

Conversation #2 happened a few days later with Ward 12 City Councillor Georges Bédard. Mr. Bédard listened to a description of Sunnyside’s work over the past four years in Ukraine alongside street youth and at-risk kids. This caused him to mention some similar work in the City of Ottawa through Operation Come Home. “Hmmm,” I thought as I talked to Mr. Bédard, “God, would you like us to come alongside street youth in our own city and our own language too?”

That led to Conversation #3 with Pastor Brent. He suggested that if we were going to check out the work of Operation Come Home we should also check out how Christian organization, Ottawa Innercity Ministries (OIM), is serving street youth. Based on that conversation I went back to my desk and emailed Jason Pino, youth outreach worker with OIM to set up an appointment.

Conversation #4 happened with some Outreach Catalysts on a Tuesday night at the Highlander on Rideau St. Sunnyside Downtown Outreach Catalysts are people who are interested in discerning over time how God is leading us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. They will play a role in leading our congregation, the Outreach Team, forward in mission.

Conversation #4 included:

• a clear plan to rent a table during U of Ottawa’s initiation week (Sept. 7-17). Joel Windle will set this up. A great way to meet and bless U of O students as they arrive back to school in the fall.
• thoughts about some of the immigrants who live in Sandy Hill. Lord, is there some way down the road that you would have us befriend these people new to our country?
• discussion about Andrea Mrozek leading a social justice small group in the fall. This group will be a forum through which we may further discern how God is leading us. Andrea also raised the question of relationship with U of Ottawa’s women’s centre.

Conversation #5 happened with Jason Pino in the OIM drop-in centre on Bank St. He described OIM’s street outreach work with homeless youth. Their art programme for youth caught my attention. Rather than just engage youth around their living conditions and addictions, the art programme gives opportunity for these young people to express their God-given creativity. Jason spoke of a recent silent auction where the young people were treated with dignity as people viewed and purchased their work. Two of the youth have even come to know Jesus as they engage Christians through the art programme. Jason said that OIM is always interested in finding local churches who will welcome these young people.

As we continue to discern God’s leading, interested Sunnyside Downtown people will be meeting on the steps of Dominion-Chalmers at 7 p.m. Monday, June 14 to attend OIM’s Spring Youth Art Show. We will view art and have conversation with the youth who created it. See www.ottawainnercityministries.ca for more details.

There have been other conversations. For example, I didn’t tell you about what I saw and learned last week at Operation Come Home. But I’ll stop there. I realize that these conversations appear to generate more questions than answers. All of these conversations are bathed in prayer. I believe that God is on the move and He is ordering our steps, even through these conversations.

Seeds

I’ve thought quite a bit about seeds lately. I love when Jesus’ talks about the kingdom of God being like a mustard seed, the smallest seed, when planted in the ground becomes the largest of all garden plants; so big that the birds find place to perch there.

Our developing Downtown congregation and the faith-work we are engaging in, is just like that smallest of seeds. Imagine becoming a kingdom-of-God community where people find themselves at home, at rest, nourished and supported in life.

Last Sunday, we had the privilege of hearing the morning message from Lorna Dueck, former host of 100 Huntley St., Globe and Mail columnist, founder of Listen Up TV. She inspired faith as she reminded our congregation of ancient church stories, where at first, just a few Jesus-followers gathered. But look what God did. In fact you are reading this email right now as one of the people who has been touched by the message of Jesus through the dedicated discipleship of a handful of early believers.

Let me leave you with some news from the past weeks as well as with an invitation to come on down and visit sometime! Here’s some of the news:

• We love the four U of Ottawa employees who offer tech support and set-up for our worship services each week: Pierre, Simon, Denis and Felix. As Pierre said, “Now we go to church on Sundays. It’s a peaceful ‘gig’.”
• An average of 62 people attend downtown services at this point. Eight are new to Sunnyside Wesleyan Church; all eight live downtown.
• Let’s do Lunch - More than 40 people in our congregation dispersed into 8 different homes to share lunch together on April 25.
• An Outreach Catalyst group is forming, people who are discerning how we as an Outreach Team (the whole congregation) will tangibly live as the presence of Jesus in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood.
• I write a weekly e-letter to the Sunnyside Downtown congregation called “Being Downtown”. It talks about our vision and action, and celebrates what God is doing. If you want to receive this weekly e-letter, I wouldn’t say “no”! ? Just email the church office to get on the list office@sunnysidechurch.ca.

Thank you for your interest and prayers. Blessings from Sunnyside Downtown to Sunnyside Grosvenor! Thank you to the whole of Sunnyside Wesleyan for being willing to sow a seed.

Fulfilling our Mission

For months we’ve been talking about becoming a multi-site church. Sunnyside Wesleyan Church is now a multi-site church: one church, two locations. It has happened!

Here are some snapshots of our first two worship services at Sunnyside Downtown in the University of Ottawa Alumni Auditorium. Close your eyes and imagine:

• One-year-old Finn Cain sitting wide-eyed beside a Rubbermaid bin, as the space around him becomes a nursery.
• Tears in the eyes of the man who “heard there was a church” and came in before the service to communicate his need and receive prayer.
• Pastor Brent pulling up the ‘community talk’ chair, encouraging our eyes of faith to ‘see’ the people God will draw to Sunnyside Downtown.
• Men and women kneeling, expressing their need for God at the altar rail. (The altar rail was built using wood from former pews at Sunnyside Grosvenor.)
• "That felt like Sunnyside." (a comment made by a visitor after the April 4 service)

We are called to be the presence of Jesus in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood. Monthly, between now and October, Visions of Multi-site will tell you stories about how Sunnyside Downtown is encountering God’s love, becoming like Jesus, engaging Sandy Hill in the power of the Holy Spirit. We don’t know what the stories are yet, but we know they will be good because God is good!

A New Thing

"Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?"
(Isaiah 43:18, The Message)

These words have struck a chord with me this past week.

There’s a place for remembering the amazing things God has done in the past. But, Isaiah’s instruction to Israel was to not get so hung up telling the old stories that they missed the new ones.

God is doing a new thing in, and even through, Sunnyside Wesleyan Church. God wants to do a new thing in you. “Don’t you see it?”

Yesterday, we "moved in" to U of O campus, everything from bibles, to altar rail, to drum set, to children’s curriculum. Imagine a busy university centre, students milling about. We are worshippers of Jesus in that space! God is doing something brand-new. Don’t you see it?

Some conversations are already happening with individuals and churches that are ministering in Jesus’ name in Sandy Hill area. Who might we end up partnering with to be the presence of Jesus in that neighbourhood? God is doing something brand-new. Don’t you see it?

New things: a fun encounter with a U of O student, interviews with local media, downtown Sunnysiders working and praying together as we prepare to welcome people and teach children Sunday School and participate in worship.

More new things: letters drafted to local leaders with the hope that we can meet and bless and learn from them, hospitality team dreams about fellowship in one another’s homes, the use of creative gifts to transform the Alumni Auditorium into a space that visually inspires worship.

On Sunday, March 28, 10 a.m. (this Sunday!) we will worship together for the very first time at the University of Ottawa Alumni Auditorium in the Jock Turcot University Centre. “God is about to do something brand-new. Don’t you see it?”

For more information, including maps and parking details, please visit Sunnyside’s new website at http://www.sunnysidechurch.ca.

Introducing Our New Worship Pastor

You may remember the generous and unexpected financial gift that came our way in the fall of 2009. That gift made it possible to hire a part-time worship pastor for Sunnyside Downtown. After posting the job description in November, we received eight applications for the position. Interviews were conducted in the month of January.

On February 10, the Sunnyside Board approved the extension of an offer of employment to Joel Windle for part-time (20 hours/week) worship pastor at Sunnyside Downtown. It is our pleasure to announce that Joel accepted the position and will start serving in this capacity on March 1.

Joel is from Brantford, Ontario, where he lived with his parents and older brother. Joel grew up in a Christian home and, over the years, belonged to a Pentecostal, Salvation Army and Community Church, while also attending a Catholic high school. Joel sees those years as the times where a good biblical foundation was built in his life and he learned to “follow God with his head.”

Joel moved to Ottawa five years ago to attend Carleton University. This spring he will complete a degree in Math with a minor in geography. In December 2008, around the same time he started leading worship at Sunnyside, Joel began a pastoral internship that continued until the September 2009. It was during that time that he began to further develop a heart of worship, growing in the realization that worshipping God is not just its own section of Sunday morning but is integral to the whole of life. Joel has been positively affected by the ministry of the Carleton Navigators, first getting involved at the very beginning of his time at Carleton and spending four years on the student leadership team. Within the context of the Navigators Joel has seen himself grow through mutual discipleship and mentoring relationships as well as authentic small groups. One of the biggest things about Joel’s move to Ottawa was that it allowed him the opportunity to continue to move forward in faith and ask the questions his heart wanted to know. Sunnyside and the Navigators have been foundational in encouraging Joel to follow Jesus with his heart.

Last summer Joel went on his first short-term missions trip to Odessa and Kremidovka with the Sunnyside Ukraine team. This enlarged his worldview and caused Joel to think about what he does with his time and his energy. All of these life experiences combine to bring Joel to a point where he is open and excited to serve as worship pastor at Sunnyside Downtown.

Will you pray for Joel, and for the whole Sunnyside staff team, as we continue to make our way toward becoming a multi-site church? As you may know, March 7 is Commissioning Sunday and we will gather for our first worship service at the University of Ottawa Alumni Auditorium on Sunday, March 28 at 10 a.m. The Sandy Hill neighbourhood and beyond will be welcomed to join with us as of Sunday, April 4 (Easter Sunday).

You are part of this adventure as well. I pray God’s blessing on you.

As always, you are welcome to contact me at kronberg@sympatico.ca to talk about multi-site, or anything else!

Who’s Going Downtown?

Just want to let you know that, at present, 43 people have expressed commitment to belong to the Sunnyside Downtown congregation. Worship services will begin Sunday, March 28, 10 a.m. at University of Ottawa, Alumni Auditorium, in the Jock Turcot University Centre.

(Families, please note that there will be Nursery facilities (ages 0-3) and Sunday School classes (JK-gr. 2, gr. 3-5, gr. 6-8) available during each service at Sunnyside Downtown. We will adhere to Sunnyside Wesleyan Church ‘Plan to Protect’ policy. It is our desire that your child experiences all the beauty and benefit of being part of a community experiencing God.)

You are welcome to add yourself to the following list of people who desire to be the presence of Jesus in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood.

Ann Alys B. Louise B. Debbie B. Kyle B. Finn C. Seth C. Kristy S.-C. Chris C. Karen C. Cole D. Nicole D. Megan D. Marc F. Doug H. Andrea H. Greg J. Tim J. Alaina J. Ellen K. Joy K. Anne-Michelle K. Josh K.

Tara K. Kerry K. Matthew K. Paul K. Dan L. Ben M. Matthew M. Lynn M. Andrea M. Theodora N. Kirsten P. Elizabeth P. Richard P. Anita P. Rick P. Ruth R. Andrew S. Dylan S. Valerie S. Jolene T. Allan T.

As always, you are welcome to contact me at kronberg@sympatico.ca to talk about multi-site, or anything else!

We Know Where We’re Going!

I am happy to confirm that as of Sunday, March 28th, our new downtown congregation will worship each Sunday at 10 a.m. in the Alumni Auditorium at the University of Ottawa.

Thank you to our hard-working location team. Chris Charlebois, Elizabeth Potvin, Anne-Michelle Kirkey and Andrea Mrozek spent hours of their time to discern the best downtown location for Sunnyside.

How the Decision was Made

The location team was formed in September 2009. They kept the proposed boundaries in mind (Ottawa River to the north, 417 to the south, Booth St. to the west and Rideau River to the east) and divided that large area into four. The team listed possible rental facilities in those four areas under the following categories: community centres, churches, hotels, theatres, galleries and other (schools, bowling alleys, museums, halls, libraries). In total they examined 85 different locations. Every possible location was contacted by phone and/or in person. Most were visited. In addition, the location team drove around downtown once or twice a week to ensure that they had not missed any possible venues.

Locations were eliminated based on priority criteria established by the Investigative Team in the winter of 2009. By the end of November the possibilities had narrowed to 4 or 5 locations and negotiations over the past 1-1/2 months led to the point of making a confident decision to rent the Alumni Auditorium at University of Ottawa.

The Up-sides of the Decision

• The Alumni Auditorium, located in the Jock Turcot University Centre, is clean, well lit and has a seating capacity of 297.
• It is located in Sandy Hill, a neighbourhood with both demographic and socioeconomic diversity, bordered to the west by the Rideau Canal and on the east by the Rideau River. Rideau Street and the ByWard Market neighbourhood are to the north and the Queensway and Nicolas Street to the south.
• A U of O technician will set up and run lighting, sound system, PowerPoint and some other equipment each week. That’s a great help.
• Two small rooms and one large room are available for Sunday School and nursery. There are other possible spaces as children’s ministry expands.
• The facility falls within our weekly rental budget of $500/week.
• Public transit is excellent as there is a transitway stop right at the university campus.
• For those of you who like the idea of gathering for brunch after church, the “Jazzy” restaurant is upstairs and serves brunch from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The Down-sides of the Decision

• Parking is limited. (Thankfully, Sunnysiders are already familiar with this challenge.) The university is partnering with us to make parking available to a limited number of people in the nearby underground garage. Beyond that there are also free parking spaces on side streets 2-4 blocks away. We will be creating detailed maps and instructions about this in the next few weeks.
• We will not have access to a kitchen. (However, besides Jazzy Restaurant, the university centre food court is also upstairs.) Hospitality is a high value within our downtown congregation so we will find ways to exercise this gift, maybe in each other’s homes.
• The two Sundays around Christmas and New Year’s are not available for rental. The up side to this is that it allows for Sunnyside Grosvenor and Sunnyside Downtown to worship together (at the Grosvenor location) for Christmas Eve and Christmas Season services.

Are you coming to launch team lunch on Sunday?

Please consider whether you will continue to worship at Sunnyside Grosvenor or make your way to Sunnyside Downtown in 9 weeks. Either way it’s all Sunnyside Wesleyan Church! Please RSVP kronberg@sympatico.ca today if you are coming to the next launch team meeting and lunch, on Sunday, January 24 at 12:45 p.m. in the church basement. You will meet Sunnyside Downtown people, hear about and pray for our next directions, and enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by Ellen Kelly and team.