Back in the early-2000s, a joint initiative between Lutheran and United congregations began in a rural Saskatchewan town of less than 500 people.
Established in September of 2003 following years of church council planning, the Yellow Grass United Lutheran Partnership was born.
Situated roughly one hour southeast of Regina, the shared ministry recently celebrated the milestone of 20 years of working together. It did so with stories, songs and a potluck lunch following a Sunday morning service. The Yellow Grass United Lutheran Partnership is just one of the many exemplary shared ministry partnerships across the ELCIC.
“We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” said Lorry Steer, who serves as the joint council secretary. “I think there needs to be an understanding that you have to give a little and you have to accept a little in these sorts of arrangements. But, you know, we’re all here for the same ending. We all want to worship in our hometown, and we all worship the same God – maybe sometimes a little differently – but it has been a learning experience, and I think we all learned to accept and even celebrate some of our differences.”
Formerly operating as Peace Lutheran Church and Yellow Grass United Church, the two congregations have been physically working together in what was previously the United Church building. Like any partnership, there have been hurdles along the way, but according to Steer, it has been an extremely positive experience.
“It has probably been the best thing that we ever did,” she said. “But it wasn’t an easy go of it, of course. We were having issues with upper administration not fully understanding our relationship. That relationship isn’t United or Lutheran, you know, but rather we’re the United-Lutheran Partnership and we share everything. We ended up opting to go with the United Church building, but we brought over a beautiful statue and a great looking bell from the Lutheran church that we ring every Sunday morning. Everything just kind of amalgamated together, and with it being such a small town, we basically knew each other before, and it has really worked out well for us.”
Coming over to the United Church building with the Lutherans was their subscription to Canada Lutheran – the official magazine of the ELCIC. Over the years, copies of the 36-page publication have been known to find their way to seniors complexes around town – many of which are through subscriptions that the congregation pays for to be delivered to these centres.
Distribution of the magazine throughout the congregation’s community also comes in large part due to ministerial visits. “We have a list of nursing homes where people are from the congregation and past members,” she said. “When people go to visit, they would take some of the materials from the back of the church and bring them there with them. We do this with the United Church materials as well to help them broaden their knowledge and keep a wider perspective of things going on outside.”
“Supplying them with this material goes a long way for some of them,” she said. “Lots of them can’t get themselves out and about, so it is nice to have it brought over. Lots can’t even make it out to church anymore, so I do know that they enjoy having a read. When the materials are brought over, the magazines are some of the first items that go. I’m sure they always enjoy it as it helps keep them in touch with something. Whether or not they were prominent church members, it gets read. Especially if they went to church a lot, they like to know what’s going on in the wider church community.”
Steer says that announcements typically come from the pulpit during worship that new materials – such as the latest issue of the Canada Lutheran – are available for congregation members after the services.
“We have a couple of people that are quite into the outreach part of our ministry who hand-deliver all the promotional material, as we still feel that it’s a very integral part of our worship, while also looking after the community,” she said. “Although this is now the United Lutheran Partnership, we still give to organizations such as Canadian Lutheran World Relief. We still have our Lutheran benevolence, and we do the same with the United Church as well. Our bank accounts are now one, so we are able to support ministries from both faith backgrounds this way.”
Learn more about Canada Lutheran subscription plans here.
*Lorry Steer was heavily involved in the process of amalgamation between the United and Lutheran churches. She has been a member of the committee dating back in the early 2000s, at one point operating as chair. She currently serves as secretary.
