The little church that could

by Ana Watts

A host of New Brunswick Anglicans, including Bishop Claude Miller, joined the small but mighty congregation of St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church on Palm Sunday to dedicate a new place of worship and celebrate the completion of 45 safe, comfortable, accessible and affordable apartments for seniors.

“This project is a lesson for us all,” Bishop Miller told the large crowd gathered at Luther Place on Regent Street in Fredericton. “This small congregation, with limited resources has done profound work. This kind of ministry should be duplicated by the whole church, not just Lutherans and Anglicans.”

The St. Matthew congregation numbers about 20 souls “on a very good Sunday” according to member Susan Patterson.

“We are the little church that could,” says Roseanna Rudolph, the church council chair. “With the support of every single member of our congregation, we achieved what we set out to do last year.”

The congregation was established as a mission in Fredericton in 1961. Construction of a church on three acres of land on Regent Street began in 1966 and was completed in 1967. In the 1970s a nursery school and kindergarten that welcomed physically handicapped children were established in the building and operated until 1999. The congregation remained a mission church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) but that did not inhibit their own mission outreach. During the 1980s and 1990s “some thought was given to an affordable housing project, but neither the opportunity nor the funding presented itself” according to a brief history of the church included in the bulletin for the Palm Sunday service of dedication.

The congregation enjoyed the guidance of an ordained pastor for many years. In 1998, however, a lay pastor was appointed. In 2000 Canon Tom Smith, a retired Anglican cleric, assumed a sacramental ministry with the church. Later Canon James Irvine, also a retired Anglican priest, joined Canon Smith and they alternated Sunday services.

In 2001, following years of study and discussion, the ELCIC and the Anglican Church of Canada caught up with the Lutherans and Anglicans in Fredericton and declared “full communion.” In 2004 they jointly called upon on all levels of government to create 25,000 units of affordable housing annually. That same year the little Lutheran Church building on Regent Street was found to be in serious need of very expensive repairs that the congregation considered unreasonable because of the building’s limited use.

With government support for the construction of affordable housing and an old church at the end of its life, the St. Matthew congregation decided to redevelop their Regent Street site and build a more suitable facility that would meet a pressing social need for affordable housing as well as provide a new place of worship. Lutherplace Apartments Inc. was established as a non-profit housing corporation and began to plan the 45-unit building with a common area. That common area is a chapel for the congregation of St. Matthew. A folding door can close off the end of the room where the altar, pulpit, organ and other worship accessories are located, leaving a large open space with kitchen facilities for general use.

Construction of Luther Place began in March 2008 and finished in March 2009.

During construction, the congregation worshipped at the Anglican Christ Church (Parish) Church and Canons Smith and Irvine continued to provide sacramental ministry. Our Bishop Miller and Bishop Michael Pryse of the Eastern Synod of ELCIC met at the House of Bishops and Bishop Miller was invited to attend the opening and celebrate the Eucharist using the liturgy from the Lutheran Book of Worship.

The many Anglicans in the congregation — including Keith Joyce, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral; the Rev. Anthony Kwaw, rector of Christ Church (Parish) Church; the Rev. Bruce McKenna, rector of the Parish of New Maryland and Regional Dean of Fredericton; many members of the Parish Church congregation, several of whom live in a seniors affordable housing complex constructed by the Parish Church — found the service very familiar indeed.

Other people in the community also attended the service in the bright, open and welcoming chapel, including several of the residents of the apartment complex, and they were assured time and time again that they are always welcome.

Bishop Pryse compared the successful completion of such a large project by such a small congregation to a stunning concert played by master violinist Itzhak Perlman when one of the four strings of his violin broke. He improvised brilliantly. “It is an artist’s task to find out how much music you can make with what you have. That Perlman concert was perhaps more beautiful, sacred and memorable than any other. You, the people of St. Matthew, knew what strings were broken for you. You met the challenges because your foundation is strong. This home is bricks and mortar, a reminder that Christ is faithful. It is a gift to the community, a symbol of your faithfulness.”

Luther Place not only inspired the St. Matthew congregation, Bishop Pryse, Bishop Miller and the people of Fredericton, it also inspired Pastor Douglas Moore of Nova Scotia. “He was so moved he felt a calling,” says Ms. Rudolph. “Now we have a new building, a new pastor, and a renewed commitment to serve God and the needs of our community.”

Pastor Moore will join St. Matthew in June.

 

Diocesan Communications
07 April 2009