A group of local pastors is looking to establish itself better as a fixture in our society by becoming a society unto itself.
The St. Albert Christian Ministerial – an association of approximately a dozen of the city’s churches that originally formed a few years ago around social justice causes – is in the process of making a formal application to the government to become a registered society. It’s all in the interest of improving St. Albert for everyone.
“I think what it will do is it will give us more focus,” explained Rev. David Wulkan of Christ Community Church and the chair of the ministerial.
He said the association already is involved with the Community Village and regular events like the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast and Easter service, some of which raise money for the food bank. The group wants to do more.
“We’ve talked about affordable housing before. We’re presently involved in the conversation around temporary foreign workers and how we might be able to help those folks in our city. It’s a chance for us to network and find a way to partner.”
They are also interested in the work of the hospice steering committee to establish more palliative care services in the city.
“We’ve also started a conversation regarding the truth and reconciliation commission, how we might be a part of that process or commemorating that in our city. Right now, we have a lot of things percolating,” Wulkan said.
Pastor Peter Kim of the Salvation Army church added that becoming a society would also better establish what the group is all about too.
“This really came about because we wanted to be of greater accountability to anyone who donates to the different events. At the same time during this, we had the opportunity to really clarify our purpose as the ministerial. At first, it was primarily about social justice issues that we could all agree upon, that the churches should be doing together,” he began.
“Now we’ve re-looked at it together and we see that there is need for not just social justice but outreach – reaching out to the community – and unity, which is really great to hear because we’re following in that same sense that the church is not divided; the church is one. We’re working together. It’s a great opportunity to reframe the way we have been doing the ministerial.”
The process to become a society involves a lot of paperwork, including writing bylaws according to government parameters. Kim said that a lot of this work has already been done. There is no set timeline on how long it might take the government to approve the request.
When it does happen, however, it will also improve public perception of the churches, Kim said.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the churches to get involved in different parts of St. Albert with cleaning up the city and other ventures we could do, but doing it together as a society,” he said.
“The church, maybe in the public eye, has always been separated. This will help us to look as if we are one. I think we can do a lot more together than alone.”
