Do Your Churches Have a Maternity Ward?

Looking out at lay and clergy members of the Diocese of New Westminster, The Right Rev. Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York asked, “does your church have a maternity ward?”

The archbishop posed the question during one of two public events he was part of October 5 and 6 in Vancouver: a public talk at Christ Church Cathedral on October 5, and guest preaching at St. James church on October 6. The two events concluded a cross-country “tour” by the archbishop.

His talk at Christ Church Cathedral focused on Evangelism in today’s world. Archbishop Cottrell opened his talk with an anecdote about being stopped at London’s Paddington Station by another commuter waiting on a train and being asked, “what made you want to become a priest?” In a rush to get to his waiting train, he gave the quick reply, “Because Jesus.” His interlocutor paused and responded with, “I’ve noticed that people of faith – whichever faith – tend to fall into one of two groups. Either their faith is little more than a hobby, or they hold onto to their faith so tightly it scares the rest of us off.”

The questions churches today need to face head-on are: which one of those categories do we fall into? and, do our churches have “maternity wards” – or spaces and places where the flicker of newfound faith can be nurtured into full fledged, life-giving maturity? Having faced those questions head-on, the challenge is then to be open enough to the Holy Spirit to consider changing established habits that, if held too tightly, can drive people away from church.

He gave the example of a parish he served where the Wednesday mid-day Eucharist service grew to an average attendance of between 20 and 40 people. Many of those people never came to church on Sundays. When he noticed the attendance of the mid-week service growing, he realized he had to provide something else for those congregants, “discipleship” activities and opportunities. He concluded the anecdote asking, “are we willing to re-write the Sunday contract?” referring to the established habits around how the community gathers, when fellowship and discipleship programs are offered, and even when and how information is shared.

If you weren’t able to attend the Archbishop’s talk in person, you can watch the recording here.

View more photos from his visit here.  

On Sunday, October 6 the Archbishop preached at the service at St. James Church. Marking the feast of the dedication of that church.