November/December 2007 Issue
A Church You Should Know
All Nations Christian Reformed Church, Halifax
By Stephanie Tombari By way of Halifax harbour they have come, only to trickle out across Canada in a mosaic of colour, culture and class. Nowhere else is this catch and release of diversity better reflected than at All Nations Christian Reformed Church, a small pastoral charge of 120 in the heart of Halifax. Students, immigrants and military flow through what Pastor Dave Vroege refers to as a “transient church” used by God to draw the nations to Himself – then to release them into the larger community of Christians.  | All nations has found a ways to help people get better acquainted. The most creative: an annual all-members fall hike along the ocean. |
The Motto That Moves Them
When Halifax Christian Reformed Church changed its name to All Nations in 1978, the church already resembled one body under Jesus despite the ethnic and cultural differences within the congregation.
“It started two pastors ago when James LaGrand did his dissertation on the mission to all nations in the Gospel of Matthew,” says Vroege. “He encouraged the church to be missional that way. The church has enjoyed that. It’s both a gift and a task.” The church has continued with that mission: “proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord of all nations and seeking to show what that means in our life together and in our service to others.”
Being Used by God to Call People to Himself
Because of the constant flow of people in and out of Halifax, All Nations sees a lot of new faces come through its doors on a regular basis. “It’s not due to people in disagreement; they literally move,” explains Vroege. “It’s a university town, an immigration town and a military town. I’ve never seen a more transient church. Here’s the place where they might have had their first experience” with God.
“We kind of see ourselves as a little training ground” where newcomers can find out what a blessing it is to be involved in a believing community, explains Vroege. “People keep coming all the time, but then they get a job in Toronto or retire out West.”
Most of the people in the congregation, in fact, have their family of origin outside greater Halifax and the province. “So we find our family in each other,” says Vroege, who is originally from Edmonton. “Unity and family: that’s the community of saints in action.”
In the early 1980s All Nations built a 22-unit co-operative housing complex in an economically disadvantaged and racially mixed area of Halifax so low-income tenants could have their rent offset by higher-income renters – several of whom were members of All Nations Church. Since that time the church has had an increasing spirit for making God available to people of various cultural, racial and socio-economic backgrounds.
The transient members of All Nations have also had a hand in strengthening the church community. Military personnel who have made All Nations their church home – if even only temporarily – have invited friends to worship. Dalhousie University students, often in town for the duration of a bachelor’s degree, have helped reignite the faith of longtime churchgoing youth. “The kids growing up in our church, who might go away to university, see the Dalhousie kids coming. They become examples to the young people in the church,” says Vroege.
With so many new people flowing in and out of All Nations, the church has found ways to help people get better acquainted. The most creative: an annual, all-members fall hike along the ocean.
Seeking to Mirror Diversity
Despite its intention to reflect diversity, All Nations is not the United Nations. Look around at the faces on any given Sunday and less than 20 per cent are non-white. But unlike some Christian Reformed churches, where many members are of Dutch descent, All Nations draws three-quarters of its congregation from other sources.
“When I use the phrase ‘all nations’ I use it not just for ethnic diversity but in various ways – ethnic, financial, age for example,” says Vroege. “There are some people in the church who are not well off and [may be] supported by the church or social assistance. But we have lawyers and university professors too. They all get along.”
Ongoing Challenges
Reaching out to all nations doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a clue what to say when they show up. “It’s tough relating to people who are very different from you, who are admitting that ‘I’m not violent anymore,’ ” admits Vroege.
“But I think we could do better in terms of how they interact,” he continues. “It’s a challenge for people who show up. But it is an incredibly unified congregation because they find their unity in Christ.” Although All Nations may not be growing a lifelong community within its walls, it strives to equip people for a lifelong community as believers in Christ. Our denominational Home Missions agency “encourages us to think of our ministry not as a lake, but as a river,” says Vroege. “We’re all moving down the river. You may get out but the question is, what happened to you while you were in the river?” Visit the All Nations Christian Reformed Church website Stephanie Tombari is a freelance writer in Burlington, Ont. This profile continues a series on missional churches.
|