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Kinderlsey Alliance Church

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Just thinking about the rural church I am a part of – Kindersley Alliance Church in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, CANADA.

I was “born into” the church in 1953, my dad sold the farm in the mid 50s, I came back for four years as youth pastor (1976-1980), left for 25 years then back as Senior Pastor (2005-2015), and now I’m retired in this beautiful prairie town.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about rural churches at Ambrose University in Calgary – in the 3:30 – 4:30 time slot – admission is free.

One of the former pastor’s sons is expected to be there (Paul Warnock). Another of the former pastor’s sons lives just outside Calgary ( RobinRod House), another pastor’s son lives a bit north of Calgary (Bob Keith – son of Dennis Keith – who was himself an attender at Kindersley Alliance Church when he was a kid). There are others whose parents pastored the Kindersley Alliance Church (OK, there are a lot of “kids” out there).

And then some of those who have gone into vocational ministry – ones that I have been around over the years include (but not restricted to) – Laura Kornelson, Wayne Neumiller, Richard Reinhart, Mark Bergen, Mark Francisco and more. If you go back to the beginning of the church you find some Crockers, and Ruffs, and Grahams, and Thorntons and . . .

And then there are those that are active in their local churches – I won’t try to name them all. Some of them have been active over the years in the Kindersley Alliance church – others have moved into other places around the world.

BTW – I’m hoping to write a history on Kindersley Alliance Church in this next while – any anecdotes you can provide would be helpful.

Interesting what comes out of small town Saskatchewan.

The devil’s got all the good music?

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Here are a few lines from a song written by Hoozier (2014 – From Eden).

A comment on the song from genius.com. “The point of view is of the devil looking at something innocent and seeing it as a missing part. The song tries to woo a woman while admitting that the relationship would be deeply flawed.”

Some great word pictures – maybe a little too close to how the devil pictures the world.

Idealism sits in prison,

Chivalry fell on his sword

Innocence died screaming

Honey, ask me, I should know

I slithered here from Eden

Just to sit outside your door

Moving on

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The past few months have been resource filled times. I’ve read more articles and drilled into books more than I do in summer (which is to say that my summers tend not to be about research, but leisure).

Of particular interest has been the whole area of “the rural”. This includes ministry, including the stereotypes of rural people. As I have delved into the myriad of thoughts out there, I am saddened.

Put in one sentence – the rural has been left out.

I have to praise Trudeau for implementing a ministry that deals with the rural. And I praise various church denominations who are looking seriously into their own abandonment of the rural.

My question today – what are your thoughts on the rural?

Why bother?

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I read a weekly email posting called “The Galli Report”. Mark Galli works with a publication called Christianity Today – begun by Billy Graham.

This past week, I have been considering things such as pluralism, apologetics, identity politics, inclusivism, rural church, and much more.

Then, as I was reading, here is this short paragraph from the most recent Galli Report email (February 22, 2019).

I’ve been involved in many interfaith dialogues over the years. And when I’m with Muslims, for example, who begin the conversation by saying that all religions are different paths to the same end, I lose interest immediately. On the other hand, the most meaningful and energetic conversations I’ve had are with Muslims who think I’m going to Jahannam, that is, hell. I mean, why bother to be a Muslim, or Christian for that matter, if it doesn’t really make any difference in the end?