I will begin this thesis with the assertion that all the work with which I have been involved as an interim minister over the past three years has been about change. As followers of Jesus of Nazareth, we should be used to change; after all, Jesus was history’s champion of new beginnings. I was appointed as interim minster at Central United Church (Stratford, Ontario, Canada) to help the congregation look at a new beginning. After a two year study and protracted negotiations, the congregations of St John’s United Church (also in Stratford) and Central United Church decided to amalgamate and become Avondale United Church. The "two became new" formally on October 1, 2015. This change was also a metamorphosis for me personally, both in faith and in education. Like the saying, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life, " we are not at the end of change, either personal or in the congregation, but rather we are in the presence of change which will continue long after amalgamation. Let us now begin the written journey of two becoming new and exploring the importance of preaching in that endeavour.
It begins in Stratford, Ontario, Canada - a city of over 32,000 people noted more for its annual festival of world-class Shakespearean productions, musical plays and musical concerts than for church activity. Until October 1, 2015, Stratford had three United Churches, all of which faced a serious decline in membership over the past 20 years. In contrast to this decline, the City of Stratford is a growing community and a Mecca for retired folk from Toronto, easily able to afford housing in the "Festival City" after selling their homes in the provincial capital's red-hot real estate market. Stratford is also a manufacturing city and the home of the Ontario Pork Congress. It is a growing city, and this growth has not, as yet, been reflected in a growing membership of any of Stratford’s United Churches. Central United Church and St John’s United Church were still losing members despite the influx of retirees to the city. As an aside, in a practice that is highly unusual for any Canadian city, Stratford's mayor Dan Matheson, a devout Christian, supports all the city's churches by hosting two city wide meetings a year, one with clergy and the elected municipal officials and the other at an annual open mayor’s Prayer Breakfast for the Christian faithful. It is within the context of this Canadian community that this thesis will focus on two of Stratford’s United Churches: Central United Church and St. John’s United Church. This thesis will explore how preaching helped form a new culture for a new congregation as these two churches came together to form Avondale United Church.
