By W. Ward Gasque

Granville Chapel was founded 55 years ago, and from its inception played a role as the most influential congregation among the Open (Christian) Brethren in Vancouver. Russell Hitt, the editor of Eternity magazine once referred to it as ‘the Vatican of the Plymouth Brethren’! It has also had a major influence in the development of various Christian parachurch organizations in the area, including Regent College.

Founded and led entirely by devout ‘lay’ men and women without the assistance of paid staff, Granville had a thriving Sunday school and youth ministry from its inception as well as a vibrant worshipping congregation. Attendance over the years ranged between 200 and 300.

In the 1980s, the number of children attending Sunday school had declined. The congregation seemed to be primarily older adults plus a number of unmarried young adults. The elders began to be concerned with ways to reach out to the surrounding community. They re-examined the Brethren tradition of having different preachers every Sunday and slowly moved toward having one younger, gifted individual serving as the primary preacher. After a few years, it became obvious to all that the Lord had placed within the congregation a young man who had grown up in the church and who was clearly gifted as an evangelist and teacher.

Under the leadership of this gifted leader (who eventually assumed the non-Brethren title of ‘pastor’), Granville doubled in size, filled up with young adults, both singles and marrieds. With the establishment of an ESL program and a lively Alpha program, conversions became more numerous. In due course, the staff was expanded to include pastors for youth, children, Asians, and an associate pastor who took charge of much of the administration.

During 2004, Granville’s effective and much beloved pastor began to feel that he had served long enough in this congregation and needed to make a change. He shared this with his fellow elders mid-year and in September with the entire congregation. There was no crisis, no reason for anyone to feel that he should leave; it was simply that he felt the nudge of the Spirit to move on. So at the end of 2004, he left.

In view of his long and effective ministry (and his relative youth), the congregation was stunned by his decision to leave. Many of them had come to faith through his preaching, some quite recently. Some felt like spiritual orphans.

The elders (only 3 at the time, down from 20+ in the early ‘80s) decided to be pro-active. First, they appointed an experienced and gifted member of the congregation, Myrne Goulding, who was seconded from her ministry with Youth For Christ to serve as part-time staff coordinator, to supervise, support, and coach the staff (mostly young and fairly inexperienced). This proved to be a very shrewd appointment. In contrast to a pattern of personnel crises in the recent past, Myrne melded the staff into a unified, caring, and increasingly competent team.

A second step taken by the elders was to expand the leadership base. This led to the establishment of a Transitional Leadership Team (TLT), which included the 3 elders plus 9 others (mainly deacons). Those serving on the TLT committed themselves to meet twice monthly for the duration of the transitional period. Later in the process it was decided that the TLT would be a good model for the future, so as of the AGM 2006 (April), it will be simply the Leadership Team.

Early on, the TLT identified a second group of lay leaders who were asked to join a Church Review Team (CRT) to review and revise Granville’s vision, values, and direction. The third step taken was to identify a consultant to guide the review and strategic planning process. Brent Dolfo agreed to serve in this role. He began with 60 hour-long interviews of representative leaders and grassroots members of the congregation and then led the bi-monthly church review team meetings. In addition, Outreach Canada’s ‘Ministry Fitness Check’ and demographic survey was administered to the congregation in an attempt to gain a clear picture of the present state of the congregation — its strengths, weaknesses, and perceptions of ministry.

All of this took place immediately following the pastor’s leaving. Very quickly the TLT decided they needed to find an interim pastor. Toward the end of March they decided on me, someone who has never been a pastor in a traditional sense (though I have served as an elder and have sought to pastor my students as a theological educator). My role was to be that of executive pastor, to make sure the administration runs smoothly, to take care of the pastoral needs of the congregation, and to coordinate the preaching (by guests and members of the congregation).

Granville has a tradition of carefully planned preaching coordinated with well-organized home groups in which approximately half of the congregation is involved. Excellent study manuals are prepared in tandem with the texts to be expounded from the pulpit. During the interim period, Granville has had superb preaching, drawing from the resources of Vancouver area educational institutions, senior clergy from other congregations, and the richness of its own resources. Several business leaders from within the congregation preached sermons that were as good as any I have ever heard (and in one case this was a first!), and in the process it became quickly evident that we had a potential candidate for a lead pastor.

Following a six month review process and a subsequent six month global search (in which 55 applicants were carefully considered), the search team came in with only one recommended candidate, Andy Perrett, someone who was not only a member of the congregation but had been a member of the TLT. The support of the recommendation of the search committee was endorsed unanimously by the TLT and acclaimed by the congregation without dissent. Andy is a graduate of Oxford University and Regent College and has served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of Canada for some years, most recently as west coast director.

As one who has been in full-time ministry for 36 years, I must confess that this past year has been one of the most fulfilling of my life. And as an educator and student of contemporary church life, I have never seen a pastoral change and church review process that has been done so well. I am sure that, humanly speaking, it is the careful and creative planning of the original elders, who knew that a new situation needed new structures and new leaders, that made the difference.

At the time of this publication W. Ward Gasque is Interim Pastor at Granville Chapel, Vancouver, BC

President of Pacific Association, Seattle WA USA

Adjunct Professor
Bakke Graduate University
Fuller Theological Seminary
Schloss Mittersill Study Centre
Seattle Pacific University