It started with a youth group from a small church in Bridgeland. They wanted nothing more than to build deeper relationships with God and with each other. Their story is an important one. It tells the journey of how a small church came to have a huge impact for God.
CSC has always had a heart for those outside the walls of the church. But when we look at the 60-year history of generosity and community impact, we see an inspiring story about love — a love that strives, journeys patiently, responds to change, moves and grows, and changes lives. It begins with our love for God, and extends outward to our family, friends, community, city, and our world.
Before CSC began, many of our founders worshipped in a choir in a small church in Bridgeland. Differences in age, culture, language and customs sometimes made the walls of the church seem smaller. United by their love for God, they put aside their differences and worshipped in spirit and truth together for many years. The church kept growing. And the walls still seemed to get smaller. But they continued journeying together in their pursuit of God. Each week they met, despite differences, to talk with God and read His word.
One of these groups was united, not just in their love for God, but also in their love for each other. They were the youth group — attended by people as old as 60! They wanted to do things together all week long, to grow in their relationships with God and with one another.
By 1958, after overcoming many obstacles, God opened doors for this youth group to begin a church of their own in north Calgary. They called it Centre Street Church.
Establishing a new church was hard, and they had many challenges to overcome. Our founding members gave generously of their time and energy to grow the church and care for one another. Potlucks, picnics, plays and praise — they did it all together, seeking God for direction and committing themselves to their community. The congregation was not large, but they were very determined to have an impact, building each other up in community and discipleship.
In 1969, CSC’s founding pastor, Rev. Fred Synder, passed away.This began CSC’s Wilderness Period in which a lack of leadership forced the congregation to fill many gaps in the church. Gordon Elhard, Director of Christian Education at the time, recommended that CSC establish a library for church members, to help grow them spiritually in the absence of leadership. The idea was approved, and a committee was formed to make the library a reality. The library was a success, and when our church started selling tapes of sermons and other materials, the Appleseed Resource Centre was launched.
Another area in which CSC sought to enhance spiritual development was through courses we offered to church members. Prior to the late 1990s, we offered three courses — on discipleship, on discovering one’s spiritual gifts, and on church membership. Realizing that our church members needed more than this, Pastor Henry Schorr sought to develop a comprehensive plan that would provide basic tools, dtraining and spiritual challenge to see both new and long-time believers become “fully devoted followers of Christ.” He chose staff member Ruth Esau for the task. She had a passion to see people grow in their faith, and she wanted them to become excited about expanding the Kingdom of God. Under her leadership, courses were held on “Super Saturdays” three or four times a year. Eventually, Super Saturdays were expanded into “Empower Weekends.”
Today, the Spiritual Development team under Pastor Greg Grunau carries on the ministry that Ruth started. Learning and Growth Classes and Workshops are now offered many times throughout the year. We offer a broad spectrum of opportunities to equip people at any stage in their spiritual journey. There’s something for everyone.
“We want to engage, establish, equip and empower. We want to engage believers, establishing them in foundations of faith, equipping them on how to live this life and feed themselves spiritually, and finally, empower them to go and live as fully devoted followers,” said Pastor Greg.
Another gap in discipleship training that CSC leadership noticed was helping its members in dealing with emotional pain. Some 20 years ago, our church didn’t have many tools to help in this area, but within the last 10 years, there has been a significant shift in how we’ve been able to address emotions and help people find forgiveness and healing. Healing discipleship at CSC today includes divorce care, grief care, inner healing and deliverance prayer teams, Freedom Session, and the Encounter God’s Presence Weekend.
Some additional programs and ministries that our Spiritual Development team offers include: New Disciple Ministries; Journey Groups that focus on finding your identity in Christ; Life Care Ministries dealing with all life stages, including wedding coordination and pre-marital counselling, funeral coordination, marriage ministries, counselling referrals, and baptism.
BUILD more room for community and discipleship
By 2021, the sale of our West Campus will displace youth, young adults and many other discipleship ministries and events to our Central Campus. As a result, additional multi-use space for classes, training and breakout activities will be needed to accommodate people building deeper relationships with God and each other; this space will be made possible through the expansion of Central Campus.
The impact of discipleship and community ministries at CSC is far-reaching, touching people at every age and stage of their lives. We empower people to live all out for Him through spiritual development, healing ministries and courses all week long. At CSC, there is something for everyone, and as we look to the future, we want to ensure this continues. The expansion of Central Campus (through our “BUILD more room for God” campaign) is one way in which we seek to continually enhance our spiritual development and discipleship ministries.
(With files from Elsa Henderson’s Stones of Remembrance)