Text submitted by Wendy Stewart
Close to 40 parish leaders and parishioners representing the six South Okanagan churches
gathered at St. Stephen’s Church in Summerland January 18 to explore options and discern a
solution for the absence of an incumbent at any of the parishes in Osoyoos, Oliver, Okanagan
Falls, Penticton, Naramata and Summerland.
The workshop sessions were lead by Bishop Lynne McNaughton and Director of Missional
Renewal Andrew Stephens-Rennie, who guided the group through engaging discussions about
ideas such as shared financial and administration services between parishes, the use of
licensed lay ministers (LLM) to conduct services, training for LLMs and intercessors, shared
services between churches in communities, provision of pastoral care as well as support from
the diocese for some tasks and different models to support future worship at the churches.
Using pages and pages of flip-chart paper, dots and markers, meeting participants moved
around the room to express interest in different options, ideas and approaches and joined
together at various tables to discuss specific topics.
Bishop Lynne and Andrew will use information from the sessions to support the churches as
they continue to work together to discern new directions.
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