Ran across this youtube from Medicine Hat’s News.  It is about their school system, and how they need more.

I present this here because this represents important information for us.

1. A high demand for schools means growth, and young families.  We relate, and that is a big segment of the people we are hoping to reach.
2. It sounds very much like they have a good shot at getting some more schools.  They mention in the video that specifically, the Hamptons and Ranchlands and Southridge need schools – what do you know?  Those are our most likely targets for planting!
3. New schools means an opportunity to rent space.  While it isn’t guaranteed by a long shot, and from reports like our friends, the Wilks’, it may be difficult to comply with school district rules but… with new schools means new opportunity so we can be prayerful for that.

I had coffee with a really nice guy yesterday. The more I think about how much time he gave me, a little ole’ misguided Joe who has the audacity to think God might want to use him to plant a church, the more I am amazed. Cam Roxburgh is the lead pastor of the multi-site Southside Church, involved with Outreach Canada and director of the Forge Network Canada. Yet we had a chance to sit down and chat. In my misdirected scattered thoughts I managed to glean some important things from him.

What were they? Mostly in the way of forcing me to ask some hard questions about assumptions. How important are Sundays to new church? How important are big catchment events? How relevant are they to the people we are trying to reach? Is full-time ministry a given, have I looked hard at my reasons why I think that necessary? Those are some of the questions he laid on the table before me and caused me to think about.

Of course, going home, I was prepared to grab hold of such questions and wrestle with them. In my debrief with Cheryl of course, I was still in this “engagement” mindset which rubbed Cheryl the wrong way. She isn’t a debater in that sense, so it took me a bit to get past that and switch gears as it were.

I am excited that he shook the tree for me with regards to getting more information about the settings we will be investigating. I am going to be calling Lorne at Outreach Canada today to see if I can get a better spiritual “lay of the land” for where we are going. Cam also said he would send me some contacts for the communities we are going to, to listen to people on the ground there.

Our last in the series.  These ones are the furthest north.

Spruce Grove and Stony Plain are distinct communities but really close to each other.  5 minutes, if that, by 4 lane freeway between them.  They are both west of Edmonton off the Yellowhead Highway.  Both have seen tremendous growth in the last 20 years – Spruce Grove has doubled from 10 thousand to 20 thousand, and Stony Plain has gone from 4800 to 12 thousand.

Pros:

• Both communities have a high need in terms of church ratio.
• Close enough to Edmonton to be able to help plant churches there.
• On the nicer side of Edmonton – closer to the Mountains (though much further away than any of the other communities we have looked at except Medicine Hat), away from the refineries, close to some nice lakes.
• Close to family – an hour or so to my parents’ place, 2 hours to hers.
• Oiler and Eskimo Country, yeah!

Cons:

• Further north – Cheryl is concerned it might be too cold for her.
• Concerned with the commuter culture drawbacks, as with Cochrane and Okotoks.

Continuing the series on possible locations, we move up west of Calgary now.

Cochrane is another one of these badly swelling small towns, driven by the boom.  It has going for it the proximity to the mountains which makes the views and the geography of the town very homey to me.  In 1981 it was a paltry 3500 people.  In 2006 it has grown to 13 760.  This makes it perhaps the smallest of the cities we are considering (with the exception of Redcliff).

We managed to drive through the edges of it on our way up to my parents’ a couple of weeks ago.  As you noticed, I loved the geography of the town.  But we don’t know a whole lot about it yet.

Pros:

• Proximity to Calgary – easy daughtering to the whole metro area.
• Proximity to Banff/Mountains (my playground)
• Proximity to family (2 hours to Red Deer, 4 hours to Fort Saskatchewan)
• Demand is there (+10k people in 20 years, Outreach Canada places it with a low church ratio)

Cons:

• Maybe too close to Calgary – commuter culture, people with no time.
• Pretty small.

Moving north of Lethbridge, but still well south of Calgary, we encounter the growing suburb community of Okotoks.

This is a bedroom community of Calgary, but only for the last 20 years or so.  Before that it was just another small prairie ranching/farming village.  Since Calgary really started exploding, it has become something close enough that people who don’t want to live in the “big city” began to find it desireable.  In 1981 it was a town of 3800 people.  In 2006 it broke 17 thousand.

According to Outreach Canada, this is a location that needs churches.  The proportion of evangelical churches to population is up around 3000, and the target for Canada is 2000.

Pros:

• Adjacent to Calgary, just outside the metro area.  Means easy access to passing the vision of more churches in Calgary.
• Smaller, less urban centre.
• Southern, so milder weather as compared to cities in central Alberta.
• Closer to transportation routes – Calgary Airport, Banff, Trans-Canada, family if we want.
• More familiar culture – similar to what we have lived in for the last 10 years (though not necessary where we want to live.)

Cons:

• Bedroom Community means:
  • Commuter culture – less time for things like Church
  • Perhaps less shopping options because everyone goes to the city.
• Don’t like the Calgary Flames, or the Stampeders.

Here is our second possible location.  2.5 hours from Calgary so marginally closer to a big city.

Lethbridge

This city was actually brought to my attention by a blogger friend of mine.  He was lamenting the lack of quality churches and told me a major problem is that while there appear to be a lot of churches in this city, a great number of them are shrinking fast and on the verge of collapse.  Admittedly, this is anecdotal, but it is enough for us to take a hard look at it.

Population right now is running 74 thousand, making it the 4th largest city in the province.  Outreach Canada doesn’t list it as high need, but if churches are close to closing that ratio might be worsening.

Pros:

• Larger center, faster growth (+20k in the last 20 years).
• University of Lethbridge is the 3rd largest university in Alberta, possible employment for Cheryl with her Master’s in Nursing.
• Adjacent to Blood Indian Reserve, so lots of potential service opportunities in the aboriginal community.
• Close to the Mountains – only 2 hours to Waterton Lakes National Park.  Less to Pincher Creek and the Crowsnest Pass.  (Mountains and wilderness are my playground.)
• A built-in supporter?

Cons:

• Anecdotal evidence about need.  According to Outreach Canada, the demand isn’t as high as many other places.
• May be tougher turf to plant in – verges on Mormon territory.   (Maybe that’s a pro?)

For your edification, I thought I would give you an idea where all the different towns and cities are, and what we know about them right now.

Starting with the extreme southeast of the province:

Medicine Hat/Redcliff

This was actually the first community we became interested in.  Population around 55 thousand, it is out on the prairies, in the valley of the South Saskatchewan River.  3 hours from Calgary.  Interesting fact: the city owns its own natural gas reserves, so heating is cheap there.

Our specific interest is actually in Recliff, a small town abutting against the north side of the city.  It has a population of 5000 people but only one(!) evangelical church.  That makes it a community of interest according to Outreach Canada.

Pros:

• Out of the way, appealingly slow pace of life
• Close proximity to Cypress Hills Provincial Park, a unique area for camping, fishing, etc.
• Growing communities, but not as fast as some others (+17k over the last 20 years).

Cons:

• Far from Edmonton or Calgary, where most of the “action” is.  One of the main considerations we have to factor in is how this church fits into Grace Brethren Canada’s vision of creating churches that support more plants.  Being further away from where most new churches are needed means less potential impact on the province for God.
• Unclear why Redcliff has so few churches, or if everyone in town is fine with just going to Medicine Hat for church.
• Medicine Hat itself has a good number of churches, and we are in contact with one church planter who is launching in 2009 there, so it may be a bit much to come in and plant again in 2 years.