In the heart of the Canadian prairies lies an acapella Church of Christ. This conservative Canadian congregation has a traditional view of mission similar to that of many congregations in North America. To them, missions is the sending of a person (or a group of people) to preach the Gospel to others, while engaging in some charity work; thus, missions is monocentric (sending of one party) and monodirectional (the relationship going one way – thus the receivers being impacted by the sender), usually with a focus on evangelism and charity. However, over the past decade, scholars such as Allen Yeh, Everett W. Huffard, Hunter B. Farrell, S. Balajiedlang Khyllep, Christopher J.H. Wright, and Mark Love have observed a shift in the perception and function of missions. These scholars have begun to understand emerging missiology to be broader than the traditional view – instead of done by one group (monocentric) to one people (monodirectional) it is done by multiple parties simultaneously (polycentric) and is about the sending and receiving of people (polydirectional), making missions about focusing on a partnership with others and God for God’s mission: the redemption and reconciliation of all creation. This case study uses the Saskatoon Church of Christ to compare traditional and emerging missiology, exploring what a transition from the conventional to the contemporary view of missiology entails.
Saskatoon Church of Christ, where I am one of two full-time ministers, is considered a small-to-medium-sized congregation in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (population estimated at 352,000), a city with 103 Christian congregations in the prairies of Canada. When I look around the sanctuary on a given Sunday, I may observe up to 80 or 90 individuals, though I know about 60 of them are core members who have signed our constitution and participate in various events throughout the year.
While the congregation’s members live scattered throughout Saskatoon and nearby towns, the church building is located in the warehouse district, close to the airport and on the north end of the city. The area has two convention centers, a furniture warehouse, and other businesses with whom there is little to no engagement; the one exception is a business arrangement that exchanges weekday use of the congregation’s parking lot for winter snowplow removal. The congregation’s roots date back to 1947, but it has been in its current location since 1996. Someone once said that part of its draw was that it was convenient to no one, so no favoritism in location was shown.
The congregation is predominantly composed of two mostly white, intermarried Canadian families and a mix of people from other countries, many of whom came to Saskatoon to study or work, primarily from Africa or Asia. On a Sunday morning, the related Canadian families tend to sit on the right side of the sanctuary, with long-standing or distantly related members in the middle, and newer families or those from other countries on the left or at the back. The current minister would fit with the middle group, as he is the son of the previous minister; his father, the last minister, was a white Canadian missionary who spent many years in India before serving with the congregation.
Members and visitors gather every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for worship. During the service, there are classes for children from birth to grade 12. While the male minister primarily preaches, occasionally other males from the congregation (mostly white Canadians, but one black Nigerian) will preach. Women and men rotate for the communion meditation and leading worship. Members often stay between fifteen and thirty minutes after the service to talk with each other and catch up on their week.
During the week, various groups meet at the building and in other locations. The congregation has an active youth group that meets every week for Bible study and every two weeks for either a volunteering or a fun fellowship event. The young adult ministry (18-25 years old) attempts to meet twice a month, once for Bible study and once for a fellowship or volunteer event; the second gathering tends to be canceled or never materializes. Additionally, there is a seniors’ ministry that gathers approximately once a month or every two months for a meal in the community. Seniors make up over half of the church population; youth are the next-largest group, followed by a mix of young adults and adults, and, lastly, children.
Besides Sunday morning, intergenerational gatherings occur through small groups and various activities. Starting in 2024, small groups of mixed demographics will meet once a week in members’ homes, usually on Sunday evening, with snacks involved. The entire congregation is invited to stay after church on Sundays, approximately four times a year, for a potluck. The Christmas potluck, along with the Easter service, is specifically noted as a time when members are encouraged to invite guests. Invitation cards are printed and passed out to everyone in the service. A large stack of them remains at a table in the foyer for members to take more of if needed. There are also two to five fellowship opportunities throughout the year for the congregation, created by a fellowship team. Lastly, during the summer, the congregation gathers in various parks for games organized by different individuals (average attendance is 6 to 10 people).
The Mission Committee directs missions at the Saskatoon Church of Christ, to which approximately 10% of the overall congregational budget is allocated. In addition to the regular budget allotment, there is a single day of special collection for missions – called the Day of Prayer and Purpose – which raises between $12,000 – $14,000 for three different mission funds (one in India and two domestic agencies); these special agencies are invited to share on the given Sunday about their work and then join the church in a potluck afterwards. Under the committee’s oversight are three international missionary partnerships, two domestic missionary partners, funding for staff and congregation members to participate in missions, and the MAPP program (a gap year for student missions). In addition to these activities, the congregation is engaged locally in canned-food drives twice a year for two soup kitchens in town, as well as a few other events that raise funds for various organizations.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, which was before my time, the congregation had a pattern of taking a short-term mission trip every other year to missional partners in India, where the previous pastor had been a missionary. Between 1995 and 2020, thirteen teams from SCoC participated in mission trips, with 21 different congregation members involved. Although trips to India did not continue, a few of the teenagers took a two-week mission trip to Eastern Europe with Let’s Start Talking (a nonprofit that uses the Bible in ESL discussions) in 2023 and 2024. Additionally, under the previous minister, there was local missional engagement that included prison ministry and visiting nursing homes. When the young adults who served in these ministries transitioned to their next life stage, including marriage and starting their own families with children, and the previous minister partially retired, these outreach ministries ceased. Furthermore, before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a robust ESL ministry (FriendSpeak) that was suspended during the pandemic and resumed in the 2024-2025 school year but has been paused due to a lack of participation.
Also worth noting is that one couple in the congregation, related to the two major families, has a history and pattern of welcoming new immigrants to Canada and supporting them as they settle in. As a result of this effort, a new Ukrainian family has joined the church. Furthermore, several members have extensive gardens, and during the harvest season, they bring their produce to the church to share. Occasionally, there is so much that leftovers are donated to the local food banks. Neither one of these activities, however, is officially a part of the congregation, although we all enjoy them.
If asked, members of the Saskatoon Church of Christ are likely to describe their congregation as missional or invested in missions. Each week, members are visually reminded of these efforts, as an auditorium wall map is filled with pushpins indicating where members are from or have traveled for missions. In addition, each year, missionaries supported by the community present their mission reports on Mission Sundays.1 Therefore, the congregation aligns with and functions within classical understandings of missions as monodirectional and monocentric, with a focus on preaching and charity.2 However, the question becomes how the Saskatoon Church of Christ fits within modern missiology, which is polydirectional and polycentric, focusing on the larger mission of God, the redemption and reconciliation of all of creation, and if it does not fit, what can the congregation do to align with modern missiology?
- If missions, according to modern missiology, is anything that joins in with God’s mission – the redemption and reconciliation of all of creation – what things are the Saskatoon Church of Christ doing that would not traditionally be understood as missions, but are under this new understanding?
- How might the Saskatoon Church of Christ transition from a traditional part of missions to a modern one?
- What should change?
- What should stay the same?
- What further information would you need to determine more?
- What things should be considered before implementing change?
Ariel Bloomer has been the associate minister at the Saskatoon Church of Christ since January 2024. Originally from the United States, she has studied and lived in six different countries and five states. After working as a social worker for several years, she obtained a TEFL certificate online and relocated to Hanoi, Vietnam, for two years. It was there that she was called into ministry and became a bi-vocational missionary. She earned a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Modern and American Christianity from Abilene Christian University in 2023.
1 Mission Sundays are named such because the missionaries share their reports. The sermons themselves do not necessarily focus on missions, and the only distinctive element of the service is the reporting, often done via a short, recorded video.
2 A two-week survey, created for this paper and engaged by 42% of core members, revealed that the majority viewed missions as having something to do with the Gospel, Good News, the Bible, or Jesus (64%). The second-largest viewpoint of missions was that it involves traveling somewhere, to a foreign place, and/or a different culture (44%). Many also viewed missions as helping those in need (36%). All respondents reported involvement in missions, citing both local and foreign participation and donations. When asked about the future of missions, 36% requested more opportunities for engagement, while 20% wanted missions to remain the same.
