Castlégar News April 10, 1988 For all you cleaning chores, bi or small, call CINDERELLA, 36: 2486. Free estimates and bee ded. 16/26 PLUMBING and HEATING Plumbing 24 Hour Emergency Service 399-4762 DONE RIGHT FOR LESS. Carpen general han tf ine DANIEL'S PAINTING & WINDOW WASHING Call 365-6971 GOLD bracelet Found ‘near CPR dg ntown Casi ¥ may identity at Counegar 3/28 FULLY equipped gorage ond bus depot on Highway 3, low down, eeyme mort Days ae $565, nights 448-2361. a 3 ex f002 af 3/28 looking for ride trom Castlegar to Trail, to Friday a.m Willing to sha CERAMIC TILE INSTALLATION * BATHS * KITCHENS SHOWERS * FLOORS 10 Years Experience FREE ESTIMATES Somples Available Call 693-5530 WOMAN in her 30s willing to babysit in my home in North Castlegar. Reasonable rates nces available. Phone 365. tin. 365-7007 The Best Deal Around Town SEPTIC TANK PRIVATE “contract logging or backhoe service. 365-2745 or 226-7646. 7/25 CUSTOM TROYBILT tilling. Leave message /phone. 365-5412. 7/27 SHERMAK CONSTRUCTION co. LTD. House Framing — Formerork Siding Arb ALL TYPES OF GENERAL CARPENTRY Ph. 365-2932 MIKE MAKORTOFF TREE Pruning ond spraying. 10 yrs. experience. Ph. 365-7672 days. _ 10/19 AUCTION SERVICE Pown Sh Approisals roy NEED a job? High school and college students may offer their services under this category Drop us a line or phone the Ac tion Ad number at 365-2212. We will run your ad for 3 issues at no charge tn/22 14-YEAR-OLD | boy looking babysit what-have-you. After school, weekends. S. Castlegar 365-2375 ask 27 IF you have an item youd like to giveaway, please drop us a line or phone 365-2212. We'll run your ad for 3 issues tree of charge ttn 67 WHITE female old, spayed. LAST CHANCE home. 3 Chesapeake-cross weeks-old. 365-3958 TWO double beds and oil heater 365-7014 3/2 jog, 8-months 99994267. 3/27 CLEAN sand, easy access Suitable tor cement mortar. 368 p.m. 3/29 ind kittens, some port 365-5945. 3/29 MALE Terrier-X dog, excellent watch dog: good with children Female Calico cat. 365-6412 VICINITY of Sandman inn spayed female tabby co! orange, white rown weoring white flea collar. An Smudge. 365-3374 or it 77. 3/29 ALCOHOLICS Anonymous Anon. Phone 365-; G “youne Tady, pen and phone pal. i'm tall,’ slim with good looks in 30s. | enjoy music ed. G Vancouver, BC; sk sta. 29 JON WYNGAARD, M.A., in dividual and family eomaliog | ar sts PROFESSIONAL CAR CLEANING interior shampoo windows, _ engine Reasonable rates, 365-7497 after Sp.m. ttn/13 CASTLEGAR Figure Skating Club. Annual General Meeting, April 1, 1 p.m. Community Complex 2/28 DAM BUSTER SCUBA CLUB Annual General Meetin 1 9, 1988, Kootenay Cattle Co Nelson. Dinner 6:30 p.m ing, 7:30. 2/27 MR. and MRS. MIKE HARNADEK Blueberry Creek and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Grace, Winnipeg Manitoba are pleased to an nounce the forthcoming marriage of their children Michael and Glorio. Wedding will take place in Winni 9. August 20. 9 WOMEN'S SUPP GROU meeting will be held setae March 7 at 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 at Castlegar Community Services above West's 9/18 DR. COLLEEN KRAMER woule like to announce the opening of new Farm/House Call Vaterloery Practice. Call 357-9468 LL 23 THANKS to all my friends and family for the cards, letters flowers, visits and loving core during my extended stay while in the hospital in Vancouver Most importantly, thank you for all your prayers. May God Bless You All, Mary Fomenoff. 2/29 THANK you to our families and friends for the wonderful Potluck inner. It was to see everyone. Congratulations Ma for citizen of the year. Sorry we can't be here for your special oc casion Karl, Susan, iltten and THANKS fo } ae relatives and neighbours who gathered together for an evening of fun in honor of Aaron Dube on the oc ae LOVING MEMORY of o dear to And only Though your forever And your hand we cannot touch We'll never lose the mem Of the one we loved so muc Sadly, missed and ever remem- bered by son and daughter-in- law Terry and Carolin Klapper daughter and son-in-law Teresa and Gerry Ambrosone and gran- dchildren Ben and Katie Am. brosons smile is gone IN LOVING MEMORY of Judith Mae (Judy) Koltinow who pass away April 10, 198: There's a piece in our hearts. That's yours alone, A piece of love, no one can own. For deep in our hearts Your memor To love and Cherish end never Ne words we speak Could ever soy, How emoch we miss you, every sodiy missed and ever remem ed, by Ed Koltinow and 29 oe. =A THE CITY OF TRAIL INVITATION TO TENDER The City of Trail invites ten ders tor the construction of the TRAIL MEMORIAL CENTRE HANDICAPPED RAMPS Instructions and tender documents may be obtained for a refundable deposit of $25.00, from the City Office 1394 Pine Avenue, Trail, B.C The work consists of the sup: ply and installation of struc tural steel and concrete ramps and handrails and modifications to doors and ticket booths. Sealed tenders, submitted in accordance with the Contract Documents, marked Trail Memorial Centre Handicap ped Ramps”, will be received at the City Office up to 2:00 p.m., April 18, 1988 at which time the tenders will be opened in public in the Coun. cil Chambe: The lowest or any tender will not necessarily be accepted Contractors must hold valid Public Liability Insurance and W.C.B. Coverage ALL TENDER ENQUIRIES shall be ae to J.S. Newman. NEWMAN ENGINEERING UMITED, 664 Forrest Drive, Trail, B.C. VIR 2H6 Telephone (604) 368-6845. KEN WIESNER, City Manager The Ministry of Forests, Nelson is inviting applications to form an eligibility list of quolitied contractors to con: Struct mountain top com- foun- com munication shelters or install aluminum buildings and towers in the Nelson Forest Region. oni those contractors. who quality for inclusion to the igibility list will be asked to contracts during Submission should include W.C.B. numbers, o list of suc- cesstully comp jeted projec of a similar type and any other applicable information. This submission is to be forwarded to the undersigned by April 988. All eng: should be direc ted to Rick tilingworth at 354 6297 or Vern Quaroni at 354 6213. R.R. TOZER Regional Manager Ministry of Forests 518 Lake Street Nelson, B.C. Vit ace BUSINESS DIRECTORY TELEPHONE 365-5210 :--. New by eng! copy a Apri ter the month ef hhay, ‘end canceliotions for the be accepted up to 6 p.m., 1 Accounting Rocky View Tax & Bookkeeping Services © Small Business & Contractors * Personal * Farm-Logging No. 06-1545 Columbia Avenue Castlegar, B.C. VIN 11 IRENE MORTIMER 365-2223 SOLIGO, KOIDE & JOHN CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS 615 Columbia Ave. Whooping cough a risk SASKATOON (CP) — Many parents seem to have forgotten there is a signif. icant risk in failing to im munize their children against whooping cough, says the head of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Whooping cough is a highly contagious and dangerous di. sease, Dr. Noni MacDonald of Ottawa said during a recent visit to Saskatoon. “We're going to see more deaths with pertussis (whooping cough) if we don't immunize young children, and many parents seem to have forgotten that.” — LOST — Diamond Ring March 17, Castlegar Hospital Vicinity. Reward. 365-3182 Qa APRIL SPECIAL 2 FOR 1 SPECIAL PORK CHOP DINNER $4.95 Eat in Only. Bring a Friend. We Accept Westar, Col, & Cominco Meal Tickets 65-8155 3 1004 Columbia Ave., Castlegar DINING LOUNGE LICENCED DINING ROOM OPEN 4P. WESTAR & COMINCO VOUCHERS ACCEPTED — AIR CONDITIONED Reservations for Private Parties — 365-3294 Located | mile south of Weigh Scales in Ootischenia M. DAILY TRAIL casion of his atter 33 years of service with the B.C Ministry of Highways. A special thanks to “auntie Donna’ and uncle John’ for their effort in baking and decorating a very h to express our sincere ppreciation for all the kindness Texaco Station and Mark for initial torts, bu! crew, Dr attending doctor end” nurses of the emerge Castlegar Hospital, thank you att for doing your best. To all those who sent cards, flowers and food to the house, your thought fulness was much appreciated Michael O'Connor and staff your with the funeral service and ser ving the dinner afterwards, our heartfelt thanks. It is a tremen. dous comfort to us to know so many core Paul end Lavra DO SMALL ADS ATTRACT ATTENTION? This one did! FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN BENEFIT AS AN ADVERTISER CALL ind family THE B.C. HEART FOUNDATION accepts with gratitude “In Memoriam” donations which help promote Heart Research One. betore December 31, 1988. Primary, Ootischenia) Kinnaird Ele Robson Ele Tarrys Elementary diend Park — SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 9 (CASTLEGAR) KINDERGARTEN AND GRADE ONE REGISTRATION For the 88/89 School Year Parents wishing to enroll their child in either ENGLISH Kindergarten or RUSSIAN Kindergarten for September, 1988, are asked to register their child at the elementary school indicated below If the child is presently attending Kindergarten, there is no need to register him/her in Grade Please note that a birth or baptismal certificate must be shown before a child can be registered. Kindergarten pupils must be five years old on or 1988. Grade One pupils must be six years old on or betore December 31, Castlegar Primary — (Twin Rive: Mon.-Wed., April 11, 12, ntary — Valley Vista, Blueberry Cr: Mon., Tues., Apr. 11, 12. 9:00-11:00 and 1-3 p.m inte Wed., April 13. 9 00- 2:00. Mon., Apr. 11. 12:00-3:00. Tues Castlegar 13. 7:30. a.m.-11:00 a.m. (Kinnaird Elementary, . Apr. 12. 8:30-12 to t-kin Box joger. B.C 104/81 CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY. In memoriam donations. infor- mation Box 3292, Castlegar, 265, 5167. 04/15 Tues., ( Apr. 12. 1:00-4:00. Wed., Apr. 13 9:00-12 BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES School District No. 9 (Castlegar) d Park, Pass Creek) BUY OR SELL BY AUCTION (Upstoirs) Castlegar Phone 365-7745 Henry John, B.Sc.C.A. Resident Partner Brian L. Brown CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANT 270 Columbia Ave. Castlegar Ph. 365-2151 MOROSO, MARKIN & BLAIN CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANTS 241 Columbia Ave. 418 © 1986 Universal Press Syndicate “Will you try to look as if you're enjoying this ... I'm trying to make a li Business Counselling counselling and training tor 38 interests in the Kootenay Boundary Region Phone 365-5886 * Most Advanced System Gets more deep down soil than any other cleaning method % Upholstery Cleaning Too SATISFACTION GUARANTEED Why not Call Us Today? FREE ESTIMATES Ph. 365-6969 CASTLEGAR FUNERAL CHAPEL Dedicated to kindly, thoughttul service. COMPLETE FUNERAL SERVICE Cremation, Traditional Burial and Pre-Arrangement Plan Granite, Bronze Memorials. Cremation Urns and Plaques Phone 365-3222 Optometrist ML. LeNoy 8.S.0.D. OPTOMETRIST 1012. 4th St. Castlegar PHONE 365-3361 Tues.-Fri. 9. a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m.-12 noon Plumbing & Heating § GIBSON Heating Centre American Standard Valley Fibrebath Jacuzzi * Crane Duro Pumps & Softeners PVC Pipe Fittings Septic Tanks Electrical Supplies 365-7702 2317 - 6th Ave. Castlegar Planning a Wedding? We Sell Distinctive Refinishing WOOD FURNITURE STRIPPED & REFINISHED Furniture, Chairs, Tables Pianos, Etc ‘Quality Workmanship! CALL DAVE AT 359-7916 Castlegar Ph. 365-7287 Appliances APPLIANCE REPAIR NOW IN CASTLEGAR Lorges! Selection of Applionce Ports in the Area Located in Col ‘Appliance Bidg. 1055 ‘Columbia Ave. 65-8181 Trail Area Call 368-8612 All Brand Names Serviced All Parts Stocked Rebuilt Timers Used Appliances and Consignments Coin-Operoted Machines Industrial Loundry WE ALSO SERVICE + KENMORE INGLIS * HOTPOMT + ETC. CASTLEGAR PLUMBING & HEATING LTD. 1008 Columbia Aveove 265-3388 © Bankruptices * Estate: * Consign * Outright Purch AUCTION SERVICE Computers ——— KOOTENAY INFORMATICS Now Ha: Full Line of LAZER xT LAZER 1286's EX South Slecan Junction 359-7755 D&M INSULATION * Blown Insulation * Batts and Poly DUNCAN MORRISON 650-Sth Ave. 365-5255 PC GQHEnotee tie West Concrete WEST K CONCRETE LTD. PIPELINE PITT RD. CALL PLANT 693-2430 CASTLEGAR 365-2430 Draperies _—__ THE STORE THAT HAS IT ALL 1N DRAPERY! Gwen Kissock In-home drapery estimates no charge, no obligation Commercial or Residential 9:30-5:30 Tues. to Sot Bus. 365-3515 Res. 365-6880 1434 Columbia Ave., Cestiegar Moving & Storage WILLIAMS MOVING & STORAGE 2337 - 6th Ave., Castl Napkins etc Come See Us At Castlégar News 197 Columbia Ave. Radiator Repairs _RADIATOR REPAIRS Auto — Truck — industriel New & Used Parts Arrow Auto Wrecking Avectensger 365-5161 Ave. Costeger Roofing ROOFING Guaranteed Work Fair Prices 30 Years in Business Free Estimates JAMES SWANSON AND SONS Ph. 367-7680 Invite you to call them for a free moving estimate. Let our representative tell you about the many services which hove made Williams the most respec ted name in the moving business Ph. 365-3328 Collect ‘CHANG’S Nursery & Florists Ltd. A complete nursery stock! COMPLETE RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING SERVICE OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 9 A.M.-5 P.M. 365-7312 2601 - 9th Avenue, Castlegar § Castlegar fF Refrigeration ACALL ONE CORPORATION 24 HOUR SERVICE Technical & Design Specialists Travelling the World! Septic Service - COLEMAN COUNTRY BOY SERVICE Sump & Septic Tank Pumping PHONE 365-5013 3400 - 4th Avenue ‘astlegar , April 10,1988 C1 BARTLE John Charters... Reflections & recollections MUNDAY TELLS HISTORY OF DIOSPAJ NAN I telephoned John Munday in Quito, Ecuador early Thursday morning (Maundy Thursday), remembering that the time zone there is three hours later then we are. He was most happy to receive Easter greetings from all of his many friends here in Castlegar. However, in spite of his receiving the call, he did not sound like his usual bubbling-self. I would suggest that a card or short note be sent, without expectation of an early reply might lift him over the hump. A couple of weeks ago I received a glossy, well-de signed and printed book from John, entitled Diosp% Nan. This expression, it goes on to explain, means “God's Way” in the Quichua Indian tongue. The’ Centre Christiano Diospaj Nan is located on the highway that leads to the line of the Equator. The Incas called the road “The Way of the Sun.” They worshipped the sun, the introduction says, as the people of the Centre worship God as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Under the heading “Once Upon a Time,” the story of Diospaj Nan. “In 1975 I received a once-in-a-lifetime ‘Dear John’ letter from friends in Vancouver, advising me that_they had ‘come into some money’ and would like to share $15,000 of it with me. “The conditions were: © That I buy a*home for myself or; That I buy a building for our church or; That I purchase an appropriate location for a youth centre. “The letter arrived while I was living in my fourth rented apartment in the 17 years I'd made Quito, Ecuador my home. My friends obviously concluded I intended to say for awhile, and that it might, in the long run, be more economical to buy, rather than to throw money away each month in rent. (They also knew that much of my time as a missionary in Ecuador had been spent in “church planting” and in communicating as best I knew how, the John tells Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to Ecuadorian young people.) “Twelve years ago, $15,000 sounded like a lot of money . . . so much so, in fact, that it was difficult for me to take the contents of the letter seriously. The months slipped by. “For several years I'd been writing programs on life, history and experiences in Ecuador, applying each weekly broadcast over Radio Station HCJB to a specific aspect of the Christian life. I'd even shared with the English-speaking world my dream of building a house on the line of the Equator and filled it up with all the lame and the halt and the blind in this part of the world, all the waifs and orphans, the abandoned \and the unloved. I wanted to pay a debt I felt towards the God Who had blessed me with a home in Canada that abounded in love and security and in every conceivable commodity including the example and the prayerful backing of parents who deeply cared. I never really believed that all this broadcasted reverie would become even a partial reality. And then the letter arrived. “As the end of 1975, the deadline for my decision, drew nearer I decided to look around for real estate. I asked a friend to accompany me along the new highway running from the outskirts of Quito to the Equatorial Monument .. . just in case. Three kilometres before reaching that invisible line that divides the world in two stood a rustic adobe building and a newer, ranch-style addition that comprised the “Pizzeria Donde Marcello.” Once or twice I had eaten pizzas there and decided to ask the owner, Don Marcello, a delightful Italian immigrant with a warm and generous heart, if he perchance knew of any property for sale in the area. Rather than answer my question he invited me on a tour of his 2'/2 hectare estate. “From the edge of the original building to the “Nun's River” below, the sloping piece of Andes mountainside left much to be desired. It also left a lot to one's imagination. As we slid our way down and puffed our way back up I envisioned pathways for the blind, scented shrubs and flowers to guide them, vegetable gardens, playing fields, campsites and a host of other modifications and transformations. “I also thought of the ‘lame and the halt and the blind,’ of ‘the waifs, the abandoned and the unloved.’ Back on road-level I asked don Marcello if he's consider selling it all to me. Unhesitatingly he sai Yes, for two mission sucres” (worth at that time about $80,000 US). He gave pant JOHN MUNDAY founder and director me five years to pay. With the initial gift of $15,000 as a start, I made the final payment two years_later, but moved in to live early in 1976. “A phone call from Quito as I was about to retire for my first night was to define the ultimate purpose of this new possession. The Sra. Rosa had just died from cancer, I was told, and I remembered the promise I had made to her on one of my pastoral visits. She was a relatively new Christian and a faithful member of one of our Quito churches: “If God calls you home I'll look after your children:” (Norma 14, Waldo 12, Rodolfo 10 and Hector 8). Rosa seemed to relax following my assurance that her children would be cared for in a Christian home. Now she was dead and I was to becomé a surrogate father. I drove into Quito late at night, bought a coffin, drove up to her humble home on the slopes of Mt. Pichincha, arranged for the wake and funeral and interment and began a new chapter in my missionary life in Ecuador. “Word quickly spread that I was collecting homeless children. To make a very long story short, my foster family has grown from the original four to the present 44. These include 12 blind boys, one deaf-mute, four re. tarded, two partially paralyzed (the ‘halt') and two epil eptics. I've been reluctant to put an age limit as one purpose I have for receiving them is to restore that sense of security they so desperately need and to prepare them for life on their own, but lived in fellowship with Him Who is Life. With the exception of two of the older ones, who are holding down excellent jobs and so prepared to move out and live on their own, all are totally dependent. But God has chosen His instruments to supply our daily needs in a variety of ways. He has proved Himself to be “a father of the fatherless” (Psalm 68:5) and conse: quently a God of miracles.” The rest of the book deals mainly with his fellow workers, David and Sharon Okum and their children, his workers and the 45 members of his adopted family. There are frank but loving mini-biographies which reflect the life of a dedicated and compassionate man. Included also are pictures and descriptions of a Nativity scene acted out for Christmas, the museum which has just been completed, which David Okum describes as being small but very significant; the soccer team, the chapel, the carpentry shop, the library and the Sunday school. It is amazing what has been done ina brief 12 years since the property was purchased. The book concludes with the following: “We're introduced to you “The Survivors.’ The story behind each life merits an entire book. We take no credit for their lives, no credit for contributing to their survival. They're made of strong stuff. Sometimes (most of the time?) it's a struggle for us to survive, and we've been blessed with so much during our growing-up years. We need your prayers for strength for each day's multi tudinous responsibilities, for constant and consistent love — the tough, resilient kind that has its source in God, for a disciplined life before the God Who placed us here, and for a generous supply of the wisdom ‘that is from Above." “He knows these needs. He also knows our material needs. Please pray that our faith in Him might never fail and that our main goal and highest purpose might never dim ... to share with each of our foster sons and daughters the love and the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to let them come unto Him. Of such He is building His kingdom, and to such He is offering a third dimension to life lived in fellowship with Him Who is eternal “Survivors, forty-plus make up our present family. Twenty million are still in the streets of Latin America waiting. Waiting to meet the God Who alone can turn survivors into conquerors and quality people for life on earth and for an eternity in Heaven. Please pray with us that our Diospaj Nan graduates may become quality people and vibrant children of God with a vital, real faith in His Son, Jesus Christ the Lord. After all, He is ‘Diospaj Nan’ — ‘God’s Way’ — personified.” CHURCHES Problems plague organized religion Editor's note: Canada’s churches face many dwindling congr shifts, skyrocketing costs and stress on their clergy. This is the first of three reports on how the churches are coping. By STEPHEN NICHOLLS Canadian Press Muted chords of organ music and straining voices emanate from the century-old United Church in the village of Locust Hill, Ont. Inside, a sparse, mostly silver-haired congregation of two dozen stand hymn books-in-hand, faithfully rendering Lord Speak to Me Just down the highway, in the affluent Toronto. fringe community of Unionville, a throng of some 300 suburbanites surge toward the stark, year-old St. Philip's-on-the-hill Anglican Church. Middle-aged moms and dads, yuppie couples, teens and toddlers weave past the BMWs, Buicks, Audis and Oldsmobiles that pack the parking lot and both sides of the adjoining road The two churches illustrate a perplexing and expensive dilemma for Canada’s religious denominations: how to minister to a flock that has been culled by secular competition and scattered by shifting population patterns. “Every year, so many churches close because of terminal illnesses such as old age — a local congregation is not able to reproduce itself,” says Timothy Starr, home mission secretary of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada. “If new churches are not developed, the whole progress of the Christian churches will be greatly stalled in the first decade of the new century.” COSTS ENORMOUS But startup costs for a church are colossal and budgets are tight. Empty pews mean empty coffers. The statistics have been grim for organized religion. Forty years ago, some 67 per cent of Canadians said they attended church weekly. By 1986, that figure dropped to 35 per cent. For Canada’s 11 million Roman Catholics, the fall-off has been especially dramatic in the last two decades. Nationally, 43 per cent reported regular attendance in 1986, down from 83 per cent 20 years earlier. In the Catholic bastion of Quebec, attendance plunged to 38 per cent from 88 per cent. The country’s two largest Protestant churches — United and Anglican — have each been losing an average of at least 10,000 members a year. Conservative Protestant groups, like the Lutheran and Pentacostal churches, have shown substantial growth but still account for less than one per cent of the total population. Only an estimated half of Canadian Jews currently belong to synagogues. And religious participation among Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus is said to be waning as the Canadian-born offspring of immigrants become integrated into Canadian social life. REASONS VARY Various reasons have been cited for the general decline: a growing trend to secularism in society; a wide range of recreational alternatives; objections to the churches’ positions on moral issues such as premarital sex and birth control. The large Protestant churches, rooted in rural beginnings, have also been hurt by a shift in population A century ago, 80 per cent of Canadians lived in rural ‘Forty years ago, some 67 per cent of Canadians said they attended church weekly. By 1986, that figure dropped to 35 per cent' areas and small towns. Now, that same percentage lives in urban and suburban areas. “Urbanization has put real pressures on us because we don't abandon rural congregations even as they decline,” says Michael Peers, the primate of the Anglican Church. “We're working on two fronts.” The new front is expansion into areas of growth — the suburbs. The United Church has 100 new churches in various stages of development across Canada, mostly in new subdivisions. In the Toronto area alone, the Catholic Church has built eight new churches in the past three years, with eight more to start by 1990. MORE PLANNING Building churches is expensive. St. Philip's range up to $1.25 million in construction bills, not including land costs. Some projects have hit as high as $3.5 million. It's become big business, and the churches have responded with greater planning. SSeS SETI rela RR NS gern TRAE SERNA For many of the major denominations, that includes appointing full-time staff to concentrate on development of new churches. Rev. Ron Kelly, a bespectacled Roman Catholic priest, leads the d PI team for the archdi of Toronto. It’s his job to bone up on urban planning studies and stay one step ahead of development PICK AREAS Rev. Gordon Hume, wno led church development at the United Church for the better part of a decade, says finding a new approach was necessary “In the ‘50s, you'd almost always find a group of church people in the community that wanted to form a church. “Today, that rarely happens,” says Hume, lounging in the spartan surroundings of the mobile home that serves as office for his new church in Mississauga, Ont. “Now, the presbytery targets a particular area and sends somebody in to do a survey. If the survey warrants it, they send a worker in — a pastor-developer, who gathers the congregation.” Church developers talk in marketing terms of “studying demographics” and seeking out sites with “visibility” and “accessibility.” ‘Jesus said, ‘Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves,’ and part of that is to take all the expertise you can out of the business world and apply it to the church,” says Hume. CAN'T GAMBLE The rising costs of land and construction mean the stakes are too high to gamble on the success of a new project. Gone are the days when for a decade and a half, the United Church put up a new chureh every 15 days on CHURCHES IN TRANSITION . .. Urbanization has put pressures on Canada's churches Cosews Photo average, says Hume. Now, the church goes slow and thinks small. “One of the assumptions (in the past) was that a congregation needs a church, a hall and a home for the pastor,” says Peers, whose steel-gray business suit makes him look more like an executive than an Anglican spiritual leader. “In most parts of Canada now, we say, ‘Don't start with a building, start with a congregation in a school, and then see how it goes.” Furthermore, church developers have come up with alternatives to the traditional church: sharing buildings with other faiths, designating regional and ethnic churches to draw from a wider area, adopting outreach missions in old urban churches, using chaplaincies to reach those who have no church ties. And the squeeze is on for money. The Anglicans, for example, are promoting a return to tithes and bequests. MEETING NEED? Some critics say the sophisticated church develop- ment schemes ignore the real problem — tunnel vision: Churches could draw more participants if they took a greater leadership role, says Reginald Bibby, author of Fragmented Gods, which examines “the poverty and potential of religion in Canada ‘s needed is “an integrated faith that embraces says Bibby, a professor at Alberta's University of Lethbridge. Still, others — pointing to crowded suburban churches such as St. Philip's — think today’s church does fulfil the faithful. “We're bringing back the young families we've been missing the past says Anne Squire, moderator of the United Church. NEXT: Churches try new approaches.