The Story of a Successful Amalgamation of Two
Amalgamation is not palliative care.
In a time when many churches are struggling to stay alive and when options to close or amalgamate often lead to the inevitable demise of the congregation, it is nice to know that it does not have to be that way. Amalgamation can be highly successful and can breathe new life into a church community that thought there was no hope for its survival. In the Year of Our Lord 2000, Graceview Presbyterian Church rose, like the phoenix, from the ashes of Hillview Presbyterian Church and Grace Presbyterian Church.
The late nineteen-nineties saw two struggling churches, not far apart in Toronto, Ontario, trying to come to grips with dwindling congregations, financial instability, and the growing certainty that unless something was done pretty quickly, neither one of these churches could continue to exist much longer.
At Hillview Presbyterian Church, the situation was most dire. In 1991, a congregation of approximately one hundred members was heavily in debt and struggling to meet its financial obligations. It had been necessary to replace a leaky roof, resulting in a debt of $60,000.00 to the National Lending Fund of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. This was in addition to a previously arranged, but still unpaid, $14,000.00 loan from the Ukrainian Presbyterian Congregation. However, in 1994 other events began to happen, which caused the fiscal problems to be placed on the back burner for a time.
Hillview’s long-time minister was involved in a serious legal situation which ultimately resulted in the severing of the pastoral tie. During the months leading up to this, West Toronto Presbytery, recognizing that he could no longer provide effective leadership, had placed him on an extended leave of absence while his case was being decided. The upheaval and trauma inflicted on the congregation were devastating. There were some congregants who rallied around the minister, continuing to maintain his innocence, and some of them left Hillview, thereby depleting its numbers even further. Had it not been for the calming, steady influence of Interim Moderators Reverend Joyce E. Elder, Reverend Doctor William Adamson, and, later, Reverend Doctor Howard Shantz, Hillview’s doors may have shut forever, several years earlier than they actually did. In June 1996, under the guidance of Reverend Shantz, the congregation of sixty-six members called Reverend Jeremy Lowther to the Hillview pulpit, and together they put the past behind and moved on.
With Reverend Jeremy’s youthful enthusiastic leadership, Hillview set out to expand its efforts to reach into the community and try to increase its membership. Jeremy worked tirelessly to that end, and many wonderful initiatives, by him and members of the congregation, were taken over the next four years. Jeremy became renowned for his spectacular Halloween Family Fun Nights, and at Christmastime invited the children to come to church on Christmas Eve in their pyjamas. To make them feel at home, he turned up at the Christmas Eve services sporting HIS pyjamas and bathrobe!
In spite of Hillview’s heroic effort to turn things around, by 1999 it became clear that the situation had not only not improved, but had deteriorated, and was not sustainable. Membership had dwindled to approximately 50. At one point Reverend Jeremy was asked not to cash his salary cheque until after the collection had been counted on Sunday. To save fuel costs, the heat was turned down so much that the pipes burst in the Sunday School Room, adding to the mess previously caused by the leaking roof. Attendance was so low that after-service refreshments were moved to the small narthex instead of the lower church hall. The choir consisted of four members, under the direction of a friend of the congregation, Rev. Jack Carnegie, who was a Baptist minister and an accomplished musician. Jack was an impish, popular Scot who occasionally graced Hillview’s pulpit and whose sermons regularly caused people to wonder if their watches had stopped! But we liked him anyway.
On October 13, 1999, a congregational meeting was held at which Elder Bob Twynam discussed with the congregation Hillview’s failure to grow and its grave financial status. The majority of the approximately forty people in attendance that day indicated by a show of hands their approval for Session to explore the possibility of alliance with another church.
Meanwhile, a couple of miles to the West, Grace Church had problems of its own. It was without a minister and under the care of Hillview’s old friend, Interim Moderator Reverend Doctor Bill Adamson. (May he rest in peace.) During the 1990’s the financial picture at Grace had been quite unstable, showing large fluctuations in revenues and disbursements from one year to the next. In the space of three years (1994-1997) membership dropped from two hundred and seven, to one hundred and sixty-one, with a resultant large drop in envelope receipts. The Finance Committee forecast of income for 1997 was just over $83,000.00 – but the forecast budget for basic, non-discretionary needs was $93,000.00, which would result in a deficit of $10,000.00. By 1999, Grace’s membership was officially recorded as one hundred and fifty-five, but actual weekly attendance was much lower and it was becoming impossible to meet basic financial obligations. Reverend Adamson realized that it would not be feasible, practical, or fair to bring a new minister into a diminishing congregation, and suggested that the congregation start exploring the possibility of an alliance with another church. He also knew that the Hillview congregation had run out of options, and began to encourage dialogue between the two churches to see if an amalgamation might be possible.
In December 1999, with Reverend Adamson’s support and blessing, Session members from Grace and Hillview met to discuss the idea of a union of their congregations. His leadership and vision helped both congregations to see the crisis occurring in both churches as an opportunity, and a glimmer of light began to appear.
On February 6, 2000, at Hillview and at Grace, Annual Meetings were held, and votes in respect of amalgamation were taken. An overwhelming majority at both churches voted in favour of accepting the motion for amalgamation.
It was agreed that, although Hillview’s facilities were larger, Grace’s building was in a better location, in far better repair, and had a bigger parking lot, so the Grace Church building would be retained and the Hillview premises would be sold. The name of the new amalgamated church was to be “Graceview”, a name suggested by respected member Jane Swatridge (now Reverend Jane Swatridge, Interim Minister at Zion and Knox Presbyterian Churches, Port Carling Ontario), and brought to Session by her father Len.
On April 2, 2000, at the newly formed Graceview Presbyterian Church, Rev. Dr. Bill Adamson led the first service together, a service of thanksgiving and hope for the future.
At Grace church, a search committee for a new minister was already in place. Rev. Adamson knew of a fellow who was graduating from Knox College, who he thought would be the perfect person to bring these two churches together in harmony. His suggestion to the candidate that he apply for the job was initially firmly resisted by the candidate, a middle aged man who, having retired from his government position, had decided to take courses at Knox for “something to do”. He ended up completing the program which would lead to his ordination. He had no notion of seeking out his own charge in pastoral ministry, but Rev. Adamson’s formidable persuasive powers prevailed. In May, the catalyst for the rapid and highly successful union arrived, in the form of Jan Hieminga, with the brand-new title of “Reverend” attached to his name and absolutely no previous ministerial experience, who, together with his wife Lynne, quickly found his way into the hearts of the people. Under his gentle, compassionate, tireless leadership, and passionate, inspired preaching, church life for all was infused with renewed enthusiasm.
A number of changes were immediately put into place to welcome the people from Hillview and make them feel at home:
- The church sign was made to reflect the new church name and was in place before the first united service was held;
- The Order of Service was altered to combine traditional practices of both churches;
- The church newsletter, “Amazing Grace”, was redubbed “Graceviews;”
- Attendance at the after-service coffee-hour was encouraged to allow for new friendships to grow;
- Grace’s Greeter Coordinator, Marg Swatridge, invited long time Hillview members Carl and Dorothy McTavish to help greet on that first Sunday together, so everyone would shake a familiar hand;
- Every committee encouraged representation from both original congregations;
- Furnishings from both churches were put to use;
- Name tags created by Joseph Chu were provided for everyone.
In a remarkably short period of time, it was all but forgotten who had belonged to which original congregation. Thanks to all of this, to the good will of good people, to the gentle, inspirational guidance of Graceview’s new minister, and to the grace of God, the amalgamation was done right and the congregation flourished.
When Rev. Jan was called to us at the age of sixty, he promised that he could give us ten years. He did that and more. Those twelve years under his ministry, in my view (and I am clearly biased), were magical. The church was thriving, life-long friendships were developing, much good work was being done in the community, financial worries had been eliminated, there were no major issues or crises to threaten our equanimity, and our reputation, which still holds to this day, of being a loving, caring, devoted congregation, was growing. I have never walked into that building without feeling safe, loved, and uplifted.
To the dismay of his flock, Rev. Jan retired in the fall of 2011. At the time of his retirement Graceview Church had a respectable membership of two hundred and thirteen plus sixty-one adherents; an eighteen-member choir that, under the direction of its long time, very devoted Choir Director Eric Medhurst, presented a new anthem in four voices every Sunday; a Sunday School programme for a small number of children; charitable outreach that had earned it a solid reputation in its community; many active committees and study groups; and the financial stability necessary to maintain all this.
Although the congregation was very sad to say goodbye to Re. Jan, we had no doubt that with God’s help and guidance, the support of an interim moderator, and, in due course, the leadership of a new minister, we would continue to thrive for many more years. And we did so. In 2012, Rev. Stephen Dunkin was called to us, and in 2017 Rev. Rebekah Mitchell. Today we are blessed with the leadership of Rev. Eric Lee, who came to us in 2023.
The years since the birth of Graceview have seen many changes, not only in our church but in Etobicoke Christendom in general. Although today we are again facing a sadly diminishing congregation and a grim financial picture, the joining of our two churches has given us twenty-five years of dedicated Christian work, worship, love, friendship and fun in our community, years that we would not have had were it not for the far-reaching vision of Rev. Dr. Bill Adamson at the turn of the century, and the enthusiastic embracing of each other by the many good people who made it happen.
Why was this particular joining of two struggling churches so successful, when most often an amalgamation does not work out as was hoped? A crucial part of the equation in the case of Grace and Hillview was the calling of a new minister, one who had no previous association with either congregation and therefore no bias. This gave everyone a truly fresh start, practically and symbolically. The decision had been made to retain the Grace Church building, and the forty-seven people from Hillview, arriving for their first service at that building on April 2, 2000, could not have been welcomed more warmly.
The Order of Service on that first Sunday included a Declaration of Union in which members of both congregations formally agreed to be one congregation and pledged themselves to be “faithful to the covenant of unity, love and peace into which (they) were entering.”
We have indeed been faithful to that covenant, and the Grace of God had done the rest.