INNISFAIL – It’s ministering with a purpose.
Rev. Sarah Fanning, 44, arrived in Innisfail in January to temporarily take over the reins at Innisfail United Church from Rev. Margaret Lang, who retired after 16 years.
Fanning grew up on the West Coast in Vancouver and has lived in four provinces. She completed an undergraduate degree in Ottawa and two theology degrees in southern Ontario, including her Master of Divinity at the University of Toronto.
She will be in Innisfail for 18 months.
“It’s called intentional interim ministry. I’m helping (the Innisfail United Church) through this time of transition. Margaret was the longest term minister they’ve had in their history.”
The married mother of two and her husband, also a minister, moved back to Alberta to be closer to their families.
“One of my passions is teaching and helping people,” she said, noting she grew up in the United Church on the West Coast.
“I love the United Church’s openness, their sense of advocacy for social justice, their willingness to be on the forefront of issues,” she added.
After Lang’s retirement, Innisfail United Church held a joint needs assessment, said Fanning. The process looks at what they can afford, what their needs are in terms of minister and what they have to offer.
“It’s an opportunity for us together to take a look at what was really good about their ministry with Margaret as their minister, what do they want to hold onto from that and keep doing, and what do they want to let go of so that they can move forward,” explained Fanning.
As an interim minister, her role includes conducting Sunday services, providing leadership to the board and helping the church through a time of growth and transition before finding a permanent minister.
“My hope for them is that they are able to take this time as a pause, to think about what are the things that are truly important to them as a faith community, how do they carry that forward, how do they be present in this lovely community and how do they use the gifts that they have to be a community centre within Innisfail,” she said.
One important role in her intentional interim ministry will be to help prepare the church in several ways to welcome a new minister in June of 2019.
Fanning said she often depicts her role as that of a midwife.
“I walk alongside the congregation and I’m with them through this transition time,” she said. “I can help to nudge them in the right direction in terms of helping that growth to happen.
“(I want) to try and help give them the tools to talk about why their faith is important and why is coming here important,” said Fanning. “To have those tools that they can carry with them into their future.”
