SUNDRE — The impending departure of Rev. Tammy Allan will not hamper the continued delivery of a variety of services at the Sundre United Church.
Since last fall, Allan – who in July will be transferring to the Innisfail United Church – had under a joint-pastoral charge previously served as the minister of churches in Olds, Didsbury and Sundre.
But the Sundre United Church’s leadership team had, even prior to Allan’s announced departure, already been plotting an alternate course for the future.
“We have a game plan going forward,” said Joyce Wicks, a church leadership team director. “We had a plan even before what happened with Tammy.”
When Allan begins her new post in Innisfail in July, the Sundre United Church will once again become its own pastoral charge, said Wicks.
The local United Church is under a collective known as Chinook Winds Region, whose boundary stretches approximately as far as north as Ponoka all the way to the U.S. border and province-to-province borders, she said.
“What happens when you don’t have a specific minister that’s been brought in to be your own minister, then the region can appoint someone that has the oversight on behalf of the United Church of Canada that then is present for the business of your congregation,” she explained on June 15 during an interview.
Stepping into that assigned role, added Wicks, is Rev. Janice Beaudry, who “has got all the full qualifications of an ordained minister and she then can do all the necessary things (such as) weddings, baptisms, funerals, and communion. And that’s the role she's going to play in being assigned to us.”
A bonus from this transition will be a return on July 3 to Sunday morning worship services at 10 a.m. instead of later in the afternoon, which will enable congregants to participate more in the community’s activities throughout the rest of the day, said Wicks.
“After eight years of having to defer to an afternoon service, we’re really excited to return to the traditional morning services on Sunday,” she said.
Any variations in upcoming services along the way will be communicated to the congregation by the church, she added.
“We will also be bringing other ministers for pulpit supply,” she said.
So immediately as of July 1, she said Sundre will have full coverage in the United Church.
“We’re not just out there floating on our own – we have got a fully-qualified, fully-ordained minister that has been assigned to us to pick up all those things and will probably be doing at least once a month regular service for us,” said Wicks.
“She also is planning to augment and build our children’s ministry because she has special skills in children’s ministry of music – she’s an extraordinary musician.”
Plans are even already in place to entice faith families with children.
“(Beaudry) already has assigned a weekend that she’s going to have a children’s workshop and service. And we’re going to go into once a month specific intergenerational children’s services,” said Wicks.
“She’s an absolutely lovely person and we’re so excited to have her give us the leadership she will. We have a very healthy, forward progressive vision of how to grow our church.”
For her part, Beaudry said she looks forward to more frequently coming out to Sundre.
“I love driving out here – it’s so beautiful,” she said when asked for her thoughts on the opportunity to be able to help ensure the continued delivery of services in town.
“I’m excited about it. I’m looking forward to the ministry that is continuing here in a new format,” she said. “I won’t be able to come every Sunday, because I’m the musician now for Knox United and for Olds United, my husband and I. But coming out here and helping with some special services, I’m looking forward to that.”
Beaudry said weddings and funerals are a big part of her calling.
“Especially the funerals – walking that journey of saying goodbye to a loved one and being there for that family, that’s a very special spot in my life. So, I look forward to doing those things,” she said.
“We’re here for the community.”
While Allan looks forward to getting started in Innisfail, she told the Albertan she really appreciated the opportunity to have been a part of the Sundre, Olds, and Didsbury communities during her time ministering at the United Churches in those towns.
“There’s great people within not just the churches but the communities as a whole,” she said.
Sundre United Church leadership team chair Cheri Jahnke said Beaudry has already been booked one Sunday per month until October.
“We also have access to another minister at least another Sunday every month,” Jahnke said. “That leaves two Sundays that we can be creative, because we have people in our church and community that are very capable of leading services as well.”
