Grappling for grace in a conflicted culture
Tough job to lead Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
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Life is not easy for Gary
Walsh. Not that he’s complaining, but after
14 months as president of the Evangelical
Fellowship of Canada (EFC), he may well be
wondering why he chose to step away from the
secure family atmosphere he enjoyed as bishop of
a small denomination in order to work and speak
on behalf of evangelicals in Canada. Throughout the past year the man at the head of an often unwieldy association of denominations, churches and parachurch groups has been doing his homework, travelling the country and speaking to clergy groups, congregations and ministry leadership teams. "I’ve been on a steep learning curve," he says, "which is certain to continue for two or three more years." |
| EFC President Gary Walsh |
Walsh, former head of the Free Methodist Church in Canada, clearly enjoys many aspects of his new calling, claiming to experience "moments of near exhilaration" as he meets and interacts with the people of God in all their diversity. "I’ve discovered pockets of evangelicalism I knew nothing about," he says.
And the new president was greatly encouraged during the days he spent with nearly 100 members of the EFC general council at the end of April. "One of the hazards of national ministry is that you never meet. We had good attendance and for two days we visited, discussed and discovered together," he reports. "Instead of seeing EFC as a faceless entity that is difficult to connect with or relate to, I’m beginning to share the heart of the leaders of the movement and we’re running in step with each other."
According to Walsh, these leaders affirmed key elements of the EFC mission and engaged in a strategic planning exercise that will help to prioritize its future activities. "Evangelicals are talking about developing new things," he says. "We have dozens of wonderful ideas the Holy Spirit could well birth into new ministries across the country."
Not a cakewalk
But it hasn’t all been a cakewalk. Even before he took up the leadership reins, Walsh realized that his work involved relating to two distinct audiences–internally to evangelicals; externally, representing evangelicalism to the broader Canadian community. In his first year he’s faced challenges on both fronts.
An important part of the EFC president’s job is to administer a national organization with a $3 million annual budget, much of which has to be raised through donations. And the money hasn’t exactly been flowing in. While EFC as a whole is relatively stable, a financial shortfall at fiscal year end in May forced Walsh to lay off several EFC employees–at least for the summer.
And he’s presided over other administrative and personnel changes as well. Several longtime EFC workers have found different jobs during the past year, and Walsh hopes to announce the appointment of a new director of development in the very near future. Meanwhile, there is some trepidation within the organization as others wait to see how the next stage of the new administration’s agenda will unfold.
Externally the situation has also been challenging. Former EFC president Brian Stiller used to recount his wife’s belief that the job was basically to serve as a "hired mouth."
That may come easier to Stiller than to Walsh. When UCC moderator Bill Phipps was making headlines last fall with statements diminishing the deity of Jesus Christ and pooh-poohing the historicity of the resurrection, Walsh hesitated to join the fray and missed an opportunity to articulate an evangelical understanding of core Christian doctrines to the general public. The mass media’s attention span, he discovered, is very short.
And it’s been a tough year on the public advocacy front as well. EFC work in a variety of court cases has met with largely discouraging results. "In terms of advocacy we’ve had to measure our gains incrementally," allows Walsh. For example, in the Ms. G case the majority judgment went against the EFC position, but a minority statement picked up its argument. "There was an incremental advance in the sanctity of life argument because we were there to make the case," he says.
Partnership and a reconciling presence
As he comes into his own, two key themes are emerging as hallmarks of the new president’s leadership. In a number of recent columns Walsh promotes the virtues of partnership, "bringing previously isolated people and organizations together to accomplish mutually agreed upon tasks."
Writing in Faith Today (May/June ’98), Walsh describes the EFC as a partnership. "But we cannot assume that current levels of cooperation will meet the challenges ahead," he adds. "Realities of today call for new levels of essential, trust-based relationship building and the development of strategic alliances to accomplish our mission." It will indeed be interesting to see if Walsh is able to turn this ideal into a practical reality. Will the EFC be part of new cooperative ventures in the coming year?
The second tune we can expect to hear Walsh calling relates to the way Christians should work as an influence within society. At the spring meetings, EFC’s general council grappled with concerns that the general public and politicians look upon the organization as negative in its approach. Doubtless Walsh will be looking for less confrontational ways to bring biblical values to bear on public policy.
Walsh’s own thinking resonates with the perspective articulated by Dean Merrill in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Church (Zondervan, 1997). In short, Merrill maintains that people cannot be shouted into holiness, that a truly Christian approach is most often patient and peaceable, and that the key to "changing [a culture’s] value system and improving the world’s condition is nothing less than the life-changing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ."
These softening tones are a hopeful glimpse of things to come, for notwithstanding the broad representation of its council, the EFC is greatly shaped by the personality of its leader. If Stiller was a preacher, Walsh is a pastor. His vision of a passionate yet compassionate Christian community is thoroughly biblical and should be compelling to church and society alike. But the voice of evangelicals in Canada must speak loud enough to be heard and soon enough to be heeded.
Doug
Koop
Editor
