Is there more we can do?

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

Canadians of all stripes are talking about the current refugee crisis and what we should do to help. Amid the banter, pastors working closest with newcomers to Canada are concerned that the mainstream Church isn’t ready to support the new arrivals.

Joseph Kiirya has pastored ethnic believers in Ottawa for more than 10 years. He says when immigrants and refugees first arrived in Canada, the culture shock of joining a mainstream church is often too much.

“They are not going to come here and the next day walk into a main-line church. They naturally want to be part of a church with people from their own culture and experience,” he explains.

Kiirya says small ethnic congregations like his church, River Jordan Ministries in Nepean, act as gateways, helping immigrants and refugees assimilate and transition into mainstream congregations.

“We have a growing immigrant population in our city and in Canada. We have immigrants and refugees coming in daily and there is a need for churches that will receive these people. Ethnic churches are filling that void, providing a place where new immigrants can easily fit in. In most cases, several years down the road, these immigrants find themselves in mainstream churches.”

But Kiirya says many local ethnic churches are really struggling.

“Most of the members are newcomers, living on welfare or with entry-level jobs. Some are unemployed or are working through the refugee process,” he says. “The income these churches have is very limited, yet their operations are as intense as any other church. In fact, we may have more programs than some mainstream churches, because we are concerned about the settlement of so many individuals.”

“You can’t have church without space”

Because of the lack of funding, Kiirya says one of the biggest challenges these churches face is finding affordable space to worship.

“All these churches are struggling with where to carry out their operations. Finding a place that is cost effective and zoned for a church is really a problem. Many of these churches are in industrial areas or storefronts—places that are not really suitable church space.”

Kiirya says most ethnic congregations are paying around $3500 a month to rent space. His church pays $5000. When 60 percent of the congregation are students or unemployed, he says, that’s almost insurmountable.

“I don’t know how we do it, but we have to keep the ministries going. You can’t have church without space. The incomes are often well below what these churches are paying. Then they can’t pay their pastor’s salary. Sometimes the pastors have to go into debt to keep the ministry going or they’re begging people for money. It becomes difficult because you’re dealing with a population that doesn’t have much.”

“For Sunday mornings, the only option is usually a basement”

Titus Babalola is all too familiar with the struggle to find affordable space. His congregation, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, meets in a small warehouse in the Trainyards shopping district. Although the church has grown to almost 300 people each Sunday, they are stuck in a 10-year contract, paying $10,000 a month.

“Initially we were paying $13,000, but we were able to reduce our rate. We tried to look for places that would be cheaper. We haven’t really talked to other churches about it, because we would like our services to be in the morning. For Sunday mornings, the only option is usually a basement. Then what do we do for the 40 or 50 children? It’s not easy.”

While some Western-style churches in Ottawa have been able to switch to Saturday evening services or other atypical times, Kiirya says it’s harder for ethnic cultures that place high importance on Sunday morning gatherings.

“Traditionally, people coming from Africa, Jamaica, or the Middle East go to church Sunday morning and go back again for an evening service. So it doesn’t work to have your main service in the afternoon. Members will find a church to go in the morning, but come to your church because of the shared ethnic background. That makes it more difficult because they are committed to another church. Personally, I think that mainstream churches, churches that have been here for a long time, could do a little more in helping these new ethnic congregations solve the space problem.”

Working together

Kiirya wants to see mainstream churches partner with ethnic churches, allowing simultaneous services the way some hold services in multiple languages.

“It’s much like having a Spanish or Chinese church and an English church worshipping on the same campus. The same model needs to be considered for ethnic churches. Although we speak English or French, the dynamics of our services are unique. Sadly, most mainstream churches have not opened up.”

Not all church facilities can host simultaneous services, but there are other ways churches can partner together. Babalola’s church hopes to buy a facility of their own, but he says churches have to raise a down payment of 35 percent.

“If your church is going to cost $2 million, you need to raise $700,000,” he states. “One area churches can help ethnic congregations is to give us a loan. If you have money in your bank, the bank uses it, but the Kingdom of God doesn’t benefit. You could loan that money for a church to have a down payment. Do it like private lenders, with all the legal documents to back it up.”

Babalola also suggests established mainstream churches help mentor ethnic churches in important skills like fundraising and guiding them through significant decisions.

“I suggest churches figure out a way of adopting an ethnic congregation,” says Kiirya. “Mentor them and walk with them like you would a local ministry. It’s not much to say we are going to commit $1000 a month to one of these churches with space issues. Do something as an expression of commitment to these ethnic congregations.”

As the number of ethnic congregations grows, Kiirya is concerned about what will happen if mainstream churches don’t step in to help.

“This is the down side,” he says. “Ten years down the road, we are going to have immigrant pastors who are established and who have no business with mainstream pastors. They will have the perspective that they’ve gone through the fires and gotten along, so you can keep your churches and we’ll keep our ethnic groups. Then we would have a divide.

“If the mainstream churches aren’t there when these churches need help, mentoring, and fathering, there will be great tension when the ethnic churches become established. They will look at mainstream parishioners as brothers who chose not to be brothers. That’s where you end up with the problem the US has where there are Black churches and White churches.”