The Huron Expositor, 1997-04-02, Page 21-TNt MOON t11itltOS1TQQ. MO S. 1907
Spiritual needs catered to by unique Kippen-area venture
BY DAVID SCOTT
Expositor Editor
Tina Heathers is a woman
with a vision.
Appropriately enough her
multi -faceted spiritual needs
business is called "Vision
Ministries."
The most recent branch of
this unique venture started up
this past Christmas and
focuses on congregational
consulting to revitalize
churches, of all denomina-
tions.
"The churches in Huron
County seem very open-
minded and receptive to the
idea. A few congregations in
the area have already started
the workshops and are gener-
ating some good ideas," she
states.
Declining Attendance
Of concern to Heathers, and
many churches these days, is
declining attendance.
"In fact, if a church pulls
out their attendance records,
they can probably plot their
decline, and from their graph
they can predict the year they
will have to close their
doors," she says.
It's not an occurrence that's
specific to one denomination.
The trend is right across the
board - Catholic, Anglican,
United, Presbyterian, etc.
The bookshelves in the
meditation and Reiki treat-
ment room at Heathers'
house at RR 3 Kippen, an old
schoolhouse, are full of
books on theology, spirituali-
ty and modern views on reli-
gion. One of the authors is
Reginald Bibby, a Canadian,
who predicts that within the
next 20 years many churches
will have to close their doors.
"Everybody's always quot-
ing U.S. books. Some recom-
mendations by American
authors don't apply to
Canada. Bibby uses Canadian
statistics and examples," says
Heathers.
"I'm sure in a short while
head churches will be look-
ing at closing rural churches.
Most ministers around here
have two parishes. What
they're going to do with the
empty churches, I'm not
sure."
Searching for Answers
Looking in the bookstores,
it's evident people are search-
ing for some sort of spiritual
answers, she says. Books like
"Celestine Prophecy" have
been on the best-seller list, for
over a year. Dozens of books
on angels can found, along
with "New Age" reading
including astrology and a
host of other books.
"People need to be spiritu-
ally fed. It's answering a lot
of people's spiritual needs
now."
More Like Bnalness
Some futuristic forecasters
are saying that churches have
to be run more like business-
es and that if the needs of the
market are not met, churches
will be closed. Having an
entrepreneurial pastor helps,
she says.
Heathers has a strong busi-
ness background. She's
obtained her MBA and held
senior management and exec-
utive positions across
Canada. As well, she has her
Bachelor of Science degree
and is' an ordained minister
with the Reorganized Church
of Jesus Christ, in Stratford.
"The church is bi-vocational.
it allows me freedom to work
with other churches."
Heathers does guest preach-
ing at Stratford, and branches
'r her church in St. Thomas
and London.
As well, she taught for the
University of St. Martin in
the Caribbean for three years
and has been involved in
business consulting for the
past six years.
Congregational Programs
In an effort to attract people
to church and keep congrega-
tions interested, Heathers has
designed a number of cours-
es, most of which she has
taught in the Caribbean or
here at Canadian colleges,
including Fanshawe iA
London. The topics are not
necessarily all church -based
and can be applied to every-
day life. Some of them are:
"Understanding Human
Behaviour.".,t. coph is .:..
PHOTO BY DAVID SCOTT
MEDITATION ROOM - Tina Heathers has a special room
of her own at her schoolhouse home near Kippen for medi-
tation and Reiki treatments.
This may mean grudgingly
returning to church for their
children's experience.
"Parents may go back to
church gritting their teeth so
Difficult People,"
"Communicating with
Compassion," "Creating a
Volunteer Network,"
"Handling Conflict" and
more.
Things like handling con-
flict and difficult people can
have useful end results for
churches.
"It's hard to teach people
spirituality when they can't
get by their misery at home
or work. We need to help
people with the fundamental,
practical stuff."
Lack of Youth
Many churches in Huron
have very few youth in their
congregation and a regular
attendance of about only 35.
Even though local Catholic
congregations may have
greater regular numbers, sta-
tistics show a 75 per cent
decline over the past 20 years
in attendance at Catholic
churches in Canada, says
Heathers.
While there are a lot of
younger, new ministers who
are "very anxious for
change" they arc still very
cautious.
"People haven't thought a
lot about changing the way a
church service is conducted.
People think it's taboo."
Even though there's a lot of
risk involved, Heathers says
it's necessary to have church
"exciting" and when you
leave after a service feel
"uplifted."
She says in some cities, the
Alliance Church - a non-
denominational church but in
the spirit of Pentecostal and
Baptist theology - will have
as many as 2,000 people at a
service. "They have youth
programs, social activities,
arts and crafts, camps."
their kid can go to Sunday
School. Or they may just
drop them off at church and
leave."
However, it's not all doom
and gloom for the future of
small churches. Heathers
says, "It isn't automatic
churches are going to die.
They could turn it around."
"Perhaps if we made the
youth and young adults lead-
ers today they would make
the changes necessary to
entice the people in their gen-
eration back into the church-
es. Perhaps they would make
the Christian message rele-
vant and meaningful to the
thousands of spiritually hun-
gry souls that are searching in
our society, she comments.
Let Youth Decide
A better way to get youths
interested in church is to lis-
ten to what they want.
Heathers suggests if they
want to have a Christian rock
hand to perform then let
them.
"Youths are leery of organi-
zations. They're into comput-
ers, the Internet. They need to
be entertained. Maybe if
there was more music in the
church or if they could. work
the soundboard in church."
The United Church in
Brucefield and Kippen and
the First Presbyterian Church
in Seaforth all have strong
youth groups. "They don't
want to be the only kid (in
the group). They want to
know who's going, how
many."
She suggests organizing
inter -denominational youth
Heathers feels that although activities across Huron
some parents may feel disil- County and bringing together
lusioned with the church,. people of different faiths and
"they still want some kind of "spending less time criticiz-
moral experience for their ing our differences."
kids - to teach them what's Whether ministers and par -
right and what's wrong." ents would agree with youth
1 _
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Graham or Jen at the Seaforth Community
Centres by April 9/97.
meetings of different faiths is
another matter, says
Heathers.
She suggests similar gather-
ings could be held for adults.
"Meetings could be orga-
nized for single moms, young
adults with kids. If we work
together, we can accomplish
anything. We need to get past
old mindsets of Catholic ver-
sus United and that Baptists
are not Christians."
There have been examples
of different churches working
locally. The Seaforth Food
Bank is run by all the differ-
ent local clergy.
Heathers also mentioned
ecumenical services have
been held by Rob Hiscox,
minister of the Clinton and
Seaforth Anglican churches.
"It's starting," she says.
Gifts of the Spirit
Another branch of her busi-
ness is the "Gifts of the
Spirit" personal spiritual
insights.
"I help individuals realize
their spirituality." She does
one-on-one spiritual guidance
sessions and personal min-
istry programs with titles
like: "Peaceful Living,"
"Overcoming Stress for Inner
Peace," "What is God Calling
Me to Do?" and others.
She offers Reiki, a natural
healing method of Japanese
origin that aligns the body's
energy. Heathers, herself is a
Reiki Master. "I do an energy
reading and go through all of
the energy system. Where the
energy is blocked, that is
where illness will manifest."
The end results of Reiki are
the same as Therapeutic
Touch which is now widely
accepted by health care
providers in many hospitals.
Mediation Classes
Vision Ministries offers
five-week meditation classes
for individuals or small
groups. "I lead them through
meditation. We do it for heal-
ing, relaxation, searching
God, etc. Then we talk about
our experiences."
Heathers has already led a
meditation class at the United
Church in Brucefield and in
Goderich.
gtvo
She has been teaching med-
itation and Reiki for eight
years.
Journeys for the Sort
Further into meditation, the
third branch of Vision
Ministries Is tate Journey for
the Soul line of "exploratory
meditation tapes" which fea-
ture Tina speaking to a back-
ground of soothing music
created by her husband David
Barth, a musician. Hesings
in a country band, "Highway
19," and recently. started
"Rhythm of Faith," .a
Christian music band that
performs in churches for
"celebration worship."
The couple has been pro-
ducing the meditation tapes
for the past two years.
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SPRING
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Wednesday & Thursday, April 2 & 3
5:00 to 10:00 PM
Seaforth Agricultural Agriplex
Admission: Donations to the Seaforth
Food Bank would be appreciated.
INTRODUCING OUR FIRST SPRING
FASHION SHOW
Thursday Evening, April • 7:30 pm
M.C. - Matt O'Niel
Participating businesses for the Fashion Show are:
Cardno's Men's Wear, Anna's Dress Shoppe, Kids Kloze,
Bee's Ladies' & Men's Fashion, Boussey Beauty Boutique,
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