Arctic ministry is a challenging task at the best of times. The long distances, the limited resources, the lack of other community organizations or professionals to serve the community, and the many differences in culture and traditions from community to community (even in the same region!) are just a few of the challenges that clergy in the North must face.

When the original Arthur Turner Training School closed in Pangnirtung in the early 2000s (when the building – a former mission hospital was deemed uninhabitable) it added another challenge into the mix: clergy were retiring faster than there was opportunity to replace them! Fast forward to 2023, and we have seen a net loss of 53 clergy over the last two decades. As an example, in living memory there was a time when the Cathedral in Iqaluit was served by nine clergy in a variety of full-time and part-time roles. In 2022 the cathedral had 1 full-time minister, the Dean. The situation is more severe in many of the smaller communities; twenty years ago they may have had two or three part-time clergy from the local community, now, due to natural causes such as age, illness, and being called home to the nearer presence of God, those communities find themselves without any active clergy at all. Obviously you can see why training is a top priority for our Diocese!

In early 2023 we realized that we were headed into a situation where we had only one full-time priest for the entire South Baffin deanery (Iqaluit, Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq, Kimmirut, and Kinngait). Our mission to to build up these churches so they can effectively preach the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to their communities; bringing people together not just for worship but to minister to those struggling in bonds of addiction, hurting through generational trauma, and to do our part faithfully to speak life to those thinking about suicide, on top of the regular work of teaching children, youth, and families what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

…but how do we do that when we have 1 full-time minister to oversee the mission for those 5 communities, especially when the Cathedral is already a very busy parish? That is a recipe for burnout, especially for people already spread thin. We had already heard from our regional deans about how hard it is to leave their own churches to do lengthy training-focused visits to the other communities in their deaneries.

As a bit of an experiment, Archdeacon Pryor looked to an approach to ministry that is being used in rural England: Team Ministry. Rather than spreading people too thin, we decided to place a “team of clergy” in Iqaluit, taking advantage of the houses we own there and the direct flight routes to the other communities. Over the summer, The Very Rev. Chris Dow (Dean of the Cathedral) was joined by the Rev. Ann Martha Keenainak, the Rev. Abraham Kublu, and the Rev. Samantha Kublu. Ann Martha will devote 50% of her time to the ministry of ATTS, with the remainder of her time as a member of this South Baffin Ministry Team. Rev. Abraham is a full-time member of the Ministry Team, while his wife Rev. Samantha takes up the role of Cathedral administrator.

Under the leadership of Dean Chris Dow, the Team will be assigned to each community in the region, with the ability to easily travel to those communities without having to worry about who will provide pastoral care to their home parish while they are away. Each parish will have a relationship with one member of the team, and the plan is that they will set goals together. The long-term vision is that these parishes will share resources, much like has been done in Nunavik, so that there can one day soon be regional training opportunities and Bible Conferences. We dream of the day soon when the Celebrate Recovery 12-step program in Iqaluit “spills over” to Kinngait, Kimmirut, Pangnirtung, and Qikiqtarjuaq as the South Baffin Ministry Team work together to build up all 5 communities at the same time. The good news is that there’s room on the team for at least one more: a curate. In the old days, “curate” was the title given to a new minister who is learning to provide pastoral care under the supervision of an experienced priest. As part of this plan for Team Ministry, we’re looking to place newly-trained clergy in Iqaluit full-time to “learn the ropes” from the other members of the team. Our hope is that it becomes a rotating position, where a new minister serves full-time on the team for 1-2 years and then moves out to take a full-time position in one of the communities.

The challenges are real, and the loss of clergy due to retirement and death has put us in an unfortunate position, but we believe this plan is from the Lord and will help us build up the churches as we fulfil our portion of the Great Commission to make disciples across the North!