Lakeshore United Church welcomes new minister

MORRISBURG – “There are lots of neighbours out there with whom the church can share its ‘good news,’” said Reverend Arlyce Schiebout, who took up her duties as spiritual leader of Lakeshore United Church on October 1, 2009. “My congregation will be able to decide how their gifts can best be used to share that news.”

Reverend Schiebout first learned that Lakeshore Drive United Church in Morrisburg was seeking a new minister in the spring of 2009, and decided to apply for the position. She visited the church, and took part in two interviews, talking to parishioners and learning about their needs and hopes.

“What appealed to me were the people I talked to, and their desire to grow and discern what God would have them do,” she explained during an interview with The Leader. “I also wanted to discern God’s mission for them as I served here.”

When she was offered the “call” at Lakeshore, she eagerly accepted, supported by the Seaway Valley Presbytery, part of the Montreal and Ottawa Conference of the United Church of Canada. Since she moved into her home in Morrisburg, Rev. Schiebout has been familiarizing herself with her new community and with her new congregation.

In some ways, Lakeshore’s minister has come a great distance to accept this pastoral call.

Born and raised in Iowa, in the United States, Schiebout immigrated to Canada about 40 years ago.

“I think I first felt a calling to the church as an adolescent,” she said. “But I guess when I was very young, it just wasn’t the right time to answer that inner voice. But the wish and the desire never really went away. I think the Spirit sometimes works that way: the path may not be as clearly seen in youth as it is later on.”

She earned degrees in economics and business administration and in physical education in Iowa. From there, she began working in the field of historic conservation and preservation.

Schiebout helped renovate and retrofit built environments and landscapes. The company she worked for, among other projects, restored historic buildings in downtown Perth and Athens, bringing them back to a particular time and period.

Smiling, she recalled the 1960’s as “turbulent times”, mentioning that between raising a family (she has two children) and working, life over the next years was hectic for her. She remained deeply involved with the church as a lay person.

However, by the 1990’s Schiebout felt that she could no longer wait to accept “the call” to serve she’d been feeling since her youth.

“I came to a life changing decision,” she said. “I quit my job, and with my family’s strong support and the support of my church family, I went back to school full time.” She earned her theology degree from Queen’s University in Kingston in 1995.

“My decision to enter the United Church was made years ago,” Schiebout explained. “I was drawn to the Church’s commitment to the social gospel,  its commitment to justice and its ongoing partnerships with groups in Canada and denominations abroad.”

Actually, Reverend Schiebout can claim a strong connection with communities along the St. Lawrence. She has served churches in Renfrew, Bath and Johnstown.

For the last 4.5 years, Rev. Schiebout has been doing what she defines as “intentional interim ministry.”

This means that she has worked with different congregations during a time when those churches had no full time ministers. She helped them to “establish goals, to envision the future and to make changes.”

Now that she has made a long term commitment to Lakeshore United, Schiebout  is listening closely to her congregation, learning what their unique goals are.

“I feel I do bring certain skills to this charge,” she said. “I have training in youth and small group ministry and in conflict resolution. I have served as president of the Montreal and Ottawa Conference, and as chair of the Seaway Valley Presbytery. I also have an excellent knowledge of the United Church resources. All told I have 17 years of experience in the church and in life, and I’m ready to take on what the people of this church decide God would have them do.”

Reverend Schiebout is already developing a sense and feeling for her South Dundas community. Meetings with other members of the clergy have made her feel that there “are places I can fit in.” She has visited Martha’s Kitchen; Pastor Norine Gullons’ confirmation class will be walking the Lakeshore Labyrinth with her.

Although she looks forward eagerly to ministering to her congregation, to understanding their needs, and to working with them to become a force within the community, Schiebout is not unmindful of the challenges ahead.

“We’ve come through the last 50 years with rapid changes in society and affluence and the ‘blip’ of we ‘boomers’ is actually an anomaly in a way. We have church structures in many communities (often built by the Seaway) that reflect what we thought the church would be down the road.”

“Yet the world has become very different from the vision of 50 years ago. The times in Christianity when the church has been most in decline are those times when it has not been deeply involved with society. It seems to me that a Church must be with the people, working itself into the margins to reach those who need healing and hope and freedom from oppression.”

“The church needs to share the good news with people even in darker times,” said the new minister of Lakeshore United Church, Arlyce Schiebout.