Rev. Dr. Loren and Becky Shellabarger, Iowa-based consultants who help small churches cope with changes, were in Chinook recently to meet with representatives of the recently named Milk River Churches. Milk River Churches is a new organization that helps coordinate joint worship activities and ministries with five local congregations in Chinook, Harlem and Havre. The congregations involved in the new larger parish are the American Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist churches in Chinook, the Yoked Parish in Harlem (combined Presbyterian and Methodist churches) and the Presbyterian Church in Havre.

The runup to the new cooperative effort

The Shellabargers first led a joint meeting with members of the five congregations in November, 2021 and shared how other small churches had pooled their resources. The couple has helped the churches in our area explore ways to combine efforts. From that gathering it was decided that representatives of the five congregations would regularly meet to study ways to share resources.

One big challenge to all five congregations was the loss of their pastors-in one case a death, another a retirement and one pastor who took a new call in another part of Montana. On Christmas Eve a joint worship service was held, led by the one pastor still in place at that time. Attendees recognized the benefits of a joint gathering and fellowship. From that a Lenten program with a viewing of the popular series called "Chosen," a visual story of the early part of Jesus' ministry was initiated. The Chinook American Lutheran Church hosted the group during the Lenten programs. Each showing of "Chosen" was preceded by an evening meal with Lenten soups provided by a different congregation each week.

In July of this year the study group selected a name for the combined effort. Using the new name and slogan, "Milk River Churches: Uniting God's People," various ways of identifying the new parish are being considered, including a possible logo that incorporates an image of a girder bridge and the parish name along with the name of all the member churches. The girder bridge, an important part of connecting the people of the Milk River Valley, is a symbol of joining these five worshipping groups to share joint ministries.

Still faced with a lack of fully trained pastors, the churches now are working toward recruiting a 'coordinating parish pastor.' That person will be seminary trained and work with other lay and certified/licensed people to provide pastoral care and worship resources to the five congregations. The plan is that every church would continue its own Sunday worship and certain special programs while being a part of the larger parish for shared ministries and worship opportunities.

Moving from "should we?" to "how do we do it?"

At the recent meeting of the five congregations the Shellabargers congratulated the group for how far they had progressed in their joint efforts. Loren Shellabarger pointed out, "The last time we were here the group was asking "Should we join together?" Now you're asking "How do we join together to work most effectively?" That's a mighty big change.""

The Shellabargers' advice was to focus on finding the right leader for the position of coordinating parish pastor. They noted, "That person will need skills to lead the more complete formation of the new parish and mentor the folks who will be pastoring the individual churches." An ideal situation would be trained lay people who would work in the various churches as pastors and leaders so the identity and unique programs of each congregation continue. The coordinator would help all the churches share and maximize their ministries.

In addition to seeking a new overall coordinating pastor and leaders for the various churches, the study group will soon consider the operating guidelines that will be used to govern the Milk River Churches' new parish. The Yoked Parish of Harlem, in place for about 50 years, has a lot of experience its members bring to the discussion. The development of Milk River Churches as a new organization is still very much a work in progress.