A surprisingly eclectic variety of interests keeps a local pastor busy while living and working in Collingwood.
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood, we sat down with Rev. Ken Maher, pastor at Christ our Hope Lutheran Church on Beechwood Road.
Q: What is your background?
A: We moved to Collingwood about 10 years ago. I was born in Hamilton but I’ve lived all over Canada. I came here from Saskatchewan but I also served some churches in B.C. I did all of my schooling in Alberta.
Q: How long have you been a pastor at this church?
A: Ten years.
Q: How and when in your life did you know you wanted to become a pastor; that this was your calling?
A: My dad went into the ministry as a second career. So, I’ve always gone to church. I wasn’t actually called to the ministry, I thought, from a young age. I thought, for a while, that I was going to be a research biologist. I had all my undergrad courses in place for that. Then I came to realize it wasn’t what really interested me. I had a little bit of a crisis of conscience... I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I mentioned it to a friend, that I had no idea. I considered ministry as a second career like my dad did. My friend said, “Why not as a first career?”
So the next day I went to the ministry and started asking some questions. Next thing you know, there you go.
Q: Why the Lutheran faith? Was your dad a Lutheran pastor?
A: Yes. I was born and raised Lutheran. When you’re looking at a church, you have to go with what you think is true. I wouldn’t be a Lutheran pastor if I didn’t think that was the right way to go.
Q: How does the Lutheran faith differ from other faiths?
A: We are a protestant denomination. We’re much more toward the end of the Catholicism or Orthodox spectrum over some of the protestant denominations. We have a very liturgical service. This is not going to be interesting. (laughs)
Q: I think it is! (laughs)
A: OK. It’s highly structured; I wear the vestments and we work from a hymn book. We use hymns and services that date back from just a few years ago, all the way back to 2,000 years ago.
Some people describe it as ‘high church, low church.’ (With some faiths), you go in and there’s a big, fancy alter piece and a big pulpit and the pastor in the robes and it’s highly structured.
We feel very comfortable here. We Lutherans will sometimes joke that we’re too Protestant for the Catholics and too Catholic for the Protestants. (laughs)
Q: As you’ve been a pastor with other congregations in the past, is there anything that sets Collingwood apart for you?
A: (My family and I) love the community here. We’ve been so kindly and warmly welcomed. We’ve enjoyed every bit of our time here. My previous call was to a church in Prince Albert, which was also a lovely community. It had certain issues that Collingwood doesn’t. It was a northern community with a little more of a transient population.
Here, everything is so pleasant. The people are pleasant, the climate is pleasant, the beaches, the mountain... it’s all so beautiful and nice. It’s a wonderful place to raise the kids.
Q: What is the rough size of your congregation?
A: We’re a small congregation. We have between 30 and 40 people on a Sunday. We worship just shy of 100 members.
Q: You’re also a member of the Museum Advisory Committee. What made you want to join up with that committee?
A: I wanted to give back to the community, again, because we had been so warmly welcomed. I wanted to volunteer a little bit of time. I put my name in for a couple of positions and the museum was the one that was gracious enough to let me help them out. I’ve been working with them for just about four years.
We’ve helped broaden their social media, but I won’t take credit for that. We’ve also helped with their strategic plan. Basically I just help out wherever they need the help, and I’m happy to do it. They really know their stuff there.
This community has such a love for its history. It’s amazing.
Q: Do you have any other hobbies outside of the church?
A: Yes. I play bagpipes with the Beinn Gorm Highlanders. I started that about four years ago as well. I hadn’t played at all before that, but they give lessons for free if you’re willing to join the band and help out. It’s been wonderful.
I haven’t done it in church yet, but I have done it for funerals and weddings. Actually, for a couple of members here, I officiated at their wedding and when the service was done, I traded in my clerical collar for my kilt, the Bible for the bagpipes and I played the wedding party in for their reception.
One other personal hobby: I design board games and card games.
My family... we would usually always get one board game at Christmas, and I was usually the one who would read all the rules to try to teach everyone how it went. Then they would blame me for changing the rules or making the rules.
I would say, “If I made it up, I would make it better.”
And now I do.
The one that came out last year (Anansi and the Box of Stories) just won the Major Fun Award. The one that came out this year (The Lady and the Tiger) is (available at) Minds Alive right now. I also designed a small game for the museum, you can go pick up a copy there. It can give families a different way of experiencing the museum.
Q: Have you seen many changes in the church over the years?
A: The same as many volunteer organizations, the crowd is getting a little older. The younger generations haven’t really come into the volunteering in the same way. It’ll come. There’s always more to do.
The church is always open.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we’ll be speaking with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way. This feature will run on CollingwoodToday every Saturday. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
