Ministry with paper and scissors

Paper and scissors may be the most meaningful ministry tools in your church building. Just ask a growing number of Mennonite Brethren congregations across the country, such as Westwood Community Church in Winnipeg, or New Hope Community Church in Calgary.

We’re not talking about a preschool Sunday school class. We’re talking about the newest wave in adult ministry. Women of all ages are scrapbooking – cropping photos of their great-grandparents’ wedding and their five-year-old daughter’s birthday party, and arranging them with creative flare in keepsake albums. Scrapbookers sit around tables, chat with friends, and preserve family memories for generations to come. Some are avid photographers interested in safely documenting their snapshots, while others just like the cookies and conversation.

Booming industry

Scrapbooking is quickly becoming the hobby of choice for millions of North Americans. In 2004, the American Hobby and Craft Association reported that scrapbooking is a $2.5 billion US industry, and showing no signs of slowing down. Materials and tools can be purchased at home-based parties, stores across Canada (Clipper Street, which labels itself western Canada’s leader in scrapbooking classes and products, has three stores in the Greater Vancouver area), or over the internet.

Enthusiasts credit Creative Memories, a direct selling company, with pioneering the craze two decades ago. In 1987, Cheryl Lightle and Rhonda Anderson started Creative Memories after they discovered a shared interest in preserving family stories. The two business-savvy moms wanted to help other women get their photos out of drawers and shoeboxes stuffed under beds. The company is now one of the world’s largest, marketing photo-safe materials and boasting more than 90,000 consultants in 12 countries.

Becoming a ministry

So what’s the connection between pictures of family vacations and church? “It’s an opportunity for friendship-based ministry,” says Karen Hume, who began offering scrapbooking classes at Westwood Community Church last fall. “It’s about getting people comfortable in church and giving them a chance to get to know Christians.”

Hume wants to reach her local community by inviting women from the neighbourhood to learn about colour theory, fancy lettering styles, proper cropping techniques (don’t cut out all the history and detail!), and maybe a bit about Jesus’ love.

“There’s a misconception about what people who go to church are like,” says Charmaine Rempel, who organizes regular scrapbooking events at FaithWorks in Winnipeg. “Getting together to scrapbook takes away some of the stigma,” she observes. “Visitors see a community of people who care for each other.”

Popular cultural pastimes are often used to build friendships and grow effective ministries in churches. These fads are seen as non-threatening – perfect activities for inviting friends and neighbours to – because visitors know what to expect. Just like skateboard parks in church parking lots attract local teenagers who already love the sport, scrapbooking events in church basements attract local crafters who already love creating keepsake albums.

Avid scrapbookers see many benefits to their beloved hobby. With a mostly female fan base, scrapbooking gives women a chance to spend time away from husbands and children while participating in something worthwhile. Since it’s a hobby that centres around family and friends, many women feel less guilty about taking time away from home to create their albums.

Like sewing circles or quilting bees of past generations, scrapbooking brings together a diverse group of women. Rempel is surprised by the variety of participants who attend her events and says she wouldn’t have the chance to get to know many of them otherwise.

It’s an easy activity and “there’s no right way to do it,” says Rempel. This creates a positive and relaxing ambience, leaving lots of time for socializing.

But scrapbooking isn’t cheap. Many of the tools, such as rotary cutters or sticker packs, can be quite expensive and the bill can add up quickly. It’s more cost-effective when women share their supplies, reports Nikki Ballendine of Calgary. Ballendine began hosting monthly scrapbooking evenings at New Hope Community Church in spring 2006 after she realized her friends were spending a lot of time in local scrapbooking stores, while the church’s ministry centre had a perfect setup for them to get together to share tools and experiences.

Home-based business opportunities

Churches are also enthusiastically supporting the scrapbooking movement because it provides employment opportunities for families interested in running a home-based business.

When you visit Chrissy Funk in her Abbotsford, B.C. home, you’ll notice she doesn’t have a typical basement. Years ago, Funk and her husband converted their large downstairs space into a scrapbooking workshop and office. The room features several long tables, colourful posters, layout ideas, and storage for paper and supplies.

Funk, a mother of three, became a consultant for Creative Memories in 1996 when her firstborn was five months old. Starting a home-based business helped her control her family’s schedule and how busy she was, provided her with tax benefits, and gave her some extra money to support her own hobby (or addiction, as she calls it with a chuckle).

“I’m passionate about creating memory albums,” Funk says. “I remember learning that nine out of 10 people, when asked what they’d take first if their house were on fire, said they’d grab their photos. Photos are a piece of who we are. We’re such visual people. . . . To see our journeys in photos is powerful.” Funk regularly shares her passion with others by offering workshops at Bakerview MB Church.

One of the thrusts of Creative Memories is journalling, or writing a few sentences about each photo in your own handwriting, says Funk. “My colleague once took a picture of her kids practicing the piano without being asked, and then wrote about how it impressed her. It’s a huge esteem builder for a child to read about how proud you were of them, or how excited you were when they first did something.”

An act of remembrance

For enthusiasts, scrapbooking is much more than pretty paper or coffee with friends. Many women who enjoy the hobby believe they’re honouring God by preserving their family history. For them, it’s a spiritual act of remembrance.

By creating memory albums, scrapbookers become family storytellers. As they document hilarious moments, the menagerie of family pets, first-haircut tears, annual camping vacations, and the growth of each child with pictures and journal entries, they chronicle the blessings of God in their lives. This, they say, is a calling of biblical importance.

Remembering is a central theme in Scripture (see sidebar). The act of storytelling helps us remember God’s work – sometimes mundane and other times miraculous – in our lives. It allows us to move into the future with thankful hearts.

For many, scrapbooking has become an important way of following a biblical command. And it all starts with a smile, a flash, and some nifty scissors.

Laura Kalmar is editor of the MB Herald and is looking forward to putting all her wedding photos into a scrapbook very soon.