Fort St. John: oil on troubled waters

One of the ironies about Fort St. John, B.C., is the region’s name. People flock to North Peace, named after Peace River, literally to seek their fortunes, make a new life, and get their stake. But seldom do they find the kind of peace that matters.

Also the name of the local MB church, North Peace is in the heart of the oil patch. Like the gold rushes of the 19th century, oil and natural gas attract thousands of young people to the area. Rent runs as high as $2,400 a month, restaurants close early because they cannot get enough affordable staff to stay open, hotel rooms are impossible to find because companies rent everything they can get to house their new workers. Money is present – beyond doubt.

The culture is rooted in high expectations, big dollars and lots of toys. Expensive 4x4 trucks, ATVs, boats and snowmobiles abound. The average age in Fort St. John is said to be 29. Young people come, hoping for their piece of the action. But there is a quiet side to North Peace – an under-culture. It springs from the disappointments, broken dreams, unrealized hopes, debts, dependencies, and desperation. That’s where the ministry of North Peace MB Church comes into play.

Many of the people who arrive in Fort St. John are young couples, often with children. But the men are often away, at work in the patch for long periods of time. Some will come home to marriage problems and find their family wasn’t quite what they thought. Their time away can also bring the temptations of pornography, substance abuse, and other issues that destroy human bonds. Debt troubles are common too. All of the “toys” – purchased in the mindset of prosperity – may not be paid for, and cannot be managed. Although skilled tradesmen make excellent money, many who come to Fort St. John bring no skills and find that the prosperity they seek is not available to them.

North Peace MB Church is not a place of excessively wealthy people, says lead pastor Les Riediger. Most attendees are labourers rather than high-income earners. But it’s a place where outreach is clearly the mission of the church. North Peace MB runs an active Alpha series, marriage care, divorce care, grief share, and outreach to kids and youth. In early December, the church held a men’s breakfast that drew 200 to talk plainly about serious and basic issues in their lives and about the love of Jesus. The church offers free counselling to people from the community. The congregation, alongside its pastoral staff, works hard at reaching people.

The ministry may be coming upon heavier times, too. Riediger says the oil boom in Fort St. John has been going long enough to make the money, the expensive toys, and the oil patch lifestyle “normal.” But the activity in the patch fluctuates, he says, and there could be a temporary downturn – an event few people are prepared to cope with. He says great needs are evident in a culture of materialism in good times, but those needs will undoubtedly grow if the boom eases off.

The church sometimes feels a sense of isolation and separation from the other MB churches of the Canadian conference, due in part to its distance from the others. The closest two MB churches are 3 and 5 hours away, respectively.

However, at the local level there is great interaction and cooperation. North Peace MB Church works side by side with the Salvation Army and an active ministerial association to bring kingdom values to people whose lives have turned hopeless.

“It’s true,” says Riediger, “that sometimes we feel frustrated or overworked because the needs are so great. But we have opportunity to demonstrate that money doesn’t solve the problems people have, and we can lead them to what does matter.” He himself has been pastoring in Fort St. John for nine years and loves the job.

—Barrie McMaster