Daniel C Berman Communications

An Open Letter To My Fellow Prairie Alumni,

I know these are challenging times for all of us, and I know I am not in Three Hills personally. But the more and more I read about this situation regarding Prairie’s possible move to Drumheller, I am saddened to see that once again the greater Prairie community can’t seem to get past some type of hindrance that is causing upright and Godly people to behave on a scale that reminds me of a extremely poorly run church board meeting.

We all thank God for the process that he has brought us through, during our time at Prairie. But the reality is that we our strangers and pilgrims in a land not our own. Why do we insist on putting down concrete foundations? (Prairie may go this far in my book, and then I will rally a whole host of people to get my way?) Prairie’s leaders may or may not be making the best decisions, but then again when have Prairie’s leaders been guaranteed to make perfect decisions throughout Prairie’s lifetime? God has still blessed her with over an 85 year old run.

I am confident that Prairie’s board is acutely aware of the monumental ministry that God has done through this institution and the heart and soul-rending reality that if they stand in the way of God moving, they will stand responsible for ministry that was not done through their own ignorance. The reality though is that we as Prairie Alumni, and the staff, and former staff also carry that responsibility and our personal experience of faith can not and should not be taken as the sole authority guiding our actions in this situation. An organization, a church, and/or a business must trust its leaders or it will cease to function or do effective ministry.

I saw the closing of the TAB, and the reality was it did not make economic sense to continue running the building. The consequence, the TAB congregation was forced to revisit what made it a church and I watched the congregation atleast partially rebirthed with a vitality that seemed to be unheard of in terms of voluntary participation and interaction. It actually made sense for young families to come to the TAB and actually expect to meet other young families. And the older Generation was given hope that the Church would continue, and that a new generation stood in need of mentorship and guidance which they could provide.

I saw the demolition of the old Music building, and yes there were many pleasant memories and stories of Prairie’s heritage that were passed on but the reality was that relevance of that building as a building to my education or to even the music student’s education was minimal. It was cold, it was drafty, and it was small.

The reality is that Prairie is a place to train believers for ministry and then send them out around the world. Let me repeat that, send them out. As in no longer here or there but out there! As such Prairie can do that from anywhere, and if the Prairie board believes it can more effectively, efficiently, and successfully do that from Drumheller than let them. The reality is that times have changed significantly since Prairie was founded. I am writing this on my own blog, and expect that a fairly descent number of people will read this through facebook. I don’t hear that Prairie’s fundamental message or reason for existence is changing, only that there means for doing it needs too. We all know about the term contextualization, if we can’t figure out how to do it within an organization which we all know and love we have no business trying to apply it in the ministries to unbelievers that we feel God has called us too.

Lets get our act together, fall on our knees before God and pray for His guidance of Prairie’s leaders and then move out in the faith that God asks of us in this 21st century. Prairie was born of unorthodox, out of the box thinking for 1922. I believe its only reasonable to continue that trend in 2009, and Lord willing Prairie will still be around in 2022 and beyond.

Personal Note For Those Outside of The Prairie Community: My apologies for interrupting your regularly scheduled programing. My alma mater is considering a change of venue, much to the chagrin and ire of some. The letter above is my initial response. I treasure the time I spent there, but I also realize that life moves on. Christians are broken people, and the people I interact with here as well as myself are no different. We only exist and have reason to be here on this earth by the God’s desire for companionship with humanity, and the fact that he cares for each of us individually.