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The Message

Vol. 15 No.  4
December 2004

Saint Mary’s Anglican Church, Richmond Hill

We, the people of Saint Mary’s Anglican Church, called by God and committed to Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, seek to live and make known, in word and action, the good news of God’s love in the world. Using our gifts, we worship, proclaim, learn, serve, reach out, welcome others, and develop a caring and sharing community of believers.

From the Desk of the Incumbent . . .
Wardens Report
Further Adventures While Growing Up in the Church
Artwork: Christmas — Helena Hamilton, 2004
From the Director of Family Ministries . . . Musings and Meditations on Christmas
A Pastoral Letter from the Primate St. Andrew’s Day, November 30, 2004
From the Associate . . .
From the Deacon’s bench . . .
August in Tanzania: Joy and Generosity at Samaritan Village
From the Church's Registers
Mary’s Christmas Emporium
Women of St. Mary’s
Events & Notices
Richmond Hill Ecumenical Working Group
Library Corner
Confirmation at St. Mary’s
Communion Preparation Classes
Parish Nursing News
Monthly Worship Schedule

From the Desk of the Incumbent . . .

Dear Friends,

Greetings as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!

“The Word became flesh and lived among us!” As we celebrate the incarnation, these words from John’s gospel assist us to be keenly aware of the very real presence of God in our midst. John’s poetic images, although sometimes difficult to comprehend fully, inspire us along our journeys of life and faith. They invite us into the mystery that is at the very centre of this holy moment when God became human in the child born of Mary. These weeks leading up to Christmas, and the actual celebration itself, are a time of joy and hope as we are renewed once again in our faith that God loves us so much that he came to this Earth and became one with us so that we might be saved. What a promise God makes to us as we journey to Bethlehem, making our way to the stable and kneeling at the manger to receive this gift God gives to us in the child lying in a bed of straw!

Each year, I personally find it such a privilege to enter again into the story of the Christ’s birth. However, it can be so easy to take it all for granted. That’s why I need to go to that stable over and over again, year after year, and place myself right there where it all happened—because then I can really appreciate the profound gift God is giving to me: His love, His grace, His peace, His forgiveness, His healing and His hope. The story really needs to come to life for me, though, if I’m going to recognize and receive the gift that awaits me. I need to humbly kneel and take the whole scene in. I need to smell the hay and all the other scents of the stable. I need to look up into the sky and see the bright shining light. I need to listen to hear the sounds of a newborn’s cry, the angels’ chorus and of the animals off to the side. I need to go to the stable in adoration, praise and thanksgiving because of the miracle of new life and new birth that awaits me there. Year after year, God touches my heart in new and profound ways so I too can join in the song of the angels celebrating the Word that became flesh and came to live among us.

I sometimes wonder, though, when our lives are so hectic, how do we adequately prepare ourselves to enter into and appreciate to the fullest the mystery and promise inherent in the upcoming Christmas season. There’s so much to be done: parties to give and attend, the buying and wrapping of that perfect gift, baking the goodies and treats, cooking the dinner, decorating the house and on and on the list goes. It’s daunting and sometimes even overwhelming. How will we ever be ready? Will we even have time to take the journey required of us?

To be sure, the secular aspects of the season are important and should be enjoyed to the fullest. However, if we give them more priority than the spiritual side of what this time of year is really to be about, then we risk not being prepared and ready in our hearts to meet God and be touched by Him in the journey to Bethlehem. In fact, we may find that we get so distracted and lost along the way that we don’t make it to the stable at all. And then, we really do miss out on what God has in store for us.

The hurried and hectic lives we live in this world often don’t leave us with much time for the kind of spiritual experiences we’d like to encounter and engage in. And yet, Christmas, by its very name and nature, is meant to be particularly spiritual. How do we humbly prepare ourselves to enter this holy time of year so we can truly experience the wonder and mystery of God?

In Lent, many people give up things as a discipline or take things on, all of which are meant to allow them to grow in their faith and their relationships with God and to prepare them to truly experience the resurrection of Easter. Advent is equally a time of spiritual preparation and renewal, if it is used as it was meant to be. So, what spiritual exercise or discipline can we enter into in these weeks leading up to Christmas so we’re ready and able to encounter and experience God fully as we go to the stable?

Advent is about waiting, watching and praying. I encourage each of us to do these disciplines in our remaining time until Christmas. Wait patiently—that is don’t rush the season away—and anticipate with joy the gift that awaits your arrival in Bethlehem. Watch for the signs of God’s presence in your midst as you go about all the preparing that needs to be done. Pray for each person you buy a gift for or write a card to, that in receiving it they may remember the greatest gift of all, faith in God through Christ.

I wish each of you a holy advent season as you await with joy, anticipation and expectation the promise of Emmanuel, God with us, the holy child of Bethlehem.

Blessings to you and your family in this Christmas Season and in the year ahead.

Yours in Christ,

Mark Kinghan

Wardens Report

I tutor, and my students often ask me what relevance math has to every day life. I always sigh because math is such a beautiful thing: Why the trouble seeing the relevance? The connections here may be a bit tangential, but adding a little math always makes life (and a wardens’ report) more interesting . . . .

Our Special Vestry on November 14 unanimously voted to approve our Ministry Case Application to the diocese. The ministry case outlines an exciting plan for the next five years, a plan to redesign our management structure to make us more responsive and more efficient. In our ministry case we are applying to the diocese for financial assistance by way of a grant. This grant money is to help us support our staff while we grow into the responsibility of supporting them ourselves. The path is yet to be mapped out (math buffs can read “derived”); this work will be started by a steering committee. Many, many thanks to Jane Horrocks and Mark Shorrocks, who both spent considerable time working on this proposal. Thanks also to all the parishioners who were willing to share their concerns and their response to our application at the Special Vestry. At the time of writing, we are awaiting the decision of the diocese, and that decision will be shared as soon as we have it. Definitely calculus. A plate of my homemade Christmas cookies to anybody who can tell me why!

Now for some multiplication: Many thanks need to go out to Joan Chandler, Jennifer Corless and everyone else who worked so hard to make “Mary’s Christmas Emporium” such a success. All the Hubers made it out to the Emporium this year—a sign, perhaps, that as children age, life does get easier! The younger two were most impressed with the bake table, and spent lots of pocket money on chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip muffins and pumpkin pie. Simon (my 12-year-old), to my immense surprise, agreed to help out at the luncheon. By all accounts, he did a decent job. He also tells me that the soup and sandwiches were “really good”, and I hear he ate four desserts. Counting up all the benefits I personally experienced from the bazaar, I bought some great things, made my kids happy, experienced a moment of motherly pride, and had the opportunity to learn a new craft (thanks Joan!); then I multiply that by the number of people there; add the fact that the Emporium made a significant amount of money . . . and I arrive at a fantastic success. Congratulations, everyone!

As many of you are aware, in October Lyle found it necessary to step down as Deputy Rector’s Warden. Bob, Judy and I appreciated all he was able to do in the time he held the position. Lyle proved to be willing to take on tasks when needed and he also added much to discussions at wardens’ meetings. We also appreciate the fact that Lyle was willing to step down when school began to consume more time than initially anticipated. It was an honest decision that will end up benefiting everybody. We will be looking to appoint another warden at this year’s Annual Vestry in February. All candidates will need to go through the screening procedure for this high-risk position. Together with Mark, we will be looking to identify some candidates, but we are certainly not opposed to volunteers. If this is something you feel called to do, please speak to Mark or one of the wardens. We can provide you with a job description and answer any questions you may have. I guess I will call that “addition and subtraction”.

Problems and Solutions

I am pleased to report that most of the preliminary work around screening is complete. The Ministry Position Descriptions are slowly going out for updates, and some soft copies are now available through the church office. The Screening Committee had a final meeting in early November, and although some tasks are still to be finished, the work of the committee is now complete. A reminder to volunteers that once police checks are received back in the mail, they must be forwarded to the diocese along with a Personal Information Form (available from Alison Huber if you have misplaced the original one). Also a word to those who need Sexual Misconduct Policy training but who have missed the two sessions at the church: This requirement must be completed by January 1, 2005. There is a way to complete this training on your own time—just contact me at 905-508-4010, and I will get you set up. The work of the Screening in Faith Committee will evolve into a volunteer management project; this initiative will be part of reorganization described in our ministry case.

You will all be relieved to know that although I considered closing with a math test, I thought better of it. I hope “i” haven’t strayed too far from the rational. I know all the wardens join me in hoping that your Christmas is as enjoyable as a vector proof in three dimensions.

Peace,

Alison Huber,
on behalf of the Wardens

Further Adventures While Growing Up in the Church

Having received the news from my cousin Ruth in California that Auntie Mammy was in need of urgent surgery, I visited one of my good friends in the Soo to share my news and to seek counsel as he was a well-informed doctor. As we all are aware, medical expenses in the U.S.A. are a frightful burden as compared to here at home in Canada. Having learned all of the facts available as from a distance, he told me that all that was needed could be provided in the hospital in the Soo and could be provided by well-accredited surgeons at much less cost and upset than having Auntie in Toronto.

I must say that my two friends had relieved me of a considerable load of worry. So wheels were set in motion. Auntie Bessie and Ruth were very relieved that we had been able to make arrangements so speedily. They got Mammy all packed up and on the aeroplane bound for Toronto, where I met her, having flown down from the Soo. She was quickly allowed off the plane and into a waiting car. We took off for the Soo and were met by Verna’s cousin Gord.

We then made the trip to the “P” patch and into the warmth of the vicarage. The following day we transferred her to a waiting bed in the Plummer Hospital. The doctors built up her energy to ready her for the surgery to come. The two doctors in charge of her case were brothers. I learned following the surgery that they nearly lost her on the table twice.

Despite their very best efforts, Mammy did not survive the ordeal very long. In short order we were faced with arranging for her funeral. We had a service in All Saints’ with the Archbishop, then made the trip back to Toronto for the interment in the Snowden Family Plot of St. James’ Cemetery. Mammy, or Margaret, her proper name, was the youngest of the family. Two brothers and her mother and father shared the same plot.

After the funeral, the apartment was emptied and Dad went into Thompson House, where he received good care during his remaining years.

It was decided in the summer of 1969 that we would take a major family trip. We did not know at the time that this was to be our last year living in the Soo. An arrangement was made with one of the local rectors to be responsible for services while I was away and then I would do likewise for his parish in turn.

By the last week of June, our bags were packed and we were on our way. Mark was our competent pilot at 11 years of age, sitting on the front seat of the car with map handy. There was a great deal to see in a few days drive: first Minneapolis, and then a hold-up at Kansas City because of bad weather. The approach to Albuquerque was a very steep angle and was about the only area that gave me any problems. The other traffic drove very fast despite the steep angle. We stopped for a look at the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest near Flagstaff, Arizona. It had been our intention to stay overnight at Las Vegas, but it was a very expensive area. It was still early in the day so we decided to press on across the desert to Los Angeles and arrived at my cousin’s home to find nobody at home. Fortunately, the neighbours were home and welcomed us with the news that Ruth and Russ had taken the night to attend the circus. We were a night early in our arrival.

More later.

W.C.S.B.

Christmas — Helena Hamilton, 2004

From the Director of Family Ministries . . . Musings and Meditations on Christmas

I want to be a child again. Some of you, I am quite sure, will no doubt suggest I have yet to grow up, but I can assure you I am only doing my best to remain captivated and captured by childhood especially around Christmas! Remember the expectation? The pure, bewildered and unexplainable joy? Remember the “endless” waiting for the big day? Remember the delight you had in the smell of the turkey and cranberry sauce? (Okay, I admit to never really liking cranberry sauce anyway!)

We live in a complicated and complex world, and I have seen enough of it to boldly and unashamedly declare: We are in trouble! I have seen with my own eyes the evil and injustice resulting from the apathy and sinfulness of generations concerned more with personal security and wealth accompanied by an unapologetic defense of the theology of prosperity.

I have witnessed with my own eyes the apathy for things spiritual and heard with my own ears comments made over and over again by many of our young people that God is either non-existent or, worse, irrelevant! We live in a society that encourages our young people to “be all they can be” as long as this “being” does not involve sacrifice and confrontation.

Yet what is the birth of Jesus all about if not sacrifice and confrontation? In a society as pluralistic as any, Jesus was born in a cave, given as the “sacrifice once for all”. Into a world that would demand complete obedience to the Roman emperors, Jesus was born as a ‘Child-King’. Of course, the religious leaders wanted him dead: He told them they were wrong! Of course the political leaders wanted him dead: He told them they had no real authority!

Most biblical scholars agree that Philippians 2:6-11 is one of the oldest “hymns” to Christ in the early Church. Before the gospels were written, before the ‘Church’ was organized, this hymn (however it was sung or read) was one of the cornerstones of faith in this prophet named Jesus. Long before the birth narratives made it clear that Jesus’ birth was unlike anything else, we have this:

Though He was God,
he did not think of equality with God
As something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up His divine privileges;
He took the humble position of a slave
And was born as a human being.
When He appeared in human form,
He humbled Himself
In Obedience to God and
died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Therefore, God elevated Him
to the place of Highest Honour
And gave Him the name above all other names, That at the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow,
In heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the Glory of God the Father.

As a child, I waited in great anticipation for something I didn’t understand; yet even long before I knew who Jesus was, I sensed that Christmas was different. Indeed, I wanted the gifts without knowing the giver. I wanted the feast, without knowing the host. I delighted so much in whatever Christmas was as a child. And so, today I want be the child again—only for different reasons, I suppose. Perhaps I, too, want what only childhood can bring at this time of year: a Christmas without sacrifice or confrontation.

Yet if I read the hymn carefully, thoughtfully and prayerfully, I must realize the truth that I have no more choice in the matter of Christmas. This hymn to Christ speaks of the birth of Jesus in terms of sacrifice of divinity and majesty by obedience. It speaks of confrontation in terms of worship and praise in the name of Jesus. Will I bow my knee in adoration and worship or just keep on eating? Hmm . . .

Yes, in worldly terms, we are in trouble, but instead of looking forward, as a child, to the joys of the season, perhaps it would be better, as a man, to prepare my heart for the coming of Jesus who is the “lamb that is slain”. And, as a people of faith, perhaps, it is time we experienced the season of Advent leading to the birth of a Saviour as more than a festive occasion, but also as a time of preparation for the sacrifice and confrontation that his birth signifies.

Does this “bum you out”? Would we be any less festive and joyful if we considered the meaning of the birth of Jesus in terms other than ‘peace’ and ‘joy’ and ‘food’? Well, I don’t know about you, but my joy and peace and food comes from knowing Jesus intimately. So, rest assured when we sing the hymns, I will sing loudly. And when we anticipate the ‘joy of the season’, I will be first in line to receive and welcome the child yet again in my heart. And when I shop (I hate shopping!), I will undoubtedly, as always, say rather proudly to the salesperson: “Merry Christmas!”

Yes, we are, as a society, in big trouble . . . but don’t you see? That’s why Christmas is coming and comes every day to people everywhere every time they lift the Cup of Salvation to their lips. So, sing, and eat, and open gifts, and enjoy your cranberry sauce knowing that you celebrate and rejoice in the Baby who Sacrifices and the Child who Confronts our egos, our values, our ambitions, our very source of “Being” and says: Get on your knees! That is why I say “Merry Christmas” to the people I meet in the store. As much as it sounds like a warm greeting, it is also a call to sacrifice and confrontation.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Michael Barton

A Pastoral Letter from the Primate St. Andrew’s Day, November 30, 2004

My sisters and brothers in Christ,

The six-month anniversary of my installation as Primate is upon us and I want to begin my pastoral letter to you with a word of thanks. Since June, I have had many opportunities to be with Anglicans across our country. We have a Church that is full of faith, life and energy. From coast to coast to coast I have spoken with children and young people, clergy, lay people, government officials, aboriginal leaders and our ecumenical partners. What I have discovered are communities of faith and love that give hope through the gospel of our Lord. I thank you for your ministry and for the prayerful support that I have received.

I write to you at this time at the request of the House of Bishops. We recently met in Saskatoon, with a spirit of reconciliation and fellowship marking our time together. The House passed a unanimous resolution receiving the Windsor Report with gratitude, recognizing its importance and commending it to the Church for study. A second resolution asked me to write a pastoral letter inviting the people of our Church to make submissions about the report.

The Commission that produced this report was created by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at the request of the Primates and was chaired by Archbishop Robin Eames of Armag, Ireland. The Commission comprised 19 people from 14 of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion and who covered a broad spectrum of geography, culture and theology. The Rev. Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, the director of Faith, Worship and Ministry for the Anglican Church of Canada, was a member. It is extremely important to realize that this was not a committee to settle the difficult questions that we face about blessings of same sex relationships. Their mandate was to maximize unity within the worldwide Anglican family despite the differences that we may have. The recommendations they made were unanimous.

The report begins by describing the relationship called communion, into which Christians are called by God, and how this relates to the mission of the Church. It then describes the current difficulties and tensions that the Anglican Communion is experiencing.

The next section deals with principles of biblical authority and interpretation. How we hold these principles and make decisions, as close as possible to the local level, is one of the difficult questions that is raised. A clear challenge is the discernment of those issues that we can disagree about without dividing the Church.

The report then moves to its recommendations on the future life of the worldwide Anglican Church. It describes Instruments of Unity, especially the ministry of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and recommends the creation of an Anglican Covenant that would define the relationships among the member Churches of the Anglican Communion.

Further recommendations are directed to the Episcopal Church of the USA, and our own Canadian Diocese of New Westminster, asking them to express regret that their actions were undertaken without sufficient consultation with the rest of the Communion. It also called for a moratorium on the ordination of any further bishops who live in same gender unions and urged bishops not to approve Public Rites of Blessing for same sex relationships until “some new consensus” emerges internationally among Anglicans.

Another recommendation calls on bishops who have intervened in other dioceses and provinces to express regret for “the consequences of their actions” and “to effect a moratorium on any further interventions.”

On my most recent webcast, available through our national Church website, www.anglican.ca, I invited all members of our Church to share their thoughts on the Windsor Report with me. I continue to seek responses. I have also invited each diocese to make an official response. These initial responses will become part of the message I take to Belfast, Northern Ireland, when all the Primates of the Anglican Communion meet in February 2005 and again to the Anglican Consultative Council that will meet in Nottingham, England, in June 2005.

Our General Synod has recognized the integrity and sanctity of committed, faithful same sex relationships. When we meet next in June 2007 we will need to address the outcome of these international consultations and our own Canadian processes to discern what decisions are appropriate for the life of this Church.

When the Primates gathered in 2000 they stated that “We are conscious that we all stand together at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ, so we know that to turn away from each other would be to turn away from the Cross.”

My love for our Lord and our Church compels me to address these issues with determination, not for the purposes of winning or losing, but to honour the gospel values that we all share. I pray that you will accompany me.

I close with the concluding words of Archbishop Robin Eames’ foreword to the Windsor Report:

“The Lambeth Commission . . . offers this Report in the prayerful hope that it will encourage the enhanced levels of understanding which are essential for the future of the Anglican Communion. Above all I pray it will be viewed as a genuine contribution to what communion really means to Anglicans.”

I wish you a blessed Advent and a peaceful and joyful Christmas.

Yours faithfully,

The Most Reverend Andrew S. Hutchison
Archbishop and Primate

From the Associate . . .

Waiting in Advent: A Reflection

Advent is the season of waiting, but we do not wait aimlessly or without hope. It is not like waiting for the bus. It is alert and wakeful waiting—pregnant waiting, if you will. We have a sense of what we are waiting for and for whom we are waiting. And like a pregnant mother, we already have a lively relationship with the one who is to come. There is a sense of knowing and mystery at the same time. Throughout the gospels Jesus tells us to keep awake and stay alert. And Paul says, “Brothers and sisters . . . the moment is here for you to stop sleeping and wake up, because by now our salvation is nearer than when we first began to believe. The night is nearly over, daylight is on the way; so let us throw off everything that belongs to the darkness and equip ourselves for the light” (Romans 13:11-12). The spiritual discipline of waiting helps us to be alive to the moments and the life we are given. It helps us to stay grateful, attentive and in tune to the movements of the Holy Spirit. God bless us in this season of joyful anticipation. Women’s Retreat (2nd Annual):

Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock—Discerning & Answering God’s Call on Your Life

When we reached the top of the mountain in Hamilton and turned into the Unity Retreat Centre’s parking lot, we were greeted first by an enormous Jerusalem Beech Tree out in front of the rambling retreat house. We took its open branches and lush colour as a symbol of the abundance of God’s blessings for us. The first thing we did was walk through the grounds and pray through the building, giving thanks for the space and asking God to bless and welcome each retreatant as they arrived.

The sense of being in community together and sharing our journey happened very quickly. There was a great freedom to be where we were in our life and an openness to ask God to show us where God was calling us to go. We had lots of fun talking, playing games and simply enjoying being together. It was refreshing for many of us to simply be away from the hectic routine of home life.

We had many opportunities to pray together as well as to pray specifically for particular needs. The workshops were very good. Peggy, a registered massage therapist, gave us an introduction to massage, and Alice gave us an instructed hike along the Bruce Trail. We drew a chalk labyrinth in the back parking lot and prayed as we walked, asking the Spirit to lead us.

Our guest speaker, Bonnie Lundrigan was excellent. She became a part of the group immediately. In her talks she had us laughing and crying and really helped us do the work of discernment. She listened carefully to the Spirit and lead us skillfully through the weekend.

We give thanks firstly to God, for the opportunity to be on retreat, and we give thanks to the people who served and helped create the St. Mary’s women’s retreat.

Camp Revive

This year’s theme was “Welcome to Reality” with Cheryl Zinyk as our guest speaker. Although the length of camp was shortened by a couple of days due to an outbreak of the Norwalk virus at the campsite before our camp began, it was the best camp we had ever had. God blessed our camp richly this year.

The counselors made the camp this year: they were excellent. Their creativity and enthusiasm for the mission of the camp and their genuine love of the campers helped build solid community quickly. By day two of camp we all felt that we were at the same level of knowing each other and caring for each other as we had at day four in past years. The sense of community and the incredible worship time made a great experience for all.

Camp Revive’s philosophy is to present an opportunity to each person attending to meet Jesus Christ, for themselves, and begin and then deepen a relationship with Him. We believe that that opportunity is the greatest anyone, young or old, can possibly have. And to have that, in the context of the craziness and fun of a summer camp: the combination cannot be beaten! It is an Anglican camp, with services that reflect the tradition of the Church that has formed so many of us, but it is, of course, open to all people, both Anglican and of other denominations, as well as those who have not yet been formed in any church. The speakers are from various backgrounds, and are asked for their outstanding ability to relate to young people, and to offer them a challenge, to rise above the expectations of the world around them, and to, as the theme in 2002 suggested, ‘‘see the world with new eyes’’.

Sheilagh Ashworth

From the Deacon’s bench . . .

Life began for me in a colonial family that had settled in the Caribbean 170 years ago. Good Scots Presbyterians, we were taught, in fire and brimstone sermons, that we would go to hell if we did not believe the Bible literally. I went to a Jesuit school, because of their reputation as superb educators, and there was taught that I would go to hell if I did not believe that the R.C. Church’s doctrines were the only determinants of true Christianity. Needless to say, I emerged a sceptic, neither a Scots Presbyterian nor a Roman Christian, believing only in what I could see for myself, and believing that the 18th century Scottish philosopher, David Hume, whose work I encountered in university, was right, that human beings can know nothing with certainty, but can know limited amounts of the universe only with greater or lesser probability. At university I read widely in modern Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and became well versed in science, entering medical school in my mid-20s.

At 26 I decided to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It was an extraordinary experience, taking over a year. At the end of it, I recognised that in the Bible is recorded an unique account of what it is to be human, with our gifts to be both saintly and sinful in the same person as well as in the same people or nation, at the same time. Our predilection to love and to great self sacrifice coexisting with our predilection to violence, war, murder, fratricide, destructive, self-centred behaviour without concern for others is as true now in modern times as it was in biblical times. I recognised that nothing has changed in human nature in 5,000 years.

However, I also recognised that I could not reconcile the biblical accounts of Creation and of the natural world with the observations and theories of modern science, which indicate that the universe is billions of years old, that the Earth’s crust has been changing and that all life on this planet has been evolving over millions of years.

At the same time, from my late teens to my late twenties, I explored the limits of my own human nature, breaking every commandment except the 6th (thou shalt not murder) with great enthusiasm, ultimately realising that I was a far-from-perfect human being.

When I met and married a beautiful person who gave birth to three beautiful children, I was overwhelmed by the presence of God in these gifts, and the realisation that even I can be forgiven, after almost 20 years of godless living. With the birth of my children began my change of heart, my metanoia.

I returned to church—the tolerant Anglican Church where I felt most welcome—and began a long struggle to reconcile the seeming contradiction between religious understanding of life and its purpose with scientific and historical accounts of human life and the universe. When an internationally known medical scientist told me that he believed only in what he could measure, I began to recognise the limits of science, that science and history deal only with verifiable fact—not with joy, gratitude, self-sacrifice, forgiveness, love, meaning, purpose or value.

I was practicing in the medical sciences, dealing with “facts”—organs, cells, secretions, blood, and infections, but questions about the meaning and purpose of life kept intruding in my daily work. One day an elderly but perfectly lucid patient in the Intensive Care Unit needed a heart pacemaker, but when I asked his permission to install it, he declined, saying, “It is time I meet my maker, and when I do, I intend to give him a piece of my mind.” God was intruding into my world of “facts”.

My job at HMH was hospital medicine—in contrast to office practice—caring for hospitalised people especially in the Intensive Care Unit, with life support machines. In the ICU, 25-30 percent of people do not survive. I had acquired a degree in Philosophy and as Head of the ICU and later Chief of Staff, became the person whom colleagues would ask to assist them and families to make decisions about using or not using or turning off life support systems. I spent a lot of this time speaking to families, helping them to understand the medical situation. I learned that no family could wrestle with the decision to begin or to turn off life support until they had reflected on the life of the loved one—the meanings and purpose of the loved one’s life. These discussions I realized were faith questions with which I was not equipped to deal. So I entered Trinity College Seminary as a part-time student and studied Theology, Biblical Interpretation, Pastoral Counseling and Spirituality.

Formal theological studies helped me considerably in my hospital work and now in my work as a psychoanalytic therapist and counselor, aiding people in their struggle to understand their lives and their problems. It also helped me considerably in my own spiritual journey. It has helped me to get past this seeming antagonism between science and faith and live more easily in both worlds.

Despite the fact that biblical accounts of the natural world do not conform with scientific accounts, many of the world’s greatest scientists have retained their belief in the worth of the Bible and their faith in God.

Isaac Newton wrote in the 18th century:

This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets come from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being . . . eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient.

Albert Einstein in the 20th century wrote:

[T]he profoundest sort of scientific mind [has] a religious feeling . . . [which] takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.

Great scientists are as conscious of the existence of an infinite, omnipotent, eternal, omniscient creator upon which the entire universe and all life are totally dependent for existence as were the ancient Israelites.

The Old Testament is a story of a people’s struggle with knowledge of God, written in the perspectives of their day. In the world of that day, people did not have the ability to count light years or measure distances beyond a few weeks’ walk, and had no choice but to believe the evidence of their eyes, that the sun came out of nowhere in the morning and went somewhere at night only to find its way back to the other side of the world by next morning, and so must be circling the world. So they had no option but to describe Creation and the universe in those primitive terms.

But the point of the stories in the Old Testament, which were passed down orally through many generations before being collected and written down by the ancient Israelites during the Babylonian captivity, was not to give a modern scientific account of creation, but to tell about God, to tell about the struggle within themselves, individually and collectively, to reconcile their own imperfect, temporary, contingent natures with God’s perfect, infinite, endless and absolute nature, and with whatever purposes God intended for them.

Near the end of my seminary studies, the Diocese of Toronto decided to restore the perpetual diaconate, and I offered myself as a candidate to Bob Leckey and the bishop.

As a deacon, my primary liturgical responsibility is proclamation of the gospels, the Good News about Jesus Christ. Proclamation is not just to read, but to read out loud in public, so people hear and understand.

I have begun to have the experience as I read the gospel in public that I am like one of the first story- tellers, telling stories about Jesus to the early communities of followers and seekers which began to come together in the first 50—60 years after the crucifixion.

I get the strange feeling that in telling the gospel stories each Sunday I am doing exactly what the apostles and their successors did before the gospel books were written. It is an exhilarating as well as humbling experience.

But, more wondrously, as I read the stories out loud of Jesus healing the sick, bringing the dead back to life and declaring forgiveness of sin, I become more and more aware of how profoundly the New Testament collection of books about the man Jesus is in fact about God made manifest, being and acting in the man Jesus. I often sense that as I recite these words of Jesus I am proclaiming God’s word to God’s people in the presence of God. The great and mysterious God, whom we can never comprehend or fully know, is with us all in some mysterious way when the gospel is being proclaimed, and I am often unable to speak for a moment or two when I am overwhelmed by this feeling.

The words “Lazarus come forth”, the words “your sins are forgiven”, the words “no one comes to the Father except through me” are the words of God that I proclaim out loud. Jesus the man in saying, “Love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you, pray for those who hate you” is in fact describing exactly how God treats us. God forgives us when we turn against God, God does good to those who attack God, God in Jesus prays for those who hate God. Jesus is thus the Word of God, God among us, telling us about the forgiving nature of God, that God sacrifices God’s self for us, that God is love, God is forgiveness, God with mighty arms encircles and sustains us, that God is resurrection, God is life. Jesus is telling us that to approach God, to come near to God, we have no option but to try to understand and act as God would have us act even in our very limited and imperfect ways.

In Baptism, Anointing and Eucharist, in water and oil, bread and wine, God is telling us that God sustains life through the fruits of the earth and God sustains our souls, and keeps open the possibility throughout our history, that our eyes will be opened and we will acknowledge with every breath God’s majesty and God’s Gift to us of Life and Salvation in God’s Incarnate Word. This is where after many years of struggle I now stand.

My spiritual journey has been almost as convoluted and confusing as the Israelites’, but what I have learned is this: The supposed conflict between biblical faith and modern science is nonsense. There are discrepancies between the accounts of creation in Genesis and modern scientific accounts of the world, but science does not encroach upon the world of religion which, in all religions, is the attempt of the human race to discern the will of God and to conform to God’s will in the best ways we can.

For all of us, whether we recognise it or not, our lives from birth to death, are all spiritual journeys and in this spiritual journey, faith and doubt always co-exist.

May God Bless You All!

Derek Davidson

August in Tanzania: Joy and Generosity at Samaritan Village

This summer I spent the month of August in an eastern African country, Tanzania. I had a wonderful experience, and I would like to share a little of it with you along with some ways that you could help and make a difference.

I stayed with an Anglican missionary family originally from Texas. They were very welcoming to me and provided a much needed ‘home away from home’ for the time I was there. They have been living in Tanzania for a year, and have no plans to go home yet. They have discovered what I did. The need is just so great and there is so much that we can learn from the people of Tanzania, that staying just seems like the right thing to do.

I spent most of my trip involved in various medical projects. Several days I spent at rural clinics giving immunizations to infants and children. With the help of donations I received, I was able to re-open a clinic that serves more than 6,000 people which had been shut down for more than two years because they had no resources. A nurse from Tanzania and I ran some temporary day clinics in bush communities, as they are so far away from any hospitals or clinics that they were unable to access health care. I spent time at orphanages and local nursery schools performing health screening on the children who were too poor to see a doctor or nurse themselves. I took any sick children we found to the hospital for treatment.

The people of Tanzania truly captured my heart. Despite their immense poverty, often poor health and terrible living conditions, they always showed grace, love, joy and complete selflessness. We were welcomed everywhere we went with open arms and words of love. On several occasions, people literally took their last penny or last bit of food to give to us to show their appreciation. I was overwhelmed by the generosity and love that we were shown.

I would like to tell you about a project I was involved with. Samaritan Village is an orphanage in Arusha for children over two. The children were just a delight to get to know and to play with. Every time we came they would try to use their few English words and teach us some in Swahili. Despite their poor circumstances, they were always happy and welcoming to us.

Samaritan Village houses about 12-14 children in a small house with only two bedrooms and one small living room. The children all sleep in cribs, often two to a bed because there is not enough money to buy beds. There is no running water in the home, and not one toilet. The first time we went there the children were eating dinner on the floor because there is no money for tables. They rely on donations from week to week to buy groceries for the children, often not knowing if there will be enough food for the next meal. The children have also been victims of violence because they have no lock on the door of their home. We did health check-ups on the children while there and bought any necessary medications because they would not have any money to take the kids to the doctor or buy medications. Although the children are dearly loved by the staff nannies and visitors alike, children do need more than love. These children need a new home that is safe and has proper facilities. The children need more space to play, and older children need more privacy and space for studying. They need a home that is more secure, that has doors that lock to keep people who want to harm the children out. They need a toilet! The board of the orphanage have decided to build a new home for the children. This new home would have a girls area separate from the boys and have separate bathrooms. It would have a large backyard with play equipment. There would be a kitchen with running water and proper cooking equipment. Most importantly, it would be a safe place for the children to live and grow. However, there is no government funding for this project. They are relying on God that he will make hearts open to these children and donate so that the children can have their new home.

If you would like to know anything more about my trip please e-mail me at khastie@uwo.ca, or visit the web site anglicandmk.ifaith.org. If you are interested in helping Samaritan Village by making a donation towards their new home, please make a cheque out to St. Mary’s with Tanzania in the memo line, and you will receive a tax receipt for you’re donation. Thank you very much!

Kendra Hastie

From the Church's Registers

Deaths
October 16, 2004—Edward Alexander Reid
October 30, 2004—Annie Elizabeth (Lillian) Scott

Marriages
October 16, 2004 — Andrew John Tottenham & Robynne Leann Wiens
October 23, 2004— Wayne Robert Hack & Heather Marie Gates
October 23, 2004 — Vernon William Pink & Dorothy Margaret Wilton
November 14, 2004 — Malcolm Karl Goth & Ann Margaret Kontra

Baptisms
November 7, 2004 - All Saints
Sarah Alaina Ashworth
John James Bertie
Emily Claire Bunker
Erica Joy Sluys

November 21, 2004 - The Reign of Christ
Rebecca Grace Kraft
Tobi Matthew Osisanya
Julia Cassandra Ricketts

Mary’s Christmas Emporium

All Wrapped Up!

Well, another Christmas sale at St. Mary’s has come and gone and what a sale it was! We would like to thank all who contributed their time and talents to this event. It certainly was a learning experience for us, but we had a lot of fun doing it. All in all, with sales from the mini-bazaar (mini-emporium?), other late purchases and cash donations we made approximately $7,400.

But perhaps more importantly, it was a day when the people of our church worked together in an atmosphere of fun and creativity. Shoppers could see our seniors and our youth manning the sales tables together and couples and families serving lunch in our dining rooms. They saw laughter and smiles, dancing (girls, you know who you are . . .) and much camaraderie.

Little did they know that these kinds of communal activities have been going on for quite some time behind the scenes. In fact, a conservative estimate for the amount of volunteerism that went into Mary’s Christmas Emporium shows that over 110 people were involved, and their efforts totaled over 1,400 man hours of work.

So once again, thank you so much to everyone for all your help. Your participation this year was invaluable. We look forward to having you on board again next year, with new ideas, new plans and new energy.

Peace,

Joan Chandler and Jennifer Corless

Women of St. Mary’s

The “Women of St. Mary’s” offers great fellowship and raises funds for our parish, our diocese, and our community. We organize the bazaar, the treasure sale, women’s breakfasts and corporate communions, and we wrap up each year with a pot luck supper and a meeting where we decide how to disburse the funds we raise. We are looking for more women with the time and energy to get involved and help plan and run some of these events. If you feel called to this ministry, please speak with me.

Lorna Giles, Women of St. Mary’s

Events & Notices

Christmas Services
Friday, December 24, 4:30 p.m., Christmas Eve, Holy Communion
Friday, December 24, 7:00 p.m., Christmas Eve, Holy Communion
Friday, December 24, 10:30 p.m., Christmas Eve, Holy Communion
Saturday, December 25, 10:00 a.m., Christmas Day, Holy Communion
Sunday, December 26, 10:00 a.m., The First Sunday of Christmas, Christmas Lessons and Carols
N.B. There will be a single service only, at 10:00a.m., on each of Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Sunday Night Alive in April
On Sunday, April 17, Sunday Night Alive returns to St. Mary’s with music by Dave White and Glen Soderholm.

Other Dates
Epiphany — January 6
The Baptism of Our Lord (Baptism) — January 9
Ash Wednesday — February 9
First Sunday of Lent—February 13
Episcopal Visit — March 6
Passion Sunday — March 20
Easter Sunday — March 27
Second Sunday of Easter (Baptism) — April 3

Richmond Hill Ecumenical Working Group

Representatives of the area churches in Richmond Hill have been working together to plan a series of events over the upcoming Christmas season and into the new year. This time together will provide us with opportunities to worship together and to have a combined presence and witness in our community. We hope that you will mark your calendars and support these initiatives.

Community Carol Sing, Friday, December 17, 7:00 p.m. beginning at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (Bayview and Crosby, beside the high school). We will carol through the plaza at the corner of Major MacKenzie and Bayview, returning to St. Paul’s for refreshments and fellowship. Come out and enjoy spreading some cheer as we greet shoppers and share the story of Christ’s birth through song!

Blue Christmas Service, Tuesday, December 21, 7:00 p.m., at Richmond Hill United Church. Christmas isn’t always a joyous time for people. For many reasons the season can be a reminder of the grief, pain, hurt and loss people live with. This can be the result of a death, loss of a job, the ending of a relationship, a child leaving home or any other experience that stresses us and our emotions. This is a quiet and meditative service that allows people to feel their emotions and at the same time remember the gift of faith and hope God gives us in the child of Bethlehem. If this would be helpful to you, come out and pray and have a moment to reflect and think about what this Christmas will mean for you.

And coming in 2005 . . .

Ecumenical Lenten Worship Services, each Sunday at 7:00 p.m. throughout Lent—February 13 to March 20. Watch the bulletin for details.

Library Corner

Don’t forget to visit our library outside the chapel. Here is an introduction to three of the many books available. There are also children’s books. Please sign books out in the red binder.

Jacob’s Blessing:
Dreams, Hopes, & Visions for the Church
By Donna Sinclair & Christopher White
In this book Sinclair and White reflect on the crucial changes taking place in congregations. They consider how the attitudes, values, yearnings—the collective mentality—of the people with our congregations can be transformed as the church itself struggles toward rebirth and new life. Jacob’s Blessing offers people in congregations more than a choice between the mega-church and faithful remnant models. If they can wrestle with their context, history and theology, they can receive—like Jacob—a new identity. The authors offer a vision that does not try to hide old wounds, but confronts them.

The Four Witnesses: The Rebel, the Rabbi, the Chronicler, and the Mystic
By Robin Griffith-Jones
Robin Griffith-Jones brings the stories of Jesus to life for the contemporary reader. He revives the original power and intent of each of the four gospels. A lively discussion is presented of how and why each gospel was written, considering the substance and style of the testimony itself as well as the unique context of each story. Mark’s gospel tells the rebel’s story of Jesus as a failed revolutionary whose mission mysteriously succeeds. For the rabbi Matthew, Jesus is the long-awaited fulfillment of Jewish expectation. For Luke, Jesus is a heroic, compassionate social revolutionary who confidently and mercifully dies on behalf of all humanity. John’s gospel is a mystic’s interpretation of the divinity of Jesus told in powerful poetic language. All four gospels taken together provide what one alone could not: a remarkably full and compelling presentation of Jesus and his message.

Vimy
By Pierre Berton, 1920—2004
On a chill Easter Monday in 1917, with a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France did what neither the British nor the French armies had been able to do in more than two years of fighting: They seized and held the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front—a muddy scarp known as the Vimy Ridge. The French, who had lost 150,000 men trying to take the ridge, didn’t believe it could be done. But the Canadians triumphed. They went over the top at dawn; by lunch time, most of the ridge was in their hands—at a cost of only ten thousand casualties. Vimy has become an enduring Canadian myth marking a turning point in Canada’s relations with the world and in the image Canadians have of themselves. This book is more than the story of a nation finding its manhood but of the individual soldiers, trapped in the horrors of a silly and senseless war and enduring almost indescribable conditions. Pierre Berton’s book, in the words of novelist Timothy Findley, “is among the most important and vital accounts of war that we have had. . . . It would have been inexcusable not to write this book. And equally, it is inexcusable not to read it.”

Sally White

Confirmation at St. Mary’s

On March 6, 2005, Bishop George Elliott will be at St. Mary’s for his yearly parish visit. We are planning to have confirmation on that day. The following are the options open to individuals who might like to participate:

Confirmation: For young people 16 years of age and older and for adults who wish to make on their own behalf a public profession of their faith that were made for them by their sponsors at the time of their baptisms.

Reception: For those who have come to the Anglican Church from another Christian tradition and who wish to acknowledge liturgically and in public that they have chosen to become members of the Anglican Church.

Reaffirmation: For those have been confirmed and who wish to affirm publicly the promises they made a long time ago. This can be particularly useful following a time of trial or a questioning of faith.

Those who are interested in being either confirmed or received into the Anglican Church, or in reaffirming their baptismal promises will meet from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. on Thursdays, January 6, 13, 20 & 27, February 10 & 24 and March 10.

We will discuss and share reflections on topics including what does it mean to be a member of the Church, what does it mean to be a Christian, who is Jesus, how do I pray, what does it mean to experience healing, health and wholeness, and what does it mean to gather around the table and share the Eucharist together. Through our shared experiences, we will open ourselves up to grow in our faith, and in our relationships with God and one another.

If you are interested, please speak with me.

Mark Kinghan

Communion Preparation Classes

During the season of Lent, I will be offering classes for those 7-9 years old who are interested in learning more about our Communion Service and practices.

The classes will run each Sunday morning for six weeks, starting February 13, from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. in the West Room. The chosen workbook for these classes entails reading; therefore, the candidates must all be able to read.

It should be noted that the “Life in the Eucharist” programme is not just for children who have never received Communion. It is ideal for enhancing an understanding of the Eucharist for all 7–9 year-olds, whether or not they are communicants.

There will be more information in the bulletins and a sign up sheet early in the New Year. Any questions or comments? Please speak with me!

Blessings,

Debbie Dawe

Parish Nursing News

The pastoral visitors had their first meeting for communion training Monday, November 29. There is now a pamphlet advertising this ministry available at the back of the church.

For those grieving during this Christmas/Advent season, there are two handouts at the back of the church that you may find helpful at this time. The Health Cabinet met Tuesday, November 30. We have some activities planned for the New Year.

Following is a preview of what is to come (there will be signs and notices in the bulletin as well):

Starting Sunday, January 16, for six weeks, there will be a program to promote physical activity. It is a competition between women and girls and the men and boys to see which group can do the most exercise in that time period. There will be a prize for the top two women, girls, men and boys. Strength training and any type of on-going exercise counts. Example: Judo or Karate counts for the time you spend warming up and fighting, but not sitting listening to the sensei. The same is true for swimming lessons or hockey practice. What is counted is the time spent being active. Skate-boarding counts and walking that is ten minutes or more. There will be a box at the back of the church for people’s submissions. If you miss a week, just put in double or contact me with your time. I’ll be filling in a thermometer-type chart weekly with the results.

We also decided to hold a singles coffee time once monthly, the second Friday of the month starting January 14. This will take place in the lounge area outside the offices and is for 35—50 year-olds. There will be an icebreaker with a health theme to get things started. Stay tuned to our bulletin board just inside the door to the parking lot and for further announcements in the bulletin.

Susan Rodgers, RN, Parish Nurse

Monthly Worship Schedule

1st Sunday Eucharist (BAS 1962)
2nd Sunday Intergenerational Eucharist
3rd Sunday Morning Prayer with Anointing
4th Sunday Eucharist (BAS)
5th Sunday Eucharist (BAS)

December 17, 2004

URL: http://www.saintmaryschurch.ca/message/15/4/index.html