A SECTION OF THE ANGLICAN JOURNAL

w w w . k o o t e n a y a n g l i c a n . c a

NOVEMBER 2011 SERVING THE DIOCESE OF KOOTENAY

Eucharist ofThanksgiving onthe Anniversary of

Christ Church, Creston Parish,was celebrated on October 1.Archbishop John Privettpresided and retiredArchbishop David Crawley wasthe guest preacher. The servicewas enhanced by the parish’sown choir and musicians aswell as those from St. Anselm’s,Boswell. Many people fromwithin the community ofCreston and the East Shore andas far away as Castlegar andKimberly joined in the celebra-tions. Visiting clergy fromneighbouring parishes were alsopresent. Special thanks to themany parishioners who spentlong hours and days behind thescenes preparing for the occa-sion. Betty Toyota, a longstanding and faithful memberof the parish did the honoursof cutting the cake.

100 years of faithful ministry for Christ Church, Creston

BY ROBIN RUDER CELIZ

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P 4. Pet blessings

P 5. Deacons in conference

P 8. Owaissi camping sea-son ends on a high note

photo brenda panio

Creston is 100

FAITHFUL SERVICE — Rev. Robin Ruder Celiz, Archbishop John Privett and Archbishop DavidCrawley at 100 Anniversary celebration, Christ Church, Creston.

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Cornerstone secrets

he time capsulebelow the corner-stone of St. Saviour’s

Memorial Hall was removedFriday, September 30. Thebuilding is close to being sold.

Local stonemason GerryGiasson removed the corner-stone. Once the time capsulewas retrieved, Touchstonesarchivist Laura Fortier super-vised opening the box.

The contents were dis-played at an October 6Thanksgiving dinner attendedby Archbishop Privett. Thedinner was organized to saygoodbye to the hall. The con-tents will be donated toTouchstones.

The cornerstone was laidon June 28, 1922 by TrailMLA and prominentFreemason James Schofield.

The stone itself, measuring18 by 18 by 16 inches, camefrom a Granite Road quarry,and was cut by Alexander

Ritchie and lettered by JamesMay.

The Carbonate Street sidehas the Masonic emblem andthe date, while the Ward St.side has the inscriptionD.O.M., standing for DeoOptimo Maximo, Latin for “ToGod, most good, most great,”and In Memoriam VirtutisNostrum, translated as “InMemory of the Valor of OurMen.”

Its contents includedcopies of the Nelson DailyNews, a Nelson Miner report of

the 1898 laying of the corner-stone on the church, lists ofclergy, church officials, andofficers, a portrait of the firstbishop of Kootenay, lists ofmembers of various organiza-tions of the parish, and, per-haps most significantly, a hand-printed list of 219 men andthree women from the parishwho enlisted in World War I,which is greatly prized by localhistorian Greg Scott who initi-ated the project.Continued on page 5“Cornerstone secrets”

TBY JONN LAVINNDER

Time Capsule retrievedfrom under the St. Saviour’sMemorial Hall cornerstone

photo greg scott

toward them and begins towhip up the water and poundrain against their little crafts.

Many of our congregationsare experiencing the challengesof the changing winds of thisnew century. We are living in aculture that has sidelined muchof Christian faith and practise.Most of our congregations areaging and experiencing adecline in numbers andfinances. Many of our clergyare feeling the stress of thosechallenges. And yet… and yet,congregations in Kootenay,both large and small, continueto faithfully set out across theSea as they follow Jesus. Thefuture is uncertain, the stormclouds are gathering on thehorizon and some are feelingbattered by the waves and thewind. We can be fearful ofwhat is to come, or we can beencouraged (that is givencourage) by the fact that we are

NOVEMBER 2011PAGE 2 THE HIGHWAY

The HighWay is published under the authority of the Bishop of Kootenay and the Synod of theDiocese of Kootenay. Opinions expressed in The HighWay are not necessarily those of the Editor orthe Publisher.

THE

HIGHWAY

EDITOR

Jonn LavinnderSt. Saviour’s Pro-Cathedral723 Ward Street,Nelson, B.C.V1L 1T3Phone: (250) 352-5711thehighway@shaw.ca

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his year I have beenvisiting congrega-tions in a new pat-

tern. I have intentionally beenspending time in each of theregions of the Diocese takingtime to sit down with each ofthe clergy and then withChurch Committees. The pur-pose of my visits has been totake the time to ask how ourclergy are doing at this time ofyear — what the joys and chal-lenges of ministry are and thento ask Church Committees

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But he was in the stern, asleepon the cushion; and they wokehim up and said to him,“Teacher, do you not care thatwe are perishing?” He woke upand rebuked the wind, and saidto the sea, “Peace! Be still!”Then the wind ceased, andthere was a dead calm. He saidto them, “Why are you afraid?Have you still no faith?” Andthey were filled with great aweand said to one another, “Whothen is this, that even the windand the sea obey him?”

It is one of those phrasesthat is easily overlooked in themidst of the drama of thestory, but there it is as weimagine Jesus with the disciplesembarking across the waters ofthe Sea. And there alongsidethem, are a fleet of unnum-bered boats faithfully followinghim into the darkness of theevening. And a great stormbuilds on the horizon, comes

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about their joys and challengeswith a view to learning whatthey imagine their congrega-tion will look like in 3 to 5years. I have appreciated thevisits very much and havelearned a great deal.

As I have thought aboutour meetings together, the textfrom Scripture that has cometo mind on more than oneoccasion is this: “Other boatswere with him.” This phrase isfound in the passage of thegreat storm on the Sea ofGalilee in the gospel of Mark.We read in Chapter 4, 35-41:On that day, when evening hadcome, he said to them, “Let usgo across to the other side.”And leaving the crowd behind,they took him with them inthe boat, just as he was. Otherboats were with him. A greatgale arose, and the waves beatinto the boat, so that the boatwas already being swamped.

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following the One who is theLord of both wind and sea,and who is the God of all timeand space.

Scripture is silent aboutthose other boats with Jesus.But I am confident that theytoo were witnesses to whathappened on the Sea andshared in the safe passagethrough the storm that night.It is in the following of Jesusand the staying close to wherehe is, that our beautiful con-gregations — our boats largeand small — will be guidedthrough the winds of changethat are upon us.

Be steadfast in faith, joyfulin hope, and untiring in love,all the days of your life.

Faithfully,+John

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he year was 1964.Margaret FishbackPowers attended a con-

ference. Her experience theremoved her to write down a fewlines of free verse. She was search-ing for direction at the crossroadsof her life. Her poem slipped outof her possession and she thoughtlittle about it. Sometime later itbegan to appear on plaques, calen-dars, cards, coffee cups, andposters. It became treasured bymillions of people. Ms. Powersdiscovered it was the poem shehad dashed years before. We knowit today as FOOTPRINTS.Millions of dollars have beenderived from its publication, butthe poet has asked for none of thislargess.

The year was 1943. The dis-tinguished theologian, ReinholdNiebuhr mounted his pulpit andled the congregation in prayer.This pastor belonged to a triad oftheological minds. His siblingswere H. Richard and HuldaNiebuhr; both worthy theologiansin their own right.

Reinhold’s point of view hasnot been silent in my service. In

his work, AN INTERPRETA-TION OF CHRISTIANETHICS, he puts forth themaxim of “the relevance of animpossible ethic.” In one of hisother works, “LEAVES FROMTHE NOTEBOOK OF AREFORMED CYNIC,” he speaksof circling the block three timesbefore he is able to summon upthe courage to knock on a parish-ioner’s door. He also said thatpreachers should be heard and notseen.

Back to his pulpit utterance:it is what we called today theSERENITY PRAYER, which hasbeen taken over, holas-bolas, byAlcoholics Anonymous as theirown. Dr. Niebuhr receives nocredit at all.

Now let us turn to page 58 ofthe BOOK OF COMMONPRAYER. There we find a prayerentitled AT EVENTIDE. There isno notation of the author. It is thefinal part of a sermon by JohnHenry Cardinal Newman. He wasan Anglican, who after years ofspiritual soul-searching embracedRoman Catholicism. His influ-

ence was felt widely across theChristian churches. His hymn,LEAD KINDLY LIGHT, hasbeen a great spiritual resource formany.

We can see commonthoughts between Newman’sprayer and the treasured words ofHenry Lyte’s hymn, ABIDEWITH ME.

Let us allow CardinalNewman’s prayer speak for itself:

“Support us through the long dayof this troublous life, until theshadows lengthen and eveningcomes and the busy world ishushed and the fever of life isover and our work is done.

Then, Lord, give us a safe lodg-ing, a holy rest, and peace atlast.”

I do not wish to add or detractfrom his words.

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ARCHBISHOP’S PAGE

Small boats andfaithfulness

BY ARCHBISHOP JOHN E. PRIVETT

In My View

Dear friends in Christ,

BY JIM HEARNE

“Give them thecredit”

The Vicar of Kokanee remembers

NOVEMBER 2011 THE HIGHWAY PAGE 3COLUMNS

BY NISSA BASBAUM

ast December I dis-cussed how anEcclesiastical Provincefunctions in the

Anglican Church of Canada.Reflecting on the partnerships ofthe Anglican Church of Canadawith the Evangelical LutheranChurch in Canada, in May Iraised the “Lund Principle” as aguiding principle motivating ourtwo churches to work bettertogether. This month I want toenjoin these two themes and lookat a long-standing question in theEcclesiastical Province of B.C. andYukon (and indeed otherProvinces).

The General Synods of 2007and 2010 passed resolutions(A188-2007; A111-2020) which,in summary, continue the conver-sations about how EcclesiasticalProvinces and their memberDioceses may work more effec-

tively together in fulfilling theimperatives of conducting theMission of God. With Vision2019 based on the “Marks ofMission” developing in the nearfuture, this topic could not bemore relevant. However, just asthe idea of working together moreeffectively seems self-evident, ithas proven to be elusive.

In the Province of B.C. &Yukon, the conversation goes backat least 45 years. In 1967 theGeneral Convention of theEpiscopal Church published animportant Report as Appendix 15.Nine criteria for a “viable” diocesewere proposed along withthoughtful commentaries. TheHouse of Deputies adopted theReport and resolved that eachDiocesan Bishop would initiate alocal Committee to implementthem. I have been unable to ascer-tain the outcome of the specificproposals but if those criteria werethen applied to our EcclesiasticalProvince, four of our six dioceseswould have fallen below thethreshold of viability, not justfinancially, but functionally in

mission ministry. In 1973 aCommittee on ProvincialStructure and Mission, with thesupport of Archbishop Somerville,commissioned management con-sultant Charles Wilson to producea document, “A Vision of aPossible and Desirable Future forthe Ecclesiastical Province ofBritish Columbia” (sic). Not onlydid it identify some unsettlingconcerns about the size, numberand boundaries of dioceses, butalso it raised new questionsaround the Provincial House ofBishops, lay and ordained min-istry, and the administrativeorganization of the Province. Itconcluded with phased develop-ment proposals including somecost estimates. Not surprisingly,the actions from this VisionDocument were never implement-ed.

Another serious attempt toask hard questions was initiated inJanuary 2007 when MetropolitanTerrence Buckle invited the for-mation of a Committee ofRestructuring. However it neverwas able to do the necessary work.

At Provincial Synod 2010,Archbishop John Privett re-estab-lished this working group, nowcalled the Provincial Task Force onRestructuring.

Apart from obvious fiscalrestraints, the reasons these effortshave not gained significantmomentum over 45 years are theresistances and inertia created byexistential fear and the avoidanceof hard choices for change. This isvery understandable because ques-tions such as whether diocese A ordiocese B should continue to exist;or alter their boundaries, orchange the nature of theirEpiscopal leadership, etc. are verythreatening. And one surly andunhelpful abreaction to this is toask whether EcclesiasticalProvinces themselves should con-tinue to exist.

What is lost in the emotionalreactions are the financial realitiesof the times, and not deviatingfrom the goal of recognizing andenacting God’s Mission for theProvince in the most effective,efficient and pastoral ways.

Beginning this Fall, therevived Provincial Task Force on

hen I was acurate I wascalled upon toofficiate at a

funeral service for a 30-year-old woman who was killed onthe highway while she wasparked because of car trouble.It wasn’t the first time I had todo this kind of tragic servicenor would it be the last. Thatparticular death came back tome several years ago when Ifound myself having to slowdown on the 401 betweenToronto and Kingston becauseof a flat tire. I was quite shakenby the return of the memory ofthat funeral, a service which,while taken by clergy far toomany times, is nonetheless notone that is easily forgotten.

On a recent Sunday, a por-tion of the lectionary Gospelread, “...truly I tell you, if twoof you agree on earth aboutanything you ask, it will be

Wdone for you by my Father inheaven...”

“Really?” I thought.“Anything? Uh-uh, notalways,” I found myselfresponding. “There are toomany times when two or moreof us request the same thing,yet the request goes unheeded.”Of course, the pat reply to thisis that it does get answered,just not in the way we mightwant. Yet I remain uncon-vinced. Instead, I think thatsometimes there simply is noanswer and while I’m not ter-rifically happy about this, I’mmuch less happy with aresponse that tries to explainwhat is frankly inexplainable.

On my shelf is a rather oldand dated book called TheRock of Doubt, written by thelate Sidney Carter, betterknown for his song Lord of theDance. Some might think thetitle of his book is an oxy-moron; in fact, I think the very

opposite. Often, there is morefaith articulated in an expres-sion of doubt than there is inan unquestioning articulationof commitment. Life is repletewith instances that leave medoubting, and I don’t buy theidea that this is the devil put-ting temptation in my way.Rather, sometimes life has away of leaving me feeling thatGod isn’t fair. Like the responsethat our prayers are alwaysanswered, just not always inthe way we might want this tohappen, the presence of a devilthat produces our doubts is, forme, yet another example of anattempt to explain the unex-plainable.

Certainly, there are manytimes that I wish these easyanswers would work for me;many times when being able toconjure up a pat response toease people’s pain would rid meof the terrible feeling of help-lessness that, as a priest, I so

often feel. I have learned, how-ever, that while such answersmight save me (I am not evensure this is true), they do littleto heal the painful situations inwhich people so often findthemselves. So, without anexplanation for the pain, whatcan we do to survive the hard-est moments that life some-times throws our way?

On the same Sunday thatthe Gospel was all about God’sanswer to our asks, the readingfrom the Hebrew Bible wasfrom Exodus. It describedsome rather foreign rituals thatthe ancient Israelites had toperform before they crossedthe Red Sea — rituals intendedto prevent their children frombeing killed even as God wasbusy smiting every Egyptian’sfirstborn. This reading seemedas far away from and useless tolife in the 21st century thanany reading could be. Yet,buried alongside these strange

rituals was this: “This day shallbe a day of remembrance foryou. You shall celebrate it as afestival to the LORD; through-out your generations you shallobserve it as a perpetual ordi-nance.”

We are called to rememberour roots, remember our call-ing and remember our commu-nity, and to pray to God thatwhen we are in pain, we will beable to recognize that within allof these things, there may wellbe someone there to hold us.When the miracle for whichtwo or three of us prays doesn’tactually come to pass as wemight desire, rather than find-ing an explanation for whatdoesn’t happen, it might bewiser to remember and focuson the person or people withwhom we are pray. They maywell be the miracle we seek.

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When there is no answer

BY RANDALL FAIREY

L

Restructuring is starting to gathersignificant information in meetingwith Diocesan Councils of theProvince. Its purposes are not torecommend the elimination,downsizing, or re-defining theboundaries of dioceses or indeedthe Province itself. Its purposes areto identify areas for achievableinter-diocesan cooperation undersuch headings as educational pro-grams, camping ministries,untapped opportunities with theELCIC, changing the nature andremuneration of clergy, looking atshared ministries, and developingadministrative efficiencies aroundpayroll, human resources, insur-ance, and legal services. A Reportto Provincial Synod in September2012 is the hoped-for outcome,with recommendations for realchange.

Members of the Task Force,and our diocesan leaderships, needour prayers, that they may beguided by the Holy Spirit, as Godmoves in and through the 21stCentury Anglican Church ofCanada to further the Mission andKingdom of God.

Commentary

COGS wheels

RANDALL FAIREY IS A DELEGATE

TO THE COUNCIL OF GENERAL

SYNOD AND EXECUTIVE OFFICER

OF THE DIOCESE OF KOOTENAY

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NOVEMBER 2011PAGE 4 THE HIGHWAY

AROUND THE DIOCESE

ats, dogs, a hamsterand a guinea pigwere blessed at all

three services at All Saints,Vernon, and nearly all the ani-mals were well behaved! ChrisHarwood-Jones preached onSt. Francis as a contemporaryicon of the modern ecologymovement, and pointed outthat, contrary to much popularmisconception, Christianteachings have always stressedthe integration of the materialcreation and the spirit.

CBY PETER DAVISON

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Pet blessings

ST. FRANCIS DAY — Christ Church, Cranbrook had their Pet Blessing on Sunday October 2

photos peter davison

group of more than50 folks fromSummerland,

Naramata, Penticton,Okanagan Falls, Osoyoos andKeremeos started their CarRally in Okanagan Falls at St.Barbara’s on September 23.

The congregations in theSouth Okanagan Region werefavoured by absolutely gor-geous fall weather for our 1stAnnual Church Rally.

What a lot of wonderfulchatter as we greeted eachother, renewed friendships andenjoyed the welcome to thischurch. Rev Nico Montelbettiwelcomed us to the parish andled us in prayer. Audrey Steevesthen gave us a very informativehistory of this parish.

Of course, being Anglicanmeans food. A wonderful cof-fee time with goodies wasenjoyed by all.

Back into our cars and offto Keremeos to St. John theDivine (shared Anglican /United parish) where we werewelcomed and led in prayer bytheir new incumbent, the Rev.Nick Judson. We enjoyedanother wonderful history les-son given to us by Mrs.Hildred Finch. The three

churches of this ecumenicalparishes are rich in history andin folk.

This was followed by amost delicious lunch served bythe Keremeos congregation. Wecame away from there with fulltummies and very warm heartswith all the fellowship.

Our next destination wasSt. Peter’s in Naramata, anoth-er shared ministry, (Anglican /United). Such an awesomedrive through the wine coun-try, lake views and the warmautumn sunshine. Rev. SandyStickney welcomed us to thechurch, and led us in prayer.

Again, a rich history wasrelated to us by the veryhumourous Yvonne Adams, along time member of theparish.

The Rev. Rick Paulin, ourRegional Dean, led us outsideto the memorial rose gardenplaced on the church grounds.(See page 8)

After a walkabout, enjoy-ing the roses, Sandy had us joinhands in a large circle to say ablessing to the earth, air,friends and hearts. We all knewthat God was in our midst, itwas such a precious time.

A barbequed beef andchicken supper followed, with agreat dessert. Thank youNaramata.

We would encourage otherregions to have a rally such asthis. It’s a good way to get toknow your neighbours and seewhere they worship.

South Okangan church rallyBY BETH HOOK

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photos sally passey

photo beth hook

RALLY ROUND — 50 paricipants from Summerland, Naramata, Penticton, Okanagan Falls,Osoyoos and Keremeos started their Car Rally in Okanagan Falls at St. Barbara’s.

Annual blessing of animals at All Saints, Vernon, and Christ Church, Cranbrook, in honour of St. Francis Day

NOVEMBER 2011 PAGE 5 THE HIGHWAYCLERGY

Deacons in conference

he Association ofAnglican Deacons inCanada held their

second triennial conference atHuron College in London,Ontario, in August. I was priv-ileged to be one of 47 Deaconspresent from across Canada.The theme of the conferencewas “Nourishing theSpirit...Mine, Yours andOthers.”

The theme speaker on thefirst evening was the Rev.Alisdair Smith, Deacon andBusiness Chaplain, from ChristChurch Cathedral, Vancouver.A most interesting and humor-ous speaker. Other workshopswere held over the followingdays; these included:Nourishing the Spirit,Applying Story in Ministry:Dreams...God’s ForgottenLanguage; Centring Prayer andIgnation Meditation; ArtPrayers; The Labyrinth Walk;and Native Spirituality.Unfortunately time restraintsmeant that we could onlyattend three of these work-

BY ELIZABETH LEWIS

shops, as they were all so inter-esting. However, we did havetime to meet old friends fromthe previous conference, andget to know our new deacons.

On our final evening ban-quet, our Director of Deacons,the Rev. Chris Ross, wasawarded the Maylee Maybeeaward for outstanding serviceto the Diaconate, over the past

27 years. Chris has served atthe national, diocesan andparish levels, as a living exam-ple of Diaconate ministry.

The conference closed afterthe Sunday morning Eucharist

in St. Paul’s Cathedral, Lon-don, where our new Presidentthe Rev.Heather MacEachern,preached.

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Cornerstone secrets continued frompage 1

Contents of St. Saviour’s, Nelson, MemorialHall time capsule

� Coins� Hymn book� List of city councillors� Constitution of Grand Forks Lodge A.F. and

A.M.� Lists of members of various organizations of the

parish� List of officers of local and national veterans asso-

ciations� Photos of the church, neighborhood, city, clergy

and wardens� Notice calling the Masons to attend the corner-

stone ceremony� Copies of the Canadian Churchman and the

Teachers Assistant� Nelson Miner report of the 1898 laying of the

church cornerstone� Portrait of Rt. Rev. Alexander John Doull, first

bishop of Kootenay� Journal of the 16th session of the Synod of the

diocese of Kootenay� Copies of the Nelson Daily News of April 22,

May 22, and June 28, 1922� Hand-printed list of 219 men and three women

from the parish who enlisted in World War I� Church financial statement for 1921 and list of

clergy, church officials, and officers� Bylaws of Nelson Lodge No. 23, A.F. and A.M

and list of officers and acting grand lodge offi-cers

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50 years ofordained ministry

CELEBRATION — Canon Andrew Irving, associatepriest at St. Margaret’s, Peachland, celebrated 50 yearsof ordained ministry on September 18.

Good-bye toSue Mayoss

Hurd

RETIREMENT — The Rev. Sue Mayoss Hurd’sretirement party at St. Margaret’s, PeachlandSeptember 11.

photo frank warburton

COLUMNS NOVEMBER 2011PAGE 6 THE HIGHWAY

BY JANE BOURCET

Gratitudewouldn’t have otherwise beenpresented, we recognize thegift. We see the gift in whatwas initially perceived as a hugeloss.

And so the next phase ofGratitude after receiving thegift is acceptance of the gift —acceptance that the loss of thejob was actually the gift of anew opportunity. Implicit inthis acceptance is also therecognition that the gift isundeserved. When we have lostour keys and a salespersonfinds them and makes an effortto get them to us, we are espe-cially grateful precisely becausewe know that person did notneed to go out of their way atall. On the other hand, whenwe receive a compliment onthe dress we are wearing andour response is “oh, this oldthing?” we are not accepting ofthe gift of the compliment and,in fact, are dismissing it as agift altogether.

The final and fundamentalaspect of gratitude is apprecia-tion. Up to this point, the giv-

or many of us, we gothrough our daysoften barely con-scious of what we’re

doing. We get up in the morn-ing and may be halfway towork before we become awarethat we are actually driving.The rest of our day may beinterspersed with flashes ofawareness, but these flashesfade into the wallpaper of theday, hardly noticed. What weoften do notice is a sense ofrestless agitation — somethingin the back of our souls tellingus that we’re missing some-thing.

We’ve all had moments,however, such as when we’relying on our backs looking upat the expanse of a starrynight. That feeling of almostfalling into and becoming partof the stretch of galaxiesarrayed above us. And in thatprecious awakened moment,our response is awe at the glory

leads to a feeling, an emotionof thanks, which, in turn,becomes an attitude. The morewe stay aware and alert to thegifts around us, the more thisfeeling and attitude thenbecomes a habit, a personalitytrait, and a healthy copingresponse. We orient ourselvesto a recognition and apprecia-tion of the positive. Forinstance, the loss of a job, atfirst may not seem like some-thing for which we should bethankful. But as time goes byand we recognize the opportu-nities that have come to us that

of it all. We feel fully alive,intently aware and alert to oursurroundings. In this sparkle ofintense presence, we recognizethe gift before us, and our awebecomes infused with an open-ing up to “Thank You.” This isgratitude; this awareness thateverything in this moment isgift — the sky, the earth, our-selves.

Gratitude, thankfulness,begins with an awareness ofreceiving a gift. If we don’t rec-ognize that we have received agift, we can’t or won’t be thank-ful for it. This awareness of gift

ing has been one way — fromthe giver to the recipient.When the receiver accepts thegift and responds with thanks,the giver and receiver are unit-ed in the act of gratitude.There is now a two-way flowof connection. A relationshiphas been born, even if it isonly the exchange of a smile inpassing on the street.Gratitude always impliesanother. We are not grateful toa cup of tea, but rather to theone who made and offered usthe tea.

In consciously cultivatingan attitude of gratitude, we arecreating a mindset of thankful-ness. This mindset fostersemotional benefits, which pro-mote physical benefits such asbetter sleep, greater alertnessand energy, improved immunefunction and better over-allhealth.

Gratitude is not just amatter of the good mannersour mothers taught us, it is amatter of how we chooseto live our lives.

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You wanted to know

BY PETER DAVISON

Where is thejoy that peoplesay is part offaith?

This is a timelyquestion as wehead into the

darkness and cold of winter,and with it the onset for manypeople of SAD, or SeasonalAffective Disorder. Novemberalso seems to be full of death,as we commemorate All Saintsand All Souls Days, and standat cenotaphs on November 11for solemn commemorations ofthose who have died in numer-ous wars. Then, as we movetowards the end of the churchyear, the readings focus moreand more on “the last things,”which also underlie some ofthe Advent themes — themesof death, judgment, heaven

Q:A:

On the other hand, themost common phrase in theBible is, “Be not afraid!” Look,too, at Archbishop DesmondTutu and the Dalai Lama. Bothhave suffered at the hands ofevil regimes, yet both are con-sistently hopeful and joyful intheir approach to life. Bothbelieve there is a place for all inthe grand scheme of things,and that joy and compassiongo hand in hand.

So let me suggest threewords for all of us to ponder aswe face the winter darkness,economic recession, and thefear-induced conflicts whichreduce so many people tostruggle simply for survival.The first is COMEDY, derivedfrom the Greek for “a singer inthe revels.” In this context wemay think also of jesters orcourt fools — the only oneswho could speak truth to

believe that they point to theoriginal empty tomb of thegospels, which turned despon-dent disciples into joyful andenthusiastic proclaimers of theGood News that death nolonger has the last word, andwe have been freed from fear tobecome fully alive.

If this is the case, then whydo so many Christians seem sojoyless and life-denying? Partly,I believe, because Christianityhas been reduced for many tofearful obedience and self-serv-ing moralising, reinforced bythreats of hell and eternaldamnation. Many politicianshave also discovered that thepolitics of fear are a useful toolfor gaining and retainingpower. “Be afraid!” they cry,“But trust us to protect you!”They know that the politics offear and division make us morepliable in their hands.

and hell. There is much dark-ness before the coming of theLight at Christmas. Thesemotifs are also part and parcelof other religious traditionsand secular observations. Lifeand death, darkness and lightare very much part of all of us.In theatre, we speak of theinterplay of tragedy and come-dy.

For Christians the gospel iscomedy, not tragedy — allbecause the story doesn’t endwith Jesus’ crucifixion anddeath, but with Easter and theempty tomb. I like to thinkthat, when we gather at ceno-taphs on Remembrance Day,these “empty tombs” (which iswhat the original Greek “ceno-taph” means) tell us that thegrave cannot hold prisoner thespirits of those who gave theirlives in the cause of justice andfreedom. But I also like to

power, because they did so infunny, self-deprecating wayswhich didn’t threaten theirmasters. The second word isCOMPASSION, whichmeans to “feel with” others inboth their joys and their sor-rows. And the third is COM-PANIONSHIP, derived fromthe Latin word for “sharingbread.” When we have learnedto laugh and sing even in theface of death, to feel with oneanother about what reallymatters, to share food alonglife’s journey knowing there isalways enough for all, then wecan experience the gift of con-tagious joy. So, in the darknessof winter may we welcome theLight, and become bearers oflight, peace and joy to theworld.

Where is the joy that people say ispart of faith?

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NOVEMBER 2011 THE HIGHWAY PAGE 7COLUMNS & CLASSIFIED

hen I was a uni-versity chaplainin Birmingham,

England, it was an importantpart of my job to reach out tothe non-religious members ofthe university community. Oneway I did this was by runningrelaxation sessions in the Artschool and the engineering fac-ulty. Both of these were highlystressed environments for bothstaff and students. The chal-lenge for me was to find goodnon-religious sources of relax-ation material. Much of whatsuperficially seems to be “non-religious” actually has a reli-gious aspect of some kind. Itwas important to the chaplain-cy to operate with integrity. Itwas also hard to find goodmaterial. Much of what I couldfind was mediocre and filledwith platitudes and clichés.

Schaf ’s book was a revela-tion in the midst of this medi-

BY NEIL ELLIOT

W

ocrity. It consists of a medita-tion for every day of the year— 365 of them. They are con-cise and worthwhile thoughts.Enough to give the busy mindsomething to reflect on in thecontext of relaxation. They arenot guilt inducing, but stressreleasing. They are often

humorous in that they enableus to laugh gently at ourselves.Each days meditation includesa quote, sometimes an originalquote sometimes a famousquote, sometimes a moreobscure quote. There is areflection, which develops thethought in the quote, and

Connect to God and to life“Meditations for Women who do too much”

by Anne Schaef (www.connectXhere.ca)Amazon.ca $13

In My Good Books

e begin themonth ofNovember in the

church by remembering andcelebrating the saints: thosewho have gone before us. Eversince the mid-8th century, thechurch remembers those whohave died in the faith duringthe past year. We rememberand celebrate, giving thanks fortheir participation in the mis-sion of God.

The word “saint” comesfrom the Greek word for“holy.” The Old Testamentbook of Leviticus reminds usthat what makes us holy is ourrelationship with God. To be asaint is not so much a result ofour own efforts. It is a gift ofgrace. God sets us apart, makesus holy. To coin a word, “Godsaints us.” God gives us this

gift so that we might love Godand God’s world.

All Saints’ Day affirms thereality of God’s presence in theworld. Saints are peoplethrough whom God’s loveshines into our lives. Themotto of a church in Reginawas, “We are All Saints!” Theyproclaimed that God was atwork in their lives. Their pur-

pose was to share God’s powerand love with all the world.They tried to make All Saints’Day a living reality.

In 1929, Lesbia Scottwrote a poem for her children.It became a hymn for AllSaints’ Day. The first versereads, “I sing a song of thesaints of God, / patient andbrave and true, / who toiled

WBY YME WOENSDREGT

TThhiiss ccoolluummnn hhaass bbeeeenn wwrriitttteennwwiitthh tthhee iinntteennttiioonn tthhaatt iitt mmaayy bbeerreepprriinntteedd iinn llooccaall nneewwssppaappeerrss.. ffoorrtthheeiirr rreelliiggiioonn ppaaggee.. YYmmee wwiillll bbeewwrriittiinngg aa sshhoorrtt aarrttiiccllee eeaacchh mmoonntthheexxpprreessssllyy wwiitthh tthhiiss ppuurrppoossee iinnmmiinndd.. YYoouu aarree ffrreeee ttoo rreepprroodduucceetthhee aarrttiiccllee wwiitthhoouutt pprriioorr aapppprroovvaall..DDrroopp uuss aa lliinnee aannyywwaayy..

TThhee EEddiittoorr

All Saints

there is a final summary. Thisis a great format for this kindof book, and it was one I wasalways able to work with.

In spite of the title, this isnot a book aimed exclusivelyat women. The book was writ-ten particularly for women. Ituses exclusively quotes fromwomen. It comes from awoman’s perspective. But it isalso for those who do toomuch. I know plenty of those— people of both genders. Ihave had to realise that manyof those who are retired arestill doing too much. Thusthis is a book for anyone andeveryone. A collection ofthoughts to use in helpingyourself slow down.

Here, chosen at random,is the meditation fromNovember 1: “Beware of peo-ple carrying ideas. Beware ofideas carrying people” —Barbara Grizzuti Harrison.Ideas can be so seductive, andwe are so easily seduced. Weforget that ideas are just that,abstractions that have beenthought up. We often loseourselves in ideas and becomeso caught up in them that wecannot distinguish betweenourselves and the idea…IWILL NOT let what I thinkdestroy what I believe.

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and fought and lived and died /for the Lord they loved andknew. / And one was a doctor,and one was a queen, / and onewas a shepherdess on the green;/ they were all of them saints ofGod, and I mean, / God help-ing, to be one too.”

A saint, said 19th centuryDanish theologian SorenKierkegaard, is someone whoselife manages to be “a crannythrough which the infinitepeeps.” The early 20th centurynovelist Laurence Housmanwrote that “a saint is someonewho makes goodness attrac-tive.”

When we celebrate thisday, when we honour thosewho have gone before us in thefaith, we hear again the call tolive a life of goodness andbeauty for the sake of theworld which God loves with anundying passion.

A second feature of thisday is that it celebrates theunity of the church. Not just

across geographical lines, butalso throughout time. G.K. Chesterton is said to haveobserved, “If you want to knowthe size of the church, you haveto count tombstones.”

On this day, we celebrateGod’s resurrection grace in allof God’s people. We celebrateour hope that death is indeednot the final word. God’s loveis always the final word, and itis a word of grace, a word ofhope.

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400thAnniversaryof the theKing JamesBible to becelebratedin PentictonSunday, November 13, theclergy and congregation ofSt. Saviour’s Church,Penticton, will gather to cel-ebrate the 400th anniversaryof the publication of theKing James Bible. The Rev.Gerald Hobbs former pro-fessor of biblical studies atVancouver School ofTheology will preach at the10:00 a.m. service.Following, a parish lunch, hewill lead a workshop on thesignificance of the KingJames translation for theEnglish speaking church andworld. Other members ofthe diocese are welcome toshare in this event.

NOVEMBER 2011PAGE 8 THE HIGHWAYAROUND THE DIOCESE

he summer monthsseemed to fly by atCamp Owaissi where

two hundred and forty-eightyouth registered and attendedcamp throughout the summer.The Board of Directors is pleasedto relay that all targets were metand although a number of chal-lenges were faced early in the yearnone hampered the success of thecamping season.

In May, over 140 guestsattended the Strawberry Tea heldat Camp Owaissi. Our guests weregreeted in the inspiring WindSong Centre where they wereserved tea and cake and wereentertained by the ever pleasing,Papa Tom. Many visitors tookadvantage of the opportunity totour the site and learn about camplife at Owaissi. Donations weregiven to support a myriad ofOwaissi needs, ranging from thecamper bursary fund, to support-ing maintenance projects, to infra-structure improvements such asthe much-needed new two hotwater tanks for the kitchen.

Walk Owaissi continues to bea reliable and appreciated source

of financial support, which raisedover $3000 his year with the helpof a core of faithful donors. TheBoard hopes to expand this circleof philanthropy for the 2012 sea-son by relying on the enthusiasmand dedication of additional par-ticipants and volunteers. Pleasekeep Walk Owaissi in mind whenyou share with your circle ways inwhich supporters can helpOwaissi.

Our media coverage of CampOwaissi was given a proverbial“shot-in-the-arm” thanks to Shaw

T

Cable television’s visit to the campthis summer. The on-air segmenthighlighting Owaissi camp life hasbeen captured on a DVD to beavailable for viewing at the AnnualGeneral Meeting on November 20,2011 at 2 PM St Andrew’s ChurchKelowna, BC.

On behalf of the Board, weacknowledge and appreciate thatOwaissi success is not possiblewithout your continued support.Looking to 2012, the board wouldlike to share with you the follow-ing vision:

a) Grow camper registrations toreach Camp capacity byincreasing advertising througha variety of media outlets andrelying on word of mouth.Increased awareness of CampOwaissi must happenthroughout the communityvia advertising, social media,attending public fairs, congre-gational support, and pastcamper contact

b) Increase volunteer engage-ment in projects such as“adopt a cabin” and “gardensand grounds maintenance.”Recruiting and soliciting willbe primarily through advertis-ing in church bulletins andface-to-face invitations. TheBoard is hopeful that fromthe churches, one or more“Owaissi Ambassadors” willstep forward to promoteCamp Owaissi within theirsphere of influence.

c) Establish a strong donor baseby actively seeking a qualifiedand experienced FundDevelopment CampaignVolunteer Chair.

d) Expand programming toinclude formal leadershiptraining for older youth byresearching leadership pro-

BY PAM WILSON grams in and beyond theDiocese of Kootenay.

e) Increase revenues from groupand family sites rentalsthrough a variety of means,which include extendinggroup rentals into the week-ends of the summer campingseason and by designatingadditional RV rental sites onthe property.

f ) Elevate Owaissi awareness andmarket the true camping expe-rience of an “unplugged andunforgettable” camp with allcommunications and market-ing materials reinforcing thisbranding.If you are interested to learn

more about any of these initia-tives, please contact me directlypwilson6@telus.net. Please alsoaccess our website (www.cam-poac.com) for more informationabout Owaissi.

The Owaissi Anglican CampSociety, Board of Directors invitesyou to hear more about the campat the Annual General Meeting tobe held on November 20, 2011 atSt Andrew’s Church 4619Lakeshore Road, Kelowna, BC.

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Owaissi camping season ends on a high note

Retired clergy meet in Okanagan

wenty-eight retiredclergy and spousesgathered with

Archbishop John at St.Andrew’s, Okanagan Mission,Wednesday September 28. Themorning began with aEucharist. Archbishop Johnnoted many wedding and ordi-nation anniversaries amongstthose present. It was also notedthat James Beairsto was cele-brating his 86th birthday onthat very day!

In his homily, theArchbishop reflected on thesimilarities in psalm 137 andthe issues facing the church inour own time.

Following the Eucharist,there was a wonderful time ofsharing and reconnectingamongst those present. Allwere treated to a very finelunch. Archbishop Johnexpressed his deep appreciationfor the many years of faithfulpast service present amongthose gathered and for the on-

going ministry of the retiredclergy of the diocese.

Following lunch, theArchbishop presented a “video”on ways there could be height-ened co-operation and sharedresources amongst the diocesesof our Ecclesiastical Province.A lively discussion flowed fromthe presentation and carried oninto a wide ranging exchangeof ideas and concerns aboutthe life of the church in ourtime and its future shape.

BY MICHAEL KARABELAS

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photo michael karabelas

Memorial rose gardenSt. Peter’s, Naramata

submitted by Yvonne Adams

The Memorial Rose Garden at St. Peter’s Community church, Naramata was started with sixrose bushes in 1982 by two members of the church who had lost a loved one. Today, nearly30 years later, there are 62 “in memory” roses. There are ten more required, but no space toplant them.

KICKING UP YOUR HEELS — Owaissi campers having fun onthe lake.