anglican life april 2015

1APRIL 2015

anglicanlife in Newfoundland&Labrador

A Section of the AnglicAn JournAlanglicanlifeNEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

April 2015

Coming too late to the TombPhoto: MFA Pikiwiki Israel | Creative Commons License

Church of the Holy Sepulchre Jerusalem

Submitted byRev. Jonathan Rowe

There is an elaborate ritual for locking up the doors at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem at the end of the day, and another first thing in the morning for unlocking them again. Having read about these rituals, when I was in Je-rusalem during my sab-batical, I was determined to see them for myself.

A normal person might have opted to watch the closing-up at eight in the evening, but I had decided that I was going to go see the opening of the church at five in the morning! On an earlier visit to the church, I had hoped to visit the tomb of Christ, but the line was long,

and I hadn’t been look-ing forward to that kind of a wait. By going ear-ly, I hoped to not only watch the opening of the doors, but also to be able to beat the crowds and get into the tomb before anyone else.

As I walked through the empty streets of Je-rusalem towards the Old City, I couldn’t help notic-ing the appropriateness of the situation. Here I was, like the women in the Easter story, making my way to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark. If only it were a Sunday morning, that would have made the scene perfect.

When I got to the church, however, I dis-covered that the open-ing times were more imprecise than I had

expected. Although my watch said it was still five minutes before five, the doors were already open, and I had missed the show! Stepping in-side, I realized that I was not going to get into the tomb, either: I learned that the Armenian Or-thodox church had al-ready begun their daily liturgy inside the tomb, and that when they were done, the Franciscans would take over.

A little disappointed at missing both of my reasons for setting out at such an awkward hour of the morning, I found a place near a pillar from which I could watch the exotic and incredibly for-eign liturgy taking place.

I don’t know a word of Armenian. I don’t rec-ognize any of the letters

when it’s written down. None of the sounds of the language are at all familiar to me when spo-ken, let alone chanted in a liturgical setting. And yet, for all that, the liturgy was strangely familiar. I knew what they were doing: they were cele-brating the Eucharist. In the midst of prayers and processions, Scripture was being chanted, and in the course of time, the celebrant emerged from the tomb, carrying the sacrament which was given to the faithful.

It was an experience for all the senses. The early morning air was still cool, especially in the darkened stone build-ing. Clouds of incense hung in the air, mingling with the smell of burning oil lamps, and the per-

fumed oil from the Stone of Anointing inside the door, where it is believed that Christ’s body was laid between being tak-en down from the cross and being placed in the tomb.

All the while, Arme-nian deacons chanted away, in an almost hyp-notic baritone drone. Suddenly, a new voice chimed in: the priest, coming out of the tomb with the sacrament, wearing a saghavard, or silver crown, soared above the others in a beautiful tenor voice. And before I knew it, other voices started: in a smaller chapel on the

Continued on Page 2See: Holy Sepulchre

APRIL 20152


Holy Sepulchre

The Rev’d Jonathan Rowe visited the Holy land in 2014. Here he is pictured surveying the Judean wilderness. Photo: J. Rowe

An Easter Message

back side of the tomb, the Coptic liturgy was starting, and the Copts were growling away in a basso profundo. To top it all off, at six o’clock, the great bell in the tower began to toll, adding yet another dimension above and behind and underneath everything else I was hearing.

When I made my way back to St. George’s Col-lege for breakfast, new friends who were on the pilgrimage course with me wanted to know how my morning had been: had I seen the opening of the doors, and had it been everything that I’d hoped? Sadly, I had to admit that I’d missed the opening of the doors. In fact, this would turn into a running joke with the pilgrimage groups, and I never did manage to get there in time to see them opening.

B u t t h e m o r e I thought about it, the more I realized that I had gotten my early morning experience at the tomb just right. The gospels don’t necessarily tell us what the women in the Easter story were hoping to find when they set out for the tomb, but like me, when they got there,

they had missed the big show. The Resurrection had already happened before they got there, and they could only see its results: an emp-ty tomb and discarded grave-clothes. That has always been my favou-rite part of the Easter story: God acts when we are asleep, safely out of the way, lest we should force our way into his work of salvation with our own plans and agen-das. When we arrive on the scene, later, our task is to respond to his work, first and foremost with praise and thanksgiving.

Before the pilgrim-age was over, a friend and I would return to the Holy Sepulchre, at a time when the church was in-explicably nearly empty, and had a chance to go into the tomb without any wait at all. It was a moving experience, but it couldn’t hold a candle to my own early morn-ing Easter experience at the tomb. In those early hours, the angels in the story happened to be Armenians (and some gravelly-voiced Copts, and one thunderously heavy bell) already gath-ered in one of Christian-ity’s holiest sites to cele-brate the Resurrection.

Continued from Page 1

Archbishop Percy Coffin

On this day the Lord has acted; we will be glad and rejoice in it. (Psalm 118:24)

Winston Churchill is claimed to have said that the heaviest cross he had to bear during WWI was the Cross of Lorraine – the sym-bol of the Free French Forces. In fact what he dreaded more was an arrogant, autocratic unreasonable General Charles De Gaulle the Leader of Free France (1940-1944). Despite these claims De Gaulle was, at the heart of what matters, a very good man.

Charles and his wife Yvonne, fortunately, were devout Catholics. It was their deep faith that sustained them when they learned that their daughter was born with Down Syn-drome coupled with injuries that jeopar-dized her mobility. At a time when disabled children were institu-tionalized, her father was insistent that she remain at home and not be made to feel dif-ferent or less than any-one else. De Gaulle

was noted for his re-serve even with family members but it seems as if he had a lifetime of warmth reserved for Anne whom he re-ferred to as “my joy” because “she helped me overcome the fail-ures in all men, and to look beyond them.”

In her moments of reflection Yvonne was known to have said to her husband, “Why could she not be like the others?” In the full-ness of time their be-loved daughter died at age twenty leaving them heart-broken. At the graveside Charles said to his weeping wife, “Maintenant, elle est comme, les autres.” (Now she is like all the others.)

We are Easter peo-ple! We don’t turn away from the ills and evils that surround us: the wars that have killed over 100 million peo-ple in the last century;

the poverty that has a hold on half the human race: the starvation that robs the dignity of millions of lives; ter-rorism; the discrimina-tion that splits families, races and countries. We do not deny that these miseries exist nor will we surrender to their corrupt pow-er because we have faith in the resurrected Christ.

The Easter message is that suffering will be vindicated, death will be overcome and new life will emerge. Just as Jesus passed through the gate of suffering and death so will he bring the whole world to the glory of new life and we “will be like all the others” who are grafted into Christ’s body.

With Christ our Passover all things are possible.

Happy Easter,+ Percy

3APRIL 2015


Anglican Prayer Conference in June 2015

Central clergy thank St. Catherine’s

Bishop David Torraville (right) presents a Sister from St. Catherine’s Renewal Centre in Grand Falls-Windsor with a token of appreciation. Photo: P. Thoms.

Submitted byRev. Greg Mercer

The Anglican Fellowship of Prayer (Canada) will hold a National Consultation in Newfoundland in June 2015

The Anglican Fellowship of Prayer (Canada), exists to encourage and enable the ministry of prayer in Canada. It is inclusive of all forms of expressions of Christian church life, whether they be lay or clerical, catholic or evangelical, monastic or secular, formal or informal. AFP (Canada) seeks to be a teaching resource to assist both individuals and congre-gations to grow in the life of prayer. It seeks to increase and strengthen the compan-ionship of Christian prayer throughout the world.

From June 1st to 5th, 2015, AFP diocesan repre-sentatives will be gathering at the Lavrock Centre in New-foundland for a National Consultation conference. At this Conference, attendees will have opportunity to meet with the National AFP Execu-tive as well as share in fellow-ship with other diocesan and parish representatives.

The purpose of this AFP National Consultation meet-ing is for members to partici-

pate in an exercise to further its ministry. The AFP seeks to be relevant to the needs of church and wants the input of participants. Ultimately, the AFP seeks consultation from its many supporters to ensure that the organiza-tion continues its focus on promoting the practice of Christian prayer by all as well as bringing people into a full redeeming, sanctifying com-munion with God through Jesus Christ.

Diocesan AFP Repre-sentative for Eastern New-foundland & Labrador, The Rev’d Greg Mercer, states that his hope for this national gathering would be, “A time of renewal and affirmation.”

The work and mission of the AFP (Canada) is support-ed by the prayers of many and by donations which are always welcome and appre-ciated. For those seeking to learn more about the work and ministry of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer (Canada) or to view our Newsletter, visit their website at: www. anglicanprayer.org.

To learn more about the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer (Canada) National Consulta-tion, you can contact: Valerie Kenyon at [email protected]

Submitted byRev. Randy Lockyer

The recent pre-Lenten cler-gy retreat was both a time of great rejoicing and some sadness for the bishop and clergy of the diocese of Central Newfoundland.

After more than 40 years of providing a place of hospi-tality and spiritual growth and development, the Presenta-tion Order of Sisters made a decision to close St. Cather-ine’s Renewal Centre in Grand Falls – Windsor sometime this year.

The diocese of Central Newfoundland on many occa-sions over the years have been a recipient of the kindness, generosity and accommo-dation of the Presentation Sisters, as we have used the facility for clergy retreats, di-ocesan conferences, programs, courses, quiet days, A.C.P.O. , or simply a place to seek quiet and refuge for individual cler-gy needing a few days of rest, reflection and renewal.

Over the years we have gotten to know each of the sis-ters and been blessed by the gracious ways in which they have welcomed and nurtured us in that special place. Bishop Torraville felt that if this was to be our last opportunity to hold a clergy retreat or other dioc-esan events at the Renewal Centre, we must express our gratitude and appreciation to the Sisters for all they have done for us for so many years.

At the end of the retreat on

Thursday, February 5th, a ser-vice of The Word (put together by the Rev. Dr. Joanne Mercer) was held in the chapel, where the Presentation Sisters were invited to come and share with us. Both the Rt. Rev. Edward Marsh, and the Rt. Rev. Donald Young, retired bishops of the diocese, also took part in the worship service. It was a very moving experience for all of us, including the sisters, who expressed their appreciation to our diocese for being an im-portant part of the history of St.

Catherine’s Renewal Centre. Bishop Torraville presented the sisters with a monetary gift to be used in support of their Dominican charity.

Many thanks to all the sisters that have received us so graciously and treated us so kindly for so many years. We will surely miss that place of spiritual growth and the wonderful relationship we have had with the Presentation Sisters.

APRIL 20154


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An Easter MessageBishop David Torraville

I was at the funeral of a friend some time ago and the priest in his homily told a story. Many years ago in a small Newfoundland commu-nity on an island, now resettled, during a Lent-en Study he spoke of the resurrection. He asked an elderly woman, who seldom missed Church what she thought. He assumed that such an elderly stalwart of the faith would of course support the tradition of the church but to his surprise she said “No, I do not believe in the resurrection.”

The story took me aback for a couple of reasons. First of all, is a funeral the place to explore doubt? On re-flection, of course it is. Many of those attending

a funeral will be unfa-miliar with and uncom-mitted to the language of liturgy and “resurrec-tion”. The preacher was not asking a question, or exploring a doubt that most of the people in the church had not already asked or felt themselves.

Secondly, unthink-ingly and quite naively I view doubt and chal-lenge of “the tradition” as a modern trend with-out acknowledging that every thinking person from Jesus to Cranmer to, “the likes of we” have challenged the tradition. That is how we have ar-rived at the tradition we have.

Th e re a re m a n y among us who find the prospect of a resurrec-tion life regardless of how great the reward; living in mansions, on golden streets, fishing, chatting with lost rela-tions, knitting or playing cards, or even laying crowns before thrones, a fairly anemic eternity.

There is a tremen-dous lack of imagina-tion around resurrec-tion, around Easter. The

God who created the universe is not limit-ed to our imagination but I imagine that the New Jerusalem will be at least as miraculous and beautiful and chal-lenging and engaging as the old. I see such glimmers of the New Life in people of faith; people who are gen-erous when generosity is undeserved, merci-ful when vengeance is easier, faithful when be-trayal is what the world expects. If such faith and beauty and selfless service is possible in our broken creation how much more has God in store for us in the New Creation.

My wish and hope and Easter prayer for you is that you may imagine an eternity be-yond imagination. My prayer is that we may face eternity with a joyful abandon, knowing that whatever else is, there is God.

Happy Easter,+David

5APRIL 2015


New servers in Botwood In the Garden

The Rev. Michael Li

Columnist

During a Holy Baptism and Eucharist on February 1, 2015, St. James’ Anglican Church, Botwood welcomed four new youth (Isabella Mer-cer, Christian Torraville, Miranda Regular and Norah Grant) to their servers’ group. This was a great milestone in their spiritual life, espe-cially for Christian, who was also baptized on this special day. God bless you in your new ministry. Photo (Back Row): Daphne Parsons, Christopher Seymore, Nicole Regular, Rev. Larry Chatman, Brook Lillquist, Kaitlyn Foss and Myles Parsons. (New Servers - Front Row): Is-abella Mercer, Christian Torraville, Miranda Regular and Norah Grant. Photograph and story by Daphne & Myles Parsons.

Worship has become per-formance rather than praise. Contemporary worship is more egocentric than theocentric. The aim is less to give glory to God than to satisfy our own longings. Some of the new choruses speak of “falling in love” with Jesus.

No doubt human emo-tions (awe, fear, gratitude, and love) may all be experienced in worship. But our emotions should not be the controlling factors. The object of worship is God. We worship God by praising and thanking Him. We listen to the Word of God read and preached. We sing hymns to God. We offer our prayers and offering to Him. We confess our sins and we participate in the Lord’s Sup-per. We worship God the Father through God the Son, and by the Holy Spirit.

Music occupies a very im-portant place in worship. Often we tend to pay more attention to the melody than the words we sing. Occasionally we sign hymns which are theologically incorrect. On Easter Day, some congregations enjoy singing the sentimental song, “In the Garden”.

The words are: I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses,And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,The Son of God discloses.And He walks with me, and He talks with me,And He tells me I am His own;And the joy we share as we tarry there,None other has ever known.

The writer of this song apparently had in mind the ex-perience of Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus on the first Easter morning. Mary’s experience was unique, not shared by believers today. To-day we have not entered a garden alone in the morning and heard an audible voice of Jesus. Certainly we cannot sing the repeated refrain say-ing that we can experience a joy which no one else has ever known. It is wrong to sing that we share with Jesus a special fellowship that no one else on earth has ever experienced.

When we worship God we should sing of things that are true. Let me give a few exam-ples of singing a falsehood. Many people have sung “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before. Every day with Jesus I love Him more and more”. No one could sing these lines honestly, for this is not our actual human ex-perience. We experience ups and downs in our Christian life. Some hymn texts suggest that God may revoke our salvation, and we sing “suddenly return, and never, nevermore Thy temples leave” (“Love Divine”). We sing “Joy to the World” at Christmastime, even though this hymn is about the Second Coming of Jesus.

Let us continue to worship God in spirit and in truth.

APRIL 20156


Confirmation in Seal Cove

Confirmation in Seal Cove Parish. On Sunday February 8, 2015, Confirmation services were held in the Parish of Seal Cove by Bishop Percy Coffin. At St. Paul’s Church in Baie Verte, two adults, Beverly & William Snow (second picture), were confirmed. At St. Peter’s Church in Westport, ten young people were confirmed (first picture). Front row: Maxine & Melody Greenaway, Abigail Ricketts, Sta-cie Twine, Karissa Jacobs. Middle row: Mackenzie Randell , Tamara Jacobs, Allison Jacobs. Back row: Zachery Jacobs, Bishop Coffin, Leroy Warren & Rev. Charles Harris. Submitted by Gary Rideout.

Youth lead worship

Submitted byDenise White

The Confirmation Class of the Parish of Port Saunders was responsible for con-ducting the complete service the first Sun-day in Advent. On No-vember 30, 2014 the class led the service, with all the youth par-ticipating in one way or another from the

readings, announcing, collection and Advent Wreath Lighting. And thanks to Crystal for serving. All that was left for Rev. Paulette to do was the sermon!

A hot turkey lunch was held in the church hall for all the candi-dates, family members and church communi-ty. No one left hungry except we ran out of

carrots!That same week the

kids made their own Advent wreaths to use at home. Thanks for the entire volunteer and parent support during these events and to Rev. Paulette with all her patience and love for the youth.

Anglican Life!

7APRIL 2015


Grand Bay ACW help Haiti

Submitted byRev. Shaun O’Connor

Members of St. Paul’s A.C.W., Grand Bay com-pleted 53 pillowcase dresses. These dresses are sent to HATS (Hands Across The Sea) which a registered non-prof-it organization directed by Canadian and New-foundlander, Karen Hux-ter. She has been living & ministering in Haiti since 1995. Karen’s or-ganization runs a fami-ly-style orphanage and currently has 17 children in her care. In addition, numerous families in the community are support-ed in order to maintain the family unit whenever possible. The ladies who completed these dresses are pictured (left to right): Pat King, Shirley White, Vanda Anderson, Doreen Dowding, Bernice Janes, Nancy Mushrow, (miss-ing from photo: Lorraine Kettle). Submitted by By Ernest Dowding

Exploring autism in BonavistaAutism is a common yet

seldom talked about neu-ro-developmental disorder looking for acceptance. On Autism Sunday, February 8, the Parish of Bonavista got to hear what God has to say about it. Our guest speaker was Mrs. Treshana Gosse of the Autism Society NL.

Using ‘fireworks’ glass-es, peppermint spray, ‘rain’ sticks, feather dusters, a wind cannon, and mega-phone during a game of ‘Simon Says’, Treshana helped us experience how overwhelming autism is to a person’s senses. Her address during the sermon was also an eye-opener. Rev. Shaun tied in her pre-sentation to our reading from Isaiah for the day.

We are to be compas-

sionate to people with au-tism and their families. And as Christians, we’re to take that a step further: we’re to extend the hand of sincere friendship, accept them as fellow ministers of the gospel and help them find their calling. People with autism have incredible gifts to offer the church and the world, but are often not encouraged to find and use them in their own unique way.

People with autism have things to teach us. For instance, their sin-gle-mindedness can cross over to their devotions, their devotion to God, and their approach to ministry. So many of us say things like, “Oh, I’m not good at singing,” instead of just finding something and doing it. But people with

autism don’t worry about what they’re not good at; they just take something and go with it.

Isaiah said, “O Israel, how can you say the Lord

does not see your trou-bles?” We don’t know what’s going on in each other, whether we have au-tism or not, but God knows. Whatever our shortcom-

ings, he provides strength when we are weary and en-ables us to “rise on eagles’ wings.”

APRIL 20158


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An Easter MessageBishop Geoffrey Peddle

The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

For centuries Chris-tians have greeted each other on Easter morn-ing with these words. In churches across our diocese this Easter Sun-day – the Day of Resur-rection – they will once more be spoken: the good news of Easter in a single phrase!

Did you know that the word “Gospel” means “good news”? The Christian Gospel contains what Christians have always regarded as the best good news there is: the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death

and resurrection. The Easter story in particular is filled with good news.

According to Mat-thew, the story begins in the early morning with Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” coming to the tomb of Jesus. But the stone covering the entrance was rolled away and an angel was sitting upon it. The angel said to the women: “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his dis-ciples that he has risen from the dead.”

Put yourself in the place of the women that morning. They had probably come to the tomb early to com-plete Jesus’ burial. But what did they find? ... an empty tomb, and an angel telling them that Jesus had been raised from the dead. This was not at all what

they had expected. Af-ter all, their Lord had been crucified. Could it possibly be that he had overcome the bonds of death? Perhaps it was too much to hope for, but if it were true, wouldn’t it be the best good news they had ever received? They came expecting to find death but instead found life in all its abundance. Jesus, whom they had loved and followed was not dead but alive!

The surprising good news of that first Eas-ter morning is also the surprising good news of this Easter morn-ing. The good news of Easter is not only that Jesus Christ rose from the dead but that we too will rise if we hold firm with him in this life. Easter is the eter-nal victory of life over death, goodness over sin, hope over despair. For Christians it is the pivotal event in human history. In the midst of a world that is often filled with bad news and sad tales, Easter reminds us of the power of God and of the eternal victo-ry of Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we are always Easter people filled with good news. May we embrace the new life our Lord brings us at Easter, and echo the words of those first disciples so very long ago:

The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Church is people

Submitted byRev. Jolene Peters

In 1972, Richard K. Avery and Donald S. March wrote the hymn We are the Church.

The first verse in that hymn is “The Church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.” Just shy of 18 months in my first parish as an ordained priest I cannot find a more fitting hymn for what I have witnessed here in the “Big Land” of Labrador West.

When I arrived here in Sep-tember of 2013, the Parish was two congregations with a church in Labrador City and a church in Wabush. My days at Queen’s College were wonderful ones but you quickly learn there are some things you cannot learn through textbooks, lectures or seminars. You simply have to experience them and trust you have been equipped with what you need to handle all that parish ministry can bring your way.

This became evident to me at my very first annual meeting when a discussion was had around possibly closing one of our churches, St. Peter’s in Wabush. I learned from my internship supervisor, mentor, and now my Bishop that what I needed to do in that moment was simply listen to what the people were saying. Priests will come and priests will go but the people in the congregations will live through it all, and at the end of the day it is the people who must decide.

After the annual meeting we held a congregational meeting in the spring to hear the needs and concerns of the local con-gregation. It was clear at that time a change was needed. That night there was laughter, tears, memories and facing reality. I was so proud to sit at a table with devoted people who clearly loved their church, but realized a difficult decision had to be made.

In your first year of parish ministry you expect to learn the ‘ins and outs’ of the parish, the people, to get your feet wet and gear up for the ministry you will

have in this place. You don’t expect to be holding meetings around closing a church. It has been a learning experience for me.

In December 2014 after several pastoral letters, meetings held with the Diocesan Bishop and congregational meetings, we met as a community at St. Peter’s church with Bishop Geoff and a vote took place. That night a decision was made that as of Easter 2015 St. Peter’s church would close. I saw pain, I shed tears with them, I hurt alongside them but I also rejoiced. I was filled with God’s spirit as I saw the beginning of what I call hope, prosperity and healing.

What have I learned? I learned that yes, we have these beautiful buildings, stained glass windows, beautiful furnishings, but that is not the church. The church is the people who gath-er, the people who hold each other up in difficult times of life and celebrate when there are moments of joy. A decision that has been years in the mak-ing has now been made, and those who once gathered in that building now join in fellowship and worship with the congre-gation of St. Paul’s in Labrador City. Our ministries are being strengthened, our parish is be-ing renewed and Sunday after Sunday when I gather with the people I experience a little more of the kingdom of God here on earth. This decision was not easy and as we gather in April for a service of deconsecration there will be tears of sadness, but I give thanks. I give thanks for the many years St. Peter’s Church building served the needs of the people of Wabush, I give thanks for the many hours of dedication and service of the members of that congregation over the years and I give thanks that as they have reached this point in their min-istry together that I can journey this road with them as we learn, grow and serve God together.

The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church in Labrador West is most certainly a people!

9APRIL 2015


Most wonderful words

70 years of dedicated service

Ron Clarke

Columnist

Submitted byJack Morgan

Aubrey Dawe of Upper Gullies has just completed 70 years as a member of the choir at St. Peter’s An-glican Church, CBS. Au-brey joined the choir in 1944, and other than a scattered family vaca-tion or under the weath-er due to illness, he has not missed a service. Mr. Dawe was recently recog-nized for his dedication with the presentation of a framed certificate by The Rev. Dr. Geoff Ped-dle, Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Lab-rador. In the photo L-R: Fr. Mark Nichols, Rector of St. Peter’s, The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Angli-can Church of Canada, Mr. Dawe and Bishop Peddle.

A group of us seniors were reminiscing one afternoon.

One lady said that very afternoon, she had heard the most wonder-ful words of her lifetime. The doctor declared that, at last, her daughter was cancer-free.

Each one of us, then, revealed our “most won-derful words”. “Will you marry me” one stated. “The war’s over,” one old soldier declared. “Our son just won a big lottery prize”. And so it went.

One gentle old man topped us all. “I’ve heard the most wonderful words over and over, at a very special time each year”. My most wonder-ful words are: “He is Ris-en. The Lord is Risen indeed”.

We all agreed with his choice.

“He is Risen; the Lord is Risen indeed” were certainly the most dra-matic words ever heard by the followers of Jesus that first Easter morning.

For two days they had been locked away in a securely boarded room. They were, of course, totally grief-stricken.

Their beloved Mes-siah had been seized by his enemies. He had been mocked, despised, spit on, tortured. Then, most horrible of all, he was crucified- a death reserved for sinners, and criminals. All seemed lost!

And so they cowered in terror for two days and nights- certain that they too would soon share their master’s fate.

Then, in the midst of their gloom, some of their own who had gone to the tomb, burst in to report that “He is Risen”, “The Lord is Risen in-deed”. Can you imagine

their reaction?Amazement surely,

too good to be true, perhaps. But then, their Lord himself had raised three people from death, didn’t he?

T h e g r e a t n e w s changed them all, and made each one an un-stoppable zealot.

These truly wonder-ful words should be like-wise dramatic for us.

When a loved one dies, or when we our-selves are facing death, we too have the ultimate comfort of knowing for sure that, because our Jesus conquered death once and for all, we too,

like him, shall live for-ever.

Our enemy, death, becomes for us the gate to everlasting life.

How truly marvellous is Jesus’ promise that he will come and get us, and take us with him into eternity.

May “He is Risen” be the most wonderful words for each of us, not just for Easter Sunday, but for the rest of our lives! Alleluia!

APRIL 201510


The Rev. Greg Mercer

Columnist

No ‘pie in the sky’ when I die

The future for Queen’s College

By the time you read this article we have already cel-ebrated the most important day in the lives of Christians – Easter Day. But Easter is a seven week celebration – seven weeks of wonderful Gospel stories that point to Jesus as the bearer of hope and the future Kingdom. The

Gospel of John 3:16, which is so often quoted, summarizes the whole purpose of Jesus’ mission: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life [emphasis mine]. Martin Luther called this verse “the Gospel in miniature.”

However, if we under-stand Jesus’ teaching correct-ly, the Kingdom and heaven is not just about “pie in the sky when I die.”

Former Archbishop of Can-terbury, George Carey wrote in his millennium devotional, Jesus 2000, “[Heaven] is not some kind of divine aspirin to get us through the daily grind of life on earth. Eternal life does not simply await us when we die; it starts right now in a relationship with

God, through Jesus Christ, which continues forever.”

The opening chapter of the Gospel of Mark contains these words from Jesus him-self: “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom is at hand” [emphasis mine] (Mark 1:15).

Jesus’ message was “the kingdom” but not just as some future reality to aspire to. For Jesus the kingdom was first and foremost the rule of God in the hearts and lives of all. It was therefore a process, a journey to know God and to grow in relationship to God, through Jesus Christ. It is no easy task to preach the Resurrection since it cannot be presented as though it were simply a future hope, even though that is true. It is also a present reality. When the resurrection lays hold on a person it is a transforming

experience. There they stand on the other side of the tomb; there they have crossed over into the new age. They have been reborn into a present reality of hope.

In an old classic by Neville Clarke entitled, Interpreting the Resurrection, the author writes, “There is indeed a hope to be awaited. But the ‘not yet’ is the fulfillment of the ‘already.’ It is because they have risen with Christ that they move towards the resurrection of the body.”

Neville speaks of an expe-rience in philosophical terms but essentially what he is saying is this: The content of Christian hope and Christian experience is seen and under-stood not of life after death or life apart from death, but of life through death. Without the dying there is no rising.

This is true not only of eternal life but of life in its present reality. Probably a few lines from the poem “Dying in Order to Live More Fully” will help shed a little light.“I believe we are born to die, to die that we may live more fully;Born to die a little each day to selfishness, to pretense, and to sin.I believe that every time we pass from one stage of life to anotherSomething in us dies and something new is born...I believe, too, that we are dying before our timeWhen we live in bitterness, in hatred, and in isolation...To those who believe in Christ, death is a gateway, A gateway to eternal life.”

Submitted byCynthia Haines-Turner

Some, when looking at that title, might be tempted to ask, ‘Is there a future for Queen’s College?’ The an-swer to that is a resounding yes.

In 2016, Queen’s Col-lege will celebrate the 175th year since its found-ing. Things have changed a great deal in 175 years, in fact given the pace of change in modern soci-ety, things have changed a great deal in the last 5 years. Those changes have been in terms of what the college offers, the types

and needs of the students studying at Queen’s, the context in which ministry takes place in Newfound-land and Labrador.

In many places in our province, the model of one parish/one priest is not longer a viable option. Cluster ministry or team ministry where several par-ishes come together to provide a more efficient is common. Lay people wish to enroll in programs to better equip them to carry out their baptismal min-istry. In some areas, there is a re-emergence of the permanent diaconate. Pop-

ulation decline in rural com-munities means there are fewer people but the need for ministry remains. Peo-ple are interested in train-ing for ordained ministry but are not always able to leave their communities to train in a residential setting. All of those changes affect the kinds of programs and program delivery that stu-dents require. As a result, programs like Associate in Theology or Diploma in Theology providing train-ing for lay leadership and local ministry have been quite successful. Distance or on-line programs are

meeting a very real need. Distributed learning offers new possibilities for local theological education. Dis-tributed learning is differ-ent from distance or online learning as it allows instruc-tor, students, and content to be situated in different locations.

Queen’s College is committed to continuing our response to a changing context and new models of both learning and delivery of ministry. Through coop-eration with Memorial Uni-versity and making use of adjunct faculty, the College is taking steps to ensure its

long term viability. Some of these are:

- Queen’s has adopted the ‘Exploring Faith’ pro-gram which uses distribut-ed learning. Students meet as part of a group with all the richness that comes from interaction with other students.

- will explore ecumeni-cal cooperation;

- will explore partner-ships with other colleges;

- will remain an Angli-can College;

- will explore possibili-ty of students doing work elsewhere;

- will offer a component of continuing education for ordained clergy.

This is the beginning of a process of adaptation that the Corporation believes will allow us to be more nimble in responding to changing expectations and needs and will forge an exciting future for Queen’s College. Please continue to uphold Queen’s College in your prayers through this time of transition.

11APRIL 2015


Kevin Smith

Columnist

Kevin Smith is the gift planning consultant for the Anglican Church of Canada. He can be contacted at 709 739-5667 or by email: [email protected]

Stella Walsh

Columnist

Thank you, John

Last month I was saddened to hear that my friend and col-league in planned giving with the Anglican Church of Canada, Archdeacon John Robertson, will be retiring from his position as the national Planned Giving Officer. His retirement takes effect on April 30, 2015.

I first met John at a national conference in early 2000 when he recruited me for the job as gift planning person. Immedi-ately we bonded and over the years have become good friends in addition to respected col-leagues. John was the one I sent my monthly reports to and was the one to whom I turned when I needed some advice as to how to approach a certain issue with a donor. He was also the one who supplied me with financial proposal required for an annuity application for a parishioner. He was always there for assistance, advice and encouragement.

Archdeacon John M. Rob-ertson was appointed as the National Gift Planning Officer of

the Anglican Church of Canada in 1994. Through nearly two decades, he has become a well-known and respected speaker in the field of gift planning and stewardship education and has met with thousands of donors, helping to facilitate millions of dollars worth of gifts that have benefited the work of parishes, dioceses, General Synod, and its national partners. In 2005 the University of Toronto presented Archdeacon Robertson with the prestigious Arbor Award for exceptional volunteer service to the university.

A gradu-ate of Rutgers U n i v e r s i t y (Economics) and Trinity Col-lege, Universi-ty of Toronto (Sacred Theol-ogy), Archdea-con Robertson is currently a m e m b e r o f the Canadian Association of Gift Planners as well as the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Pri-or to his appointment to the General Synod, he served as a parish priest for nine years in the Diocese of Caledonia and for 19 years in the Diocese of New Westminster.

At home in Kingston, Arch-deacon Robertson is a priest of the Diocese of Ontario and serves as Honourary Priest As-sociate of St. George’s Cathedral.

He is also a chaplain with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

An article distributed by the national church upon his retirement commented on his gift of friendship, “John’s enthu-siasm and love for the church’s ministries was infectious and his sense of gratitude and gen-erosity led many others to gen-erous and grateful gifts to God’s mission through the life of the church.”

I am really sorry to see Arch-deacon John retire. He has been a remarkable leader, mentor

and inspiration in the Church’s planned giving ministry. He has produced some marvel-l o u s re s u l t s over the years f o r P W D R F, the Anglican Fo u n d a t i o n , the National C h u r c h a n d many dioces-es and parish-es. He will be tremendously missed.

We wish him all the very best for the future. Thank you, John, my friend.

Propitiation of our sins

Easter is a complex and weighty topic to think about, much less to try and write words about that others may find useful or inspirational. I struggled with this right up to the deadline for this column to be submitted. I finally decided that I would simply try to explain why I struggle with Easter. And it has to do with this verse: 1 John 2:2 – “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (KJV)

The most civilized and rational image that we have of God today is that He is love. He is not a merciless judge who delights in send-ing the wicked to hell. As much as that image might appeal to our sense of ven-geance on some occasions, it is not accurate. And so, I find it very difficult to believe that our loving God needed

a human sacrifice in order to be appeased so that we would find favor in His sight this way. If that seems like it is a harsh description of a traditional image of the atonement, it is not. If you look up the meaning of pro-pitiation, you will find that this is what it refers to. It is a pretty primitive image in light of our belief that God is loving and merciful.

It is important to under-stand that I am not attempt-ing to negate the value and importance of what Jesus did on the cross. I do not find it difficult to accept that Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified to show His love for us and to demonstrate the power of God (love) over death. I do believe that the spiritual world and the physical world were united (reconciled) in His death and resurrection. That is a differ-ent point of view and it is not irrational to understand that a loving friend would lay down His life for those He loves. People do this all the time. They sacrifice them-selves and their lives for their family and loved ones.

And I believe there is a mystery to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus that we cannot fully un-derstand while we walk on earth. But I cannot accept that it has anything to do with Him being a demand-ed payment or sacrifice to appease a God who needed that payment in order to love us. That is not in line with the unconditional love that Jesus demonstrated in His life.

One of the reasons that I struggle so much with this image these days is because I spend a fair amount of time volunteering with young people in Confirmation classes and a youth group. We welcome young people into our youth group no mat-ter what their background. Some do not attend church at all. I find it very difficult to accept that while we wel-come them unconditionally, they need to accept that we worship a god who needed a human sacrifice to love us.

APRIL 201512


Queen’s College Alumni news

Submitted byRev. Canon Frank Cluett

It is always a pleasure to greet you as your Presi-dent of the “Queen’s Col-lege Alumni Association”. I thank you for your sup-port of Queen’s College, both financial and in other ways – not the least of which is prayer. My mes-sage will focus on two matters, which I consider to be exciting news.

Firstly, The Queen’s

College Alumni Schol-arship Fund: When the Alumni Association set up this scholarship, the goal was to raise a capital sum of $100,000. As of Janu-ary 1, 2015, about $66,000 had been received in do-nations, which as of that date had a market value of $86,868.21. The goal is now within our reach. Our scholarship fund is a reg-istered charity and can re-ceive bequests, memorial donations, as well as other gifts for which Income Tax Receipts are issued. As the Association has been raising these funds, we also present at each Con-vocation two scholarships to students named by the College faculty. I urge all alumni and friends to continue your support. For further details you may phone Queen’s College at 709-753-0116.

Secondly, The 175th Anniversary of Queen’s College: The exciting news from Queen’s is that in the year 2016 it will cel-ebrate the 175th anniver-

sary of its founding in the year 1841. This is a sig-nificant anniversary in the history of our Province as well as for the Church and for theological education in Canada. In addition to being the first institution to offer post–secondary education in the Province, it is also among the oldest theological colleges in this nation. You will be informed of celebrations as details are finalized; we invite all alumni and

friends to participate.The story of Queen’s

College is written in the lives of faculty and gradu-ates over these 175 years – a story of sacrifice and commitment (which in-cludes spouses of gradu-ates), a story of faith and of concern for education and for the social well-being of people, a story in which we can all rejoice. But the anniversary not only calls us to look backward; more importantly it beckons us to look forward to the future, with faith, convic-tion and courage – a faith that affirms the intrinsic worth and dignity of every human being, the convic-tion that we can make our global village a better place for all, and the cour-age to realize this vision. It can be done!

In conclusion, as we celebrate the success of the Scholarship Fund and the story of Queen’s Col-lege, I invite all of us to unite our efforts to make the future even better than the past.

Church checkup:part two

The Rev. Everett Hobbs

ColumnistGeneral Synod of the Church

of England is described as dys-functional, not very effective or efficient. It is innately conflic-tional, there is little space for listening or genuine engagement, membership is often complacent, static and resistant to change or reform. It has the worst features of parliamentary democracy with little positive aspects. Structures, patterns of governance, proce-dures appointment processes, canon laws and traditions need to be examined.

Recommendations include using the findings of Organi-zational Behaviour (OB) which studies how organizations be-have. Authoritative and pre-

scriptive change will not work: widespread inclusion of church members required for planning and implement change (requiring strategic planning over months or years for staged or implements change). Another resource is The-ory of Change (ToC) widely used by voluntary organization and NGOs - team working, collective ownership, ‘flat’ relationships, alliances. One encouraging note is the impact of Fresh Expressions.

Worrying is the decline of clergy available for full-time par-ish ministry. This in spite of the growing number of ordained women. Also since the 1980s many new clergy are ordained later in life. Loss of clergy exceeds new recruitment. It is phrased as, “There are not enough troupes left in the show and the show will have to change.”

There are observations about clergy functions and their in-fluence, the quality of ministry, leadership style and personality. Deployment of clergy is affected by overall organization, methods of appointment, ‘Lone Ranger”’ syndrome and lack of co-opera-tion between parishes/clergy.

There are also concerns about quality of leadership: nature of authority; responsibility; ac-countability. Other issues are that

clergy don’t want to be managed, governed or led, many do not pursue continuing education and in-service training, and the lack of clergy reviews and evaluation.

How to involve laity is a continuing challenge. How many who want to serve are left out? Much lip service is paid to the notion of shared leadership, lay ministry and priesthood of all believers but little is done in practice. The result is often frustration and confusion. While some laity do undertake a great deal of ministry inside and outside the parish, there is a great deal more of untapped potential which could make a difference consider-ing the shortage of human and financial resources. Therefore, there is an emphasis on church growth and re-imagining ministry.

In short, “[The Church of England] is faced with a demo-graphic shift, secular materialism and dislike for religious institu-tions…The Church needs strong leadership, clarity of vision, disci-plined use of resources and unity of purpose.”

As we celebrate Easter, let us remember that resurrection is not just about us: it is about the resto-ration of the whole creation. And it is about the reform and renewal of the Church.

Saint Luke’s Homes to recognize volunteers

Submitted byRobert Sexty

Saint Luke’s Homes has been fortunate to have the help of many volunteers over its 50 years and this year, in celebrating our 50 Years Caring for Seniors, we are hosting a reception for all past and pres-ent volunteers of Saint Luke’s Homes.

These volunteers in-clude: residents of home, the Residents Council,

families and the Fam-ily Council members, residents of the cottag-es and Bishop Mead-en Manor, the Anglican community including the tea servers from several parishes, the St. Mary’s Men’s Group who hold a monthly birthday party, several clergy and lay readers, the Alter Guild, Saint Luke’s Auxiliary, the Board of Directors, the Kiwanis Club, the Royal Canadian Legion, the Youth Volunteers Corps

Program, members of the management and staff, and members of the community.

A list has been pre-pared of those persons, but we do not want to miss anyone! The event will be held on Wednes-day, April 15, 2015 at 7:30. If you would like to attend this event, please contact Pamela Jesso at [email protected] or 752-8926 by April 10, 2015.

anglican life april 2015

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