Huron CHurCH newsANGLICAN DIOCESE OF HURON • Huron Church News is a section of the Anglican Journal • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6

Linda Nicholls – 13th Bishop of Huron

ADVENT 2016Waiting for Christ to come again and living now to prepare. Page 2

INSPIRED BY GRACE 15 minutes with God through Advent, by Anglican Fellowship of Prayer and Abundant Life. Page 6

YOUR FOUR-WEEK CALENDARSocial Justice Huron’s 2016 Advent calendar which follows four of the Sustainable Development Goals. Page 8

By Rev. Elise Chambers

T his year marks 150 years of ministry at Christ

Church. The congregation formed in 1866, the year Petrolia’s oil boom struck and the village was established.

Through humble beginnings in a shanty town in the years of the oil boom, and first worship services in a local bar - where of course they sat with their backs to the bar - and the bottles were all covered by a curtain, to today’s church with a small but lively, busy congre-gation, we give thanks!

The first actual Christ Church building was built in 1872 on Railroad Street. In 1882, a new church was built on the present site at the corner of Oil and Henry streets.

They suffered two fires, one in 1945, for which they were only temporarily homeless.

However, a second fire in 1957 was catastrophic. The church that had stood for 75 years was gone forever. All that was able to be saved was the tower bells.

The tower bells, a chime of 11 bells had been donated by Jacob Englehart in 1909 in memory of his wife Charlotte Eleanor, was all that remained of the church.

These bells are played every Sunday during worship and have been used over the years for many occasions including for the 22 Days of Healing and Reconciliation last spring. Bish-op Linda even tried her hand at playing a tune on her visit for our anniversary service.

The stained glass windows represent a special story. Thir-teen very unique and beautiful windows were designed and created by Christopher Wallis.

The Memorial Oil window, which was completed in 1983,

is especially unique. It is 9x16 ft in size and features Christ the Good Shepherd in the centre surrounded by vivid depictions of Petrolia’s oil boom of the 1800s and framed by a timeline of 30 key events in Petrolia’s oil history.

This year, it was decided by the parish council, in honour of our 150th anniversary, that we would refurbish a beautiful-ly crafted wrought iron celtic cross, that had been down in our furnace room, we believe, since the new church was built in 1958. This cross, which once marked the rooftop of the church that burned down, now sits on our front lawn, as a beautiful reminder of our long history in this place. We give thanks to the people who helped make this possible, especially Wayne Strevel.

By Davor MilicevicThe Right Reverend Linda

Nicholls began her service as the 13th Bishop of Huron on No-vember 1, 2016.

Rt. Rev. Nicholls was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Huron in February 2016, and as Coadju-tor Bishop, she automatically became Bishop of Huron af-ter the retirement of the Right

Reverend Bishop Robert Ben-nett, the 12th Bishop of Huron, on November 1.

She is the first woman bish-op in Huron and also the first bishop from outside the dio-cese since 1931.

Bishop Linda started her ser-vice as deacon on November 3, 1985. A year later she was or-dained a priest and on February 2, 2008, she was consecrated

Bishop Suffragan for the Dio-cese of Toronto.

Bishop Nicholls’ welcoming service back in April marked the beginning of a six-months transition period in Huron. In that time she has visited all ten deaneries in the Diocese.

“I have spent time with the clergy in their clericus meeting and then time with the laity in the evening answering their

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An old cross restored, the faith strengthened in Petrolia’s Christ Church

questions and offering some reflection on where we are as a church”, said Bishop Nicholls at the Bishop’s Friends event orga-nized by the Waterloo Deanery in Cambridge on October 27.

She also said that she has committed to the Diocesan Council and the staff “to have a fully worked out vision that we can take action on no later than Synod in May 2017.”

“I’ve already begun conversa-tions with different committees and groups within the Diocese and the diocesan staff ”, said Nicholls.

Talking about the position of the Anglican Church in Canada and the Diocese of Huron, Bish-op Linda warned that “we are in the midst of a massive transition.”

“Things that we took for granted are changing, and so the church should not be sur-prised that it is in the midst of that as well”.

But what has not changed, said Nicholls, is that people “still have a longing and a desire to know the God of all creation, the God whom we have seen and known and experienced and want to share in Jesus Christ.” The question is, added the Bish-op, how will we live it and share it in a way that can be heard.

“We have to make sure that our congregations, our parish-

es are deeply connected to the communities they are in, not the ones they remember from 20 years ago or 30 years ago, but the ones that are there actually now”, stated Nicholls pointing out that this means dealing with two or three generations who have never entered a church.

“We have some hard ques-tions to answer. What does it mean to be God’s people in this community when we cannot af-ford the building that we inher-ited. We still want to be God’s people here but we are just not sure how to do it with this par-ticular building. And those are painful questions”, said Bishop Linda Nicholls.

Talking about what would ministry look like in these new circumstances, she insisted that we have to contemplate “new models of ministry that look different”, which again means encouraging creativity and risk- taking.

“We are not going to go any-where without taking some big risks”, said Bishop Linda Nicholls.

The official service of welcome and seating of Rt. Rev. Linda Nicholls as the 13th Bishop of Huron takes place on Novem-ber 26 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Ontario. The event will be covered in the next edition of Huron Church News.

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HuronChurch

NewsVolume 66, Number 10

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PublisherThe Right Reverend

Linda Nicholls Bishop of Huron

Diocese of Huron Huron Church House 190 Queens Avenue

London, Ontario N6A 6H7 Phone: 519-434-6893

Huron Church News is published by the Diocese

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W e spend so much of our life waiting and

longing for something that has not yet happened.

Waiting to grow up… waiting to find the right job… waiting for surgery… waiting for the right partner… waiting for a

bus… waiting for dinner to be ready… waiting for Christmas to come... waiting.

It can be good and delicious to anticipate what is longed for or can be filled with fear and dread. We can be so anxious for the waiting to be over we are consumed with worry and miss enjoying the present or believe it will never come so there is no point in being ready.

Advent is the season in our church calendar of waiting. For most of the world it is simply the time before Christmas filled with shopping, baking, decorat-ing and parties. For Christians, although we share in those activities, we live in the midst

of two kinds of waiting and an-ticipating. First we experience again waiting for the coming of Jesus as the babe of Bethlehem and the son of God - hearing the stories of Mary and John the Baptist in our Sunday worship. We are also waiting for Christ to come again, as we proclaim in our eucharist: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again!” as we hear the gospel promise of a new world under the reign of Christ. We long for a time when the promises of peace, of an end to pain and suffering will be realized.

So in Advent we wait. When will Christ come? What will happen? Are we to live in worry about the time and place?

Scripture is clear that this time of waiting is to be spent in active preparation, not in fear or in denial. We are to live now ready for God’s kingdom to come. One of my favourite lit-erary descriptions of heaven is that of C.S. Lewis in ‘The Great Divorce’. Lewis describes the arrival of a busload of people at the gates of heaven. There is no judge there determining who is qualified to enter, only an invitation to enter the light, love and grace offered. Those who are prepared for it by a

life lived in love and forgive-ness are delighted. Those who are not prepared are disgrun-tled, unhappy and choose to leave and get back on the bus. Lewis envisions that how we have lived our daily lives is the preparation for what is to come and will be its own judge.

Advent invites us to prepare ourselves for Christ to come by recalling those who were ready to welcome the birth of Jesus, those who recognized and followed Jesus in his ministry on earth and those who are prepared and ready for him to come again. Apart from the baking, shopping and decorat-ing we may be doing in Advent,

we are waiting for Christ to come again and living now to prepare. What aspect of Christ-like living needs more practice in your life? Generosity? For-giveness? Love of neighbour? Giving rather than receiving?

Practical ideas ….Create a Reverse Advent Calendar in which each day you place an item to donate to a Foodbank or shelter. Mark each day of Advent with a new act of gener-osity. Invite someone lonely to join your family for Christmas and begin a deeper friendship.

May this Advent prepare us to welcome Christ so that our waiting is full of joy and hope!+ Linda

Waiting for Christ to come again and living now to prepare

Bishop Linda nichoLLs

The diocesan history: a view from... a chairBy John Lutman

Last month, the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist at Huron University College received an unusual gift – a bishops chair that formerly had graced the chancel of Christ Church, Lon-don, now closed.

The church was the second oldest Anglican church in Lon-don after St. Paul’s Cathedral, having been built in 1863. The last rector of Christ Church, Rev. Canon Greg Smith (a pro-fessor in Huron’s Department of Theology), arranged for the chair’s transport to Huron Uni-versity College.

Why the chapel at Huron? Huron University College was the founding college for West-ern University, the idea having been conceived by the second Bishop of the Diocese of Huron, Isaac Hellmuth.

Tradition has it that the chair was occupied by Bishop Isaac Hellmuth when he presided over the meetings at Christ Church in 1877 which in 1878 led to the formation of The Western University of London, Ontario, today's Western. No documentation, however, ac-companied the chair to prove the assumption.

The chaplain of the Chapel, Rev. Christopher Kelly, asked me to conduct research to de-termine if the tradition was in-deed true. On consulting the Diocese of Huron Archives’ history file for Christ Church, London, I found the answer. An

essay submitted to Huron Uni-versity College history course (written by Jane Humphreys and William Cliff) initially of-fered some encouragement - the communion table and Chancel chairs were donated by Rev. G.M. Innes on the church’s opening in 1863. Could the bishop’s chair have been among the furnishing purchased at this date? If true, Bishop Hell-muth could have indeed sat in the chair when he presumably chaired the Western University meetings in 1877.

Disappointingly, the next few sentences scotch the rumour. The authors go on to explain that the “parish hall [of Christ Church] hosted the historic meeting that led to the estab-lishment of the University of Western Ontario [Western Uni-versity]...Michael Boomer,…Dean of Huron, presided over the meeting.” Dr. J.J. Talman’s “Huron College 1863-1963” and A.H. Crowfoot’s biography of Hellmuth, “This Dreamer”, confirmed Humphreys' and Cliff ’s assessment. Nevertheless, Cronyn, Hellmuth and every subsequent bishop would have sat in the chair during services at Christ Church that they at-tended.

Oh dear, so much for tradi-tion! Happily, the chair now rests in the Cronyn Room of Huron Church House beside St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. John Lutman is archivist for the Diocese of Huron.

One of the ways to see the changes in the diocesan long history: On October 26, 2016, Bishop Linda sat in the “Isaac Hellmuth chair”. The chair now rests in the Cronyn Room of Huron Church House.

Photo by Dawn Armfield, Unsplash

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A community 150 years youngThis anniversary year has

been a busy one! This spring, we hosted a Victorian Tea, complete with scones and Dev-onshire cream and our fabulous hand bell choir. In May, Master chimer Peter Ryde of Stratford performed a tower bell concert. We had a tower bell open house day in May, where people could come in to play the bells, and, if they were brave, climb the ladder up to the bell loft. (Not for the faint of heart!)

A few weeks ago, on October 22nd, we hosted a Wine and Cheese party. People gathered to enjoy memories, fellowship and had the opportunity to pe-

ruse our history through many pictures, articles and the win-dows. A reading play, “The His-tory of Christ Church… in 30 minutes or less” was performed by a talented group of charac-ters, who kept switching hats and other props while portray-ing other colourful characters from our past, and the incredi-bly wonderful (and devastating) points in our history.

A special thanks goes out to Nancy Keys, who wrote this play, and to her cohort, Syl-via Fairbank, our fount of all knowledge of Christ Church and Petrolia.

The next day, we celebrated in worship our Anniversary

Sunday with Bishop Linda. It was a wonderful service with music provided by our choir and bell choir, lead by our talented Mary Kay Winder, our organist and voice and bell choir director. Bishop Linda’s message was inspiring and led to further conversations over our lunch following the service.

Thank you to Bishop Linda for reminding us what we are called to as Christians at this time, out in our communities and the world. Thank you to everyone who enabled this day to come to such fruition. Spe-cial thanks to our kitchen crew!

We will be rounding out this year with a Christmas Home Tour. It takes place on Novem-ber 25th and 26th and features five local homes and Christ Church all decorated beauti-fully for Christmas. The tickets are going fast! If you want more information, or to get tickets if they are still available at the time you read this arti-cle, please go to our facebook page, Christ Church, Petrolia (https://www.facebook.com/ChristChurchPetrolia) or call the Church 519 882 1430.

Many blessings to all as we head into advent, and hope and joy as we look to the coming of our Lord and Saviour at Christmas.Rev. Elise Chambers is rector at Christ Church, Petrolia, St. John’s, Wyoming and Trinity, Watford.

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St. Matthew’s, Kingarf, 150th anniversary

The congregation of St. Mat-thew’s, Kingarf, celebrated 150 years of worship and service on Sunday, September 25, 2016.

This church is all that remains of the hamlet of Kingarf, locat-ed in Bruce County at the point where the former townships of Kincardine, Greenock and

Kinloss meet. In 1866, the first church building was destroyed by a windstorm before it was completed. A new one was built three years later, and the present brick building was erected in 1894.

Isaac Stringer and his wife Sadie (Sarah) Alexander were

born and raised at Kingarf, and were married at St. Matthew’s before their work together in Canada’s far north. Bishop I.O. Stringer later became known as “the Bishop who ate his boots”. Several members of the String-er family travelled to attend the celebration, and brought an array of memorabilia concern-ing the lives of Isaac and Sadie. There are several current mem-bers of the congregation who are relatives, as well.

Archdeacon Peter Town-shend, a former rector, was guest preacher and celebrant, assist-ing rector Reverend Rob His-cox. The church was filled with congregation, former members, neighbours and friends to wor-ship and praise God.

A bountiful luncheon and a time of reminiscing concluded a joyous occasion.Betty Jean White

Left: Rev. Elise and Canon Gord with Bob Bailey, MPP for Sarnia Lambton presenting certificate of congratulations for 150 years. Right above: The interior of the Christ Church, Petrolia. Right: The Christ Church, Petrolia chimes.

Archdeacon Peter Townshend served as a rector at St. Matthew’s, Kingarf. He was happy to be a part of 150th anniversary.

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Legacy of heroes at St. Paul’s, EssexBy Rev. Chris

Brouillard-CoyleIn recent years, we have been

blessed to include in our com-munity a man whose smile lights up the entire church. As we pass the peace each Sun-day, virtually every member of the congregation wants to greet him in the hopes of seeing that smile. When he comes to our pasta suppers, we love to watch him get his ‘birthday cake’. He has helped wash dishes, greet-ed parishioners as they came to church and is a constant re-minder of the beauty of God’s creation. He is truly a special part of our family.

Because John has Downs Syndrome, his presence in our community is made possible by the workers in his home. These women and men support all of those living in this home to en-sure that each of the residents can enjoy the best life has to offer and share their gifts generously

with the wider community. As a result of their patience, care and commitment, we are blessed to know special individuals like John. In their own ways, these workers and all those who work in homes for Community Liv-ing Essex are heroes, reminding us of the gifts those who have special needs can offer the wid-er community.

On Oct. 30th, St. Paul’s, Es-

sex celebrated its second annu-al Legacy of Heroes welcoming the community and honouring local workers who assist those with special needs to live fully their gifts. Our hall was filled with about 70 guests, including staff, volunteers and clients of Community Living.

In the formal presentation, Rev. Chris shared how the first time John had come forward for

a blessing at Communion she invited him to “Remember, that you are created by God, in the image of God…” In saying those words as she looked into John’s face, she recalled how true they felt and how true it was for those present: both the clients and the staff and volunteers. We were surrounded by images of God – people willing to share their gifts and, in doing so helping to reveal the gifts of others and for this we are truly grateful.

Thanks to sponsorship from local businesses we were able to welcome the Rev. Matt Ar-guin from St. Jude’s, London. Matt preached at both Trinity, Cottam and St. Paul’s, Essex connecting the story of the wee little man, Zacchaeus, with our call to see those who we might not otherwise notice and then spoke to those gathered at our celebration, providing his own insight into the ways commu-nity becomes inclusive through

the kinds of personal connec-tions enabled by Community Living and others.

Staff and volunteers at Com-munity Living Essex were pre-sented with a certificate ex-pressing our gratitude for all they do and naming them as heroes. Coffee, treats and fel-lowship rounded off the event as we enjoyed the music of a brass quintet from Essex Community Band. A donation will be made to the organization in the weeks to come thanks to our sponsors.

The Legacy of Heroes event is the product of St. Paul’s efforts to seek Renewal both through fundraising and reaching out to the wider community. We are grateful for all of the opportuni-ties we have had to be witnesses of God’s love to the Town of Es-sex and beyond.Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle is St. Paul’s/Trinity Essex /Cottam incumbent

By Neil DunningSt. Mark’s, Brantford, hosted

an interfaith “Greening Sacred Spaces” workshop in partner-ship with Faith and the Com-mon Good on October 1, 2016.

This workshop was in re-sponse to a “green audit” per-formed by staff from the Green-ing Sacred Spaces program run by Faith and the Common Good. All faith groups with buildings in Brantford and area were invited, as well as Angli-cans across the dioceses of Hu-ron and Niagara. The goal was to share our green audit results and our response to the audit with participants, and for all of us to be able to learn from our panel of contractors who came for the morning.

Faith and the Common Good is an interfaith organization based in Toronto which strives to support diverse religious groups as they create greener neighbourhoods. According to their website, their network “is composed of people of faith, hope, and spirit who, despite our differences in theology, dress and culture, share a calling to protect our ecosystem and a

passion for community service.” The green audit offered by

Faith and the Common good is “designed to help faith commu-nities see the greening oppor-tunities in and around their sa-cred spaces and guide them on how to make changes towards greater energy efficiency, health and sustainability.”

In 2015 St. Mark’s contracted for a green audit and after the au-dit was complete, received a com-prehensive report that looked at electricity and water use, heating and air conditioning, cleaning, and even photocopying.

St. Mark’s, under the leader-ship of Reverend Canon Jim Sutton, warden Frank Van Heck and parishioner Duane Bower, were able to meet most of the achievable goals set by the au-ditors and were able to make significant reductions, especial-ly in electricity and water con-sumption. Because of this work St. Mark’s became one of the first congregations in Huron to earn “Deep Green” status under the Greening Sacred Spaces/En-viro Action program for green certification.

We continue to fine tune our

building to meet modern envi-ronmental standards, and are also undertaking projects to make our grounds even more environmentally friendly.

About thirty people attended the morning. Many were Angli-cans from Huron and Niagara, and there was also represen-tation from the Presbyterian Church, the Convention Bap-tist Church, and the Stratford Mosque.

The morning began with an opening invocation and call to environmental faithfulness by the Rev. Tim Dobbin, rector of St. Mark’s. We then had a prim-er on reducing consumption and an energizer activity from the Pauline Johnson Collegiate Eco Club, given by Sarah, a high school student who attends St. Mark’s. The student created Eco Club presentation sent a clear message that over-consumption of Earth’s resources is simply not sustainable.

Dr. Lucy Cummings, exec-utive director of Faith and the Common Good, presented on the Green Audit in the context of all audits available to build-ings of worship.

Dr. Cummings showed how the Green Audit is unique in Ontario because of its wide scope, but pointed out that it is not the only option and that the wide range of audits available allow us to tailor the choice of tool to congregational needs. She also made the strong point that we need to be tracking our use of utilities over time—if you can’t measure it, how can you know how effective your build-ing improvements really are? To help with this, Dr. Cummings told us about the Energy Star Portfolio Manager, a free, online tool that can be used to track data for energy and water use of any building.

We also had a presentation from Joanne Van Panhuis, Conserva-tion Program Manager for Brant-ford Power. Joanne advised us to begin with the “low hanging fruit” with items like lighting which are relatively easy and inexpensive to remedy, while still yielding sig-nificant savings when upgraded. There is also some funding for electrical audits and upgrades. Congregations can best access this through their local power author-ity, but can also search informa-tion at www.saveonenergy.ca.

After a building tour to see the lighting upgrades in our sanctuary and Munro Hall, a panel discussion with six ex-perts provided us with a fasci-nating look at the complexities of building maintenance and upgrades. In attendance was an HVAC consultant, a window and door salesperson, a stained glass contractor, a retired heat-ing, plumbing and electricity contractor, and a grounds con-sultant.

Two big take-aways emerged from this session. One was that we need to protect our precious building asset through intelligent and informed care. The other is that a building is a system in

which all elements work togeth-er and affect each other. Yes, we need to work to reduce our car-bon footprint, but we need to do this in an informed way.

Panelists were aware of ex-amples in which well meaning renovations had been made to worship spaces in order to make them more efficient, but dam-age had been done to the asset through unexpected moisture build ups in ceilings, heating of double glazed stained glass pan-els, and so on. We need to do our due diligence when going ahead with renovations, using new products, and hiring contractors.

The Environmental Steward-ship Committee at St. Mark’s took great enjoyment in being able to share our experience and to continue to learn with other faiths, denominations, congrega-tions, and with the Niagara Dio-cese. We also greatly appreciate the support of Dr. Lucy Cum-mings and Beatrice Ekoko of Faith and the Common Good in making the day a great success. Neil Dunning is the Environmental Stewardship Committee Chair for St. Mark’s, Brantford

Greening sacred spaces

Joanne Van Panhuis (standing) of Brantford Power gave participants an explanation of reducing carbon footprint in partnership with municipal utilities.

The Venerable Jim Sutton (centre, facing) discusses the dramatic electricity savings achieved at St. Mark’s through lighting upgrades.

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Trinity, Sarnia Fall Fair is looking towards a bright future... By Shirley Pettit

Trinity Church, Sarnia once again hosted its annual Fall Fair in September. The purpose of this event has always been to both thank as well as give back to the community at large. It is NOT a fundraising event as we do not do fundraising here, said Canon Vicars Hodge. We do this for the neighbourhood whom we want to bless.

We truly believe we are here to support the community and that’s what we try to do every year.

The festivities kicked off at 11a.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony by the Mayor of Sar-nia, Mike Bradley.

The kids have full run of the place and the event included all kinds of inflatables and boun-

cy castles, mini putt-putt, Bel-gian horse drawn wagon rides, games, face painting and the food included hot dogs, corn on the cob, chips, juice and water ALL FREE!

Speaking of food, a relative-ly new phenomenon also took place with the Trinity Church’s chili and cookie contest. Food-ies, both young and old, got the chance to taste all entries and then vote for their favourite. The winners in each category re-ceived the highly coveted gold, silver and bronze painted wood-en spoons. Some of the voters were so young they had to seek help to write the number regard-ing their choice on the ballot.

The Trinity youth band enter-tained the crowd all day from 11 a.m. to closing at 3 p.m. adding

a fantastic atmosphere for all the attendees. They had been rehearsing for many weeks and were much appreciated by all.

A new venture was added this year with the new craze POKEMAN. Canon Hodge, a self–described playing pastor, along with the committee de-cided to put out Pokeman-Go lures during the 11 a.m. to 3p.m. celebration. We are already a Pokestop. We also included a charging station for the phones of the players. Needless to say it attracted a multitude of players to our event. The total number attending the fair was estimated to be in excess of 800 as we had no method to determine an ac-tual count.

We were very blessed to have our neighbours at Les Rapid-

es Elementary School and St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church allow us use their park-ing lots (which were full during the entire event,) as well as the many Trinity volunteers who so

generously gave of their most valuable commodity “their time”.Shirley Pettit is the Chair of Tinity, Sarnia Fall Fair

... and the one at St. Anne’s, Byron heading for the history booksBy Keith Brooks

St. Anne’s (Byron) parishio-ners have a long history of shar-ing their life and faith through service to others. The proof in the pudding, so to speak, can be seen over the sixty-five years when parishioners and com-munity volunteers mobilized to prepare and serve food to thousands of people attending or working at London’s Western Fair. St. Anne’s bid farewell to its food booth work in 2016.

More than 100 volunteers gathered at the church for a “Farewell to the Fair” on Sep-tember 17, 2016 to share food and celebrate the work done and fellowship enjoyed over many years.

According to Anne Keam, cur-rently St. Anne’s oldest parishio-ner at 108, Mr. David McEwen, President of the Fair Board and a parishioner of St. Anne’s, felt that the men of the livestock barns lacked a convenient place to get regular meals. Some have said there was too much party-ing going on at the barns!

Mrs. Bebe McEwen, a member of the St. Anne’s Guild, proposed the Guild prepare and serve meals at Western Fair. A site adjacent to the cattle barn was secured for $400 (paid in ad-vance). With two church fami-lies lending the Guild $200 each, preparations began to organize and deliver food to the farmers.

Guild members took up the work eagerly as one way to raise money for the building of a rec-tory in Byron in hopes of accom-modating a full-time rector. The rector at that time shared a min-istry that included Hyde Park, Byron and Lambeth churches. Anne Day remembered how do-nated lumber made counters for the tent rented from Raymond Brothers where three meals a day were served. And with only gas hot-plates and little refriger-ation at the tent, food was trans-ported hot directly from various kitchens to the site. Water came to the tent through a hose con-nected to a cattle barn tap. Up to one hundred pies per day were baked in four home kitchens. Rev. Joselyn and Milton Keam made sure customers knew it was time to ‘come and get it’ by renting a public address system and broadcasting menus to all within earshot.

Howard Greenly reminded us that in those first few years there was no pavement and staff had to resort to wearing rub-ber boots on those rainy days! Marian Trestain, one of the original organizers, told of how booth workers were practically up to their knees in straw one year thanks to the farmers who brought straw to soak up exces-sive rain water. And who can forget storing the tent and appli-ances in Jack and Doreen Scott’s cow or chicken barn? Although

covered with plastic sheets, each year the timber framework had to be well scraped before paint-ing to be sure there were no remnants of roosting birds!

Joan Dover recalled the many young people over the years from Byron in both public and high schools that were picked up at school to work for a few hours before heading home to do their homework. But it wasn’t just after school. During the 1960’s, one of St. Anne’s stal-warts, Grace Bainard, would pick up youth very early in the morning to take them out to work on the breakfast shift. Where else could you see teen-agers out before sunrise helping to serve porridge?

Whole families would volunteer and work together while enjoying the camaraderie that goes with a large group project. Successive generations within a family even took up the tasks they watched their parents carry out. One of the shift supervisors was proud to be able to say how four generations of his family have helped with the booth over the years.

It might have begun in the homes of four parishioners, yet food preparation became a dis-ciplined element of the project’s success. Under the watchful and experienced eye of Mari-an Trestain for many decades, three shifts of workers prepared everything from sandwiches to full Swiss steak dinners with

all the trimmings. And as for the popular pies, over 1,000 pies were baked and sold one year! It was not unusual for 100 pounds of hamburger, 30 loaves of sandwiches, 30 pounds of ba-con and much more to be pre-pared and consumed in one day. Marian also recalled the day the pressure cooker used to make chicken filling for our famous ‘Chicken on a Bun’ blew up in Dorothy McEwen’s kitchen leaving chicken hanging all over the ceiling!

A great deal of blood, sweat and prayer went into this West-ern Fair food booth work over

its lifetime. Net profits have helped build a rectory and Par-ish Hall and maintain church property. As well, the parish has donated a tithe of the profits and a portion of accumulated inter-est from Fair proceeds to local charities. St. Anne’s parishio-ners continue to share their life and faith through service to others and feeding the com-munity to support the church and its mission. After all, who can resist such Heavenly Pies? Order yours online at stannes-byron.ca.Keith Brooks is a parishioner of St. Anne’s (Byron).

“Supply Pies to Stock Men”: A photo in the article in a local newspaper published in 1951 or 1952. “Mrs. W.S. McKillop (left) has just arrived with a fresh batch of pies of which the group turns our 100 daily. Left to right are Mrs. McKillop, the Rev. R.A. Joselyn, Mrs. W.W. Middleton, Mrs. W. Dunn, Mrs. Richard Day, Mrs. Kate Chapman, Mrs. Lorne McCall and Mrs. Dave McEwen.”

Above: left to right - George Larmond, Canon Vicars Hodge, Mayor Mike Bradley, Shirley Pettit, Barb Barcroft, Esther Kim. Below: Trinity Youth Band

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angLican church Women

angLican FeLLoWship oF prayer

Advent 2016: Inspired by Grace

“But by the grace of God I am what I am.”

1 Corinthians 15:1

I f there is anything that we understand at this time of

year, it is the practice of gift giving.

Much of our time in the Advent season is occupied with considering, preparing, mak-ing, or purchasing, something that will express to the one receiving the gift our regard, our care, our love. All of this

of course in recognition of and preparation for the Christmas season of God’s reaching out to us in the gift of his Son.

For the last several Advents the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer and the Abundant Life Committee have teamed up to provide this seasonal devo-tional.

As we pass through these days of Advent as well as a Scripture passage for each day, we have included for your consideration the Collects for

each week of Advent, with a focus on acknowledging and giving thanks for the grace in our lives, in our ministries, and in our faith communities. In these Scriptures and Collects we see not only the presence of grace, but its power to work in our lives, inspiring us on many levels.

In this busy season of Ad-vent we find these 15 minutes each day to pause and reflect in prayer on God’s Word, asking for help to imagine in new ways all that is possible in Christ, in our world, in our parishes and in ourselves.

Yours in prayer,Val Kenyon, AFP Diocesan Representative

I have had the privilege of spending the past three days at the National ACW Presidents Conference in Vancouver.

It was a wonderful experience, meeting with women from across the country to discuss the joys--and challenges --of being a part of the women of the Anglican Church.

One major topic was to find ways to grow our organization and attract new members and, through discussions, we found that, across the country, we experience the same frustrations in these endeavours. In the words of our prayer, we seek to serve in prayer, work and stewardship. How do we continue toward these goals in our ever changing world? Do you have any ideas?

We will be discussing this at our Diocesan council and if you have any fresh ideas to put forward, please do so. My email is mamaclingy@gmail.com or pass your ideas on to your deanery representative.

At this time, please accept my best wishes for a blessed Christ-mas season as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour.

Faithfully,Brenda Clingersmith

A message from your President

“Save the Date”

Anglican Church Women annual meeting April 29, St. Paul’s Cathedral

National gathering for all Anglican Women June 15-18, 2017 Ancaster, Ontario

News to follow in new year

By Jane ButteryOn a beautiful October 19th, thirty two women

from Essex Deanery churches met for a quiet day at Colchester’s rural church.

We offered prayers for our Chaplain, the Rev. Deacon Victoria Mouk, as her husband is not well, and she could not be with us.

Everyone was glad to see Archdeacon Jane Humphries supporting our ministry. The parish priest, the Rev. Jon Forbes led us in worship of God. He emphasized from the Gospel, how God has always sought a relationship with us, and, as St. Paul reminds us, that God is always with us.

Peggy Leithead led us in song once again this year with her guitar! All were invited to appreci-ate the autumn colours and some quiet time be-fore bagged lunches were enjoyed.

In the afternoon, we had the most informative talk on “Getting the Garden ready for Winter” given by master gardeners, Karen and Alan Bat-ke, who used a power point presentation. They are organic gardeners and have been interested in gardening for a long time. Their tips for prepar-ing for winter by cleaning up after first frost were most informative.

We learned about cutting back some perenni-als and leaving alone the tender perennials that may come up again. Karen Batke emphasized not cutting back lavender, Russian sage or buddelia bushes but cutting dead leaves from peonies and lilies as well as sun burnt hosta leaves. Roses need

small cut backs now and support for climbers. They suggested cutting lateral branches to just six inches from the main stem on climbers, reducing shrub roses to 24 inches in height and just trim-ming rugosas lightly.

With beautiful photographs, we were shown how to group bulbs together for the best results in spring, especially using blood and bone meal at planting times. The gardeners emphasized the need to water trees well before winter to al-low for good root growth and mulch them only with healthy leaves before snow. For our lawns we were reminded to overseed in September or on our warm October days, applying a good dress-ing and watering longer, once a week to develop deeper roots.

We left with wonderful tip sheets and firmer ideas about protecting our gardens and even for preparing to feed birds in cold weather in careful-ly sheltered feeders with water available.

The Batkes’ ideas for continuing care in the gar-den was an excellent presentation and reminded us that, as Anglicans, we have a responsibility to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth. This is our Communion’s fifth Mark of Mission. We can all play a part in caring for this fragile earth, our is-land home. It was a wonderful day. Thanks be to God.

Getting the garden ready for winter in Essex

Monica’s Place shower, a new tradition?By Donna Smith

On Sunday, October 16, 2016, in the afternoon, a shower was hosted by Grace Anglican Church Women, Brantford, for the young mothers and children at St. Monica’s House, Waterloo, Ontario. It was an event with the motto: Many hands make light work.

The idea was spearhead-ed by the ACW and several churches were involved with-in the Brant/Oxford deanery. There were three committees: decorating, games, and treats. The decorating committee, led by Erlene Dereniowski, spent time decorating the parish hall and after they were finished, it

looked like a very welcoming place for a baby shower. Mari-

on Bailey, ACW President, gave a warm welcome to the ladies

after which we played a couple of games organized by Chris-tine Crossley. At the end of the games, each table received a bag of goodies to share and every-one received one of Cambrie’s Little Boxes with a “Thank you” inside. When the games were completed we enjoyed some sweet treats, cake and tea/coffee. During the treats we socialized and had a few laughs. About 4:30 p.m. the guests left and ev-erything was tidied up and the doors closed for the day.

After the shower, we were pleased with the attendance, enthusiasm and extraordi-nary packages that the ladies brought. One could tell the gifts

that were carried in were given with support, love and care for the folks at Monica's Place.

It is hoped that this type of event will become a tradition in the coming years to help the mothers and children in great need. Until recently, I had nev-er heard of Monica's Place and I think this type of ministry is needed in every community. If you are interested in learning more about Monica's Place, its history and prupose, you can google it at www.monicaplace.ca.Donna Smith is Grace Anglican Church ACW member

For a copy of Inspired by Grace, please speak to your Rector.

If you’d prefer to view it online it can be viewed and downloaded at www.diohuron.org.

Please go to Ministries>Abundant Life and find Inspired by Grace available in two formats, as a

booklet and as a scroll-down file:

inspired-by-grace-booklet

http://diohuron.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ Inspired-by-Grace-booklet.pdf

inspired-by-grace-scroll-down

http://diohuron.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ Inspired-by-Grace-scroll-down.pdf

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pastoraL progressionsAppointments

Bishop Bob Bennett appoint-ed the Rev. Canon Linda Nixon as the Regional Dean of Wa-terloo, effective September 26, 2016. Canon Linda is the rector of St. James’, Cambridge.

Bishop Bob Bennett appoint-ed Mr. Stephen Greene as Lay Assistant to the Rector of the Regional Ministry of South Huron (St. Anne’s, Port Franks; St. John’s-by-the-Lake, Grand Bend and Trivitt Memorial, Exeter) effective November 15, 2016. Upon ordination, Stephen will become the Assistant Cu-rate to the Rector.

Conclusion of MinistryDue to the financial difficul-

ties of the parish, the Rev’d Can-on Rob Towler will conclude his ministry as Rector of St. An-drew’s Memorial Church, effec-tive November 11, 2016. Canon Rob remains a licensed priest in the Diocese of Huron.

Congratulations - New baby!The Rev. Grayhame Bow-

cott, Jacqueline and Alyvia give

thanks to God for the birth of Laelynn Elyssa Bowcott on Oc-tober 21. The Bowcotts send their thanks to all members of our Diocesan family for their prayers, support and well wishes.

Rest in PeaceMrs. Deburger (mother of

the Rev’d Brian McKay) died on Monday, October 10, 2016. The funeral service was held in Christ Anglican Church, Cha-tham on Friday October 14, 2016.

The Rev’d Dennis Cluley (Willa) died on Friday, October 14, 2016. Dennis was ordained a deacon on September 21, 1998 and priested on December 7 of that same year. He served as Assistant to the Rector at the Church of the Messiah in Kin-cardine until his retirement at the end of 2010. The funeral service took place at Church of the Messiah on Tuesday, Octo-ber 18 with Rev. Rob Hiscox of-ficiating.

Cursillo weekend workshops... are you there with Jesus?

Twenty years of dedicated serviceOn November 3 a small cel-

ebration during the staff meet-ing at Huron Church House marked 20 years of Charles Mungar’s dedicated service for the Diocese of Huron.

For two decades Charlie has been responsible for the dioce-san investment trust funds, in-surance and banking.

In Charlie’s own words, he expected to stay in the Diocese only for a couple of years. Two decades and seven bishops later, he is still here.

“It’s really a faith based work-ing environment that I’ve en-joyed working in. I view it as a a part of my ministry to work in the Diocese”, explains Charlie.

As for the challenges the Di-ocese has faced, a word of wis-dom from someone with the longest record of service in Hu-ron Church House:

“There is always a worry in the Diocese. But it always gets resolved. Yes, I’ve worked with seven bishops, each of them unique and different in their

own ways. Many good people have come through this office, we worked through different changes. Not only people em-ployed here in the office, but people on several committees and sub-committees, some of them not longer with us. You remember these people and

they make impression on you. And, of course, the volunteers and the time they put in. For me that’s remarkable and I look at this as an important part of the Diocese”.

Thank you Charlie for all of your hard work.

The Primate’s response to dissenting bishops’ statement on General Synod’s vote on same-sex marriage

In a written response to a statement issued by seven Ca-nadian bishops expressing their dissent from General Synod’s decision to move toward sol-emnizing same-sex marriages, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Can-ada, pushed back against sever-al of the points they had raised, the Anglican Journal reports.

While Hiltz affirmed the bish-ops’ commitment to offer “pas-toral care and loving service to all irrespective of sexual orien-tation,” he noted that for many LGBTQ Anglicans, “pastoral care” would include the solem-nization of their marriages. “For me, my brothers, the question you ask is really a question for all members of the church. To what extent can we and will we make room for one another? To

what extent will we pastorally accommodate one another?”

Hiltz also challenged their claim that the resolution, which contains a conscience clause, “does not provide adequate protection for the consciences of dioceses, clergy and congre-gations.” He asked the bishops to explain what such protec-tion would look like, and how it would apply for those in their dioceses who are in favour of same-sex marriage.

The primate assured the bish-ops that the question of what the church should do pastorally, prophetically and structurally following the vote is one he is taking very seriously. He said he intends to publish the notes from small-group discussions on this subject that took place following the vote, and these would serve as the basis for fur-ther discussions at CoGS and House of Bishops.

Hiltz, however, sympathized

with the bishops’ frustration over the use of a legislative pro-cess to make decisions about theological and pastoral issues. But while he stated his desire for “less confrontational, and less hurtful” ways of decision-mak-ing, he placed the onus on the bishops to delineate what that might look like.

He shared their concern over the decision made by some bish-ops to proceed with same-sex marriages ahead of 2019, but said he has “no canonical au-thority to prohibit bishops from taking such action.” Hiltz said he would nonetheless “encour-age a conversation in the House of Bishops about patience with the due process of General Syn-od…”

The dissenting bishops’ state-ment was signed by the bishops of Algoma, Arctic, Caledonia, Yukon, Athabasca, Saskatche-wan and Fredericton.

- Anglican Journal

Diocese of Ottawa churches embrace ‘mobile giving’

A number of churches in the diocese of Ottawa have started to accept donations through smartphones and other mobile devices.

Trinity Anglican Church, in Ottawa, has used Tithe.ly, a mo-bile app specially designed for church donations, for one year, says Jane Scanlon, the diocese’s stewardship development offi-cer. A number of other churches in the diocese are now starting to use the app, she says.

Mobile giving is likely to be-come an increasingly popular way of making donations, Scan-lon says, especially with young-er generations. But it is not only fast and simple for donors—it is also easier for organizations to process, she says.

One of the simplest ways of mobile giving, “text-to-give,” re-quires donors only to text a do-nation amount to their church’s

special text-to-give number. The donation is processed in-stantly, and is not added to the donor’s phone bill.

A preferred rate for Tithe.ly is being offered to the diocese through a partnership with The Episcopal Network for Steward-ship, Scanlon says.

—CrosstalkRetired Toronto bishop rest-

ing after heart attackBishop Philip Poole, former

area bishop of York-Credit Val-ley in the diocese of Toronto, is recovering after suffering a heart attack in early September.

Poole, who was planning to retire September 30, was in Hal-ifax on a six-city tour to promote the Compass Rose Society when the incident occurred. Accord-ing to his doctor, the damage to his heart was minimal and he is expected to make a full recov-ery. Because of the heart attack, Poole retired a few days early.

—The Anglican

canada BrieFs

By Renée AndersonAligning with the some of the

tools acquired at Cursillo week-ends to give us practicalities for living in Christian Community, two workshops were recently offered.

The workshop entitled “Em-power Ways of Studying” was presented at two church loca-tions: St. John the Evangelist in Kitchener and St. Paul’s in Fort Erie. The workshop entitled “Empower Prayer” was held at St. Simon’s in Oakville and St. George’s in Owen Sound. This gave participants a variety of dates and locations from which to choose.

We understand that we are created to give ourselves to Christ: our hearts (faith), our wills (action), and our minds (study), (references Rom 12:1-2, Rom 15:14 and Prov. 8:10). Study enriches our lives and gives it meaning. Studying the Bible brings us closer to God as we come to a deeper under-standing of our Christian faith.

Most of us have a favourite translation of the Bible, one we can relate to and understand. The Study workshop gave us a clear comparison of the various English Bible translations and the time periods in which they were published.

Also offered were internet sites that would be helpful for research, commentaries, and comparisons, i.e. biblegate-way.com, biblestudytools.com, crosswalk.com, anglican.ca, ex-ploringthetruth.org, and bible.org.

Another tool suggested with the study group was Lectio Divina. During this exercise we were asked to read scrip-ture aloud three different times by different participants, then close our eyes and reflect after each reading. Were we looking at the crowd in the scripture from afar? Were we part of the crowd in the scripture? Were we

close enough to Jesus to touch his cloth? What stood out in the reading to each of us? It was a quiet time and very reflective.

There was an invitation to participate in a simple service from Celtic Treasures written by J. Phillip Newell at the start and closing of one of the Prayer workshops. Throughout the day we experienced different meth-ods of prayer. The most signifi-cant seemed to be the Centering Prayer, the Prayer of Consent by Thomas Keating. Guidelines in-cluded choosing a sacred word of one or two syllables after a brief prayer to the Holy Spirit, in a quiet place, sitting comfort-

ably with eyes closed, engage your thoughts always return-ing ever-so-gently to the sacred word, remaining in silence at the end of the prayer for a cou-ple more minutes.

Our time together had been instructional with fellowship and group and table discus-sions.

There are many types of Christian Prayer and we are en-couraged to try them and use them as is comfortable for each one of us.Renée Anderson is Cursillo Treasurer and Huron Liaison

Charles Mungar (centre) receives a plaque for 20 years of service from Canon Paul Rathbone, secretary/treasaurer for the diocese.

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday SaturdayNov. 27

Good Jobs and Economic Growth: People need quality and sustainable employment in order to participate fully in the economy. Research has shown that when those at the lowest end of the pay scale receive wage increases, they spend the money locally. Thus, this goal aims to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, through full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Nov. 28

Minimum Wage in Ontario is $11.40 Living wage (min. required for basic needs) in Huron Diocese is $14.15-$16.05

Nov. 29

Look for “Living Wage” companies and know that all full and part time employees are paid enough to cover basic living costs.

Nov. 30

Where is that tie for Uncle Lou made? Google “Ethical clothing” and provide quality support for workers around the world.

Dec. 1

Check your chocolate: approx. 1.4 million children aged 5 to 11 work in agriculture in cocoa-growing areas

Dec. 2

Check out a local craft fair or farmers’ market and support local artisans and farmers

Dec. 3

Let us pray... Empowering God, your Holy Spirit pours upon each of us wonderful gifts, encouraging us to use and share these spiritual gifts through the works of our hands. Help us to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all, celebrating everyone’s role as contributors to the building up of our earthly societies and of your glorious kingdom.

Dec. 4

Responsible Consumption and Production: Economic growth and development are intimately connected with the production of goods and services. Sustainable growth and development can be achieved to the extent that we minimise the natural resources and toxic materials used and reduce the waste and pollutants generated in the entire production and consumption process.

Dec. 5

Look for compostable plates and cutlery for your Christmas parties and compost them.

Dec. 6

Organic, Fair Trade, rainforest alliance, etc.

Check labels for products that are ethically and sustainably sourced.

Dec. 7

Take the Smart Office Challenge (See wwf.ca) and explore ways to reduce your workplace’s energy and waste footprint. Ask the businesses you frequent what they are doing too.

Dec. 8

Buy rolls of recycled paper and have a painting party with stamps or potatoes. Use this as your gift wrap

Dec. 9

Upcycle – get creative and explore ways to reuse products. Did you know an old shirt can be turned into a bag?

Dec. 10

Let us pray... Holy One, you provide an array of colour to amaze and inspire us. We thank you for the potential to use and share the resources around us to delight in beauty. Help us to recognise and appreciate that which we are given, protecting the resources of this world to ensure stainable consumption and production patterns, that all future generations may be equally delighted at what is possible from your creation..

Dec. 11

Sustainable Cities and Communities: More than half of the world’s population lives in cities. As this increases further problems arise in regards to housing, pollution, waste and more. The goal is to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Dec. 12

Bake extra cookies and offer them to the local soup kitchen or a senior’s home.

Dec. 13

Support your local library with a donation of gently used books, CDs, movies or money.

Dec. 14

Find out about local events this season and make plans to attend. Show support for your community and bring a friend!

Dec. 15

Strengthen your community by getting to know and reaching out to your neighbours. Try carolling or cookies.

Dec. 16

Be generous with gratitude for all those in our communities who keep us safe and healthy.

Dec. 17

Let us pray... Unifying God, you call us together in your love to be one family. May this inspire us out of patterns of co-existence into celebrations of community. May we intentionally make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, using our living spaces as a tool to promote your promise of belonging.

Dec. 18

Climate Action: Climate change presents the single biggest threat to development. Around the world people are adversely affected as disasters are exacerbated. We need to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Dec. 19

Travelling this season? Consider buying certificates to offset your emissions and support projects that protect forests, etc.

Dec. 20

Lights are pretty but burn energy. Use LED bulbs and set a timer to restrict how long they are lit.

Dec. 21

Hundreds of people enjoying dinner on the lawn at Synod produced less than one full bag of garbage. How much will your Christmas dinner produce?

Dec. 22

Plan to minimize food waste this season. Make soups and casseroles and pop in the freezer for lazy January nights.

Dec. 23

Lower your thermostat, give people an excuse to cuddle

Dec. 24Let us pray... Creator God, who breathed the cosmos into existence, you included us in your Garden and declared your creation to be whole and very good. As we take this masterpiece for granted, we have disobeyed your call to care for your world. Help us to realize and repent for our sins, and take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact to reconcile ourselves to you.

Advent Calendar

The first Sunday of Advent sets us up for a season of preparation in anticipation for that moment when we will be transformed. Through the letter to the Romans, we are called to live differently beginning today. We are called to ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ’ being intentional about the choices we make and the ways we live throughout this season and beyond.

As we continue to seek to ‘get behind’ the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in our belief that the world can be a better place, this year we offer an Advent Calendar that follows four of the goals, one each week. On Sunday, the calendar will identify the goal, Monday through Friday includes actions you can undertake that will contribute to achieving this goal and Saturday ends with a prayer courtesy of the Rev. Laura Marie Piotrowicz, AFP Canada Executive.

May this time be for all of us, an opportunity to seek Emanuel, God with us, as revealed in the ways that God’s people live and love following the example of the One who came that we might have life.

sustainaBLe deveLopment goaLs sociaL Justice huron

“Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is near-er to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:11-14)

Prepared by Rev. Chris Brouillard-CoyleCo-Chair, Social Justice Huron

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I t is always a pleasure to receive an invitation to share

lunch with a friend.A great chef has commented

that a good restaurant needs to have its priorities set in

the following manner; first, a wonderful setting, second, good service, and finally, good food. These are things people remember about the experience of dining out.

As I drove to Guelph to meet my friend, I was intrigued by the name of the restaurant he had chosen. “The spot is called ‘Miijidaa’”, he said. “It is a place I frequent on a regular basis. The service is great and the food is wonderful!”

According to the website, the word, “miijidaa” is an Ojibway word, simply meaning “let’s eat”. Prior to lunch, I paused to read a sign outside the entrance which I share with you:

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT MIIJIDAA

We are on the traditional terri-tory of the Attawandaron/Neu-

tral People. We honour the original ances-tors of this land and also offer respect to our Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Mississauga and

Metis neighbours. We strive to be accountable by acknowledging this history and cultivating respect in our rela-tionships with our indigenous

neighbours and the land.I was struck by the mean-

ingful message which had been given a place of promi-

nence, near the entrance, on the exterior of the building. My expectations of the place and what awaited me inside were raised by words which reminded me of those essential questions which we hear as a part of the Baptismal Covenant: “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”; and: “Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth?”

The experience of entering the restaurant, a place whose

focus is offering hospitality, had already been enhanced. I walked into a place knowing the values which had been embraced by those who were involved with managing the business and I had the expec-tation that the food which was to be served had been prepared with sensitivity for the environ-ment.

What would the sign on the exterior of your church build-ing look like as it acknowledged those who walked the land and called it sacred long before the church was built?

What does the sign outside your church building indicate to those who pass by?

What does it declare are the values of the community of faith within? What acknowl-edgment of history, or place within society does it offer?

Our nation is on the verge of celebrating 150 years of history. We are at a time of experienc-ing a transition in episcopal leadership in our Diocese. We

are living through the begin-ning of a new Church Year during the Season of Advent. We are preparing to turn the page on the calendar year. What better time could there be to offer a new perspective on how the message of our faith is interwoven into the history and heritage of our communities, as we “…proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.” ?

I invite you to learn and reflect on the story of your own community of faith. Think about taking on the placement of a new sign as a special proj-ect for Canada’s 150 Anniversa-ry. What would the sign on the exterior of your church build-ing look like as it acknowledged those who walked the land and called it sacred long before the church was built? Who are your indigenous neighbours?

It may be helpful if there is more that we declare to the world on our signage than: “CH_ _ CH. What is missing? UR!”Rev. Canon Christopher B. J. Pratt has retired from full time parish ministry, but continues to offer priestly ministry in the Diocese of Huron.

Signs of welcome - signs of ministry

rev. canon christopher

B. J. pratt

Photo by Gabby Orcutt, Unsplash

To blog or not to blog: communication on steroidsO

ne of my favourite bloggers, Tony Jones,

suddenly stopped posting early this year. I missed his posts, not because I agree with him all the time, but because he made me think.

Suddenly, after many months of nothing, Tony recently add-ed a post titled: “I used to blog.” He gave a short insight into why he stopped, but said, to really understand, read a linked article by Andrew Sullivan, another former blogger.

The article was long, but the substance of it was that blog-ging had simply taken over his life. He was posting hourly if not more frequently. It was almost like an addiction that he just couldn’t get away from. So he stopped.

Once again we find commu-nication on steroids has gone off the rails. We are addicted to communicating, especially in taking our place in the commu-nication stream. It’s not a bad thing necessarily, as long as we control it, not vice versa.

I miss Tony Jones. I miss that immediate comment on

issues of the day from a trusted perspective, the opportunity to hear the question the moment that it is spawned. However, I can simply go on to another blog and get my ideas from there. There are millions of them to choose from.

But before I find another favourite, I think I need to ask myself some questions about what all this communication is doing to our communicators. How many more Tony Jones and Andrew Sullivans are there? How many people are addicted to communication and it is ripping them apart? It seems that suddenly it is more important to DO communi-cation than it is to HAVE real communication that informs, evokes, enlightens and inspires.

Some examples: A room full of people at a

conference listening to a speak-er communicating important

knowledge on a subject of rele-vance. But wait, how many peo-ple around the room have their phones out checking Facebook, their tablets poised to pick up the latest email or blog post? A family together to celebrate an important life event, having a celebratory dinner to the beep, buzz of several phones; many eyes looking under the table not for a dropped napkin, but to sneak a look at what’s hot on Twitter. We drive right by seri-ous, significant communicating to do mindless, distracting communication.

Just now I read a Facebook post (hey I’m honest!) from an occupational therapist who suggests that kids can’t focus in school, at least in part, because they have been constantly overstimulated by electronic devices. They are unable to understand the need to wait for reward, because communica-

tion gives them instant gratifi-cation constantly.

I love Facebook! I’d be lost without email! I grudgingly carry a cell phone! I seemingly can’t wait to get the latest up-date on various blogs I follow! I’m into this communication thing over my head. But what is it doing to me? To us? When does it cross the line from being healthy and life inspiring; to being addictive and destruc-tive?

I have been journeying for quite some time with a post from Facebook. “Our problem is that we listen to respond, not to understand!” We are losing the art of communication as a two way process. Instead of a healthy, informative exchange

of ideas and understandings, we are settling for the cheap thrill of electronic stimulation that inundates us at every mo-ment of the day. We can’t wait for the bit of crucial informa-tion to leap onto our screens to be consumed with passion and spit back for someone else to gobble up. But what does it mean? Where is the life in simply being stimulated by the next post, the next reason to exit a real conversation to enter into something that numbs the mind, with flash and flame and all we do is blow out the flame and let it all drift out there for someone else... Rev. Canon Keith Nethery is Rector at Holy Trinity St. Stephen’s Memorial, London

rev. canon Keith

nethery

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P A G E 1 0 A N G L I C A N D I O C E S E O F H U R O N C H U R C H N E W S D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6

ven. dr. BiLL harrison

Neighbourhood churches, destination churches, and our futureT

here are, of course, numerous ways to

distinguish types of churches – usually by size or programming or governance structure. One that I find particularly helpful is the distinction between neighbourhood and destination

churches. These terms are my own invention (though I can’t promise that nobody else has ever used them) and I created them especially to describe our world here in the Diocese of Huron.

A neighbourhood church is defined by the geographic neighbourhood that it serves, so that the primary reason for attending that church is a con-nection – however loose – to the neighbourhood. A desti-nation church is defined by specific characteristics which draw people from a large area without reference to, or even in spite of, the geographic loca-tion.

As you might expect, churches exist on a continuum between the two poles. Most churches are some mixture of the two. A pure neighbour-hood church is located in a neighbourhood or community in such a way that it clearly belongs to that place and has no appeal outside of it; often, this means that the building is difficult to find and has limited or no available parking. A pure destination church has little or no connection to its neighbour-hood, often occupying a large

lot on the edge of town, and needs to have parking available because people drive there.

Most Anglican churches are more-or-less pure neighbour-hood churches, either in small communities or in parts of cities. For us, this is an inheri-tance from the English parish, which has traditionally been a geographic area. All of the people in the area belonged to the parish, which was an ad-ministrative unit rather than a church congregation. The basic assumption was that everyone in the parish belonged to the church, but that was never exactly true and has grown less so since the Reformation as denominations have proliferat-ed and people have left Chris-tianity.

One of our major challenges today, in both rural and urban churches, is that we think in strictly geographic – that is, neighbourhood – terms. His-torically, we’ve tried to main-tain a congregation in every neighbourhood. Some of these churches were never really viable, in the sense of having enough resources to sustain active ministry. Some were once sustainable, but aren’t any more. However, we tend not

to be willing to give up on the church community in our area.

Today, we generally need a population base of 30,000 people to support one Anglican congregation with building and full-time clergy. That’s for today and it’s generous. Churches across Canada are moving to thinking in terms of 100,000-200,000 per congregation. This means: 1) we can’t sustain all of the congregations that we have; and 2) we need to start think-ing about our churches partly in destination terms, taking a leaf from the destination church book without moving to a pure destination model.

This may sound like I’m thinking about the church sociologically rather than theologically. I’m not. The shift is simply to a different theology of church, a different way of considering who my neighbour is and how I can reach that person with the Good News of God’s love. Instead of insisting that there must be a church building in my village or sub-division because the church to me is a specifically local institution or the small coterie of people that I’ve known forev-er, I’m asking us to think about the church in larger terms. We

need to work together across geographical boundaries. If your village church is small and the next village’s church is small, consider joining togeth-er in one of the buildings and finding a way to reach out to the whole area. If the church in your subdivision can’t sustain a Sunday School, send people who want one to another An-glican church in town.

To think about a church in destination terms is to ask what the particular vocation, de-fined by the available gifts and resources, that congregation has and to rethink the church community on that basis. A neighbourhood church tries to be everything to everyone; every neighbourhood church tries to have a choir, a Sun-day School, youth and family ministry, a Christmas bazaar, and fundraising dinners (and is disappointed if one or more of these can’t be sustained). Neighbourhood churches look much the same in operation; the only distinctions come from some having greater and some lesser success.

Destination churches are fewer in number, broader in reach, and different in charac-ter. Specialization allows us to create an Anglican adaptation. If a city has multiple Angli-can churches, one or two can specialize in ministry to young people, another in traditional music with choir, and another in contemporary music, while one does street ministry and another ministry to seniors. Sunday School might only happen in a small proportion of the city’s churches. Instead of every congregation trying to be everything to a specific part of the city, the Anglican churches would get together to assess the city’s needs and

the Anglican resources, and formulate an evangelism plan enabling Anglicans to reach the whole city from a number of bases. Those bases would be specialized destination church-es. They would be built around the ministries for which they are best equipped.

As it happens, Anglicans have always tended to live somewhat in this way. Having an Anglo-Catholic parish and an Evangelical parish has been common for towns in the past. Contemporary specialized destination model thinking ac-complishes something similar, though it distinguishes congre-gations differently.

The effort to maintain neigh-bourhood churches everywhere is doomed. For today, that system represents impossibly poor stewardship of resources – human, physical, and financial. We’re keeping buildings while losing parishioners and clergy. Anglicans, however, are suffi-ciently tied to geography that we can’t go to the pure destina-tion model, which has very few, very large, facilities and con-gregations. These are the big evangelical churches that many Anglicans wonder about, but don’t really want to be.

Learning from the destina-tion model allows us to keep some neighbourhood church-es by focusing on particular ministries. By coming together and focusing upon what we can do to share the Good News, we can serve God and maintain our Anglican character.Ven. Dr. Bill Harrison is the director of mission and ministry for the Diocese of Huron. wharrison@huron.anglican.ca, 519-434-6893 or 1-800-919-1115, ext. 248.

Sharing photos, tagging and privacy issuesI

s it okay to share photos of other people online without

their permission?

This is a question I get asked often as it pertains to churches’ Facebook pages. After all, it is good practice to share pictures of successful events as a means of evangelism and telling the good news of your community. But there are some important considerations you should make before clicking ‘share’.

From a legal perspective, your images of people can be shared without their express permission if and only if they

were taken at a location and time where there is not an expectation of privacy. For instance, snapping a picture at your church’s spring picnic in Victoria Park in London would be fine to share.

It is always best to allow others to tag

themselves and self identify.

While churches are considered public space, I would argue that they do have some expectation of privacy at certain times, such as in Sunday School or even a reg-ular Sunday morning service. At those times, explicit permission should be sought before sharing images. If it is an anniversary celebration, ordination, or synod service then the expectation of privacy is lessened and per-mission would not be required before sharing images.

Many organizations over-come this expectation of pri-vacy through the use of media release forms. These forms allow attendees at your events to explicitly grant permission for their image to be captured and share. Generally they are used per event, but they can also be used to cover a period

of time. For instance parents may sign a media release form at the beginning of the Sunday School year in September that will cover the release of images until June.

Another best practice is to verbally ask permission to use an image after taking it so the subject has an opportunity to object. It is important to remember that some members of your community may have difficult personal circumstances that would make having their image shared publicly difficult or even dangerous for them.

And finally while you may have explicit or implicit per-mission to post pictures, tagging is another matter. It is always best to allow others to tag themselves and self identify.

By following these simple rules your church will be able to maximize your social media channels to maximum effect while respecting the privacy of

all those attending your ser-vices and events. Rev. Marty Levesque is the diocesan social media officer and rector of All Saints’ in Waterloo. marty.r.levesque@gmail.com

rev. marty Levesque

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 A N G L I C A N D I O C E S E O F H U R O N C H U R C H N E W S P A G E 1 1

Generosity: sometimes a difficult pill to swallowI

t is true that it is better to give than to receive,

nonetheless, in my experience, it is often more difficult to receive than to give.

If it is an effort to gracious-ly accept praise, gifts, favors, support, and such, you have receiving issues.

I am currently transitioning into a new parish. My former parishioners have been more then affirming and supportive. Their generosity has been stag-gering. And it has been work for me to receive their kindness and gifts. Not because I don’t appre-ciate it, but because it elicits an embarrassing discomfort. Feel-ings not unlike many feel when folk sing us Happy Birthday.

For many of us, an internal struggle is triggered when peo-ple try to do things for us.

Why?Receiving is an “art” and in

learning to receive we en-counter inner wounds. These wounds may play out as feel-ings of low self-worth or a vari-ety of unpleasant associations; associations that can elicit a chronic need to reciprocate or an overly cautious tendency to question another’s motivation.

Psychologists have also point-ed out that we may, in learning to receive, encounter false be-liefs about independence, or a sense of being out of control, or an anxiety about being seen as either too selfish or too needy.

One notion I found quite provocative was how receiving makes us vulnerable to the soft feelings of being cared for. “Being offered some gift that reflects caring or invites contact evokes an interpersonal awkwardness. There’s an am-biguity — not knowing where things might go, which is both exhilarating and scary”(John Amodeo, PhD).

Whatever experience we en-counter in the role of receiver, a gracious reception of a gift will in turn gift the giver. It almost goes without saying that gen-uinely receiving a gift conveys

to the giver that their effort has made a difference and, in turn, boosts their sense of connec-tion and significance.

Learning to receive is in essence

learning to give.Research also claims that

learning to receive keeps us emotionally healthy. Without it, chronic feelings of emptiness grow as relationships become one-sided, emotionally destruc-tive and/or abusive. It has also been argued that the inability to receive can lead to addictions.

I will argue that learning to receive is in essence learning to give. A sentiment shared by an-other writer who reasons that until we can receive with an open heart, we’re never really giving with an open heart.

Brene Brown in her book ‘The Gifts of Imperfection’ argues, “When we attach judgment to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgment to giving help.” This argument reflects the ego’s attachment to a contrived notion that being independent is virtuous.

The Christian bible tells us to “give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’ And so be it! But that’s not all there is to the blessing.

As I see it, the blessing is also about learning to receive that which others want to give or are even ‘called’ to give. This is a process of realizing that, as another writer (Lolly Daskal) states so well, “all of reality shares in our struggles, feels our pain, celebrates our joy, and cheers us on to live fully”.

So let us pray that the God of grace will increasingly bless us with the emotional health and humble wherewithal to receive the generosity of others freely shared. And, in turn, find ourselves giving to others from a much deeper well of living water; water filtered pure by empathy and compassion. Rev. Jim Innes is the rector of the Regional Ministry of South Huron. Rev.jiminnes@gmail.com

rev. Jim innes

as i see it

Have you ever gifted an apple?T

he gift giving season is here and we are all

focused on the task. Whether it is done with absolute pleasure or with total impatience, gift hunting can take our time, attention and money to the twilight zone.

What is a gift anyways? Is it merely something on some-one’s want list or something we dearly want to give to some-one? Why are we doing all this frenzied gifting? Any ideas?

Once upon a time I enjoyed storytelling. Still do. One of my favourite Christmas stories was a German tale called the Christmas Apple. It is about a poor clock maker named Her-man Joseph. He lived in a city that had a large cathedral and every Christmas Eve it was lit

with thousands of candles. Ev-eryone attended. This cathedral had a beautiful statue of Mary holding the Christ child. There was a legend that if someone brought a worthy gift the Christ child would bend down and take it in his hands. So many brought gifts to the Christmas mass.

Now back to Herman Joseph. He was poor but a hard worker.

He had never taken a gift to the cathedral and people believed him stingy. But they did not know that he always gave away what he had left to the needy.

But this year was to be differ-ent. His planned gift this year was a very intricately carved clock that when the hours chimed shepherds, wisemen and angels would bow to the Je-sus in the manger. He scrimped

on his expenses and ate little to be able to create this clock. But he also remained a kindly man to all his neighbours and took time to repair broken clocks for them.

Well, life was no different for Herman Joseph as it is for us. The best made plans..!? His upstairs neighbour’s husband became ill and was not able to work. The family had very little and nothing to celebrate Christmas. So Herman took his regular stock of clocks out onto the street corners to peddle. No buyers could be found.

You know what is coming. The only way Herman could raise money was to sell the precious Christmas clock to a rich man.

Christmas Eve arrives and once again he has no gift. He looks through his bare cup-boards and finds a small apple. Herman shrugs and thinks it is only an apple but it is some-thing.

Of course as he walks into the Cathedral people see his mea-ger gift and whisper “shame”.

Tears fill his eyes but he contin-ues to walk weakly to the statue with his apple. The whispered “shames” turn to gasps of awe as the statue of the Christ child slowly bends and takes the gifted apple out of Herman Joseph’s hand.

Now the story is so much better than this brief overview but it does bring the idea of who really should be getting a gift at Christmas. The magi got it right with gold, frankincense and myrrh. Herman Joseph got it right. I mean it is Jesus‘ birthday and do we have a gift for Him?

The whole version of this beautiful story can be found online. Some say it is based on Saint Herman Joseph and a miracle. I have not researched this and so have no idea about that.

Share and enjoy this Christ-mas tale when you need to leave the twilight zone and re-focus this Christmas season. Merry Christmas.Laurel Pattenden fills the pew at All Saints’, Corunna.

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A tribute to Bishop Robert Bennett

B ob had what I would call Trinitarian love. He had

love for his God, love for his family, and love for his Church.

He is a person of profound faith and that faith shaped ev-ery aspect of his life. It shaped who he was as a husband, as a father, as a priest, as a human being.

His love for his family – oh, my God, he loves his Kath. They are an incredible couple. I know few people, few cou-ples as devoted to each other as the two of you. The number of times we'd have meetings delayed so that we could be regaled by the stories of their grandchildren and inevitably an iPad being passed around the table with the pictures of the grandchildren. And when I looked at your daughters talking today, I realized that both of them are individuals in their own way but also reflec-tions of Bob and Kath. Bob, you have impacted your family, and you have impacted your friends as well.

In terms of the Church – you made a difference. You were an outstanding parish priest, you

were an outstanding archdea-con, and I would say you have been an outstanding bishop. Bruce, Barry and I are proba-bly the only ones in the house tonight who would know how hard that is and would under-stand the cost emotionally.

Bob has the heart of a pastor. When you become a bishop you sometimes have to say things you don’t want to say; you have to do things some-times you don’t want to do. You’d get letters from people that tear at your heart, because you know you are not that bad a person. But people would say awful things because you have tried to be faithful to your God, and you have tried to be faithful to your Church. And it takes a toll.

Bob, you became a bishop at incredibly difficult time. You be-came bishop when the Church was tearing itself apart with theological debate about human sexuality. You became bishop at the time when we were look-ing at declining attendance, at depopulation of rural areas. I remember one night – over a glass of wine, oddly enough –

you said to me: “Dance, did you ever think that I am a captain and you a co-captain of a sink-ing ship?” And then you looked at me and said: “Well, we won’t let that happen.”

You were bishop for fourteen years, fourteen of the most difficult years in the history of this diocese. And you did it with style, you did it with class, you did it with faithfulness, and you made a difference. And I think tonight, if you have listened really closely, you have heard your family who you love say to you how much they love you. You surely must feel the Church that you love saying how much they love you. And I have a hunch that if you listen really, really closely, you’ll hear your God say: “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Your God still needs you. Your family still need you. Your Church still needs you. Prior-ities change, the time chang-es, but you are not finished making the difference. And you will have more time for Kath, for baby-sitting and, I hope, for friends. Bishop Terry Dance

The Curacy Fund to be named after Bishop Robert Bennett

Bishop Linda announced a decision to name the diocesan Cu-racy Fund in honour of Bishop Robert Bennett.

“Bob, you have had compassion for young people, for new clerics and their ministry, and the value of having a curacy and we want to have that Fund continue to grow and we were look-ing for contributions to it over the years, so that it continues to support curates both in urban centres and rural areas across the Diocese. Because of Bob’s commitment to it we wanted to name that Fund in honour of Bob.”

A thank you gift from LAICBishop Bob received a gift - a painting of an eagle - from the

Leni Lenape Algonkian Iroquoian Council (LAIC). The Council thanked him for his dedicated care for Aboriginal Anglicans in the Diocese. The gift was handed to Bishop Bob by Rev. Canon Gaye Whippey.

An extrovert among the introverts

On behalf of Huron Church House staff Bishop Linda pre-sented their gift to Bishop Bob - a small statue of a danc-ing bear:

“There is something about this dancing bear that re-minded us of the wonderful joy and exuberance that Bob often brought into the office. He was an extrovert among many of us introverts. Bob and his joy, his passion for ministry, his passion for peo-ple were so evident."

On October 14, a retirement banquet to honour Rt. Rev. Robert F. Bennett, 12th Bishop of Huron was held at the London Convention Centre.

The event, graciously hosted by Bishop Linda Nicholls, turned into an evening of wonderful cele-bration of 42 years of Bob Bennett’s dedicated service in Huron as deacon, priest and bishop. Toasting and roasting given by his parishioners and colleagues and by the members his family - Bishop Bob’s sister Sally Bennett and Bob’s and Kathie’s daughters Meghan and Jessica, his brother Neil - showed a great appreciation of Bob Bennett as a minister, friend, brother, father, husband: a picture of a fully accomplished life of a person with the heart of a pastor.

We select the excerpts from Bishop Terry Dance’s salute to his colleague and friend.

Bishop’s Friends at Waterloo DeaneryKitchener-Waterloo Bishop’s

Friends event was held on Oc-tober 27 at Galt Country Club in Cambridge.

In a pleasant atmosphere Bishop Linda Nicholls hosted the event for the first time.

It was a good opportunity for all those who have come to support The Empowered Leadership Fund to hear more about Bishop Linda herself but also to find out about her plans for the future of the Diocese.

Her words about her service to the Church were received with much attention and even more those addressing the chal-lenges facing the Diocese.

The opening prayer was offered by the Archdeacon of Waterloo Ven. Greg Jenkins.

On behalf of the organizer, Jeff Ford thanked for the con-tinuing support for the Fund which has been designed to help diocesan clergy and their families in need.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

ESSEX WINDSOR BISHOP’S FRIENDS

December 7th at the Macedonia Centre.

Contact Amanda Gellman

amanda@manan.ca

Photos: M. J. Idzerda