New director of communications and development appointed

Sandra Hamway has been hired as the Diocese’s new director of communications and development.

Hamway has extensive experience in marketing and communications across both nonprofit and business organizations. She was the founder and chief marketing officer of her Ottawabased integrated marketing and communications firm Infuse Five and has also directed communications for national associations.

She kindly answered a few questions from Crosstalk to help us introduce her to readers:

Q What drew you to this opportunity at the Diocese?

I believe that effective communication is key to the success of any organization, and I am passionate about bringing my skills and experience to help our diocese achieve its goals.

One of the main reasons I was drawn to this role is that the values of this organization align closely with my own personal values.

Robinson describes it as semipermanent and semi-perfect. On the positive side, it provides a convenient, welcoming space for much-needed social connections. Participants can get food, support, games and friendship to break out of isolation.

It’s not perfect because participants must travel to The Well or Centre 454 for laundry or shower services. “It’s hard on people,” Robinson says. “We’re giving them bus tickets to get back and forth.” And not least, between 60 and 70 people are being served daily at Bronson, compared with more than 100 at St Luke’s. There is an extra demand on staff by the requirement to set up chairs and

My successful track record of over 20 years in communications, marketing, and development, both in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors, has equipped me with both insight and a fresh perspective. Organizations have valued my depth and breadth of experience along with my professional and business focused approach. My curiosities fuel my interests in building meaningful relationships and finding better ways to reach goals.

QWhat are you excited about or looking forward to?

Sandra is now overseeing diocesan communications, including its website (currently being rebuilt), social media, Crosstalk, as well as stewardship campaigns and projects. outbreaks of illness.

Spirituality and community can be powerful influences in bringing people together.

QWhat experience do you feel best prepared you for your new role?

I am particularly excited about the opportunity to reshape the communications and development department and to create a strategy that aligns with the diocese’s new strategic plan. I believe with the right plan in place we can greatly increase the reach and impact of this organization and make a real difference in people’s lives and across our diocese.

Robinson is confident that the program will move back to the St Luke’s location at 760 Somerset St West. “It’s our home. It’s where the participants have access to all their basic needs. It’s the place where we belong and once the rebuild is complete we will move back.

The Rev. Canon Dr. PJ Hobbs, director general of Community Ministries, says reopening at 760 Somerset is a top priority. The church building has been cleaned

 Primate’s sermon, from p. 1

And turning her view back to Canada, she acknowledged, “Even as I descry the occupation of Palestinian lands, I hear the echo of hypocrisy as we in Canada are asked about our occupation of Indigenous areas where treaties have not been honoured—or the land ever ceded at all. The work of reconciliation is a long, continuing, painful journey.”

She spoke of the increasing numbers of people who are turning to food banks as economic pressures force them to choose between paying for rent or food and the complex global problem of mitigating climate change.

“In the midst of it all, our church is feeling fragile,” she said, noting that not all parishioners have returned to attending church since the COVID lockdowns. “Financial resources are reduced, and we struggle to express the gospel with joyful hope to new generations.”

In the face of all of that, the archbishop said, “it is easy to sink into despair—and wonder about the power of the gospel to make a difference…. What word of God will sustain us in 2023?

Nicholls began to answer that question acknowledging that “we are not given a map or timeline for the fullness of God’s reign to be known—only the stories of how it has begun. The seeds of God’s reign are in the stories we have of Jesus and how God chooses to be with us. God comes into the world now—not with a flood to wipe us out and start again—not in power but in vulnerability; not to royalty but in poverty. God comes quietly— to ordinary people—in their daily lives—and is revealed to those willing to see and respond….

“If I wanted to transform the world—would I start so small?” she asked. “Edward Lorenz, a mathematician and meteorologist, proposed a theory that even the flap of a butterfly’s wings at a great distance could change weather patterns in unpredictable ways! The

“Our church is feeling fragile,” Archbishop Nicholls said.

‘Butterfly effect’, as it is known, has become a metaphor for the truth that a small action can lead to much bigger and unexpected changes than anticipated.”

The primate said that metaphor is one that can help us understand God’s activity in the world. “What began with a vulnerable baby entrusted to two ordinary parents— would grow and ripple out one disciple at a time. Every action of love, forgiveness, grace, a part of the whole vision of God’s reign. The question is not—Why is the world still so broken? But rather ‘what would it look like if God were not here?’”

She noted that although she began her sermon with “a litany of the disasters, pain and brokenness of our world in 2022… threaded through the year are also stories of acts of compassion, kindness, generosity, love and mercy.”

Reading through issues of the diocesan newspapers from across Canada, the archbishop said she was “struck by all the ways in which Anglicans are changing their communities and making God’s presence known through their generosity—food banks; community meals; anti-racism work; youth camps and activities; pastoral care; refugee sponsorship and so much more…

“We do make a difference—local, small, and real. We will never know the full impact of our response to God—only that it matters.”In closing, she added: “May we find encouragement, hope and joy as we face 2023 having met ‘God with us’ in Jesus Christ and making him known in this hurting world.”