Crosstalk — May 2023

Crosstalk

THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF OTTAWA | SECTION OF THE ANGLICAN JOURNAL | MAY 2023

Rural parishes promote food security

BY DAVID HUMPHREYS

Every two weeks half a dozen parishioners of the congregation of Church of the Ascension Killaloe and St. John’s Tramore come together to prepare food at their own expense for the growing number of residents who use the Killaloe Food Bank.

This parish outreach began during the pandemic when the parish council discussed ways of contributing to the wider community. A member who works at the food bank, Betty Fabian, suggested preparing soup and sandwiches for those who use the facility.

So began another successful initiative that illustrates the contributions that parishes throughout the diocese are making to ever-growing need for food and shelter.

The Killaloe parish consists of about 25 families, many of whom are active in the outreach. They formed a roster of six members taking turns, at first in the church basement, to make the food.

Soon the Community Resource Centre offered to partner by letting the team use its kitchen in the same building that houses the food bank and a used clothing shop.

“When we started, we were

Learning about the Indigenous Anglican Church

A big circle of listeners gathered to hear the Rev. Dr. Ray Aldred at St. Paul’s University in March.

See story, p. 10

serving 10 to 15 persons and we now average 40 to 45,” says lead outreach volunteer Sandra Sharp.

“Besides offering them nutritious homemade food, it gives us the opportunity to chat with them and show our empathy and concern,” she says. The service has attracted a few volunteers from outside the parish, including some children who have been introduced to those experiencing food insecurity.

The congregation is part of the Parish of the Valley whose incumbent priest, the Rev. Matthew Brown, regional Dean of Pembroke, sees the program as a step in helping to address the often-hidden nature of poverty in rural areas. People aren’t seen sleeping on streets. But there are those who sleep in cars or “couch surf” with relatives or friends.

Small communities don’t have drop-in centres along the lines of the Belong Ottawa Community Ministry. Instead, parishes and service groups provide support to the extent of their abilities.

All 15 locations across the Parish of the Valley hold a Food Bank Sunday once every quarter to encourage donations for the food bank.

 Food security, p. 15

PHOTO: MAUREEN MACMILLAN

Betty Fabian (left) and Annie Okum bring smiles and care along with nutritious soup and sandwiches when they come to the kitchen at the Community Resource Centre at Killaloe, Ont.

An achievement or failure of the human community?

illness, live with marked disabilities or linger indefinitely in a vegetative state. My father suffered a stroke in his early forties and languished in a coma for 17 long months before he died. The strong desire to bring some kind of immediate, painless resolution to these situations is born from the deep caverns of human love and compassion.

BY THE RIGHT REVEREND

The March 2023 issue of Crosstalk offered a very thoughtful spread on medical assistance in dying (MAID). In one article, two priests shared from their experiences of providing pastoral care to individuals and families facing MAID, and how people will often ask whether the church “sanctions” the procedure.

Clergy are called to minister in the name of the church in an extremely wide range of circumstances, offering the love and compassion of Christ in a manner that is often sacrificial. When clergy provide pastoral care during a MAID procedure, they do so out of duty, regardless of their own personal views. Our church does not offer any kind of “ruling” on MAID, so the decision to request the procedure— or to provide pastoral care—is left to the conscience of each individual.

It is doubtful that a careful study of the Christian tradition would produce robust support for the proposition that intentionally causing someone to die is a faithful response to human pain and

suffering. However, Christians are not of one mind on this complex issue, reinforcing the idea that choosing or accepting medical assistance in dying is a matter of individual conscience. I believe it is helpful to focus instead on what the evolving practice of selectively causing death means for the human community as a whole.

Over a decade before the Parliament of Canada passed federal legislation in 2016, allowing eligible Canadian adults to request medical assistance in dying, I wrote the following words for the Ottawa Citizen in response to a question about euthanasia and assisted death:

It is helpful to start with some

CLERGY AND STAFF NEWS

The service to ordain the Rev. John Holgate as a priest of the Church is planned for 7 pm on May 9 at St. Helen’s Church in Orleans.

Ringo Morella, who has been director of Human Resources since 2021, is leaving to take a position with Abbott Point of Care (Ottawa), returning to the medical-pharmaceutical sector where he has spent much of his career. Announcing his departure, Bishop Shane Parker wrote, “Ringo has been invaluable in building up our diocesan HR capabilities and has provided wise counsel to senior staff and other leaders in our parish and

community ministries. In a manner that is typical of his faithful service to our diocese, Ringo will provide seasoned oversight of the process to select a new director.”

general definitions. Assisted death is providing the means to take someone’s life with their informed consent. Euthanasia is deliberately taking someone’s life, with or without that person’s consent, for compassionate reasons. (It is important to realize that withholding or withdrawing medical treatment when its toll outweighs its benefits, giving drugs to relieve pain, even if an unintended effect is to shorten life, or respecting a person’s right to refuse or discontinue treatment are not considered to be assisted death or euthanasia.)

I share with many others the ambivalent experience of knowing and loving people who suffer pain or

We step onto very uncertain ground, however, when the intentional causing of death is permitted as a logical or necessary extension of love and compassion. It is wise to question whether allowing ourselves the option of ending pain or suffering by terminating a person’s life represents an achievement or a failure of the human community.

The biblical admonition to “choose life” translates into a call for individuals and communities to provide excellent medical resources and effective moral and practical support to everyone in need and to their families. This approach is consistent with the Christian imperative to serve others with compassion, especially those with the greatest needs. To choose life in this manner is to uphold the dignity and worth of every human being, especially when these are being assaulted by pain or suffering or are questioned by the majority’s standard for what constitutes quality of life.

Many reasoned voices will argue in favour of assisted death or euthanasia. However, in choosing to provide wise counsel, effective medicine and consistent care to every person who faces pain, suffering, or imminent death, we, the human community, can be certain that we have chosen well.

PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

Sunset on Cedar Lake, Algonquin Park.

SHANE PARKER

Ringo Morella

COMMUNITY MINISTRIES

Belong Ottawa steps into the spotlight at the Lawyer Play coming to the Great Canadian Theatre Company

BY LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

Belong Ottawa began the spring with the exciting news that it had been selected as the charity partner for the annual Lawyer Play at the Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC).

The Lawyer Play is a fundraiser now in its 23rd year which benefits GCTC and a second charity selected each year. Members of the County of Carleton Law Association, whose members practice in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, come together to form the cast of a play performed at GCTC. They also compete to sell out all of the tickets and to gain sponsorship for the event.

“It is really a great way to have fun, highlight a charity and give back generously to the community at large,” said Katherine Shadbolt, a partner at Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall and a member of Belong Ottawa’s management board.

“We are so lucky that Belong Ottawa was chosen as we will have the opportunity to speak to the audiences each night of the play

about the programs’ mission and vision—what the programs do for so many—so we can advocate, educate as well as fundraise for the Anglican community ministries,” she added.

In 2019 an application was submitted on behalf of Centre 454 to be the Lawyer Play Charity Partner for that year and as a result, it was among six finalists.

In January of this year, the Lawyer

OTTAWA, MEET AMICA THE

GLEBE

It’s official – Ottawa’s newest premium senior lifestyles residence is open. With Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care options available, you’ll always have the support you need, when you need it. Our luxurious amenities and life-enriching opportunities are designed to make every day more extraordinary, no matter how you wish to spend it.

This is Amica The Glebe.

Come see what senior living without compromise looks like. Join us for a tour, meet our team, and enjoy a complimentary lunch in one of our beautiful dining spaces.

Please call 613-233-6363 to reserve your date and time. Learn more at amica.ca/theglebe

Play committee offered an invitation to reapply. By this time, Centre 454, St. Luke’s Table and The Well were merged as Belong Ottawa. This year’s bid was specifically related to the impact of the October 2022 fire at St Luke’s and the additional operating costs as a result of the need to prepare food

at The Well kitchen and transport it to the displaced participants from St. Luke’s.

It was truly a team effort to prepare the application—Belong Ottawa executive director Rachel Robinson, board chair Lorraine Tell and diocesan communications director Sandra Hamway gave invaluable input. As well, key parts of the strategic plan for the programs, particularly around mission and vision, which staff and participants collaborated on and gave shape to in 2022, were used in the final bid.

Robinson said, “We are incredibly grateful to have been selected. The devastating fire at St Luke’s means we are without our neighbourhood kitchen. Funds raised will go directly to providing food to those in need in Chinatown.”

This year’s play, The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt, will be directed by Patrick Gauthier. Performances will be May 31, June 1, 2 and 3. Tickets can be purchased from the Great Canadian Theatre Company.

Many of the performers in the 2022 Lawyer Play will be back.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF GCTC

Documenting history and a renowned work of art

BY LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

The pandemic brought grief and hardship, but there were a few gifts and good things that came in the midst of it. The Rev. Canon David Clunie (recently retired) made a beautiful art history documentary in a creative collaboration with many contributors. If not for the pandemic, it might never have been made.

“I was always crazy about photography and cameras when I was in high school,” Clunie told Crosstalk. “For my Latin project in grade 10, I did a video with 8mm film…. But this was in the 1960s, and there weren’t places like Algonquin or community colleges that taught that stuff, so, I just didn’t think that it was a possibility and went on to do other things.”

Cut to 2020 and the beginning of the pandemic at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Ottawa. “We did a prerecorded service in our church,” Clunie explains. We would record it on Wednesday, and it would then

Mourners bear witness to the terrible price of war.

go live on Sunday….Tim Piper, our organist, would do music and hymns … and I would spend a lot of time with images —art, photography— that would be on while the hymns were playing, and of course, the words would be out in front as well. So, after a year and a half doing it, I started getting pretty handy at it…, We were putting out a video a week, 35 or 40 minutes, with a lot of artistic content instead of just livestream liturgy.” These well-honed skills enabled Clunie to embark on a new project.

St. Bart’s is home to a stainedglass window created as a World War I memorial by the renowned Irish artist Wilhelmina Geddes. It is officially titled ‘The Welcoming of a Slain Warrior by Soldier Saints, Champions and Angels’ but in stained-glass circles, it is simply known as the Ottawa Window.

The church is directly across from Rideau Hall and has been attended by many of Canada’s governors-general, including the (L to R) Irish Ambassador Dr Eaamon McKee, who supported efforts to restore the window; narrator Charlotte Gray, art historian Dr Shirley Ann Brown and the Rev. Canon David Clunie.

to

Crosstalk

A publication of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa

www.ottawa.anglican.ca

The Rt. Rev. Shane Parker Bishop of Ottawa

Publisher

Leigh Anne Williams

Editor Jane Waterston Production

Crosstalk is published 10 times a year (September to June) and mailed as a section of the Anglican Journal. It is printed and mailed by Webnews Printing Inc., North York.

Crosstalk is a member of the Canadian Church Press and the Anglican Editors Association.

Subscriptions

For new or changed subscriptions, please contact your parish administrator or visit: www.anglicanjournal.com

Suggested annual donation: $25

Advertising

Crosstalk welcomes advertising from parishes, agencies and enterprises wanting to support our mission and reach our readers. Publication does

not imply endorsement by the Diocese of Ottawa or any of its principals, and Crosstalk reserves the right to decline advertisements.

Advertising enquiries should be directed to: crosstalk.ads@gmail.com

Submit a story or letter

Editorial enquiries and letters to the editor should be directed to: crosstalk@ottawa.anglican.ca

Leigh Anne Williams, Crosstalk 71 Bronson Ave. Ottawa, Ontario K1R 6G6 613 232-7124

Next deadline

April 24, 2023 for the June 2023 edition

Crosstalk acknowledges that we publish on traditional Anishinàbeg Algonquin territory. We recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries.

 Video project, p. 5

(L) The archers allude

St. Sebastian’s martyrdom. (R)

Mourners bear witness to the terrible price of war.

10th Governor-General, Arthur, Duke of Connaught, who was the son of Queen Victoria and uncle of King Edward and King George. He commissioned the window in memory of 10 members of the viceregal staff who were killed in World War I.

The window was unveiled in 1919, so in 2019, the parish was thinking about how to mark its 100th anniversary and raise funds for its restoration. The glass itself had held up very well, but Clunie explained that the leading and support structure needed repair.

Parishioner Meriel Beament Bradford had proposed the idea of having a fundraiser at the War Museum with art historian and stained-glass expert Shirley Ann Brown, and historians Charlotte Gray (who happens to be a parishioner) and Dr. Tim Cook as speakers. But when the pandemic hit, such a gathering was out of the question.

As the pandemic dragged on into its second year, Clunie had the idea of making a video featuring the same experts they had intended to invite to the War Museum event. After all his video work for church services, he felt pretty sure he could do it.

The project brought many creative contributions together.

Clunie credits the research of Brown, professor emerita of Art History and Cultural Expression at York University in Toronto, for helping him understand and appreciate the complex imagery and allusions in the window better. After becoming rector at St. Bart’s,

he read a 1994 article Brown wrote about the window in the Irish Arts Review magazine. In the documentary, she offers insight into Geddes’ style, which departed from what was popular in stained-glass at the time and drew more from medieval traditions, and into her allusions to Arthurian legends as well as Biblical figures.

“Before me, there’s almost no rector of St. Barts that liked that window,” Clunie said. “They all thought it was too militaristic, didn’t have a place in a church. There’s an argument there,” he concedes, but he sees it in a different light. “It’s actually a great piece of art, but art with a purpose, I think.” One of Clunie’s favourite aspects is a small detail of Christ on the cross, that is hidden in plain sight in the centre of the whole window.

The images of the window in the documentary are still photos from Ottawa photographer Brian Glenn and Clunie, who sometimes had to stand on the altar to get close photos of details from the window. “I can’t tell you the number of hours that took, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours, but for me it was kind of like a meditation,” he said. “And the irony is you can see more of the stained-glass window in the video, than you can if you’re standing right in front of it.”

The documentary also delves into the history of the church and its connections to the GovernorGeneral at the time. Author and historian Charlotte Gray narrates and brings the stories of the Duke of Connaught and his family, including his daughter Princess Patricia, and the decision to commission the window to life.

Historian Tim Cook provided important context to help viewers understand the profound impact the loss of 66,000 Canadians in World War I had on the country.

The documentary illuminates the life and work of the artist Wilhelmina Geddes, drawing heavily on a 2013 book about her written by Nicola Gordon Bowe.

Composer and musician Tim Piper composed and recorded an original score for the whole documentary. “There’s so many times when you’re not even aware of the music, and yet the music is emotionally connected to it,” said Clunie. “I

would send him 10 minutes of the video… then he would write music down to the second that its going to actually appear.”

These contributions, along with many others, add up to a rich documentary that takes its viewers into Canadian history and the creative mind of a ground-breaking female artist. “

In the Company of Angels” can be viewed any time from the St. Bart’s website (https://www.stbartsottawa. ca/ ) and it is also posted on YouTube for anyone who wants to see the art on a big screen. The YouTube address is https://www.stbartsottawa.ca/videoCompany-of-Angels.html

An image of the crucifixion (left) is hidden in plain sight at the centre of the window, shown in its entirety at right. Below St. Martin is depicted dividing his cloak to give to a man in need.

The detail in the centre shows an archer from the martyrdom of St. Sebastian.

DETAIL PHOTOS: THE REV. CANON DAVID CLUNIE

PHOTO: BRIAN GLENN

Our Anglican Community Ministries are:

• Belong Ottawa (Centre 454, St. Luke's Table, The Well)

• Centre 105 (in Cornwall, Ontario)

• Cornerstone Housing for Women

• Ottawa Pastoral Counselling Centre

• Refugee Ministry Office

Bishop unveils strategic priorities for the diocese

On March 14, Bishop Shane Parker unveiled the 11 Actions as the top strategic priorities of the diocesan church. These actions, presented in the order of their timelines for completion, are the result of the three Shape of Parish Ministry (SPMC) proposals which were approved with broad support at Synod in October 2022. They are designed to put those plans and hopes into action to help parish ministry in the diocese thrive.

Immediate actions

1

Building ministry resources and knowledge

A working group will establish a process to create a network of knowledge and resources, pilot projects and strategies for sharing materials developed by the network.

Lead: The Rev. Monique Stone

2

Developing strategies to engage with the world

A working group appointed by the bishop will facilitate one or two pilot projects that will help prepare a detailed plan of action focused on engaging with the world through the development of contextual mission and new

worshipping communities. (Lead: Archdeacon Mark Whittall)

3Guiding major parish changes

A guidebook will be developed to help parish leaders discern when the time is right to move into a different parish structure. Parish leaders, who have discerned that the time is right, will continue to be invited into active conversations with the bishop and their territorial archdeacon, with the intention to implement changes as soon as possible. A report detailing concrete actions taken will be presented to Synod in 2023. Lead: Bishop Shane

4Stimulating innovation and collaboration

An episcopal panel will be formed by June to develop and implement a plan for stimulating innovation and collaboration between parishes, including a forum of clergy and lay leaders with a mechanism to share experiences and learnings. The panel will present the plan to Diocesan Council for approval in November 2023. Lead: Bishop Shane

5

Reviewing parish fair share

Diocesan Council will strike a task force, with membership

A request from the Action 2 working group to lay leaders & clergy

We are interested in learning how many new worshipping communities are already active and how many are in the process of being born. We also would like to learn how many are in the earliest stages of imagining and considering what is possible in each context.

We are seeking a small number of new worshipping communities that can serve as models or ‘pilots’ to help us share with our whole diocese the new thing that God is doing in those communities.

What are we looking for? When we talk about new worshipping communities, we mean a few specific things:

• By ‘new… community’ we mean a community that may be born out of our inherited congregations and outreach programs or born out of a

unique prompting of God (whether it is happening in a church building or not, led by clergy or not).

• By ‘…worshipping community’ we mean that it is a community that nourishes and practices discipleship in Jesus Christ and has the capacity to evolve into a community of word, sacrament, and pastoral care.

• By ‘new worshipping community’ we mean that it may be a new church plant within our Anglican heritage, or something else, new and noticeably different from what we might expect of inherited, Sunday-morningstyle expressions of worship and community.

Does this sound like something you want to start, something you are involved in, or something you are leading? If so, please get in touch at: action2team@ottawa.anglican.ca

approved by the bishop, to conduct a review, involving input from parish leaders, of the Parish Fair Share (PFS) system vis-à-vis the diocesan operating budget as a whole and to bring any recommendations to Synod 2023 for approval. This includes identifying alternative sources of revenue that could decrease PFS.

Leads: Director of financial ministry

Sanjay Grover and Bishop Shane

6Using dividends for parish ministry costs

Beginning immediately, dividends from undesignated and bishop’s discretionary trusts held by the Diocese in the Consolidated Trust Fund will be used to contribute to the overall, shared costs of parish ministry and will be factored into the preparation of the 2024-2027 budget for adoption at Synod 2023.

Leads: Sanjay Grover and Bishop Shane

Actions prior to Synod 2023

7Bringing clarity to parish governance

Ascension House staff and relevant diocesan bodies, under the direction of the bishop, will develop a guide defining and confirming the structures of parish ministry and the expectations related to their implementation: such as clergy deployment, scope of ministry, governance (e.g., numbers of officers and councils), administration, property management and finances. This will be reviewed by Diocesan Council in June 2023, with any required approvals by Synod 2023.

Leads: Executive Archdeacon Linda Hill and Canon Henry Schultz, Chancellor

8Training and support for parish leaders

Staff and relevant diocesan bodies, under the direction of the executive archdeacon, have begun to prepare up-to-date resources and regular

training sessions (using technology where possible) for parish leadership roles, to be reviewed by Diocesan Council in June 2023 and implemented in September 2023.

Lead: Archdeacon Linda Hill

9Providing services to parishes Ascension House staff, under the direction of the bishop and in consultation with relevant diocesan bodies, are developing plans to improve services and processes, including property and asset management, finances, human resources and general administration, taking into account associated costing, implementation, and evaluation considerations, to be approved by Diocesan Council in September 2023.

Leads: Sanjay Grover, director of property and asset management Joel Prentice, and the director of human resources

Actions for Synod 2023

10Equipping parishes to thrive A working group, appointed and guided by the bishop and accountable to Diocesan Council, is developing a parish advancement program, including an implementation plan and provisions for how it will be evaluated, for consideration at Synod 2023.

Lead: The Rev. Kerri Brennan

11Funding parish engagement with the world

The existing Second Century Fund held in the diocesan Consolidated Trust Fund will be renamed the Future Fund and will be dedicated to funding contextual mission and new worshipping communities. The director of financial ministry Sanjay Grover and the director of communications and development Sandra Hamway will oversee the preparation of a proposal for how this fund is to be used and further developed, which will be brought to Synod 2023 for approval.

The hardest conversations are the ones worth having. Let Beechwood help

Bishop charts a course for the future with 11 actions

BY LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

On a busy day as he prepared to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Bishop Shane Parker kindly took time to talk with Crosstalk It happened to be the third anniversary of his election as 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Ottawa, so we began by asking him to reflect a little on the occasion.

QAt your consecration, Archbishop Anne Germond, Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario, warned you that on some days your mitre will seem to weigh 500 lbs. The first years of your episcopacy have been especially challenging due to the pandemic. How are you feeling as you look back on the past three years and ahead to the future?

I remain thankful that I’ve been called to serve as the bishop of this diocese. That was the feeling I had at the time and that still remains for me. It’s nice to have 35 years of ordained ministry under me as I offer what I offer…. I’m energized by the things that we’ve accomplished together over the last three years as a diocesan church, and looking ahead to what is now the 11 Actions. I’m very motivated to see them through.

QYou have often described the diocesan church here as a body with two arms, community ministry and parish ministry. How are each doing at this stage in the pandemic?

Our community ministries are very strong, and they’re very highly respected. At a retreat with community ministry leaders last fall, I suggested that some of our community ministries are in a position to expand. I use that word advisedly…. God has been

good to make us very competent in providing supportive housing for women, in running day programs in Cornwall and Ottawa, certainly in the refugee ministry and in our counselling ministry as well. We’re good at those things, and we may be called upon to do more of that work in Ottawa or in the area of our diocese… I’m confident that we could do that.

QHow are parishes doing?

The simple truth is that all our ministries and certainly our parish ministries, offerings and attendance, were affected by the pandemic. However, I have observed that parishes are resilient. People have stayed connected with one another, and now that the great return is happening, the dust is sort of clearing in terms of who may have made life decisions not to go to church (and that has happened), and who may have made life decisions to begin to attend church or have reaffirmed their commitment to church. Offerings will slowly come up. There was about a 20% drop in offerings right across the Canadian church, frankly, and that was true for most of our parishes…

The Shape of Parish Ministry Consultation was very clear that a number of things needed to happen … to make it more possible for parishes to thrive. Part of that was to consolidate our ministries wherever we can….During the last year, we’ve seen a number of parishes make the courageous decision to either amalgamate or to close a building, so that people will participate in the life of a neighbouring parish… We’re not leaving people. We may cease to use some buildings, but our ministries need to expand. I would say that we are developing regional churches now, rather than community churches. It’s unlikely that we will

see the building of churches as our response to growth, certainly in the city of Ottawa and other places. But what we will see are churches that are on the cusp or the edge of new developments, their ministry, imagination and reach needs to extend into new communities…. So fewer parishes, wider scope of ministry for each parish and as we continue our work with the 11 Actions, we need to invest heavily in enabling those churches.

QHow will the 11 Actions be felt and experienced by parishioners?

What we heard in the Shape of Parish Ministry Consultation was people are tired, they’re burning out. There aren’t enough volunteers to do things. We heard a lot of confusion about how we actually run our churches, about what we need to do, what is optional, what is no longer essential…. How do we reach out to the community around us? How do we learn how to be more effective? How do we learn to thrive? And so, the 11 Actions are speaking directly into that.

There will be training for parish officers and the training will help them support them, equip them to run parishes efficiently and effectively….There will be … clearly defined supports that are given from Ascension House to parish leaders around the issues of property and human resources and finances and administration.

And then there’ll be a whole bunch of resources and knowledge developed through what will be called the Learning Commons. There will be Resource Hubs which include people who want to develop expertise in certain areas and share that expertise with our diocese as a whole….around children and youth, for example, possibly around the stewardship, [or] new worshipping

communities. And those Resource Hubs will generate knowledge and information that will be shared with everybody.

There will also be informal Knowledge Networks for people who are interested in a particular area, who just want to explore it with one another…

And then there will be a program of parish advancement, which will include a number of modules that parishes will participate in or take in that will give them core education around how we advance our parish ministry so they can thrive.

QWhat financial help will there be for parishes?

Another part of what we heard in the Shape of Parish Ministry Consultation was that the costs of parish ministry are high, and that our diocesan operating budget and the parish fair share system relies heavily on parishes for revenue, to support the ministries of our diocese as a whole. Even community ministries are supported from revenue that comes from parishes. So, on the one hand, we want to help parishes with financial stewardship to learn how to do that more effectively. On the other hand, as a diocesan church, we need to somehow reduce our reliance on revenue from parishes, beginning with using dividends from trusts held by our diocese to contribute to our operating budget …

We now have a director of communications and development, and part of her work will be to increase the financial capacity of our diocese as a whole, so we can try to reduce our dependence on parishes for revenue.

QWhat other sources of revenue might be used?

 Future course, p. 9

It is possible, I believe, to endow certain ministries of our diocese. For example, in universities, you have certain chairs endowed. I believe it’s possible and desirable for us to endow the ministry of our bishop. I believe we could raise funds to substantially endow the “chair of the bishop” so that it the bishop’s ministry is not as reliant upon revenue from parishes. Wouldn’t it be great if this ministry was fully endowed?

It may also be possible to set up an endowment for priestly ministry in our diocese as a whole, a central resource which would provide dividends to reduce our reliance on parishes for the funding of priestly services.

QWhat do you see when you look ahead to the next few years of your episcopate?

To be honest, I’m just thinking in terms of what I believe I was called to do. …The first thing I knew I needed to do was to champion our

agreed-upon priorities and to lift them up and to engage as we have. Now, I know I’m called to oversee and ensure that the 11 Actions are fully implemented. We have not always fully implemented our plans after spending time and energy to develop then, and that cannot happen this time… So, we have an aggressive timetable for the 11 Actions we agreed to at Synod, and I will oversee their implementation, Including making sure the fruit of the 11 Actions become firmly embedded in the culture, in the operations, in the structures of our diocese. …They need to continue to be shepherded, so that they just become the way we work together. What we’re doing through the 11 Actions is not simply tweaking… In order to implement them properly we need to think differently. We have to behave differently. We have to see ourselves as a diocesan church which has collective resources that can be wisely used to make our community ministries and parish ministries thrive and serve.

QWhat timeframe do you have in mind?

Implementing the 11 Actions will take about 18 months, but the deep embedding of the actions will probably take another 18 months or so. I feel called to lead us through that. I sense people are very responsive to focused and disciplined direction right now because we need to be… Those [were] remarkable moments at Synod last year...I think there were only one or two motions that did not achieve unanimity in the room… As I said to the team who led the consultation, there’s no greater praise that you can get than seeing a body endorse so overwhelmingly the work that’s been produced… A lot of [this] is getting our house in order, and we need to be patient with that. Soon we’re going to feel that we are able to thrive a little bit more robustly and serve a little bit more joyously.

I believe it was Professor Owen Chadwick [who] said, the church is like a stained-glass window. It’s filled with things of beauty like stained glass… things like faith, love, justice, peace, healing, hope and reconciliation. But a stained-glass window needs to be held together by iron and oak. A lot of what we’re

doing in the 11 Actions is making sure the frame that holds the beauty of who we are as a church is being properly held in this world and cared for, and when it is, that frees us to shine in the world around us.

PHOTO: ARCHDEACON CHRIS DUNN

What we’re doing through the 11 Actions is not simply tweaking… In order to implement them properly we need to think differently. We have to behave differently.

 Future course, from p, 8

Bishop Shane Parker took time to talk with Crosstalk in his Ascension House office on March 14, 2023.

Easter window, St. James Carleton Place

Listening and learning about the self-determining Indigenous Anglican Church

BY LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

The Rev. Dr. Ray Aldred, director of Indigenous Studies at the Vancouver School of Theology, shared his deep insights into the history of and current developments in the Indigenous Anglican Church in Canada with an audience gathered in a very large circle at Saint Paul University on March 23. His talk was titled ‘Self-determination & reconciliation?”

Aldred said he thought the vision of a self-determining Indigenous church had existed as long as the Gospel had been among Indigenous peoples. Listening to Bishop Lydia Mamakwa of the Indigenous Spiritual Ministry of Mishamikoweesh and Elders, however, he said he learned about the vision articulated in the 1950s by Archdeacon William Winters, who spoke of the need for an Indigenous church governed by Indigenous people. But at that time, most people in the Anglican Church and other denominations thought Indigenous people should just assimilate into Canadian churches.

In 1969, the Anglican Church of Canada asked a United Church minister Charles Hendry to do a report, which he published as a book called Beyond Traplines: Does the Church Really Care? In it, he urged the church to stop treating Indigenous people like children, Aldred explained.

“The question for us in the 1970s became how could you be fully Christian and fully Indigenous? How could you be both?” said Aldred. He recounted how the Indian Ecumenical Conference began and was held in Morley, Alberta on Stoney and Nakota Territory near Banff for about 15 years. At that time, some Indigenous people were asking the church to make room for their traditional spirituality.

He noted that non-Indigenous people have often interpreted discussions about self-determination to mean that Indigenous people wanted to leave the church.

“Because they cannot understand that you could be in a relationship, and there could be space between you, that a nation-to-nation relationship means that you maintain honour and respect….. The space between us is for collaboration. It doesn’t mean, though, that we’re exactly the same.”

Indigenous Anglicans were ready to create the Indigenous church long before the Anglican Church of Canada was ready, Aldred said Bishop Sidney Black told him. But

it finally fell to the first National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald to help establish the Indigenous Church. Advice from the Maori in New Zealand was not to do what they did and separate.

Indigenous Anglicans in Canada didn’t want to do that, Aldred said. “They were trying to stay in partnership with the Anglican Church of Canada, but they wanted to be self-determined. So then, they had to come up with a vision for what that meant.”

That vision is centred on the Gospel, he said. “We tried to create a Sacred Circle, maintain a Sacred Circle within the community. If two or three could gather together around the Gospel, the community would still have a witness to the Gospel. And who knows what would happen after that? So that’s the direction.”

Aldred described an Indigenous gathering that took place in October, highlighting the ways that the Indigenous church is evolving. “We prayed with smoke—smudged. They had a drummer who sang an honour song, and then of course, we processed to a hymn. We didn’t want to get carried away and actually process to an honour song. What would happen if we started doing things like that?” he said wryly. “I asked Bishop [of Missinipi] Adam Halkett, ‘So is that what you do all the time? Pray with smoke and have an honour song?’ He said, ‘No, that’s the first time we’ve ever done that.’ I thought, that’s cool, that’s a self-determining Indigenous church.”

Aldred challenged the Canadian church to do better in regard to its financial support of Indigenous ministry. “A lot of times Anglicans don’t know that Indigenous Anglicans will get paid nothing for doing ministry. Its non-stipendiary,” he said. “The Indigenous people themselves make a theology to say that that’s okay. They’ll even say things like, ‘It’s good we don’t get paid. Then we might be too reliant on that.’ I just don’t know how that’s right,” he said. “And then many of the agreements to pay some of these Indigenous bishops have run out and now they get paid nothing. The Anglican Church struggles to figure out how to repair that,” he said.

“We need to continue to work towards fixing or realigning things to see the furtherance of Indigenous self-determination,” he said. The dominant church needs to listen to and respond when Indigenous people put forward a request, he said. That listening also requires learning more about how Indigenous people communicate,” he said. He offered the example of the Vancouver School of Theology creating a program so that Indigenous people could earn a Master of Divinity degree in an Indigenous way so that they could be fully ordained in their denominations. He added that an alternative psychological analysis is also required because “we’ve encountered so much trauma. So you need to think differently about those things.”

At the end of his talk, Aldred said people always ask him what they can do. I’ve come up with three things, he said:

1

Heal the land. That includes healing the relationship between ourselves and the land. That includes things like water, that includes things like resolving land claims, it includes homelessness, … but it also includes healing the trauma that exists in our land and the unmarked graves…

2Indigenous people begin on the level of emotion. Western Christianity begins on the level of cognition. You’ve got to shift to speak from the heart and develop emotional intelligence, or emotional literacy, so that you could be someone who could listen and help people move through generational trauma. …I’ve seen many newcomers who are good at that, sitting and listening, and have been listening to help heal problems…. People can get good at that. That’s something all churches can do.

3And the third thing that churches can do is to cast a vision for unity that doesn’t end up with another denominationalism or sectarianism or imperialism, which is when churches command that everybody needs to get along… That doesn’t work. Unless you acknowledge [each group’s] significance, that they have value, groups never come together. You have to acknowledge the other if you want to be in relationship. …Too often the church wants to erase that difference. And that difference can be difference from the God.

The treaty tells us, when we make treaties with the newcomers, particularly our numbered of treaties, everyone should be able to enjoy a peaceful existence. Everybody should have access to the land. No one has the right to cut another people off from access to the land. A person can only possess what he can carry on his back, so how could you possess the land? The land carries us… Everybody should be able to live on the bounty of Mother Earth. No one should be hungry. And everyone has the right to be who they were created to be. That’s the truth.

We need to cast a vision for unity that’s doesn’t end in polarization or in silos of people…. We need to reinvent what it means to have common good. We need communities that are growing, that people in communities who feel that the level of intimacy and solidarity that they feel between themselves and other community members is growing.

The Rev. Dr. Ray Aldred, director of Indigenous Studies at the Vancouver School of Theology, suggested that the relationship between the Indigenous Anglican Church and the rest of the church should be one that respects and honours their differences and that the space between them could be a place of collaboration.

PHOTO LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

Youth step into the KAIROS Blanket Exercise

BY DONNA ROURKE

On Saturday Feb. 25, John Henry Commanda and his son Julien joined youth and adults from across Ottawa at St Aidan’s Anglican Church to deliver a KAIROS Blanket Exercise (KBE), an interactive teaching tool that invites participants to explore the historical and contemporary relationship between Indigenous and nonIndigenous people in Canada.

KAIROS, an ecumenical social justice organization, describes the experience and purpose of the blanket exercise in this way: “During the workshop, participants step on blankets representing the land and into the role of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. They are guided by trained facilitators, including Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, who work from a script that covers pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization, resistance and much more. Participants read scrolls and respond to cues in the script. The KBE concludes with a debriefing, conducted as a talking circle, during which participants discuss the learning experience, process their feelings, ask questions, share insights, and deepen their understanding….

For almost 25 years, the Aboriginal Rights Coalition and

Photos, right: The Kairos Blanket Exercise is a teaching tool for exploring historical and contemporary relationships.

Above: The exercise concluded with a talking circle, with participants discussing what they learned and experienced.

now KAIROS have guided the KBEs development with the leadership of Indigenous Elders and facilitators. The script has been updated numerous times to reflect current events, including most recently the final reports of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.”

A couple of the participants shared their thoughts on the experience:

“Thank you for all your work in bringing us together. These things are more than just a date on a calendar and some people in a room. It’s the organizers who really set the tone and nature of the gathering. Thank you for the warmth and authenticity you bring to your role and are so gracious to share with others. Miigwetch.

“This was my first experience of a

Kairos Blanket Exercise. The history shared during this experience is not new to me, but I did not learn this in school. This is knowledge and story brought into the light. Through feet on a hand stitched quilt from small bones dug from dirt and echoes on a sonar screen. This is a story shared, portioned out, given and received through voice, movement and spirit. An offering handed to each participant to hold and to carry. This was an experience of sitting and listening, sharing, grief and Hope. Beautiful, terrible, audacious HOPE. This was an experience of God’s presents in the world and the continued call to each person to carry this experience and grow as the hands and feet of Christ.”

— Dana Ducette

“I feel blessed to have been in the presence of our amazing KBE facilitators and the inspiring Youth who participated. May God continue

to bless this ministry and the work that you do!”

The Rev. Claire Bramma, Assistant Curate, Parish of the Valley

My thanks go out to John Henry and his son Julien sharing their personal experiences and insights at the Blanket Exercise and for their honesty and caring. I want to acknowledge with thanks the Anglican Foundation of Canada and their Say Yes to Kids Campaign for the funding for this Blanket Exercise and to St Aidan’s Anglican Church for offering their beautiful space to us.

Donna Rourke is Animator of Youth Ministry

Anti-racism activists offer inspiration

BY LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

More than a year ago, diocesan youth co-ordinator Donna Rourke attended a webinar with information on how apply to the Canadian Race Relations Foundation for funding for anti-racism work with youth. “I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I know people that I could partner with, and we could imagine an event that would be awesome,” she told Crosstalk.

With support from the Diocese and some familiar faces — including Breanna Pizzuto, who delivers leadership sessions for the Youth Internship Program, and former YIP intern Li Xiu—the event came together on March 25 in the Parish Hall of Julian of Norwich.

Brave and Safe: A Place for Courageous Conversations brought four powerful speakers as well as talented performers together for a day to educate and inspire anti-racism activism.

Susan Young helped Rourke create the event, and she was also the first of the four speakers. A registered social service worker, who works full-time for the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre and part-time for the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, Young gave bracing accounts of the kinds of racism she and her Carribean-Canadian family

members have faced in Canada. From terrifying experiences such as the police racially profiling and nearly arresting her 16-year-old brother to infuriating microaggressions like people asking her if her hair is real and whether she thinks her recent promotion was due to the government’s affirmative action policies, Young shared vivid evidence that racism is an everyday experience for people of colour in Canada.

In the break, Young wowed all who attended with her beautiful voice, performing a few songs as Suzie Q (her stage name) with her partner Sean Duhaime.

Don Kwan is a queer thirdgeneration Chinese-Canadian multidisciplinary artist. Through his art, Kwan “explores legacies of inclusion and exclusion, rooted in land-based settler colonialism.” In his presentation, he showed and spoke about some of his artwok that has delved into his own family’s history, such as the racist head tax his grandfather was forced to pay when he came to Canada.

Annette Bouzi, is a lawyer and professor in the school of business at Algonquin College. She told the audience that in all her years at university, she only had three Black professors, and spoke of her

 Anti-racism program, p. 13

Bursaries from Audrey J. Boyce legacy fuel research and innovation

BY MICHELLE HAUSER

In honour of its “Leave a Legacy” month, the Anglican Foundation of Canada (AFC) is celebrating the legacy of Audrey Jacqueline Boyce. Boyce, a lifelong Ottawa resident who passed away on July 26, 2013, provided a sum in her will to be “held upon trust to assist students in advanced theological study.”

“In 2013, the AFC Board agreed to expand bursary awards to include funding for Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) training,” says Dr. Scott Brubacher, AFC executive director. “Since then, a total of $115,000 has been awarded, with $85,500 of that derived from the Boyce Fund. The ongoing impact of Ms. Boyce’s generosity illustrates how legacies grow over time.”

In the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, the Rev. John Stopa— recently inducted as priest-in-charge of St. Paul’s Parish, Renfrew, and Emmanuel Parish, Arnprior—was awarded a bursary from the Boyce Fund for his D.Min. studies at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, in Atlanta Georgia.

“It’s a really good program,” says

Stopa, “but it is very expensive. It was a real benefit to have the funding from AFC. I did not know until just recently that the bursary had an Ottawa connection.” Stopa has completed 1.5 years of his D.Min. with a focus on effective preaching. Stopa explains that as a parish priest, he wanted to focus his

research on how priests effectively use the homily to educate parishioners. “The average Anglican will have Sunday School growing up, sacramental preparation around Communion and confirmation. Your confirmation is your graduation, and you might have youth group but there’s no other education program. The primary thing that is educational is the homily—for most Anglicans that’s where they encounter their educational moment.”

According to the Rev. Dr. Grayhame Bowcott, the research component of D.Min. training is making a big difference for leaders in the broader church today. “The D.Min. is a rare program where clergy can work full-time and do meaningful research that really benefits their local context.”

Bowcott serves as a parish priest in the Diocese of Huron and as Program Director for Huron University College’s Licentiate in Theology Program. He was also awarded AFC bursaries from the Boyce fund for D.Min. training, which enabled him to channel his passion for enabling vocational

leadership and increasing access to theological education for clergy in remote areas. “In my case, the D.Min. was the perfect degree for me to do the research that helped me put the Licentiate program together.”

Bowcott points to the exemplary field of leaders across the Anglican Church of Canada who have benefited from an AFC bursary in the pursuit of their doctoral level training. “Mrs. Boyce’s investment is paying great dividends. I don’t know of anyone who has done the program who hasn’t come out of it with new insights and been better equipped to do the ministry they are already doing. If you follow the pathway, you see how Ms. Boyce’s legacy is supporting leaders in the church who are in turn leaving a legacy.”

Anyone interested in pursuing advanced theological training is encouraged to visit AFC’s new grants portal at www. anglicanfoundation.org/ apply or to email foundation@ anglicanfoundation.org

Michelle Hauser is Development & Communications Officer for AFC.

Audrey Boyce provided a fund in her will for theological study. The bursaries are administered by the Anglican Foundation.

Multidisciplinary artist Don Kwan “explores legacies of inclusion and exclusion, rooted in land-based settler colonialism.”

Curious about Cursillo?

Cursillo (pronounced Ker-see-oh) You may or may not have heard of it, but what is it?

BY SHARRON HAMILTON

Cursillo (in Spanish: Cursillos de Cristiandad, short course in Christianity) is a ministry that began in Spain in the late 1940s. It was after the war, and the people seemed to be drifting away from their churches. A group of committed Roman Catholics decided to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James at Compostela and pray about the situation. They came home with the idea of Cursillo. The first three-day weekend was held in 1949 on the island of Mallorca. Over the years, it expanded worldwide and in 1981, with a great deal of support from our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, and with the blessing of our bishop, the Ottawa Anglican Cursillo Movement (OACM) was born. The weekends were organized around talks, but were primarily conceived as workshops in which the truth of Christian faith could be proclaimed out of lived experience and upon which apostolic action could be modeled.

Cursillo, a short course in Christianity — the use of the word ‘course’ may be a bit misleading. There is no standard to attain, no exams, no report card, no tests. Everyone simply experiences their own Cursillo journey. It is really an experience in Christianity—the opportunity to experience living together in Christian community, feeling God’s love for us, and learning about sharing that love with others.

There are three parts to the Cursillo method.

Pre-Cursillo, which is a time of prayer. The community is praying about who should attend a Cursillo weekend and when would be the right time to introduce potential candidates to the Cursillo method. Cursillo is not for everyone, and so it is very important to pray about who to ask and ask God if this is the right time for that person to attend a weekend. Prospective participants may be approached by someone who is already part of Cursillo, or they may decide on their own that they are interested in attending a weekend. Either way, everyone who attends a Cursillo weekend has a sponsor, someone who has been on a weekend and remains active in Cursillo. To sponsor a friend on a Cursillo weekend is to give that person a beautiful gift of an uplifting weekend.

The Cursillo Weekend — What to expect on a weekend? The weekend starts on Friday at noon and ends late on Sunday afternoon. On the weekend, talks, called Rollos, are given by laity and clergy covering the basics of Christianity. The Rollos discuss what it means to be a Christian and about the very real need to be with others while growing and witnessing in faith, as well as the unique means by which this can be carried out through the Cursillo Method. A weekend also consists of morning and evening prayer and other spiritual exercises; quiet time; prayer time; and time together in community. Laughter and music are also part of a Cursillo weekend. It is an opportunity to break away from the day to day

very busy schedules to take time for oneself and to experience God.

Cursillo is for all those who want to look seriously at themselves and their lives, their relationship with others and with God.

The Cursillo weekend is unique for each person. Although everyone is together in the same room, listening to the same speakers and participating in the same liturgies, each will have a unique experience, depending on their own background, their openness to Christ and their responses to Him. To experience a weekend, it is helpful to just live in the moment, to be receptive to Christ’s love in what you hear and see around you. This will take patience and trust.

Fourth Day — follows the three-day weekend and is the support system for the rest of our lives to continue our faith journey. To help us in our fourth day, there are Ultreyas and Group Reunion. Ultreyas (Spanish meaning onward) are held frequently within the Diocese of Ottawa, and they follow the pattern of a Eucharistic service with a witness talk. After the witness talk, those attending break out into groups to discuss what they have heard. Ultreyas are a chance to come together, greet old and new friends, worship and share life experiences. Here people can share, sing, and pray together so that they may be lifted up and strengthened in their ministries.

Group Reunions—after attending a Cursillo weekend, one is encouraged to form a group reunion with a few close friends for mutual support and encouragement in one’s walk with Christ. Group reunions meet on a regular basis to share with one

another the growth that has taken place within each member.

Cursillo is a world-wide movement in more than 60 countries. The Ottawa Anglican Cursillo Movement is a worshipping community and it functions as a ministry of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa and operates under the direct authority of the Bishop of Ottawa, the Right Reverend Shane Parker. The OACM is an ecumenical organization that welcomes members from other Christian faith organizations than Anglican. We have members that worship in the United Church, the Lutheran Church and several other Christian denominations.

The administrative responsibilities of Cursillo are carried out by the Secretariat, a committee of lay people and clergy. A network of parish representatives carries out the work of Cursillo locally, and events are organized by groups of committed volunteers. Cursillo is governed by its constitution and by-laws, and major decisions are confirmed by the community at its Annual General Meeting.

Cursillo has no secrets. All gatherings and events are open to anyone who is interested in attending.

There are two Cursillo weekends planned in the next year.

129th Women’s Cursillo Weekend — Sept. 22 – 24, 2023

130th Men’s Cursillo Weekend

— Exact dates are not yet decided at this time, but planning is underway for April 2024.

If you want to learn more you can • visit https://oacm.ca/wp/ • speak to your Parish Cursillo Representative or to your Parish Priest.

Sharron Hamilton is Assistant Lay Director, Ottawa Anglican Cursillo Movement assistant.lay.director@ oacm.ca

hope that her own presence in classrooms will be an inspiration to others. Bouzi described the racism she has faced in the workplace. When her union dismissed the discrimination she brought to them, she built her own case and won. In 2020, Bouzi was elected by her peers to the role of President of OPSEU Local 415, the faculty union at Algonquin College.

Bouzi- said she finds inspiration in her mother’s courage in never being afraid to speak truth to power.

Austin Ward is a Métis First Nations man who was homeless

and street-involved until he was 25. He spoke of the racism he faced growing up in Winnipeg and the pressure he felt to hide or deny the fact that his father was Indigenous. He also shared the story of his journey to attend and graduate from Algonquin College and the career he has built helping others. currently Working as a BIPOC practice facilitator, he currently supervises an interdisciplinary team called the Drug Overdose Prevention and Response Unit where he is an acting manager.

 Anti-racism program, from p. 12

Guest speakers (L to R) Annette Bouzi, Austin Ward and Susan Young all offered inspiring examples of anti-racism activism as they generously shared their personal experiences. Each of the four presentations offered a wealth of anti-racism education and inspiration. They can be viewed online at https://www.facebook.com/braveandsafeottawa/videos/1205075326849493

The weight of love

BY THE REV. STEVE SILVERTHORNE

Independence is one of the most important values of our age and shapes our idea of what it means to be a moral person. Part of being moral is acknowledging others’ independence and avoiding imposing on them or restricting their free choices. Thus, it’s not surprising that independence has emerged as one of the most resonant themes in our current discussions about Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). We don’t like the thought of burdening others, and when we suffer, we fear demanding more from our loved ones than they can handle. Part of MAiD’s appeal is that it seems to offer the dying a chance to relieve their families of burdens too great to bear. Wouldn’t we rather leave our loved ones with happy memories from our good times together, instead of the memory of our anguished suffering?

That is a powerful sentiment and one that can arise out of a deep love for those around us. Yet I worry that in the midst of our emphasis on independence, and on sparing others from burden, we may forget that burdening others

is not always wrong. In fact, the most important relationships in our lives aren’t ones that prioritize autonomy. They are places where we lay heavy burdens on others and where we learn to accept heavy burdens from them. For me, this is most true in my family relationships. In these, my joys and freedoms are often tempered by the sorrows and unexpected demands laid upon me. Yet it is a way of life I would never forsake.

I am the father of four girls. From their first cry, I have been reminded regularly of the weight of responsibility I bear for them. Months of sleeplessness while they squirmed with colic, nights of paralyzing fear as they struggled through a serious lung infection, and

the indignities of cleaning up vomit when they have been overcome with illness in their sleep have all intruded on my life in unwelcome ways. Added to this are the many lesser challenges which try my patience. Demands for attention when I am busy with work, piano recitals which push my tolerance to its breaking point, and complaints about the quality of my cooking leave me struggling to appreciate the joys of family life.

As a result, one of the most difficult challenges in parenting has been to accept these unwelcome demands without resentment. Through all these encumbrances, my mind often recites the things I would rather be doing and often highlights the unreasonableness of their needs. Their needs, great and small, impose on my independence. That weighs heavily sometimes. Yet this is also where the value of family shines through. It is a place where I know I am needed, and where I find meaning in responding to the claims my loved ones make on me. The value of bearing their burdens has not been an easy lesson to learn, but learning it has seen me through many seasons of hardship and despair. They need me, and that need reminds me of my true worth.

I hope that this is a lesson my children are learning as well. As the years progress, they are growing steadily into adulthood and are less

Convenient water station installed for Cornwall day program visitors

Participants at Centre 105 in Cornwall, Ont. are enjoying using a new Elkay Water Bottle Refill Unit/Drinking Fountain recently installed in Trinity Anglican Church. The City covered the entire cost of the water unit and its installation (about $10,000) as part of an initiative to reduce the amount of single-use plastics entering the landfill.

needful of my help. At the same time, I am growing more needful of theirs. I fear burdening them as I age and fear the self-doubt that will come when I start reaching out for help with more frequency than I (or they) think reasonable. Yet I hope that this will not stop me from doing it.

Like me in my parenting, they in their care for me will face unexpected and perhaps agonizing challenges to their independence. They may face hard choices and wearisome hours which they will find hard to bear. But they will also, by God’s grace, learn the value of being depended upon by someone they love. In this, the burden of caring for me in my dying, though painful and unwelcome, will be a gift.

We cannot ignore the challenges that MAiD brings us. Its reality should stir compassion for the profound anguish families go through when their loved ones suffer. But it should also stir us to ensure that the vulnerable and the dying are never left feeling ashamed or embarrassed by their needs. Their need for care, attention, and love is not special pleading. These are not unfair burdens laid on those close to them. They are instead a call for us to fulfil our responsibility to honour someone made in God’s image and an opportunity for us to learn the value of being needed.

The Rev. Stephen Silverthorne is Incumbent of St. Paul’s Kanata

PHOTO LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

ARCHIVES

Saint Thomas, Woodlawn Arnprior Deanery

A Hidden Story

BY GLENN J LOCKWOOD

Usually when one sees a small country church bearing the name of the patron saint, Saint Thomas, it is not difficult to surmise that there were years of struggle, even doubt that a worship community might survive, let alone thrive. And yet, here we are confronted by a confident, even prosperous looking Anglican house of worship from the early years of the First World War bearing the name of this doubtful patron saint. What are we to think?

Standard sources are of no help in resolving this conundrum. We are told that an earlier frame church was in use by 1874 on land donated by John and Ann Heddley. Leonard Johnson in Faith of Our Fathers: The Story of the Diocese of Ottawa (1957), tells that the building of this church, or at least the funding of its construction, was implicitly miraculous. He wrote:

The present St. Thomas Church, built in 1915, replaces an old frame structure, and was constructed during the rectorship of the Rev. C. Franklin Clarke…. A window in this church symbolizes the high regard for the rector who was responsible for its construction. At the first service in the new church, it was announced that the building was completely paid for. Here pioneer family names were Wilson and Dolan, while the Davis family which moved into the parish from Quebec shortly after the turn of the [nineteenth] century have contributed greatly to the life and development of the parish. Recently

five new stained glass memorial windows have been dedicated.

This account implicitly compliments the rector at the time, prominent families and the larger congregation for somehow raising funds so the church was ready for consecration upon opening.

As we ponder this, let us stroll in the Woodlawn churchyard. More lawn than wood, (there is a woodlot

nearby) its name arose with the proliferation of rural post offices in the last third of the 19th century, when names were chosen that suggested suburban ease or English prototypes. As we stroll, we notice a further curious anomaly. While this fine house of worship is aligned with the road on which it fronts, the graves in the burial ground are not. Instead, the graveyard has been

laid out with the plots facing east toward Jerusalem, so that when the trumpet sounds those buried here will be facing toward Jerusalem when they sit up in their graves.

Some 60 years after Faith of Our Fathers was published, the story as to how Saint Thomas’s Church, Woodlawn was paid for so quickly came out. In 2015, when the church’s centennial was being marked, descendants of the contractor came forward and revealed that he was a Roman Catholic, eager to prove how good a contractor he was, by offering to build the new church gratis as an advertisement for his skills as a builder.

What is not at all clear is why it was such a mystery for the previous century. Indeed, we cannot even be sure that it was or was not intended to be a mystery. Advertising, after all, is all about getting the word out, and not hiding one’s light under a bushel. Could it really have been simply a matter of hiding the fact that the builder of an Anglican church was a Roman Catholic due to denominational bias? Or was it a deliberate strategy agreed upon by contractor and clergyman, that the contractor would only be revealed when discreet inquiry was made by potential further clients looking for a builder for another new church?

If you would like to help the Archives preserve the records of the Diocese and its parishes, why not become a Friend of the Archives? Your $20 membership brings you three issues of the lively, informative Newsletter, and you will receive a tax receipt for further donations above that amount.

 Food security, from p. 1

BY GLENN J LOCKWOOD

While Crosstalk was unable to survey all rural parish initiatives with similar objectives for this report, it’s clear that many have stepped up their efforts since the pandemic. Another current example of parishes stepping up today, St John the Evangelist Smiths Falls does a Community Dinner on Delivery that sends out between 100 and 120 dinners each month, rising to 160 at Easter and Thanksgiving. Threecourse meals are cooked, packaged and refrigerated on site for delivery, usually the third Sunday of each month.

Local tradition tells us a mission was started at Cornwall in 1784 for Loyalist refugees, and by 1787, a parish was founded. The Rev. John Strachan arrived in 1803. A frame house of worship put up in 1805 prompted Strachan to opine that “Cornwall had the finest church in Upper Canada—and that in the poorest parish.”

St John’s started a breakfast and lunch package for delivery three times a week during the pandemic. It was replaced by the dinner delivery service. It’s financed out of St John’s outreach budget and donations of money and time by parishioners and friends.

Some things never change. Over 60 years later, when the 1805 house of worship was showing its age,

The latest report from Feed Ontario, the food bank network, confirms that need is increasing in rural areas and the shortage of affordable housing is frequently the underlying problem. “All our food banks are seeing that unaffordable housing is an issue, and we saw actually the greatest spikes in housing affordability were outside the Greater Toronto Area,” says spokesperson Ashley Quan.

DIOCESAN ARCHIVES SAUNDERS FONDS WOODLAWN

BULLETIN BOARD

Official naming of community path in Chelsea

On Saturday, June 10, 2023, Gilbert Whiteduck of Kitigan Zibi will lead a meditative walk to raise awareness of the history of the Algonquin Anishinabeg in this region. It will also celebrate the official naming of Nakweyamàdiwin Mikàns, the first community path in Chelsea to be named an Algonquin Anishinabeg name, meaning “Friendship Trail.” The meditative walk will start at the Meredith Centre in Chelsea, through Quartier Meredith, along the community path and will finish at St Mary Magdalene Anglican Church, 537 Route 105. The walk will begin at 1:30 pm. At the end of the walk Gilbert Whiteduck will speak about the history of the Algonquin Anishinabeg. Refreshments will be served. People are asked to gather at 1 pm at the Meredith Centre. The distance of the walk is approximately a half of a kilometre. The path is accessible for wheelchairs and strollers.

Travel opportunity: Cambodia

Kathleen Lauder, a member of the Good Shepherd Wakefield parish, is planning to lead a tour to Cambodia from Nov. 2 to 12, 2023. The tour is organized by World Renew, the development arm of the Christian Reform Church, for which Kathleen worked for six years as a country director in Cambodia. With a social justice focus, the tour will include a visit to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap with a guided tour of the world heritage temples including Angkor Wat. Cost $1,500 including accommodation, food, local transportation and sightseeing. More info: Kathleen.lauder@gmail.com

Marriage Preparation now online

To provide maximum flexibility for couples and clergy, the Diocese recommends an online Marriage Preparation webinar provided by HumanCare Marriage Prep at  https://www.marriageprep.com/

All couples are welcome and participation is not limited by gender, age, or previous marital status. For more information, please contact:   mmurray@marriageprep.com

Calendar

April 29 to May 14

Art Credo Exhibition & Sale

St. John the Evangelist (154 Somerset St. W., Ottawa)

The 44th annual sales will feature 100 original artworks by 50 local artists expressing a contemplative or spiritual theme. Open every day from noon to 6 pm, Thursday and Friday until 8 pm. Free admission. Close to the canal and restaurants.

Sat. May 27

Mad Hatter Tea Party

St. James, Manotick (1138 Bridge Street)

Two seatings: 1 pm to 2:30 pm and 3 pm to 4:30 pm.  To purchase tickets, contact the church office @613-692-2082.  The cost is $20 per person, adults-only event. For more info: https://www. stjames-manotick.ca or email office@stjames-manotick.ca

St. Helen’s Fine Art Sale

St. Helen’s (1234 Prestone Dr., Orleans), 10 am to 3 pm Information at www.sthelensartfair.ca

PHOTO LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS