Letter from our Rector

NOTE FROM THE RECTOR

2020

By any measure 2020 was a remarkable year. The first global pandemic in our lifetime, with the current death toll of 2.5 million (vastly underreported): and with the new language of coronaspeak of bubbles, distancing, zoombombing, doomscrolling, caremongering, quaranteams, elbow bumps, to say nothing of daily updates from the Provincial Health Officer and PHOs, PPEs, ISO’s, N95s and WFH. All of this has come with financial, economic, social and relational cost.

The largest impact for us as a Christian community was the loss of being able to meet together in person. It is almost exactly a year since we stopped meeting together weekly to worship God, sing his praise, build each other up in our most holy faith at the building at OAC. As soon as we stopped gathering in person our financial giving fell away by 70% in the first month. Eli Sullivan had just taken over as our new treasurer. It was a rough start to say the least. But by God’s grace and your generosity we quickly caught up and have finished the year in a remarkable financial shape.

We immediately had to begin hosting services online. The first two weeks we pre-recorded everything using my small digital camera, on a broken tripod, held in place with two rubber bands! Professional it was not. Yet through the hard work and creativity of our new communications specialist Aria Horvath and others – it worked. In the third week, Merial and Isaac Bull offered to volunteer their help. They began our production ministry, which started with one office, and quickly grew to a number of offices for live streaming, then the move to the church building at OAC with permanent installation. They have grown a team of volunteers who ensure that we are able to gather virtually online Sunday by Sunday, as well as enabling us to produce seasonal services (Advent, Christmas, Lent, and now Easter). Each week there are a number of pre-recorded pieces in our gatherings—music recorded at home by the choir, bible play videos for children, and testimonies. These testimonies have become a rich source of encouragement week by week.

As we look back on 2020, instead of it being a lost year, again and again we have been surprised by the goodness and grace of God.

THE WORD OF GOD

The Apostle Paul writes in his second letter to Timothy:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. (2 Tim. 2:8-10).

These verses explain something of our experience in COVID over this last year. Paul is in prison in Rome— not a happy circumstance. The Roman prison was unimaginably nasty. And he was shackled in chains. Innocent of all charges, and a Roman citizen, his imprisonment was unjust and discriminatory. But there is something counterintuitive going on here. At the center of these verses is the simple truth: the word of God is not bound!

The word of God is like a river which flows from God with life and blessing, carrying us toward him. Yet there are barriers to the flowing river, rocks, trees, mud. When the river hits the barrier it just flows around it. The idea of trying to chain up God’s word to stop it spreading only achieves the opposite. In an earlier imprisonment in Rome Paul writes that it was his imprisonment that led to the spread of the word of God. The whole imperial guard heard God’s word as they took shifts to guard Paul, and Paul’s fellow believers became more bold to speak about Christ.

Just so in COVID19. For the most part, we have not been able to meet in person all year, we have had to rely on computers, cameras, the internet and various apps. It has strained and isolated all of us. But the word of God continues to be heard and flows on, even through these “thinning” technologies. In fact, the word of God is being heard more often, by more people in our congregation, taught by more people than in the last 12 months. And the Lord has added to our number those who he is saving.

The reason that the word of God is unchained, is because the risen Jesus is unchained. That is why the Apostle starts these verses with this command: Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead! Jesus is the gospel. He has died for our sins, and was raised from the dead, and now sits enthroned at the right hand of God— unchained, unassailable, unconquerable, victorious. His purpose is that all who belong to him will obtain the salvation that is in him with eternal glory.

This gives purpose to the Apostle’s suffering and to ours. It is why endurance is so important. We are not just enduring for ourselves, but in some way our enduring encourages and helps others who belong to Christ. It was for this reason we introduced online zoom Morning Prayer and Compline services almost as soon as we were not able to meet in person. We had developed a Common Prayer booklet the year before (by God’s providence and good work of Joel Strecker) for use at home which proved ideal as a resource for hav-

ing these two services twice a day 5 times a week. We recognize the time is not ideal for everyone. However, the Morning Prayer and Compline groups have become communities of care, connection, prayer and attending to scripture within a liturgical setting. It enables more regular contact between staff and those who come and affords more regular opportunities for Artizo apprentices to lead liturgy and teach God’s word. For me, this has been a source of real joy during COVID – to pray with a group of friends, to teach God’s word for 5 – 7 minutes, and to hear how people are getting along. I have a number of friends who are pastors in other denominations who wish they could have something like this to use during COVID. I have offered our booklets – but had no takers so far.

PASTORAL CARE

One of our key losses was the inability to regularly share in the Lord’s supper. The PHOs restricted us to small groups that would meet outside, so we were able to have Holy Communion during the warmer months in back gardens. Thank you to all of you who hosted communion gatherings. Everything was sterilized and sanitized and distributed with care.

As part of our care for each other I am grateful for the work of the Reform group, which undertook the task of enabling us to develop guidelines for our gatherings in line with the Provincial Health Orders. They worked hard over the summer to respond to the changes in PHOs and thought through the different scenarios that were possible. Thanks to Kevin Unger and the team for their helping us in this way.

In many ways, pastoral care became more important for us this past year. We are created for relationship, with God and with one another, not for extended isolation. It is no surprise that we are struggling with mental health. So much pastoral care takes place informally as we pray and love each other in ways often invisible to the wider body. Our structural pastoral care has sought to pivot to meet the changing needs which have arisen as a result of COVID. We now have a valuable set of in depth interviews and sermons on “Christ and COVID.” Thank you to James and Margaret and all those on the pastoral care teams for their godly leadership providing personal pastoral care, as well as online zoom groups: including grief share, divorce care, Sanctuary ministry, the Alpha marriage course and To Be Told.

Like all churches we have had to pivot as things have changed around us, and that has meant significant redeployment of staff. Perhaps the most obvious redeployment was that of Jeremy Graham. Jeremy was in charge of gospel application. When the youth search committee settled on Steven McDougal at the end of the summer last year, COVID made it impossible for Steven and his family to move from Hong Kong to Vancouver. Grateful to God for Leo and Emma’s leadership, it became apparent we needed two people to staff our youth ministry. Jeremy accepted the invitation and was joined by Kathy Ross. The youth and children’s ministry have had to do a great deal of adaptation in COVID, and we look forward to being able to meet in person soon.

As you read this report you will see that again and again we have been surprised by God’s goodness. Two of our three catechism classes finished the week before the COVID shutdown in March 2020. After careful consideration, they restarted online to an overwhelmingly positive response. Those who have participated have found the time together a way of deepening their life of prayer in relation with Christ.

OUTREACH

It seems counterintuitive that we would have any real outreach in 2020, yet the word of God is not bound. In the ongoing work of our small groups and pastoral care, the Lord has brought people to himself. We have hosted a number of online outreach events and in 2020 Andrew Buchanan joined us as our part time evangelist, developing a number of creative approaches in evangelism. Every Monday evening a group meets around the gospel on zoom. Andrew is planning to go back to Japan when he is permitted. Over the past 2 years the evangelism search team has been praying and working, and we believe we have the right candidate to join us full time, to help us better take the opportunities God is providing us.

2020 was hardly conducive to our search for a church property of our own. We considered one site, but after a short process the owners were unwilling to sell. Near the end of 2020 a generous donor stepped forward in Newfoundland and purchased a church and property for our sister Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) church, the Church of the Good Samaritan. The donor has undertaken to cover the refurbishment of the building and the upkeep. It is a great encouragement to all churches which lost their properties to the Anglican Church of Canada, to see how God is answering prayer. We need to keep seeking God on this issue.

2021

Nobody really knows when we will be able to meet in person in any numbers. Provincial estimates for vaccination times and easing restrictions are appropriately vague. In our planning we are looking at various scenarios. When it does come time to gather again we will need to have a season that combines two realities: the biblical practice of lament to express our grief and the biblical practice of having meals together with a joyous flavour. We will need to search for Christ’s sheep that are “dispersed abroad, and for his children who are in the midst of this naughty world, that they may be saved through Christ for ever” as the Prayerbook instructs us. And we will