Caledonia Times
February/March, 2012 A Section of the Anglican Journal
Fanning the Flame, Discovering the Passion by Archdeacon Ernest Buchanan
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ne of my favourite comedians is Bill Cosby. What a lot of folks don’t realise is that in addition to being very funny; he is also very well educated. He has numerous degrees as well as a doctorate in education. He tells the story that when he was an undergraduate, he was an education major specialising in gym. In other words, he was learning to be a gym teacher. He had a girlfriend who was a philosophy major. His girlfriend liked to show off her intelligence and go around asking great metaphysical questions about the meaning of the universe like: Why is there air? One day she was being pretentious and asked her boyfriend (Bill Cosby), that very question. He looked at her and commented that that was such an easy question he could not believe she did not know the answer. “Well, what is it” she replied. His response was “to put in basketballs” We live in a day when many parts of the Anglican Communion have forgotten why they exist. For the last few decades, many parts of the communion have been so focused on being “relevant” to society that it has oftentimes become a simple mirror image or perhaps even a caricature of the culture around it. Many feel that if we do not adapt, mimic and adopt the values and mores of society, then we are in danger of being left behind. Unfortunately, the end result is that the high and noble birthright is sold for a bowl of pottage. When we take our eyes off of our eternal goal, we become slaves to the contemporary. We become, in a sense, the church of what’s happening now instead of the Church of Jesus Christ. After the release of the Purpose Driven…Life, Church, Youth Ministry and whatever else has been
The Ascension produced by Saddleback Church, there are a lot of churches that have been scrambling to find mission statements—pithy slogans to guide them in their mission. Even people who would have little or no theological affinity with Rick Warren (who is, in my estimation, a pretty good guy) are clamouring for this. But, we have a mission statement, that mission statement was given to us by our Lord Jesus. We find it in Matthew 28:16-20. We have to approach this passage with a couple of things in mind. The first is that Matthew was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience and
used imagery which would be known to Jews. Jesus was presented as the messiah particularly in light of the prophecies in Deuteronomy of the teacher coming who was even greater than Moses who would lead them. We can see how Jesus re-enacted many major points in the life of Israel to demonstrate this. Also the way that Matthew organized his text around five sets of teachings is reflective of Jesus being the one who fulfils and expands upon the Law found in the Torah. So, picture with me in your mind Jesus having gathered together his eleven remaining disciples on the mountain in Galilee where he had spent the bulk of his life on Earth. The hill symbolised the place where God gave teaching, where God gave understanding to his people. It was demonstrative of Jesus’ authority as the teacher of Israel. Matthew 28.17 says “And when they saw him there they worshipped him, but some doubted.” The disciples saw him on the mountain saw his transformation of his resurrected self and all of the glory which he had had as the eternal son was restored to him in the resurrection. So, they worshipped him. They basked in the presence of the Holy One and worshipped. But, the verse says that some doubted. It may have been because as good Jews they did not understand if it was proper to worship Jesus. I really don’t think so. Because when we are in the presence of God all we can do is fall down on our face and worship…I think that we can find the answer in the next verse. You see, the verb translated as doubt can also be translated as wondered. They wondered See FANNING FLAME on p. 3
Our Past Bishops Need Our Help! O
The large cross for Arcbbishop and Mrs. Du Vernet are in very poor shape and in need of our attention.
ur late bishops and their wives need our help. It was recently pointed out by our Archivist, Cliff Armstrong, that the markers on the graves of Archbishop Du Vernet and Bishop Gibson are in very poor shape and need our attention. This is a plea to ask you to consider making a donation, whether great or small, to help the Diocese look after the monuments that commemorate the bishops and their wives who have served us in the past. The first and larger memorial is for Archbishop Frederick Herbert DuVernet who was the second bishop of Caledonia. He was consecrated a bishop on St. Andrew’s Day (November 30th) 1904 in the Diocese of Montreal and came and served as Dioc-
esan Bishop from 1904 until his death in1924. He served as the first Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia-Yukon serving as archbishop from 1915 to 1924. The second memorial is for Bishop James Byers and Mrs. Gibson, Bishop Gibson served Caledonia as her fourth bishop. Prior to his consecration, Bishop Gibson served in different missions and parishes in the Diocese, including time in Anyox, the Bulkley Valley, and as Dean of Caledonia from Prince Rupert. He was elected and consecrated bishop in the summer of 1945. Both Bishop and Mrs. Gibson died as the result of injuries sustained See HEADSTONES on p. 4
A New Look for the Times
Bishop’s Notes
Finding One’s Balance Bernard of Clairvaux wrote: Sorrow for sin is indeed necessary, but it should not involve endless self-preoccupation. You should dwell also on the glad remembrance of the loving kindness of God.
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s we enter into the Lenten Season this month, it occurred to me that there was great wisdom in what this 12th century monk wrote. For we have a tendency in our society to err too much towards either dismissing the idea of sin as a quaint relic of the past, or viewing all that happens around us as though we were the center of the universe. Bernard gets the balance right. We do need to be mindful of our sins if for no other reason than they can blind us to the needs of others, and can impair our relationship with God. But if we become overly fixated on our sins, we can end up both with a diminished sense of the gifts God has given to each of us, but also with an impoverished sense of how great a gift we have been given through the forgiveness of our sins by the atoning work of Christ. It is just as critical that we think about the loving kindness of God because that love is one that can only be lived out in community. We cannot love God if we are selfishly preoccupied with ourselves. To love God means being in an ever-deepening relationship with Him such that we are constantly deepening our relationship with those we encounter during the course of our days. To quote another of the great saints of the Church, St. Clement of Rome;
My friends, let us learn humility, and put aside selfassertion, arrogance, and foolish anger. Rather, let us act in accordance with Holy Scripture; “The wise must not glory in wisdom nor the strong in strength nor the rich in riches. Rather, let the one who glories glory in the Lord, by seeking Him and doing what is right and just.” Recall especially what the Lord Jesus said when He taught gentleness and forbearance. “Be merciful” he said, “so that you may have mercy shown to you. Forgive, so that you may be forgiven. As you treat others, so you will be treated. As you give, so you will receive. As you judge, so you will be judged. As you are kind to others, so you will be treated kindly. the measure of your giving will be the measure of your receiving. These two saints speak to us across the centuries. Yet the wisdom of what they say is timeless- it applies just as much to our spiritual and community health today as it did when first written. As we begin this year’s Lenten observance, let each of us take the time to look not only at what sins we are guilty of, but also of how we better serve God and our brothers and sisters in accord with what Jesus taught. +William: Caledonia
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s the song goes, “The times, they are a changin’.” In the days ahead, the leadership of the diocese will be looking at ways to better and more ably communicate within the diocese. As a first important step, we need to consider how we use the Caledonia Times. To that end, I want to make a suggestion to all of our faithful readers: please write or email or even sky write what you want to see in your diocesan newspaper. What kinds of articles and columns would like to see? How could you and your fellow parishioners take part? Would you consider taking and sending in pictures, writing and putting together an article, raising an important issue in the life of the Church through a letter to the editor or even writing a special column? And to help you out in communicating with the Caledonia Times, you can write and send all kinds of good and cool articles, ideas and pictures to the following email and regular mail addresses: caledoniatimes@gmail.com or 200 – 4th Avenue West, Prince Rupert, BC., V8J 1P3. Phone: (250) 627-1143. It is hoped and planned that when we are ready, that there will be an electronic version of the “Times” for people to access. We will make available links from the Diocesan website and through the Diocesan Facebook page to the e-version of the paper. The paper version may in time undergo other revisions as well. Changes in style and the frequency of its publishing will need to be considered. Its your paper and we need your help to make it all that it can be. We hope to hear from lots of people with lots of good and fresh ideas. Jason Haggstrom+ Editor, Caledonia Times
Did you know? … That in 1939 a new Sunday School Van called “St. Andrew” was paid for by Miss Eva Hassell, the founder of the mission for the Peace River Block. The people of the Bournemouth England supplied the money for the Van and the Sunday Schools of Edinburgh, Scotland supplied the money needed for gas and oil for 1938. The former van had survived for nine years, through “gumbo”, rain, sun and wind, then suddenly “died”. The salary for the driver, Miss Marson of Australia was supplied by the caravan fund. The new van traveled 2,000 miles and only 122 miles of the trips had to be made by walking. In 1937 the Sunday school ladies had to walk 358 miles. … During Lent in 1940 the Hazelton Sunday school Children held prayer meetings and special services to pray for the children of the Purulia Leper Home and Hospital in India. That “The Anglican Mission Sunday School” van, worked between Kitwanga and Finmore during the summers for 11 years. The entire venture was paid for by the various church groups in England and Scotland and the Western Canada Sunday School Caravan Fund. The Fund was organized and set up by Miss Eva Hasell and Miss Sazle who toured and spoke in various eastern Canadian parishes. The ladies also spent part of their winters speaking in Ireland, Scotland and Wales to raise funds for drivers and teachers. … that in 1940 special meetings were held along with appeals to support the work of the Church in
Iris Sayle and Eva Hasell Photo: General Synod Archives Western Canada. The then present and obsolete means of gathering funds was not financing the church work between the Pacific Ocean and Manitoba. British funds had been reduced to 60%. It was hoped that the church members would realize they would have to contribute monies to pay for the work within their own Diocese if The Missionary Society was to function successfully. At this time most British contributions were going to parishes in Ontario and Quebec along with the Maritime provinces. … That in 1939 Peace River Block was celebrating as they had twelve weeks without rain!!! “Everything from garden to field was gathered in” . Unfortunately there was no market in which to sell the produce and farmers were only allowed to sell 8 bushels for each acre sown and it required 10 bushels per acre to pay the cost of harvesting. The result was that the farmers had to sell their animals at a loss in order to build granaries and storage sheds.
Caledonia Times
Publication of the Anglican Diocese of Caledonia Editor: The Dean of Caledonia Published monthly, except July and August by: Diocese of Caledonia, 200 – 4th Avenue West Prince Rupert, BC V8J 1P3 (250) 627-1143 or (250) 600-7143 Address correspondence and copy to the address above. Or to caledoniatimes@gmail.com Submissions must be received by the 10th month for the following month’s issue. Send subscription orders, address changes Diocese of Caledonia c/o Anglican Journal 80 Hayden St. Toronto, Ontario M4Y 3G2 Printed and mailed by: Signal Star, Goderich, Ont.
Page 2 Caledonia Times — February/March 2012
Editorial
Making the Mission Incarnational
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round the Cathedral these days, there is a lot of talk about the future and what the mission of the parish might be. And as it happens, I was doing some research towards some planning we are going to do this winter. In particular, I wanted to know how to define mission so that I could build on that for what we were going to do. Yet in my research I uncovered something I was not prepared for. The word “mission” as it was first used in English in the early 16th Century, according to a online dictionary, is now obsolete. The dictionary indicated that “the act of sending” had ceased. I take that to mean that we do not use the word in that manner anymore. I could not help but think of the work of the Church and what it is that we are called by God to do. And then it struck me. We do not do “mission” the way that we used to. We could debate the merits and failures of the Church and how it has carried out its mission in Canada and in other places in the world. It would take some time to do that. I believe that such a discussion while tremendously useful on some levels would also distract us from what we need to do in the here and now. Such a belief comes from the old adage “the Church that lives unto itself, dies unto itself.” Thus I am pushing myself to look at the ministry of my own parish, of our Diocese and
“People in the community knew me simply by how I walked.”
of the wider Church as something more than the establishment and maintenance of a physical presence in a particular place at any given time. We as parishes and as a diocese, need to move from being mission churches to being churches in mission. After all, what is mission but a group of people who are working to see the goals and objectives of God established and accomplished in our lives and that of our community? We are sent and are trusted with the work that would bring people into the kingdom.
Fanning Flame Continued from p. 1 what they were supposed to do. For about three years they had been travelling with Jesus receiving his teaching and also teaching; building the reign of God throughout Israel. But now after the resurrection what were they supposed to do? If we look at the next few verses we can find the answer. Verse 18 says “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always even to the end of the age’” In these verses Jesus claimed divine authority. In the near eastern Jewish mind this meant that he was claiming to be divine. Instead of divinity being defined in terms of certain categories, In the Jewish mind divinity was expressed in terms of divine authority and divine action over creation as well as the pagan divinities. Jesus was accepting their worship as being proper. He was accepting it because he had the divine authority to do so. By that same authority he told them to “go and make disciples of all nations” In other words what they had been doing for the people of Israel they were now supposed to do amongst the other nations. The word nations was not used then as we think of them now as a socio-political category, what nations meant was that they were to go to all people groups. Why? It was so that people of all cultures and languages could come to be his disciple. Please note it does not say make converts and move on. It says make disciples, teaching them to observe. In other words it was not just about proclamation of Caledonia Times — February/March 2012
“We can grow…as we remain focused on our “mission statement” which is the Mission of God—the reconciliation of all of humanity to God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. the Gospel but, it was also about teaching. It was to help others become learners of Jesus. That mission to go is an imperative. It is something which should mark us as followers of Jesus is that we believe it to be so important that we want others to follow Him as well. That is our mission. That is our mandate. If we go around looking for other reasons such as Millennium Development Goals we are trading in our reason to exist. This is not to say we should not be concerned about poverty and labour against it, but when we trade in the high calling we all have as believers to be followers of Jesus for social action we are going to be left beaten, bruised, exhausted and ultimately scorned. We are at a point in our life as a diocese when we desperately need to recover that passion for shar-
Our mission is to embody Christ for others to see and to get to know. When I served in the far North, I would walk (not drive) in the community I served. People in the community came to know me not just by my face or how I talked; people knew me without those things simply by how I walked. Even the children would point at me as I passed by on my way somewhere and would say loudly, “There goes Jesu Krist!” It didn’t matter who it was that saw me, Anglicans, Roman Catholics? No, it didn’t. Even non-believers after a time of getting to know me would say that there was something different going on after I would speak with them. There was calm and a peace that they didn’t know themselves that would be present when we would talk. There would be joy and happiness that was deeper and more real. So let us make incarnational our mission. Let us embody Christ for others so that we might both present him and represent him in our different communities. Let us be about the work that God has set before us and be willing to pray with everything we are and give what we have that the kingdom would be extended so that we would go from being mission churches to being communities of mission. Jason Haggstrom+, Editor Caledonia Times
ing Jesus. We are at a time when instead of asking: “Where have all of the Anglicans gone?” or “How do we bring more Anglicans back?” We should be asking a much more basic question: “How do we bring people to Jesus so that their lives might be transformed by his grace and love?” This is a big challenge for many of us. Due to a unique set of historical and social circumstances, we have never had to wrestle with this very basic question. Now, it is necessary. We are living in a day when we must become much more centred on our very reason for existence if we as the Anglican Church of Canada wish to continue past the middle of this century. We are in a time when many of our parishes are shrinking both numerically as well as financially. It behoves to take our evangelistic calling seriously. The point I am trying to make is that we have a mandate. We have a mission. It is not impossible, The Diocese of Caledonia can grow—if we allow ourselves to take hold of the mandate, and live it out. But, we need to realise that this is an all hands on deck exercise. It is not simply the job of the priest to bring in more people. It is the proper role of all believers to present the Gospel. It is the priest’s role to encourage the people of God in this endeavour. We must ensure that in some way or another, every person who comes in contact with our congregations may come to hear, read, or see the Gospel. We can do this. It may mean that we have to change some of the images we have of ourselves. It may mean that we become quite different from what we have been in the recent past. But, we can grow and even prosper as long as we remain focused on our “mission statement” which is the Mission of God—the reconciliation of all of humanity to God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Page 3
Calendar Intercessions List 2012 Day 1 (and every day) THE BISHOP: William and his wife Margaret ---------------------------------------------------------------2) PRINCE RUPERT: The Congregation of the Cathedral Church of St. Andrew. The Very Rev. Jason Haggstrom, Dean and Nova and their family, for the Wardens, Church Committee and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------3) PORT EDWARD: The Congregation of Christ The King. The Rev. Sam Lewis Priest in Charge, The Rev. Canon John Martinson, Rector Emeritus, The Rev. Ben Hill and The Rev. Peter Nelson, Priests; The Revs. Thelma Hill, Bertha Lewis, Yvonne Hill, Katherine Lewis, and Anthony Adams Deacons; for the Wardens, Lay Readers, Catechists and Church Army Officers. ---------------------------------------------------------------4) KITKATLA: The Congregation of St. Peter’s. The Rev. Sam Lewis Priest in Charge; for the Wardens, Matthew Hill, Deacon for the Lay Readers and Church Army Officers. ---------------------------------------------------------------5) OLD MASSETT, HAIDA GWAII: The Congregation of St. John. The Rev. Lily Bell, Priest; for the Wardens, Lay Readers and Church Army Officers. ST. PAUL, MASSET INLET MISSION: The Congregation of St. Paul. For the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------6) KINCOLITH: The Congregation of Christ Church. The Rev. Harry Moore, Priest; for the Wardens, Lay Readers and Church Army Officers. ---------------------------------------------------------------7) TERRACE: The Congregation of St. Matthew. The Ven. Ernest Buchanan, Priest; Jim Cain, Associate Priest; for the Wardens and Lay Readers ---------------------------------------------------------------8) STEWART: The Congregation of St. Mark. ---------------------------------------------------------------9) AIYANSH: The Congregation of Holy Trinity. The Rev. Gary Davis, Priest in charge; The Rev. Lyle Adams, Priest; for the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------10) GREENVILLE: The Congregation of St. Andrew. The Rev. James Moore, Priest; for the Wardens, Lay Readers and Church Army Officers. ----------------------------------------------------------------
11) KITIMAT: The Congregation of Christ Church. The Rev. Luke Anker, Priest; for the Wardens and Lay Leaders. ---------------------------------------------------------------12) HAZELTON: The Congregation of St. Peter. For the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------13) BULKELY VALLEY PARISH: The Congregations of St. James. Smithers and St. John the Divine, Quick. The Rev. Daphne Moser, Priest, for the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------14) HOUSTON: The Congregation of St. Clement. The Rev. Margaret Powell (on Leave), Priest, For the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------15) STUART NECHAKO LAKES REGIONAL PARISH: The Congregations of Holy Trinity, Vanderhoof, St. Patrick’s, Fort St James and St. Wilfrid’s, Fraser Lake. Roy Andrews, Priest; Gwen Andrews, Deacon; for the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------16) MACKENZIE: The Congregation of Hope Trinity. The Rev. Henry Dunbar, Priest; for the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------17) HUDSON’S HOPE: The Congregation of St. Peter. The Rev. Fay Lavallee, Deacon for the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------CHETWYND: The Congregation of Chetwynd Shared Ministry. Marlene Peck, Lay Missionary; for the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------18) NORTH PEACE PARISH: The Congregations of St. Martin, Fort St. John, St. Mathias, Cecil Lake and Church of the Good Shepherd, Taylor. Awaiting clergy appointment for the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------19) SOUTH PEACE PARISH: The Congregations of St. Mark, Dawson Creek and Christ Church, Pouce Coupe. Awaiting clergy; for the Wardens and Lay Readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------20) SYNOD OFFICE STAFF: Debby Shaw Secretary-Treasurer; Donna Demers Accountant; Cliff Armstrong and Jennifer Davies, Diocesan Archivists.
21) DIOCESAN EXECUTIVE AND ALL OTHER DIOCESAN COMMITTEES ---------------------------------------------------------------22) RETIRED CLERGY: Lance Stephens, Mike Monkman, Lorna Janze, Peter Hamel, Mary Parslow, Charlie Parslow, Fay Lavallee, Ray Fletcher. SPECIAL MINISTRIES: Brent Neumann, ---------------------------------------------------------------23) HONORARY CANONS: Lance Stephens, Peter Hamel, John Martinson; HONORARY LAY CANONS: Jennifer Davies, Murdoch Robinson, Camilla Haines, Eleanor Kustas. ---------------------------------------------------------------24) REGISTRAR: Desiree Read; CHANCELLOR: Deborah O’Leary; A.C.W. PRESIDENT: Chris Broad ---------------------------------------------------------------25) CAMP CALEDONIA: Luke Anker, Chairperson and the board members ---------------------------------------------------------------26) BENEFACTORS AND CONTRIBUTORS OF THE DIOCESE. ---------------------------------------------------------------27) BISHOPS OF THE PROVINCE OF BC & YUKON The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz The Rt. Rev. Michael Ingham, New Westminster The Rt. Rev. Larry Robertson, Yukon The Rt. Rev. James Cowan, British Columbia The Most Rev. John Privett, Kootenay The Rt. Rev. Barbara Andrews, Bishop Suffragan to the Metropolitan of BC & Yukon (APCI) ---------------------------------------------------------------28) THE PRIMATE & METROPOLITANS: The Most Rev. John Privett, BC & Yukon The Most Rev. David Ashdown, Rupert’s Land The Most Rev. Colin Johnson, Ontario The Most Rev. Claude Miller, Canada ---------------------------------------------------------------29) ALL THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES AND TRAINING CENTERS: – especially Wycliffe College, and Regent College ---------------------------------------------------------------30) The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund ----------------------------------------------------------------
Headstones Continued from p. 1 in a car accident at Prince Rupert in 1952. As one can see from the pictures, the conditions of the monuments and the state of the graves, there is some work that needs to be done to level the ground and to put some new material down to protect the graves and shore up the markers so that they do not deteriorate faster. If you would like to make a donation to help the diocese with this, please send a donation to the following: The Bishops Memorials – The Bishop’s Discretionary Fund c/o The Diocese of Caledonia #201-4716 Lazelle Avenue, Terrace, BC., V8G 1T2 Your thoughtfulness and generosity are greatly appreciated.
The photo above shows the crumbling condition of the marker for Archbishop and Mrs. Du Vernet. Below, the ground around Bishop Gibson’s marker needs levelling. —ed.
Page 4 Caledonia Times — February/March 2012