The Saskatchewan Anglican, November 2015

Saskatchewan anglican

The newspaper of the Dioceses of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon and Qu’Appelle • A Section of the Anglican Journal • November 2015 www.facebook.com/thesaskatchewananglican ­—

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‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’

A young girl places carnations in front of a Canadian headstone at the Holten Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands. Every year, thousands of Dutch gather at the cemetery to remember Canada’s efforts in freeing their country at the end of the Second World War. Over 1,300 Canadians were laid to rest in this cemetery. The remains of 98 other Commonwealth soldiers are also here. Managing editor Jason Antonio was at this event and saw this girl place her flowers.

Photo — RTVoost News

Headmaster of Bishop McAllister College visits Saskatchewan

By Mary Brown PRINCE ALBERT – What more could on ask for at a Raider’s Hockey Game than sudden death overtime, a couple of good fights and the Raiders winning the game?

Hope and Caleb Twinamatsiko from Uganda were thrilled to be able to take in a hockey game when they visited the diocese in September. The couple attended our Tuesday morning Eucharist and a coffee get-together afterwards.

This is when he told us what his version of skates was: “boots with

knives on the bottom of them.”

That is why he wondered why any parent would let their child play hockey Another highlight of their visit was to go for a ride on a combine.

David Adams was combining canola on the land beside St. Mary’s Cemetery and noticed the bishop and his guests watching him.

He graciously asked them if they wanted to go for a ride.

They were very excited as they had talked about combines and hockey in their school in Africa and now could experience the real thing.

Hope took many pictures and videos of everything they did.

They will have lots to talk about when they get home.

They even took a small sample of canola seed with them.

The couple spoke to a large group of people gathered a St. Alban’s Cathedral on Sept. 24.

They are from Uganda, which is located in East Africa.

It covers 93,263 square miles with a population of 41 million.

Half of the population is younger than 14 years.

About three million children have lost their parent either to HIV/AIDS, war or accidents.

When asked about tribal wars in Uganda, Canon Caleb said there are so many different tribes in Uganda that there are not enough of them to get a large enough group together to fight each other (which is a good thing).

The accidents that people are killed in are mostly car and pedestrian accidents.

Canon Caleb is the assistant rector of Bishop McAllister College and headmaster of the Secondary Section.

The college offers programs in theological studies, O & A Level studies, as well as a seminary program of primary and O level

studies.

There are about 700 students at the school and half of them are orphans. They are very thankful to the people in Canada for their generosity in their donations to the college.

Hope joined Compassion International, where she was a project director for more than 10 years.

She also took courses in Child Development, earned a certificate and a diploma in counselling and a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology.

Today she is a lecturer at Kamala See “UGANDA” on page 5

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The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

Reconciliation calls for truth to be spoken, not swept under a rug

Saskatchewan The newspaper of the Dioceses of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon and Qu’Appelle • A Section of the Anglican Journal • January 2013

By Rev. Norbert Haukenfrers, D.Min What was Jesus talking about in Matthew 18:15-19 and how does it apply to us?

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have had an awful season. No challenge flag will change that.

Many times I prayed a video review would verify a touchdown or a crucial first down.

Most of the calls made by the referees were fair, and when they were questionable, a coach threw a challenge flag to call for a review of the play.

When the challenge flag is thrown, the play in question is reviewed from several angles, ensuring the right call is made.

The purpose is to allow teams to win or lose on merit, limiting the influence of an inaccurate call. The challenge flag is not thrown to gain an unfair advantage but to ensure the correct call is made.

In Matthew 18, when the disciples come to Jesus, they throw the challenge flag. They ask, “Who is the greatest?”

Maybe they believed they deserved a place of privilege in the kingdom of God. Jesus responds to their challenge by reviewing the question from several angles.

First He looks from the

In Matthew 18, when the disciples come to Jesus, they throw the challenge flag. They ask, “Who is the greatest?” Jesus responds to their challenge by reviewing the question from several angles.

Photo — Fstockfoto perspective of a child, reminding them of their need to be childlike in their faith.

Then He takes the perspective of the innocent, suggesting it would be better to have concrete boots and be thrown into the river than to cause an innocent person to stumble.

Then He takes the perspective of a body. “If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off!” Then looking at a shepherd, He tells a story of a lamb, lost and separated from the flock.

This view is from all different

angles on the least, the vulnerable in need of protection.

Then Jesus turns and takes another approach: ‘What if a community member wrongs you?’ This threatens the integrity of the Christian community.

The passage is “fearsomely practical and ruthlessly idealistic”(Tom Wright), and guides the disciples on how to live out reconciliation when real offence has occurred, an offence that is identifiable and verifiable.

Reconciliation doesn’t call for denial and a swift sweeping

under the rug, but it calls for truth to be spoken. First, respectfully in private, and if no repentance is evident, then among a group who know of the offence.

If the offender still refuses to hear, then bring the matter to the church and offer the offender another opportunity for reconciliation.

If the offender remains unrepentant, Jesus tells the disciples, “Let them be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.”

Peter recognizes what Jesus is saying, perhaps even recalling the accusations about Jesus being “a friend of tax collectors” (Mt 11:19).

He asks for clarification, “How long do I have to put up with this person?” Surely forgiving the same offence seven times is enough.

To which Jesus says, “You’re getting it Peter, but seven times isn’t nearly enough, try seven times 70.”

Jesus confronts Peter with a story concerning forgiveness and reconciliation.

So upon review, the challenge of “who is the greatest?” is irrelevant to the real call on the field of, ‘Who is the least and how are you caring, protecting, forgiving and loving them?’

Rev. Norbert Haukenfrers, D.Min, is a priest in the Diocese of Saskatchewan.

By Archdeacon Malcolm French I never write sermons. I do prepare sermons, but I don’t write them. And I never use the pulpit.

By rough calculations, I’d preached more than 600 sermons at St. James the Apostle, Regina, and never once had I used the pulpit.

So I don’t know what was more unusual: that I’d written the complete text of my sermon, or that I’d stepped into the pulpit.

His name was Aylan. He was three years old; fearfully and wonderfully made in the image and likeness of God. There was really no way one could have seen that picture during the week – that little toddler, lying on the beach, looking for all the world like any other toddler who had fallen asleep in mid-play – and not be

moved by it.

There was no way I could possibly have seen that picture and not address it in the sermon.

There was no way any of us could un-see that little boy.

All of us could imagine our own children, or grandchildren, our nieces and nephews.

At St. James, where our diocesan refugee family worships, there was no way we could look at that picture without saying, “That could have been little Mimi.”

The whole Earth recoiled at that picture.

What sort of hell must one be escaping for it to make sense to risk your life – to risk your family’s lives – on a flimsy raft in an open sea with not enough life jackets?

One does not do this lightly.

One has to be fleeing a special kind of hell.

Within a day or two, the excuses began. These people are really economic migrants, not refugees.

There might be terrorists mixed up with the migrants.

There are too many of them; we

can’t help.

The reading that Sunday was from the Epistle of James: For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy.

What can we do?

In the face of such suffering, such hate, such indifference, what can we do?

First, we can pray. To some, this may not seem like much.

But our first response, as Christians, should be to hold up the victims of this refugee crisis before God. Jesus, who was a child refugee Himself, will hear our prayers.

Second, we can help to sponsor refugee families.

The Diocese of Qu’Appelle is currently raising money to support another family of Christian refugees from Iraq; we are more than half way to our $40,000 goal.

I know of at least one other parish in our diocese which has begun work to sponsor another family.

A few families may not seem like much, given the depth of the crisis, but it is the difference

Published by the Dioceses of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon and Qu’Appelle.

Published monthly except for July and August.

Whole No. 292, Vol. 44, No. 3 A Section of the Anglican Journal SUBSCRIPTIONS For change of address, undeliverable copies and subscription list updates, contact: • Your parish • e-mail: circulation @national.anglican.ca • Or send to Saskatchewan Anglican, c/o Anglican Journal, 80 Hayden Street, Toronto, Ont. M4Y 3G2

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His name was Aylan A response to the Syrian refugee crisis

anglican

between life and death for those families.

It is said that, “who saves a single life saves the world entire.”

Third, we can contribute to the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund.

So far in 2015, PWRDF has been able to send more than $240,000 to ecumenical partners in the Middle East and the Balkans for food, water, shelter and winter clothing, as well as supports for health care and education for refugees.

Fourth, we can raise the issue of refugees with members of Parliament.

Not only does our government determine our national response to the refugee crisis, they also make choices about foreign policy.

There is a long history of Western intervention in the Middle East which has contributed to the instability of the region and the rise of extremism.

There are yet still more other thousands of Aylans. It is not too late for them.

Managing Editor: Jason Antonio SKAnglicanEditor@gmail.com 1501 College Ave Regina, Sask., S4P 1B8 Phone: (306) 737-4898 Qu’Appelle: Joanne Shurvin-Martin joannesm@myaccess.ca 6927 Farrell Bay Regina, Sask., S4X 3V4 Phone: (306) 775-2629 Saskatoon: Peter Coolen ptrcoolen@sasktel.net 820 Avenue I South, Saskatoon, Sask., S7M 1Z3 Phone: (306) 244-0935, Saskatchewan: Mary Brown synod@sasktel.net 1308 Fifth Avenue East Prince Albert, Sask., S6V 2H7 Phone: (306) 763-2455 PUBLISHING DETAILS Published from 59 Roberts Place Regina, Sask., S4T 6K5 Printed and mailed by Webnews Printing Inc. 8 High Meadow Place North York, Ont. M9L 2Z5

The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

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Silence, solitude and meditation important to Celtic spirituality By the Right Rev. David Irving Bishop of Saskatoon Editor’s note: The Right Rev. David Irving, Bishop of Saskatoon, will be on sabbatical from September to December.

While Bishop Irving is away he will be sending periodic updates on his travels. These updates will be posted on the diocesan website.

I am writing this article while on sabbatical, where I have been visiting a number of monasteries, spending time in prayer and meditation, and considering some of the great religious figures.

Last week I came across a small island just off the west coast of Ireland called Skellig Michael. The island is now a World Heritage Site.

UNESCO described Skellig Michael, in 1996, as a unique example of an early religious settlement which illustrates, as no other site can, the extremes of Christian monasticism.

In the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries, when most of Europe was still in the “dark ages,” Christianity was flourishing especially brightly in Ireland.

The early Celtic church was loosely organized and allowed room for individuality.

Monasteries were self-

Skellig Michael is a small, extremely rugged island just off the west coast of Ireland. The island, once home to one of the earliest Irish monastic settlements, is now a World Heritage Site.

Photo — Contributed governing; the philosophy and style were quite different from that of the more structured Church of Rome.

The inspiration of the Celtic Church came partly from the Desert Fathers of the third century Egypt, who sought God, in solitude, in the desert.

Silence, solitude and meditation were important expects of Celtic spirituality, together with fasting and other bodily privations designed to build up the soul by curbing the body. The monastery consisted of groups of individual cells

where monks lived separately, meeting together for worship and Eucharist.

Some monks never left the monastery and lived in conditions of almost unbelievable harshness and loneliness, like the monastery on the bare, barren rock of Skellig Michael.

Other monks, like St. Columba, spent many years travelling through Ireland setting up monasteries, including Kells monastery. (Columba, in Irish “Columcille, the Dove of the Church”).

Unfortunately in 563 A.D.,

when he was about 40, he became involved in a dispute over the copyright of a manuscript, a transcript of the psalms. As is the way with human beings, even monks, the dispute escalated and eventually led to open warfare in which many were killed.

Columba felt so guilty about this incident that he imposed on himself voluntary exile. He vowed to leave his homeland and devote himself to evangelism abroad.

He sailed towards Scotland with a group of monks and settled on the island of Iona in the north-

west of Scotland. He established a monastery on Iona where the monks devoted themselves to manual work, study and prayer.

The monastery became famous and much nobility travelled there to be educated; rulers came to ask Columba for advice. He also travelled widely through Scotland, spreading the gospel and founding monasteries. Another monk who also travelled was Aidan, who went out on foot, spreading the word.

St. Columba died in 597A.D., however, his monastery on Iona continued to flourish.

In the eighth century the historian Bede described it as known for “purity of life, love of God, and loyalty to the monastic rule.”

However, soon the Viking invaders made life impossible and the monks moved inland, taking their books with them. The magnificently illustrated Book of Kells was probably produced on Iona and later moved for safety to Kells.

Today, Iona is again famous for its monastery and the Iona community acts as a source of guidance and inspiration for many people.

I will next be in Canterbury visiting one of the great cathedrals and another chapter of history.

Humility is the key when serving others

By Jason Antonio WATROUS (S’toon) – The virtue of humility should be the motive behind the actions Christians undertake when performing the work of God. “Paul begins the second chapter of Philippians with these words: ‘In humility, count others better than yourself.’ When we are equipping ourselves for mission, we let our priorities be shaped by the needs of others,” explained Archbishop Tom Morgan, a former bishop in the dioceses of Saskatchewan and Saskatoon and former Metropolitan of the Province of Rupert’s Land.

“The greater the need, the higher the priority. It seems to me to be as simple as that.”

Morgan’s comments on humility and mission – the work of God – were given during the opening service of the 48th session of the Synod of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert’s Land.

The Synod took place in Manitou Springs near Watrous and included 10 dioceses from across Western and Northern Canada, including the dioceses

of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon and Qu’Appelle.

The event’s theme was “Marked by Mission,” with a strong emphasis on the five Marks of Mission and how they relate to the work of the Church.

Morgan use the service’s Scripture readings – Isaiah 49:1-6 and Luke 10:1-12;17-20 – to discuss what it means to be God’s servants. The archbishop pointed out whether the servant was Moses, Isaiah or Israel, each is “overcome by a sense of unworthiness and were all

tempted to call that humility.”

In “our reading from Isaiah … (he) said, ‘I am an abject and total failure. I have laboured in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.’

“Now listen to God’s reply,” the archbishop stated. “You can almost hear ‘Oh, is that so?’ Well there’s more. ‘It’s not enough for you to be merely my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the survivors of Israel. “‘You must do more than that. I’ll give you a delight to the nations and my salvation may reach to the end of the Earth.’

“So whatever humility is, it doesn’t sound like selfdeprecation.”

Morgan spoke about the recent movie on Jackie Robinson and Robinson’s struggle in being the first black man to play major league baseball, with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In the movie, the Dodgers’ general manager asks Robinson if he can hold his temper and not fight back when facing the expected racial abuse.

“And Robinson was aghast,” Morgan recalled. “He said, ‘Are you looking for a negro who’s

“Paul begins the second chapter of Philippians with these words: ‘In humility, count others better than yourself.’ When we are equipping ourselves for mission, we let our priorities be shaped by the needs of others.”

Archbishop Tom Morgan afraid to fight back?’ And (the general manager) replied, ‘No, I’m looking for a negro player with the strength not to.’

The former diocesan bishop used the example of Robinson not fighting back to segue to Philippians 2:5-8, which he said could be captioned “Jesus with the guts not to fight back.”

“It seems if we take these Scriptures seriously, that Jesus humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant and going further to dying, it seems humility has little to nothing to do with being morally superior

or inferior,” commented the archbishop.

“It is the virtue which determines how we act in the face of adversity, how we give ourselves to God’s mission.”

Morgan then connected his earlier comments about God’s servants feeling unworthy with Jesus’ baptism and how, through His baptism, we are God’s beloved sons and daughters.

“Such a person can never say I am nothing. And if you do, like so many who are called to serve, you can expect God to ignore your lament and press on. You are never nothing in the eyes of God… .

“Like Jackie Robinson, like Jesus, it’s enough to know who we are to become strong,” Morgan remarked.

“We are God’s beloved.

That is the power and authority, which enables us to own the Marks of Mission … and to get on with them, and somewhere in the midst of it all, to discover Jesus who humbled Himself, becoming one with us, going further to serve us, to wash our feet, to die that we might live.”

Photo — Margaret Marschall

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The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

Talk, study and pray when discipling others

By Grace McVittie

Rev. Chris Dow, Wendell Brock and Remi Rheault help move a piano into the Diocese of Saskatchewan Synod office, after a large donation was made to the diocese.

Photo by Mary Brown

Donations from The Pas

By Mary Brown PRINCE ALBERT – What is that saying, that if you build it they will come? Well, if you say fire, people will donate.

This is what happened in Christ Church, The Pas, Man. When the rector, Rev. Rebecca Graham, and her husband Remi Rheault learned of the fires in Saskatchewan, they wanted to help.

They “borrowed” a 30-foot trailer from a local business – along with a driver – and filled it to the top with furniture and clothing from the people and

businesses in Manitoba, Christ Church, The Pas and the Church of the Redeemer on OCN, for the people in Saskatchewan.

Rheault was in touch with Patricia Hunter in the Department of Health and Social Development in the Prince Albert Grand Council and Bishops Michael Hawkins and Adam Halkett in the Diocese of Saskatchewan.

The trailer arrived at Prince Albert Grand Council, where the donations were unloaded onto smaller trucks destined for communities in need.

The semi then proceeded to

the Synod Office to unload the rest of its cargo.

It was a tight fit to get the semi in our parking lot and to unload the piano, organ, computer desk, printer and photocopier, plus other items.

Since the fires, we have seen people from across the province and country unite in prayer and giving to support those affected by the fires.

It has been a very moving experience for us.

If anyone is interested in acquiring any of the items they left us, please call the Synod Office.

MOOSE JAW (Qu’A) – Five people from the Parish of Palliser attended the “How to make Disciples” workshop, held at St. Aidan’s Moose Jaw and put on by the Qu’Appelle School for Mission and Ministry.

It was led by Julie Moser, Youth and Children’s Missioner for the Diocese of Qu’Appelle, and Myra Daugherty, Instructor of Children’s Ministry for the Moose Jaw Alliance Church.

Anglican participants came from Gull Lake and Shaunavon, while a Lutheran couple from Yorkton also attended.

Participants gathered in the church for a 15-minute worship service led by Canon Catherine Harper. Moser led the first session by simply teaching someone to follow Jesus as we do. She used Judges 2:10 to illustrate how it is important to pass our knowledge of Jesus down to our generation and the next.

She used the examples set by Paul and Timothy who passed their knowledge of Christianity on to others. She told participants to talk, study and pray when they meet to disciple someone.

Be concerned about their welfare; are they happy with the way things are going, their health, their relationships, their family, their Christian life? Teach them how to read the Bible, pray and reach out to others.

Later Daugherty started by

saying it is never too early to start discipling a child, beginning in the womb. She said to tell children they are on a journey and the Bible is their guide.

Teach them how to pray, starting with thanks for all we have, the beauty of nature, our family and friends and for those we see who are in need and also asking God, who is with us always, for their protection.

She stressed that you can pray anytime and anywhere as God is always with us. She said we should start by praising God, then say the things we are thankful for, confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, and then, if there is something we want from Him to ask for it.

Daugherty also said not to be afraid of silence to help clear clutter from our minds and be able to meditate, and not to be afraid to lament. In addition, help the child to meditate on Scripture.

Moser then gave an outline on how to disciple someone. She gave everyone time-line cards beginning with Genesis 2:8-9 to the end of Revelation 22:1-3 and had them put the cards in order.

Biblical Theology shows the process of getting from the beginning of the Bible (the Garden of Eden) to the end (Heaven). It shows how God deals with the problem of our sin. The link between the two is Jesus, who reverses the effect of the Fall.

DIOCESE OF SASKATOON

Announcements for November 2015 Sask. Anglican Online! Did you know you can read current and past issues of the Saskatchewan Anglican?

Go online to the Diocese of Saskatoon’s website or on Facebook at www.facebook. com/saskatchewananglican. g St. John’s Cathedral Advent Tea and Bake Sale: Saturday, Nov. 28, 2 to 4 p.m. at The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Parish Hall; 816 Spadina Crescent, Saskatoon.

Featuring afternoon tea, turkey pies (frozen), baking, jams and crafts. Free parking. g The Parish of St. George’s, Saskatoon, will hold a Saints and Sinners Dance to celebrate All Saints’ Day at 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 30. All ages welcome.

St. George’s will also have its annual Christmas Tea and Bake Sale on Saturday, Nov. 28 from 1 to 3 p.m.

St. George’s also hosts a Community Coffee House every Thursday from 9 to 11

a.m. Join them for a warm social time with coffee, tea, toast and some type of baked goods at no charge.

The coffee time is followed by a weekly Bible Study from 11 a.m. to noon. All events are in the Parish Hall, 624 Avenue I South. g The Parish of St. Stephen’s, Saskatoon will hold a Poinsettia Tea, Craft and Bake Sale on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 10 Grosvenor Cres.

Admission is free. g Integrity/Saskatoon: Integrity/Saskatoon is a group of the GLBTT community and friends. For information please phone 306 491-3315, visit the Facebook page at “Integrity/ Saskatoon” or check out the Integrity/Saskatoon web site at “www.integritysaskatoon. blogspot.com“. g Seniors’ Lunch in Battleford: The Friendship Committee of St. George’s, Battleford invites all seniors to join them for lunch the first

Monday of each month until June. Each Seniors’ Lunch begins at noon. g Is history your thing?

Weekly guided public tours of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Saskatoon are conducted every Thursday at 1 p.m. Also, a guided tour of the cathedral and columbarium is now available directly after the 10:30 a.m. Sunday service.

If you are interested in a Sunday tour, please make this known to one of the sidespersons at the Sunday service, who will direct you to the person or persons who will be conducting the tour. g A mid-week Celebration of the Holy Eucharist is held in the Lady Chapel at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist at 12:10 pm every Wednesday. Consider making this service part of your week.

Several people who attend this service bring a bag lunch and enjoy sharing a meal with each other in the Cathedral Hall.

All are warmly welcome. g Volunteers needed for Rainbow 50+ Program: This program is looking for volunteers who would enjoy being part of a meal preparation team, creating a hot, nutritious lunch for 30 to 40 isolated seniors who attend The Rainbow 50+ program.

The program operates weekly from September to June out of St. Thomas Wesley United Church, 20th Street and Avenue H. Volunteers could expect to spend up to four to six hours on Tuesdays.

For more information about Rainbow 50+ and/or volunteer opportunities, please call Sheila at 306-373-1418. You are welcome to come and meet the organizers between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the program, any Tuesday. g Volunteers training and opportunities by the Prairie Hospice Society: Volunteer training will be offered Nov. 21, 22, 28 and 29 and Dec. 5 and 6 for the Hospice Without Walls

program. This provides support and services to individuals and families who are facing advancing illness, death and bereavement.

These support services are provided within the individuals’ homes. For more information, phone 306-249-5554.

The website is www.prairiehospice. org.

DEADLINES: To be included in a timely manner, brief notices should be sent to the Associate Editor by fax, e-mail or “snail mail” by the last week of the month, two months before the month in which the insertion is desired (for example, September submissions will be in the November issue).

Detailed and longer texts of upcoming events will not be included in this section, but should space allow, could be the subject of article and notices elsewhere in the Saskatchewan Anglican.

The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

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Military chaplains honoured through unusual and poignant items

By Carolyn Purden TORONTO – St. James’ Cathedral in Toronto recently hosted a multi-faith exhibit saluting Canada’s military chaplains and the role they played in conflicts from earliest times up to the war in Afghanistan.

The cathedral wanted to mark the centennial of the start of the First World War, but in a way that differed from the many other commemorative events taking place in the city, says cathedral archivist Nancy Mallett.

She discovered there had never been an exhibition in Canada honouring the military chaplaincy, so it was decided the cathedral exhibit would provide a historical overview of the roles of chaplains as they have accompanied troops during conflicts and natural disasters.

Called to Serve: An Exhibit Honouring Canada’s Military Chaplains of All Faiths is designed to go beyond the Anglican and even Christian point of view.

As Mallett points out, the “call of empire” in the First World War affected people of many different faiths and cultures around the globe.

Chaplains are generally thought of as providing religious

Examples at the military chaplains exhibit include a prayer book carried in a chaplain’s breast pocket with a bullet hole through it and a prayer book with steel cover.

Photo — The Toronto Anglican services to the military, but Mallett says their role goes far beyond that.

“They’re in the trenches with the men, they’re on patrol,” she says. “They’re with them in the hospitals, they’re gathering the dead. They’re right there in front line, unarmed.”

The exhibit included photographs, paintings, press clippings, posters, letters, poems, uniforms, insignia, liturgical apparel and many other artifacts.

They came from museums, collectors, individuals and the cathedral’s archives.

The cathedral itself has many remembrances of conflict, including memorials to the Northwest Rebellion, the Boer War and First and Second World Wars, which were highlighted as part of the exhibit.

There were examples of stitchery and embroidery, such as a chasuble and hanging inspired by the poem In Flanders Fields,

a quilt of poppies and a hooked rug of Vimy Ridge created from old uniforms.

The exhibit included a communion set with an interesting story. A pair of brass candlesticks and a cross about nine inches high were used by a chaplain during the First World War. They were passed on to a Canadian chaplain going to Bosnia, but he wanted a chalice and paten to go with them.

He found what he wanted in

Thoughts on ‘Godde’ By the Rev. Shawn Sanford Beck SASKATOON – Editor’s note: The Rev. Shawn Sanford Beck is the diocesan education and training officer for the Diocese of Saskatoon and is founder of the Ecumenical Companions of Sophia.

Theological language is such an interesting phenomenon.

In the September issue of the Saskatchewan Anglican, in my article on faith, I used the word “Godde” in place of God. It turns out that for some readers, this is the first time they have encountered this term. So perhaps a few words of explanation are in order.

For at least four decades, scholars, pastors and other theological specialists have been paying close attention to the way language functions in theological reflection, liturgical praxis and faith formation.

Without a doubt, the words we use in prayer, worship, preaching and daily speaking have a huge effect on the way we experience the Presence of the Holy in our lives. Words matter!

Of course, some readers may

simply write this concern off as “political correctness” (whatever that means), but I beg to differ.

For me, the key issue is idolatry: our faith forbids us from making images of YHVH. Now, few of us are tempted to set up a golden calf in the backyard and worship it, but the danger I am concerned with is linguistic idolatry.

We may all nod our heads and concur with the theologians that the Divine is technically beyond gender, neither male nor female.

But when we constantly use the words “He”, “Lord”, “King”, etc., we create in our minds a definite image of God and it is definitely a male image.

This male image, after at least 3,000 years of exclusive usage, has become an idol.

For me, this type of linguistic idolatry is unacceptable, so I’ve made commitments to change my own behaviour.

For a while I tried avoiding pronouns for Godde altogether, but that felt stilted and impersonal.

So, rather than trying to erase gender from my language about God, I have decided to use a plurality of gendered pronouns, images,

titles and names for the Divine.

One of these terms (though certainly not the only one) is “Godde”.

The word Godde sounds like God when you read it aloud, but the visual cues give a reminder that God is not male. Godde is similar to the feminine form of God (Goddess), but not quite the same. It is a reminder that our language for Divinity must be ambiguous, so that we don’t fall into idolatry.

Some men (and women) may continue to claim this type of “inclusive” or “expansive” language in the church is a nonissue.

However, I have met many women (and men) who have expressed deep frustration with the exclusively masculine language in an already patriarchal institution, and who are grateful when alternative language is used.

For many of us, language does matter. For all of us, idolatry should matter.

Thank you to the editors for giving me a chance to explain my use of the term “Godde”. I’d be interested to hear what others think!

a Jewish antiques store — they were silver, with Jewish markings on the paten. This multi-faith set was used not only in Bosnia, but also in Afghanistan.

Some items tell of death — a prayer book carried in the chaplain’s breast pocket with a bullet hole in it — and some tell of avoiding death, such as a prayer book with a steel cover.

The Royal Regiment of Canada lent a cross of stones. It was built by John Foote, the only Canadian chaplain to have been awarded the Victoria Cross in the Second World War. He was taken prisoner at Dieppe and after the war returned to the beach and gathered stones for a cross.

A more unusual item was a six-inch copper disc, known as a penny, given by King George V to the families of those killed in the First World War. A chaplain was administering a burial service when shrapnel burst out.

After it was over, the chaplain was found mortally wounded.

The penny, given to his family with a letter from the king, shows Britannia holding a laurel wreath over his inscribed name.

There were many other items that recalled the bravery of the men and women who accompany the military to battle.

UGANDA Continued from page 1 International University, an active member of the Mother’s Union and a volunteer at the college.

She spoke passionately to the group about her hopes for the future of the girls in the college.

In our diocese, we are sponsoring four girls so they can attend the college.

The cost is from $400 to $450 a year.

Students’s daily routine is

up every day at 4:30 a.m. and finish studying at 10 p.m., at which time they go to bed.

Additional programs in the Upper School include Chapel every morning (7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m.), Bible Study Wednesday 7:15 a.m. to 8 a.m., H.C. Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sunday service from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

The seminary has prayers three times a day, Holy Communion every Sunday and Anglican studies.

Sask. Anglican looking for new associate editor for Diocese of Saskatchewan Contributed PRINCE ALBERT — The Diocese of Saskatchewan is looking for an Associate Editor to assist the diocese with collecting articles and photos from around the diocese, as well as making monthly submissions to the Saskatchewan Anglican’s managing editor for print.

The Associate Editor

will work for the bishop of Saskatchewan and parish correspondents from around the diocese to bring information to the public.

The requirements for the position are firstly, a Grade 12 education and secondly, experience in editorial work.

Those interested are to contact the synod office at 306-763-2455 or synod@sasktel.net.

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The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

All Saints’, Melville nearly recovered from flood Courtesy the Melville Advance MELVILLE (Qu’A) — All Saints’ Anglican Church in Melville has nearly recovered from a flood that hit the church more than a year ago.

Massive rainfall hit the city in July 2014. All Saints’ basement was immediately flooded and “totally destroyed,” explained Pastor Kim Sherwin, who ministers to the Anglican congregation.

Sherwin is the pastor in charge of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, which is in full communion with All Saints’.

After she arrived at All Saints’, she found water lapping at the bottom of the basement stairs leading to the lower parish hall. The water collected in the cellar first. It then rose more than a foot and spilled into the hall and up to the stairs.

While the water rose about a foot up the wall, by the time a restoration company addressed the problem, moisture had seeped up about three feet.

The floodwater also destroyed the ground-level cupboards in the kitchen and gutted the bathrooms.

Between the cellar and hall is an area where the furnaces and water heater are. The furnaces were OK, Sherwin explained, but those were shut down after she flipped the breakers as a precaution.

The Diocese of Qu’Appelle’s insurance deductible was

Pastor Kim Sherwin talks about how water collected in the church’s cellar before rising and spilling into the hall and up to the basement stairs.

Photo courtesy Melville Advance $10,000, which was “a lot” for a small congregation to come up with. All Saints’ experienced $90,000 in total damages.

The inside of the church wasn’t as damaged, sustaining some bubbling of the walls due to moisture. However, services couldn’t be held because there were no bathrooms.

“I contacted the Anglican bishop, (Rob Hardwick), and said I would move All Saints’ into St. Paul’s Lutheran,” Sherwin explained, adding with a laugh, “It’s not a happily

ever after story, but that’s what happened.”

All Saints’ parishioners worshipped at St. Paul’s Lutheran for 10 months before moving back in May 2015. A celebration was held with the bishop and other Anglican clergy.

“It was an interesting experience,” chuckled Sherwin.

While the parishioners moved back, All Saints’ monthly breakfast stayed at St. Paul’s Lutheran since it has bigger space to hold the event.

Aside from a few spots that

need to be painted inside the church and the floor in the upper hall needing fixing, Sherwin estimates All Saints’ is 95 per cent repaired.

“There are some bright spots.

They plan to revive the Sunday school. I saw some new faces on vestry. It’s not all doom and gloom.”

However, she remarked with a chuckle that it was very frustrating from a pastoral point of view during those 10 months.

Many of the Anglicans identified with their building.

“Some people really aren’t interested in going to church in another building,” said Sherwin.

“I found out for some people it is about the building. I think that’s sad, because we were having worship every week.”

As a pastor, she believes it’s not all about the building.

At times she felt like John the Baptist saying the Church is about the people, not the building.

However, that doesn’t always translate for some. Both congregations have “big old” churches too large to maintain.

Neither congregation is as large as it used to be.

“If one of our buildings burned down tomorrow and we all had to be in the same building together, we could do it.”

Sherwin noted the coming together of the two congregations was “imposed on (the Anglicans) from the outside.” Hardwick explained to her the Anglicans feel like refugees in this situation.

“They had to flee from their building. They felt powerless,” Sherwin recalled Hardwick telling her. However, things turned out OK in the end.

She explained it is her job to remind people it’s about their spiritual life, their theology and their faith and not just a building.

The parishioners will be doing more together in the future as their numbers dwindle.

The churches are “trending a certain way” due to an aging demographic.

Anglican women learn gratitude is a way of being Contributed SASKATOON – Forty women were welcomed to Queen’s House with its sacred spaces and beautiful park setting for a time of retreat, during the Diocese of Saskatoon’s ACW’s Sept. 18 to 20 retreat.

Two quotes from Keynote speaker, the Rev. Jessica Latshaw, moulded the time together for us.

“For a Christian, the process of developing a gratitudecentred life is a relationship building process with members of the Trinity” and “Our sense of gratitude is one side of the coin and our sense of generosity is the other.

A genuine sense of gratitude is the foundation for a genuine sense of generosity.” From this flowed three workshops: 1. Gratitude is a Journey: a meditative outdoor walk with stations of prayer and reflections prepared by the Reverend Jessica.

2. What are we grateful for each day? Identifying the benefits and methods of

journalling, with Kathy Chase 3.

We expressed our attitude of gratitude by creating Scripture cards for hospital patients, with Elta Fae Marlor.

Barbara Forsyth and Kathy Chase served as our devotion team and treated us to Night Prayer/Compline, Morning Prayer, Mid-day Prayer and Evening Prayer, borrowing from the New Zealand, Iona and Book of Common Prayer prayer formats.

Our music ministry team of Kendra Kuse and Anne Naugler Brennan fed into the worship and delighted us with so much more: preludes and postludes, piano, flute and duets.

The Friday night radio show “Old Time Religion,” direct from Queen’s House, featuring Anne & Kendra, had us singing many, many old, old favourites.

What a joyful time.

Saturday evening found us anticipating the Rev. Latshaw’s talk on her ever-expanding Hospital Ministry as hospital chaplain and listening to how we can support this ministry.

During the Evensong,

we offered our gifts: prayer shawls, pocket prayer shawls, hats and scarves for women with cancer, plus wee baby blankets, booties and knit hats for babies at risk.

The Rev. Jessica blessed the gifts.

We wrapped her in a blessed shawl and prayed for her with the laying on of hands.

On Sunday morning, we gathered in the chapel to celebrate the Eucharist.

We were fortunate to have the Rev. Amy Bunce as celebrant and Heather Bergan as preacher.

After the weekend, we asked women what they would say in a few words about the retreat: Marion Pope: “To ask someone to put the weekend experience into a sentence or two is like putting a gallon of pickles into a pint sealer.

That’s how good the weekend was!

“My theory is a good retreat happens through good planners, top-notch theme speakers and master music coordinators. We hit the jackpot

on all three counts!”

Lynne Fontaine: “She (the Rev. Latshaw) is a gifted speaker whom I am sure touched the hearts of us all.”

Joan Bunce: “Highlights for me were the vigorous and humorous presentation by the Rev. Latshaw, the meditation walk in the lovely grounds and the chance to meet others and talk with them” Wilma Miller: “I found the retreat to be a mini-holiday. It was good for the soul.”

Observations from the Rev. Jessica Latshaw: “I watched the walkers during both meditative walks. In both instances, their body language and amount of time spent at each station indicated they were very much engaged in the process.

“For me, the response to card making was great and the created and bought comfort items are an answer to prayer. I am grateful beyond words!

“I have used my prayer shawl this week and feel it is a wonderful way to remember ACW in my daily prayers.”

Hope Bear Photo Contest Take a picture with Hope Bear wherever you travel!

To enter, go to

www.anglicanfoundation.org

The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

7

Crane has served ACW for 65 years

By Mary Brown

Friars and ecumenical partners pose during the open house at St. Michael’s Retreat. From left, are Rev. Dennis Vavrek, Archbishop Daniel Bohan, Dean Michael Sinclair, Evangelical Lutheran Bishop Sid Haugen, Rev. David Kaiser and Rev. Kevin Lynch.

Photo courtesy Rev. Kevin Lynch

Franciscans leave St. Michael’s Retreat

By Frank Flegel LUMSDEN (Qu’A) – After 52 years of service, no more Franciscans will be at St. Michael’s Retreat Centre after Oct. 4. It was supposed to end Sept. 4, but the group who purchased St. Michael’s said it needed the extra month to finalize the sale.

The Franciscans held an open house and celebration Aug. 22 to celebrate the 52 years, although it was also a time of sadness.

“I thought I got over the place when I left years ago,” said Rev. Kevin Lynch, who was director at St. Michael’s for 11 years, “but seeing all these familiar faces I choked up a bit.”

Lynch was director when, for the first time in North America, Anglicans, Evangelical Lutherans and Roman Catholics opened a dialogue in 1999 that led to the formation of an ecumenical board that governed

St. Michael’s.

Aging and declining members dictated the change, said Rev. Dennis Vavrek, provincial for the Western Canada Franciscans.

“Even God is crying today,” he said referring to the persistent rain outside.

An ecumenical prayer service, part of the open house, featured representatives of the three faith communities.

Dean Michael Sinclair, St. Paul’s Cathedral, told a personal story of how he came to St. Michael’s at the suggestion of the bishop of Saskatoon and confirmed his vocation to the priesthood in the early months of his journey.

“I am indebted to this place,” said Sinclair, “It is a great place because of the way God is celebrated here.”

To the departing Franciscans he said, “You are loved. Go with God and God goes with you.”

Retired Lutheran Pastor

David Kaiser, chair of the ecumenical board, said he didn’t know if the ecumenical board would continue.

Lutheran Bishop of Saskatchewan, Sid Haugen, who was elected bishop just last year, said simply it was a good day and a sad day.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Daniel Bohan made it clear he did not want the Franciscans to leave. He and Vavrek had many conversations about it, but in the end, the Franciscans decided it was time.

A group of Regina investors purchased St. Michael’s, which will be renamed St. Michael’s Retreat and Wellness Centre.

One of the principals, Rand Teed, has established his private counselling practice at the Centre and others will follow.

He said the Centre will continue having retreats, but will add counselling and other services to those offerings.

Foodgrains Bank welcomes new global development goals Urges Increased Canadian Commitment for Foreign Aid Spending Contributed Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFB) welcomes the adoption of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 193 countries, including Canada, during a session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 25.

The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expire this year. This new global vision includes goals aimed at ending extreme poverty and hunger, promoting more sustainable production and consumption,

reducing inequality, improving governance and addressing climate change and peace.

“These goals articulate a bold global vision, one which echoes the call we hear from the biblical prophets to create conditions where everyone is able to flourish,” says Canadian Foodgrains Bank Executive Director Jim Cornelius.

“People of faith can play an important role in championing and finding ways to implement this vision.”

CFB also welcomes the second goal of ending global hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.

“We see the vision, mission and programming of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank as being well aligned with this goal,” says Cornelius.

“Significant progress has been made in reducing hunger during the period of the Millennium Development Goals, with the prevalence of hunger in developing countries falling to 13 per cent from 23 per cent between 1990 and today, but much remains to be done.”

He noted that as a percentage of GNP, Canada’s foreign aid spending has fallen from 0.34 per cent to 0.24 per cent; 16 out of 28 donor countries. From 2011 to 2014, Canada’s aid spending has dropped by $670 million.

PRINCE ALBERT – Christie Crane received the Diocese of Saskatchewan’s Order of Saskatchewan in 2007.

At that time she was the Rector’s Warden for the Church of the Good Shepherd in Cumberland House and is still the Rector’s Warden!

Since the age of 14, Christie has been involved with the ACW, first in the junior girls.

When she turned 18, she became a member of the ACW and still is.

That’s 65 years with the ACW. She was saying recently they had a bake sale and she made six dozen buns and 12 loaves of bread for it.

Christie grew up in Cumberland.

When she was a child they would go to The Pas in the summer and return to Cumberland in the winter to go to school.

The Rev. Canon C. J. Parker’s wife was her teacher.

Her father was a fisherman in the summer and worked in logging camps in the winter.

She had three brothers and two sisters.

She and her sister worked in the kitchen of the hospital in the summers.

When she was 18, Christie married Peter Crane.

They had seven children, five girls and two boys.

She thinks she has about 30 grandchildren and around 10 to 12 great-grandchildren.

One of Christie’s daughters has been in Calgary waiting for a heart transplant, but according to Christie, “The Lord works in wondrous ways.”

Christie Crane Her daughter has come back to Saskatchewan and seems to be better.

Sadly, Christie’s youngest daughter died of a heart attack a year ago.

Christie lives alone seniors’ complex and “can’t find a man in this place”!

The bishops were in Cumberland for a meeting last spring and came back raving about the wonderful meal Christie put on for them.

She is a member of the Diocesan Elder’s Council and attends regular meetings here at the Synod Office.

Photo courtesy Mary Brown

DIOCESE OF SASKATCHEWAN If you want to know more about Fr. Lazarus (back page of the October Saskatchewan Anglican) and Fr. Gary Thorne’s trip to Egypt, you can see an article on the diocesan web page at http://saskatchewan.anglican. org or access Fr. Thorne’s blog. g November 2 – 6, 2015 – there will be a week long course of study with the James Settee College at St. Alban’s Cathedral. g

The course will be a continuation of the Old Testament that was introduced at Camp Okema this past summer g Nov. 6 to 7: There will be an Indigenous Council meeting with the newly elected members of the council g Nov. 19: At 7 p.m. there is a finance committee meeting g Dec. 3: At 4 p.m. there is an executive committee meeting

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The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

Joan Ayres served as a Christian youth worker Joan Ayres, 1926 to 2015

Camp Okema celebrated another successful year in 2015 and is looking forward to celebrating its 40th anniversary next year.

Photo courtesy Steve Mitchell

Camp Okema celebrates a succesful 2015

By Steve Mitchell PRINCE ALBERT – Camp Okema is in the mood for celebration! After a successful 2015 camp season, and in anticipation of the 40th anniversary of the Okema Society for Christian Development in 2016, there is much to celebrate.

In 2015, seven camps ran at Camp Okema, including Cabin Leader Training, two Small Fry camps, two Junior camps, Teen Camp and Family Camp.

Camp registrations increased over the previous year, which is a positive trend we aim to continue.

More than 100 staff volunteers, both new and experienced, served at Camp Okema over the course of the summer and provided great programs.

The campers had lots of fun, made friends, and grew in their faith in God. As we rejoice in the 2015 camp year, our thoughts turn

towards preparing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Okema Society in 2016.

Founded in 1976 for the purpose of operating Camp Okema, the Okema Society has positively impacted the lives of thousands of campers and volunteer staff over the past 40 years.

In recognition of this milestone, the Board of the Okema Society is planning celebration events.

We will promote these events through our website at www. campokema.com, newsletters and other publications.

Watch for them in 2016!

Closer at hand, we invite you to celebrate with us at the annual general meeting of the Okema Society on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015 (see website for AGM details).

We will reflect on the past year, consider future challenges and anticipate celebrating 40 years of Christian camping ministry. All are welcome!

Editor’s note: The Diocese of Saskatoon Anglican Women’s executive is collecting stories of Anglican women who have done commendable work in our diocese. The first of these, for Jane Ayres, follows.

This profile resulted from interviews with Joan Ayres in 2014 by Joan Irving and Elaine Hrycenko and excerpts from her eulogy prepared by her children.

Joan Ayres (nee Skew) was born in Birmingham, England.

Life for the Skew family, during the Depression of the 1930s, was not easy. In 1939, when war was declared, the first of many changes began for Joan.

She and her sister, along with thousands of children, were removed from their family and evacuated to rural England to avoid the bombing of British cities. Joan and her sister moved to be with a family in Gloucestershire.

At the end of the war, she returned home to Birmingham to work, often in the post office.

As life returned to normal, Joan continued working. In 1951, she began attending The College of Ascension in Birmingham, a theological college that trained both priest and lay. Joan was trained for missionary work in the Anglican Church.

Graduating in 1954, she volunteered for mission work in Canada as a bishop’s messenger in the Diocese of Brandon.

In April 1954, Joan boarded a ship in Liverpool to travel to Canada with one suitcase, $10 in her pocket and her precious white cross. The white cross, given to her on her graduation, was a symbol of her being a missionary who was trained to take services when a priest was not available in a parish in both England and Canada.

She arrived in Quebec City and continued her journey by train to Montreal, Winnipeg and finally to Swan River, Man., (Diocese of Brandon). She was in northern Manitoba at St. Faith’s Mission Church for the next three years.

The mission consisted of six churches with many challenges such as travel by dog team, pay of $25 per month plus some medical and dental coverage, and potatoes, carrots and cabbage.

One of her happier memories occurred just after her arrival in Swan River. She received an early Christmas present from the St. John parish in Lunenburg, NS, a parish that she had not even heard of. The parish, having learned about Joan’s work, sent her a much needed

Joan Ayres (centre) in the autumn of 2014, at the Station Arts Tea Room in Rosthern, with Joan Irving (left) and Elaine Hrycenko.

Photo contributed and appreciated gift: a Canadian Book of Common Prayer.

The only prayer book she possessed was from England; not much use in rural Canada.

The gift was much loved, so much so, she still had the book at the time of her passing in 2015.

Health concerns led her to move to Montreal in the late 1950s.While with the Diocese of Montreal, she was employed as a youth worker and developer of Christian education programs for children and adults.

She was paid by the National WA of Canada, the forerunner of today’s ACW. Due to this help, she was able to stay in Canada.

In 1962, Bishop Steer of Saskatoon recruited her to come to Saskatchewan as an Anglican youth worker.

For the next four years, as a worker at the Synod Office, she directed summer youth camps and developed youth programs including the Sunday school by Post program.

Eventually, an introduction to a farmer at a wedding reception in Saskatoon led to Joan and Victor’s marriage in November 1966. Life as a prairie farm wife was a change.

No stranger to change, she embraced her new situation fully, becoming a full and equal partner with Victor on the farm about 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Colonsay. They spent many happy years working side by side and bringing up their three children: John, Lynn and Ann. Joan had many good memories of living on the farm, a very different life from previous experiences, selling eggs and raspberries for grocery money, shipping cream and raising pigs and chickens.

She was very involved in St. Matthias, Colonsay as: lay minister, reader, communion assistant and member of WA, which later became ACW. Through all the changes and challenges, Joan never wavered in her devotion to the church and most importantly in her belief in God’s great plan for us all.

After Victor’s passing in 1990, Joan moved into Colonsay.

She continued being very active in the Colonsay area, serving on the Housing Authority, library, Co-op and Credit Union boards.

She gave up the last board after she turned 80. But, she kept her car and licence so she could drive the “old people” downtown to do their shopping and pick up their mail!

In 2008, Joan moved to Rosthern to be close to family.

Joan felt fortunate to have her family close to her. She fit right into the town of Rosthern, becoming an active participant at St. Augustine Anglican Church.

As always, service to others remained important to her. Her hand knitting provided up to 40 pairs of woollen mittens to the local kindergarten class each fall, while other knitting and crochet work was sold to raise funds for the church.

One of her favourite pastimes was watching her grandchildren in any of their sporting or school activities, especially hockey.

In May 2014, Joan’s family, friends from St. Augustine and the Diocese of Saskatoon met at the local Station Arts Tearoom for a celebration to honour Joan for her 60 years of lay service in the Anglican Church of Canada.

It was a position she filled with love, grace and compassion.

She spent over 50 years in the Diocese of Saskatoon having served five bishops: Steer, Wood, Morgan, Andrews and Irving.

While Joan had adjusted to all changes throughout her life, her faith in God was something that never changed, and possibly became even more absolute as she became older.

While waiting for the next phase of her life to begin, she expressed not just her willingness to put herself in God’s hands, but her eagerness to begin the next phase of her life as laid out in the Master plan. While Joan is missed by her family and friends, she has now started the next phase, with God, on July 9 at the age of 89 years.

The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

9

Praise in the park

By Frank Flegel

Locally Raised Clergy Program fall workshop

The Diocese of Saskatoon held a fall workshop for its Locally Raised Clergy Program at St. Peter’s Abbey, Muenster. The theme of the workshop was Youth and Children’s Ministry, which was taught and lead by the Rev. Emily Carr, diocesan youth co-ordinator. As part of the weekend’s program, each student related how parts of their lives and spiritual growth could be identified with or to the fluffy mascot hand puppet they had each chosen. Here the students and the instructors pose with their chosen hand puppet friends. In attendance at the three-day workshop were, in back from left, are the Rev. Shawn Sanford Beck, diocesan training and education officer, the Rev. Emily Carr, session instructor, and Jan Trost. In front, from left, are Gordon Yarde, Sheldon Carr, Lauren Jardine, Peter Coolen and Murial Foster.

Photo courtesy Peter Coolen

REGINA – The organizers of Praise in the Park II couldn’t have asked for a better fall day.

A blue sky and warm temperatures and little wind greeted more than 2,000 who came to Victoria Park in downtown Regina on Sept. 12 to enjoy eight energetic praise bands from Regina Christian churches.

The day ended with a solo performance by award-winning Christian song-writer and singer, Phil Wickham, of San Diego.

Pastor Charles Kooger of Sonlight Christian Reformed Church opened the afternoon.

“We are all here to demonstrate our faith together. One of His last prayers before dying on the Cross, He prayed that we all might be one,” said Kooger.

Lighthouse to All Nations Church band got the afternoon going with the simultaneous blowing of the Sankh and Shofar as part of their opening number.

The Sankh is a conch shell used by some eastern faiths as a call to prayers and the Shofar is a ram’s horn used in some Jewish services.

Each band was introduced

by a pastor or a member of the particular church and each performed for about an hour. The music was all upbeat, several with a definitive rock beat.

The Salvation Army provided free hot dogs and a couple of food trucks from the adjacent Farmer’s Market remained open after the market closed to offer their products.

First Baptist Church across the street from the park opened its doors for anyone who wanted some quiet time, while several booths set up along the side of the open area offered information on their services. At least one offered individual prayer.

There was also a children’s area that featured an enclosed air-powered jumping tent.

“I just wanted an afternoon of listening to some good music,” said one audience member, while another said they simply wanted to experience some good vibes.

Wickham ended the evening performing in his unique style and engaging the young people who crowded around the stage.

Praise in the Park was endorsed by the Regina Council of Churches and the Regina Evangelical Ministerial Association.

Long-time member of All Saints’, Melville dies at 106 Staff MELVILLE (Qu’A) – Reba Herbert, long-time member of All Saints Anglican Church, died Sept. 11 at the age of 106.

She was married in that church in 1931, served as treasurer of the Women’s Auxiliary for 43 years, sang in the choir and participated in all the church activities, especially enjoyed Sunday services.

Reba did not have an easy childhood. Her mother died when she was only nine, so Reba was relocated to Saskatoon to live with family members.

There were several tumultuous years before she came to Melville where Nellie

and George Pearson took her in.

She was like a member of their family; her friendship with Marjorie, who was like her sister, lasted for more than 75 years, until Marjorie’s death.

Reba married Tom Herbert and they had two sons, Ray, known as “Red,” and George.

She worked in the Sheriff’s office and later as a legal secretary.

At home Reba tended a large garden and welcomed all visitors.

Everyone knew her as “Aunt Reba.”

Reba lived in her own home until she was 100, then moved to St. Paul Lutheran Home.

She is survived by her sons and their wives, five grandchildren,

eight great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

A family member is recorded as saying, “I’m glad that Gramma is in our family because we need a saint and she is one.”

Pastor Kim Sherwin of All Saints Melville,said, “Reba Herbert was an amazing lady, she understood hardship and yet had the ability to appreciate all that life had given her.

She had seen a lot of life in her 106 years and yet she never lost the gift of enjoying the small pleasures.

The last time I saw her she was enjoying a piece of cake at the long-term care facility that she lived in only for the last five years of her life.

Wycliffe College loses its principal

Reba Herbert passed away at the age of 106 years old on Sept. 11.

She had attended All Saints’ Anglican Church in Melville for decades.

Photo courtesy Melville Advance

TORONTO (CCNS) – Rev. George Sumner has officially received the necessary consents to become the Episcopal Bishop of Dallas and has officially left his role as the ninth principal of Wycliffe College.

George Sumner has been the principal of Wycliffe College for 16 years and has had a tremendous impact on the school and the larger Christian Church, with his unique combination of energetic leadership, scholarly

vigour and spiritual fervour.

Though he will be greatly missed, Wycliffe is overjoyed that he will continue to use his many gifts in the service of Christ and the Church in Dallas.

Bob Hamilton, chair of the Wycliffe College Board of Trustees, summarizes his legacy: “It is hard to measure the large and lasting contributions George has made to Wycliffe.

“Under his leadership, Wycliffe has grown enormously.

Programs, enrolment and financial stability all have increased so the College may thrive for many years to come.

We will miss him very much.”

During the search for a successor, Bishop Peter Mason will serve as interim principal.

He is looking forward to the challenge with hope and excitement: “I am grateful for Wycliffe’s confidence in inviting me back to a role I first took up 30 years ago.”

10

The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

St. James’, Endeavour Church Mouse garage sale continues giving to others

By Elaine Hrycenko ENDEAVOUR (S’toon) – St James Anglican Church, Endeavour, in the Lintlaw/ Endeavour Parish, had a very profitable Church Mouse sarage sale again this year.

With a profit of well over $15,000, the three-day event once again proved to be the congregations largest fundraiser for the year.

The Church Mouse garage sale event started in 1998, when the church was in need of finances to do remodelling to install running water and a bathroom.

Elaine Hrycenko suggested we have a garage sale in her farm machine shed and to also set up a European-style café for coffee, tea and pie. This continued for three years until Elaine sold the farm. Since then, the event has since been carried out at the Endeavour skating rink.

Donations for the sale are received throughout the year, often to church members’ homes for storage, but really come into effect when spring brings the end to the natural ice in the arena and the change-rooms and the rink are opened up to receive contributions.

The extended communities are the key to the sale’s success, as people from near and far deliver any and every kind of item: antiques, tools, clothing, furniture, decorative items, dishes, bedding, etc., which overflow the arena.

Congregation members begin preparing the rink and pricing the donations in late April or

At the annual St. James’, Endeavour Church Mouse garage sale in the summer, not only are donations in abundance, but so are the number of volunteers. Here, from left, are the Rev. Jessica Latshaw, Edie Belesky and Darlen Medlang oversee the sale. Photo by Elaine Hrycenko May, spending long hours to see that all is ready for the June sale.

It is a time of fun and fellowship as many community people also join the church members in this preparation work. There is a silent auction for the more valuable items.

Everyone is very busy baking for the bake sale table The sale opened on June 12 with a large crowd on hand.

After the welcome and opening prayer by the Rev.

Jessica Latshaw, the rope was dropped and people rushed in to shop. June 13, all items were half price. On June 14, after church and a meal, you could fill a box of any size for a toonie.

There is much visiting and renewing acquaintances during the sale. Tables and chairs are provided for people to sit and enjoy hamburgers, homemade pies and beverages throughout Friday and Saturday.

People book holidays just

to be here and look forward to coming back year after year.

There is always a large number of articles left after the sale, so more work is needed to sort and decide on destinations.

A large amount, usually a cattle trailer full, is taken to Value Village, Yorkton, as well as smaller amount of various items to other groups or places that have particular needs.

For the past three years, Elaine Hrycenko has been taking

boxes of children’s clothing to Queen Elizabeth School in Saskatoon. Nothing is saved for next year’s sale!

Although the sale is a tremendous amount of work for the small congregation and community, it continues to provide a way to reach out to others and also meets real needs for people in many areas.

As God uses it to bless Endeavour, may He also continue to use it to bless others.

D I O C E S E O F Q U ’A P P E L L E g Fun for Seniors St. Philip, Regina, has begun a Senior’s Program as part of our Living the Mission initiative.

Activities include weekly walks, coffee times and card group, as well as monthly dinners, movie nights and dance outings.

We invite all seniors to enrol in the St. Philip Senior’s Program and receive our planned event schedule.

Are you, or someone you know, sitting home alone,

Love thy enemy

Canon Richard Condo from the Diocese of Rupert’s Land joined the parishioners of St. Luke, Regina on Sept. 6. Since the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were playing the Saskatchewan Roughriders that afternoon, Condo wore his Bombers jersey to the service and is here with parishioners who wore their Rider green.

Clearly the parishioners of St. Luke’s are in peace and charity with their neighbour. In the back, from left, are Terry Page, Kim Smith, Susan Page, Rev. Michael Bruce and Sid Gaudry. In front, from left, are Susan MacPhail, Nancy Bakay, Canon Richard Condo and Graham Condo. Photo by Sid Gaudry

wishing there were others to get out and do things with?

Come out and enjoy the things you like doing with others. Need more information?

Contact Mary at 306-7899662 or Rod at 306-789-1388. g Christmas Tea and Bazaar Saturday, Dec. 5 at St. Matthew Anglican Church, 2161 Winnipeg Street, Regina, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Enjoy afternoon tea and coffee, and shop for crafts, jewellery, books, Christmas baking and more.

The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

11

Rev. Michael Bruce installed at St. Luke, Regina

By Nigel Salway REGINA – On the feast day of Gregory the Great, Sept. 3, Rev. Michael Bruce was installed as the seventh incumbent of St. Luke’s, Regina.

Bishop Rob Hardwick was celebrant at the service. Bruce was presented for installation by Archdeacon Dell Bornowsky, Richard Brown and Terry Page.

Canon Richard Condo from the Diocese of Rupert’s Land came to St. Luke’s to preach.

In his homily, Condo recounted a brief history of Gregory the Great. In his service as pope, Gregory was known as a champion of the poor. He considered service to the poor and refugees to be the most important works of the church.

The importance of service continues to this day.

Condo noted that when a colleague was installed as a priest in his diocese, a nurse presented her with a towel and said, “Receive this towel and be among us as one who serves.”

He noted that Bruce has come to serve, but service is not limited to the incumbent. Service is expected of all members of the parish.

Condo noted the lesson for the day, 2 Corinthians 4:5-12, tells us we are like clay jars. Subject to struggles, God has placed in us the Light of the Gospel.

We are all ministers and our ministry comes through baptism.

We are called upon to use our gifts.

The Gospel for the day, Matthew 25:1-13, tells the parable of the virgins at the wedding.

Condo points out we are to

After Rev. Michael Bruce (second from left) was officially installed as Incumbent of St. Luke, Regina, he posed with, from left, vestry member Richard Brown, Bishop Rob Hardwick and Warden Terry Page.

Photo by Nigel Salway keep our lamps lit and don’t use oil prematurely. Our oil is the Scripture.

Lessons were read by

Ed Dunfield and Margi Hollingshead.

Charmaine Bacon, a friend of Bruce from Winnipeg, played

a flute solo during communion.

Organist was Sandra Kerr and the choir was directed by Sandra Cosbey.

‘Bionic eye’ restores sight to blind priest Article courtesy The Anglican Planet A priest had been blind for 20 years can glimpse something of his grandchildren for the first time, after a ‘bionic eye’ implant.

When 76-year-old Ian Nichols’ grandchildren were born, he could hold and hear, them but a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa prevented him from seeing them.

That has changed and he can see much more than a year ago, when Fr. Nichols underwent ‘bionic eye’ surgery at Toronto Western Hospital, only the second time the procedure has been performed in Canada.

During the three-hour operation, his left eye was cut open and a microchip inserted.

The microchip is wirelessly linked to a small video camera and transmitter that are both mounted on a pair of eyeglass frames.

Images from the camera are converted into a series of electrical pulses that are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the surface of the retina. The pulses stimulate the optic nerve.

The visual information then moves to the brain, where it is translated into patterns of light that can be recognized and interpreted, allowing the patient to regain some functional vision.

While sight is not completely restored, the patient can once again perceive light.

Two weeks after his operation,

the retired priest “saw,” for the first time in two decades, a lowdefinition image.

“I was no longer totally blind, but could see something by turning on an amazing system known as Argus II.” Nichols was delighted to see the “shimmering image” of his 17-year-old granddaughter.

“I have literally never seen her,” he said.

“I held her in my arms at her birth and now I’ll be able to get some sense of her in the near future as my sight gets better.”

He and his wife, Jean, have three children and six grandchildren.

“I’ll never be able to recognize faces, but I will be able to see the image of a person and know if they are wearing a dark-coloured top or a light-coloured top,” Nichols said.

Now he can reach for objects and sense the shadows and forms of people.

His vision is expected to improve with continued use of the prosthetic retina.

Extensive rehabilitation of a year or more is necessary to train the brain to recognize light and interpret the visual information captured by the device.

Eventually someone with the implant can walk at a more normal pace because they can see the shapes moving around them.

They can see a doorway to walk through it and can distinguish grass from sidewalk.

“I know there is a long road ahead, but for the first time in many, many years I have hope

and confidence that I will have at least some useful vision,” he told The Toronto Star.

Dr. Robert Devenyi, the University Health Network’s ophthalmologist-in-chief, performed the surgery and told the press the technology behind the procedure is “the most amazing development in medicine in our lifetime.”

Similar operations have been done in the U.S., Germany and Italy.

“It is something I never ever, ever thought we would see and I’ve been in retinal surgery for over 20 years,” he said. “These are people whom we had long forgotten about …because there was nothing (we could) do for them.”

Both patient and healer Born in England, Ian came to Canada with his family when he was 10. He studied at the University of Toronto and Wycliffe College and was ordained deacon in 1964 and priest in 1965.

For eight years he served in the Diocese of Fredericton, and then in 1972, started work in the Diocese of Toronto.

It was during the mid-1970s that he began to lose his eyesight and was registered as a blind person in 1977.

Since his independent mobility was limited, Nichols sought an alternative form of ministry, and in 1978, returned to England to take the course in physiotherapy. He later returned to Toronto, where he worked until his retirement in 2003.

Geoff, baby Lane, and Jocelyn Facca, with donkey Lucky, took part in a previous Night in Bethlehem at Living Spirit Centre. This year the live nativity is on Saturday, Nov. 28. Photo by Faye Metz

Another night in Bethlehem Contributed REGINA – St. Philip Anglican Church is pleased to be part of A Night in Bethlehem: a live nativity and hands-on market.

As part of a shared ministry in east Regina, St. Philip Anglican, Bread of Life Lutheran and Eastside United churches join together to offer the community the opportunity to explore Bethlehem as it was so long ago!

Costumed vendors invite visitors to sample their wares and learn a new skill (weaving, woodworking, calligraphy), while live animals greet the new baby in the manger!

Everyone is invited on Saturday, Nov. 28, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Living Spirit Centre, 3018 Doan Drive, Regina.

For more information, call the church office at 306-757-3173.

12

The Saskatchewan Anglican

November 2015

Dean attends course on Christian leadership in Rome Lessons learned and pilgrimages taken in an ancient land

By Dean Mike Sinclair REGINA – I’ve heard it said, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” After my recent educational trip to Rome, I tend to agree.

This magical and ancient city, with layer upon layer of experience and millennia of life and history, has stolen part of my heart and helped add shape and meaning to what has been only my imagination.

I was enrolled in a course on Christian Leadership, with 19 other leaders from around the Anglican Communion.

This seven-day course, developed and sponsored by the Anglican Centre in Rome, was a beautiful blend (in a beautiful place) of professional leadership training, church and biblical history, contextual education, and pilgrimage.

The course was led by Rev. John Hornblow and his spouse, Jenny Boyack of New Zealand. This two, in addition to their pastoral ministries, are professional trainers and business leadership consultants.

Their expertise in leadership training was shared in the daily class sessions, while simultaneously blended with our knowledge of Christian leaders, past and present, to help us understand more fully how to be the best Christian leaders we could be.

The lessons were then supplemented with pilgrimages to sites associated with those

From left: The Canadian contingent of the Christian leadership course, at St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Gathered are Archdeacon Bruce Myers (co-ordinator for ecumenical and interfaith relations with the Anglican Church of Canada), Archdeacon Anne Germond (Diocese of Algoma), Rev. Jeffery Metcalfe (Diocese of Quebec) and Dean Mike Sinclair (Diocese of Qu’Appelle); Centre, this is Dean Sinclair’s view during the Papal Audience at the Vatican; Right, inside St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, which marks the burial place of St. Paul.

Photos courtesy Dean Mike Sinclair leaders’ lives and ministries.

These Christian leaders included St. Paul, St. Peter, Pope Francis, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Clare and St. Francis of Assisi, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Justin Welby and St. Theresa of Avila.

Many of the site visits in Rome related to these important pillars of our shared faith and were led by Archbishop Sir David Moxon, director of the Anglican Centre.

Understanding the lives, ministries, leadership styles and challenges of these people, often in the places where they did or do serve, was amazing.

It was incredibly moving to be in Assisi, in the hermitage where Francis prayed and wrote. We

visited the sites of the martyrdom of both Paul and Peter.

We celebrated the eucharist in the catacombs, the home of the persecuted Church under hostile emperors.

We studied the incredible legacy of the Jesuits, founded by Ignatius.

We learned about the current ministry of Pope Francis, then were blessed to receive seats on the upper pavilion at the General Audience, 45 feet away from His Holiness during his address.

The crowd that day held around 40,000, and the adoration of this special man and his message of love, hope and unity was a wonder to behold.

Here are the thoughts I’ve been able to process thus far that

may be of benefit here: 1 - We are so very young. The Church in our part of the world is still in its infancy. Standing in places, built on places, built on places over thousands of years taught me that change is what will, and what needs, to happen.

There really is something to resurrection, coming from death.

Re-creation is constantly needed in the Church. My prayer is we find a way to foster change and not fight it.

2 - The question I asked over and over again, in a city filled with monuments, was “What is our legacy?” What will be remembered of us in 20 centuries?

I’m increasingly convinced that the greatest legacy we

can leave is that of love and faithfulness. These will outlast even stone churches and brass plaques.

3 - The heroes of our faith, those we venerate and celebrate, were (or are) all unlikely characters. They didn’t have their acts fully together. They didn’t have all the answers.

But each one was (or is) open to God’s call in their lives, calling for action that would bring about change. May we also be open and willing in the same ways.

I return from this trip thankful for the chance to go, to meet excellent people, see beautiful things and to be reminded once again of the timeless presence of our God.

Stay connected Staff

Raising the flag

Members of the Diocese of Saskatchewan’s executive committee change the flag on a flag pole at the Synod Office after their meeting on Sept. 10. About once or twice a year, a new flag is put on the pole.

Mary Brown usually plans it for a day when there are many able-bodied men visiting the office. No one has ever been hurt, but there is the possibility. The flag pole is about 25 feet high and is on a pivot about five feet above the ground. The trick is to lower it without it crashing down. The hard part is getting it back up there. Hopefully we never run out of able-bodied men! Photo by Mary Brown

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