Category Archives: Life

Halfway

Posted on by

The end of term one year two: I am now officially halfway through seminary! It is hard to believe that 17 months ago I was getting on a plane to leave BC and move to Ontario. It feels a lot longer…

The weather in this corner of Ontario has felt a lot like Vancouver Island weather over the last few weeks (*touch wood*). While some have been lamenting the lack of snow and the above zero temperatures, I have been enjoying mist, fog, and mild days reminiscent of home.

All of that being said, I won’t be sad if and when we get snow – I have some ice skates, snowshoes, and cross country skis to put to use! Not to mention the winter jacket that I bought new this year.

Christmas break for me this year will involve working some extra shifts and reading lots of good fiction. Fiction: it is like a breath of fresh air after three and a half months of dense theology texts. Work: it grounds me and is a wonderful community to be a part of that is completely removed from my school and church communities. There is something very real and immanent about working shoulder to shoulder with those living with severe mental illness; there is no BS with them, no politics, and no illusions.

And then January will happen and it will be back to school for term two year two (or term four of six, depending on your preferred method of counting!).

Until then, Happy Christmas.

Praying Communities

Posted on by

I’ve been in a placement all term and I love it.

My parish is a warm and welcoming place – much like a big family. They have embraced me (and Matthew whenever he can be spared from his placement) and already made me feel a part of the community in the three short months I’ve been there.

Part of it being a wonderful place is the love and care that they give to everyone in the congregation. Earlier this fall, a long-time central member of the church was diagnosed with cancer. Immediately we went to work, knitting. Around the table at parish council a prayer shawl was passed. Each of us with any skill with knitting needles knit a few rows, then passed it along to the next person. The love and the care of the congregation was knit into that shawl along with their prayers. Each section slightly different, all of the unique gifts of the congregation coming together to make one beautiful garment.

I was blessed, as a relative newcomer to the parish, to be able to add a few rows myself. I know the legacy this woman has had on the church and I have heard stories of how central she is to the community and I was honoured to be able to add my own part to our shared gift.

When it was finally completed, we brought the shawIMG_0464l into church and laid it on the prayer desk in the centre of the choir. As each person came up for communion they paused, laid hands on the shawl, and prayed – some just for a moment and others lingered. Sitting at the front, I was moved to tears by the love, care, and faith shown by everyone.

We blessed the shawl at the end of the service and then it went off to bring our prayers and blessings to our family member in hospital.

This is the body of Christ at work.

Making Space

Posted on by

A beautiful thing happened last Sunday morning.

Our server was sick and opted out of serving for fear of infecting everyone. As he was telling the priest, his six-year-old son piped up, “Can I?!?”

Without missing a beat the priest accepted his offer and my newest assistant was created.

Come communion, I invited him up to help me set the table. As I readied the table, he waited patiently. Then we painstakingly counted out the host together, lapsing into his mother tongue as he counted: “five. ten. fifteen. vente. vente cinqo. thirty. …”

Then the wine. I brought the chalices down from the table, crouched down on the step beside him, and asked him if he thought he could pour the wine in. “Which one is the wine?” “The red one” Slowly, painstakingly, ever so carefully, he poured the wine into one chalice, then the other. The hymn ended. We were still pouring. Then, while all looked on in silence, we added the water – slightly more than our usual splash.

The table was set. We passed it over to the priest who continued the service. Our newest server sat and squirmed for a minute, all the solemnity of setting the table for Eucharist gone, then bounced back down to sit beside his dad, running shoe heels lighting up as he went.

Come to the table, where space is made for all.

Niagara Falls

Posted on by

This past week was Faculty of Theology reading break here at Huron.

Matthew and I took the opportunity to take two days away and go to Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake – time with each other, time to explore nature, and time without having to think about school or school work for a couple of days.

It was a lovely getaway to a place I have not been since I was 11 or 12.

End of an Era

Posted on by

Four years ago, in May of 2011, I went to my first PWRDF Youth Council meeting in Vancouver. Four years later, only three of twelve of that Vancouver crew are still on the council. And now it is two only.

After four years – two as representative for BC/Yukon and two as Member at Large – my time has ended. Through the Youth Council I learned a great deal about the workings of PWRDF. I became more involved in international social justice issues, more informed about international relief and development work, and more vocal at home about issues which affect us all. I have had numerous opportunities to write about my experiences for the Youth Council website and had the opportunity to speak about PWRDF in nearly a dozen churches in at least five diocese in Canada. It has been a good journey.

Last weekend was my last meeting with Youth Council. It is bittersweet. I aged out of Youth Council 18 months ago and somehow they kept me around and doing work on council. It is an amazing group of young people doing incredible work and I have been proud to have been involved with them.

We’ve come a long way. I’ve been involved in a complete rewrite of our Terms of Reference and governing Manual. I helped create worship resources for youth groups to use. We have created amazing promotional materials that have been adopted by PWRDF as a whole. And I worked with PWRDF staff to create an international internship program for Canadian youth.

I’ve learned a lot, I’ve grown a lot, I’ve had some amazing opportunities, and made some incredible friends. Youth Council friends, I’m looking forward to seeing where you go from here! PWRDF, I’m looking forward to changing our relationship. Because one is never too old to care about the needs of others, to respond in love, and to seek to transform unjust societal structures.

We Rode!

Posted on by

1006098_10100925602268241_5038599827033338837_nPhotographic evidence that riding happened! Thank you everyone for cheering us on and sponsoring us. Aside from some chilly wind and a spot of rain as we were leaving the starting point, it was a good ride that ended with a couple of mugs of hot tea.

Ride for Refuge

Posted on by

Tomorrow I and about 30 others across Canada will be participating in the Ride for Refuge to raise money for the work of the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund in the South Sudan.

The weather is supposed to suck tomorrow: 10 degrees, wind, and rain. Good thing I have waterproof bike gloves from living in Victoria. But, as a PWRDF friend said, biking in crappy weather is still better than what many refugees go through on a daily basis.

I’m a little slow in promoting this, but if you’d like to support me and my team here in London, you can donate to us here. The best part is that this is a Canadian Foodgrains Bank project, so all money donated is matched 4x by the Federal Government. As of right now, PWRDF riders and supporters have raised over $11,000 – which is pretty exciting.

Yesterday the Anglican Journal published an article about those of us riding. I’m still a little bummed they didn’t quote me, but it does give a good overview of what we are doing.

Something New

Posted on by

Something new is happening in our college community.

We’ve all been remarking on it: the atmosphere – it has changed. There is an excitement, an anticipation, a joy that emanates from people as we walk through the halls, gather for conversation, worship and learn together.

We had 28 people at chapel yesterday morning (I counted because I was officiating and had to make note of it!). That may not seem like many to some, but to those of us returning to the college theological community this year, it is huge. We felt like we were doing well with a dozen last year.

And the singing! There are harmonies flying out all over the place as we sing Morning Prayer together. It is lovely to be a part of, to add a voice to the joyous songs we raise to heaven.

 

I never know what to say when someone comes up to me after a service and says, “Thank you.”

          You’re welcome?

          Thanks – couldn’t have done it without you?

It is not me who made that a thank-worthy experience, it is God and the collective expectation of a gathered community. All I do is say and sing the bits assigned to me, prompt the community to do their bit, and join in when it is something we all do together. But somehow, through the grace of God, out of that comes something beautiful and uplifting: the perfect way to start a day.

Morning Prayer is a simple service. However every time I get up to speak or sing (especially sing!) on my own in front of people, no matter how simple the service, there are always some nerves. Yesterday morning I faced them by pacing all four steps possible across the college chapel sacristy, praying before the service began. That gets to the heart of it, I think. Prayerful invitation and expectation. An instructor in Bible College once told us that we could never expect to lead a group of people gathered in worship anywhere we had not gone ourselves in private worship. That is, if I do not and cannot cultivate an active prayer and worship life, I will never be able to lead a community in prayer and worship. 

So I’m still not taking credit for 28 people and glorious chapel yesterday morning. I’m not going to take credit for a new atmosphere at college. I will, however, take credit for my part in prayerfully inviting God into our midst and expecting God to do great things in, among, and through each and every one of us at the college this year.

Second Year

Posted on by

Second year of seminary started this week and did it ever start with a bang!

As a part of the executive of the theological students society (Bishop Hallam Theological Society, or BHTS, to be exact), I was involved in running the student orientation this year. On Tuesday and Wednesday we welcomed at least a dozen new students from across the country into our MDiv and MTS programs, helped orient them to the program, to the campus, to the courses, and to the city. It was capped by a social event on Wednesday before diving right back into Morning Prayer services and courses on Thursday.

Unlike last year when I had a slow welcome to school and chapel life, I was right back into it this year with designing and leading morning prayer on Wednesday, singing a canticle at morning prayer on Thursday, and reading the lessons for morning prayer on Friday. It is weird to be right back into it, but with half of the cantors graduating last year, I’ll be involved a fair bit until first year students join the roster, I think.

I’ve only experienced two of five courses for the term thus far: “Theology and Religious Pluralism” and “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible II.” Next week sees the first class of Homiletics, Field Education, and Congregational Development. It seems an interesting mix of theological and practical courses. Just in time too: I will be spending 10-12 hours each week at St Andrew Memorial Anglican Church here in London. I’ll be working with the priest, Marty Levesque, to learn and practice some of the practical parts of being a priest – preaching, leading on Sunday morning, taking part in some of the various weekday activities of the parish.

This year will be incredibly different from last year. It will be a good year with its share of challenges, but it will be a year of learning, of laughter, of love, and of life.