“Father, into your Hands I Commend my Spirit”

Posted by stpauls on March 28, 2010 under Bible Readings, Webmaster Blog | Be the First to Comment

The community traditionally sits during the reading until the text mentions the arrival at Golgotha (The Place of the Skull). At that point please stand as you are able.

Luke 23:1-49 ~ Reading for Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010

The assembly of the elders of the people rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”

Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

He answered, “You say so.”

Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.”

But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.”

When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies.

Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. I will therefore have him flogged and release him.”

Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!” (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)

Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; but they kept shouting, (please join in the chorus of the people!) “Crucify, crucify him!”

A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.”

But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.

As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.

A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, (please stand as you are able) they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last.

When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Love of God or Love of Neighbour

Posted by Priest on March 21, 2010 under Sermons | Be the First to Comment

There is a little known story about Jesus that goes something like this:

One day, after Jesus had cured many sick and driven out many demons, the crowds were pressing in on him, demanding that he heal even more diseases and cast out even more demons. As the sun was setting, Jesus retired to the house of Peter’s mother-in-law whom he had cured from sickness. As Jesus was sitting with the disciples at table, teaching them about the Kingdom of God, Peter’s mother-in-law came in and brought a beggar who had wandered the streets without shelter. Jesus had mercy on the man and so he broke the bread that was placed in front of him and gave half of it to the beggar. Likewise, he took the cup that was shared among the disciples and gave the beggar to drink.

But Peter, the one who would deny knowing him, said: “Why are we interrupted? And why is my mother-in-law bringing in this beggar? We are listening to the master and his teachings! Don’t they know that a man doesn’t live by bread alone, but by every word of God? Wouldn’t it be better for his soul and for our souls, to just listen to the words of the master?” (He said this not because he cared about the soul of the beggar, but because he was a hypocrite, trying to control access to Jesus.)

Jesus said: “Leave them alone! Your mother-in-law brought the beggar to me. For the Son of Man will be taken from you and will be crucified like a criminal. You always will have my words, but you will not always have me to break bread and share the cup with the poor.”

Hear, what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.

Isn’t this an odd story? Somehow there seems to be quite a contradiction to the story we just heard, the story from the Gospel of John appointed for today. This, of course wouldn’t be all that unusual, because there are some things recorded in our sacred texts that don’t really jell with other texts. Just look up the two creation stories and compare the sequence of creation. What was created on what day? You will find some interesting inconsistency. Equally, if you look at the chronology of the last days of Jesus’ life in the synoptic Gospels (i.e. Mark, Matthew, and Luke) and compare it with the chronology in John, you will realize that they don’t quite line up with each other. So, having some discrepancies is not all that uncommon and has to do with the fact that each biblical book has a particular theological bent.

But what we just heard is almost as if the same story is retold preaching exactly the opposite… So, what to do? What to do with these two texts?

On the one hand we have the story from the Gospel according to John, which talks about a woman pouring costly perfume over Jesus’ head. In the eyes of Judas she has wasted the perfume. He is outraged.

On the other hand, we have a story that reports an encounter with Peter’s mother-in-law, whose name is nowhere to be found in the gospel accounts. She brings a beggar to Jesus. In the eyes of Peter she wastes his time. He, too, is outraged.

On the surface, both stories have a certain theological direction: both take up an issue, “a cause” if you will, and both dismiss another cause, another issue.

In the Gospel according to John, it is all about the worship of God in Jesus Christ. For this is what Mary does: Her pouring of costly perfume is an act of intimate connection with Jesus, is an act of worshipping our Saviour. This is juxtaposed with the care and advocacy for the poor. Jesus seems to be quite clear: worship is the thing that we need to take care of first. The care of the poor is secondary. In fact, we will always have the poor with us, and so what can we really do? So, let’s stick with the things that really have an impact on the cosmos: let’s pour all our resources into the proper, and intimate worship of God.

In the story you heard at the beginning of this sermon, it is all about mercy and justice, for that is what the care of poor is all about. And mercy and justice, i.e. time spent on ministering to and for the poor is contrasted with time spent on teaching and formation. Jesus seems to be quite clear: justice is the thing we need to take care of first. Formation is secondary. So, let’s stick with things that really impact the lives of God’s beloved:  let’s pour all our resources into proper advocacy and help for the poor.

And, of course, both positions are very present in the church. There are those who believe that diakonia, which is the fancy name for the care of the disenfranchised, is something that can always trump evangelism and formation. They say: Justice is a gospel value and it is the essence of being a Christian. And then there are those who believe that there is nothing more important than the care of the soul. They maintain that formation, teaching, and worship are at the centre of the Christian identity. Care of the poor is at best secondary, and at times can even be disregarded. And the story from the Gospel according to John has been used to justify exactly this latter position.

But is this what these two stories are really about? Is the first story really about juxtaposing the care of the soul with the care of the poor?

I don’t think so. And I don’t believe there really is such juxtaposition. Neither in today’s Gospel, nor in the Gospel as a whole. In the end, the biblical witness is quite clear: Both the care of the soul and the care of the poor are equal Gospel–values. They both are at the centre of what it means to be a Christian. One cannot be done without the other. “Love God” and “love your neighbour,” Jesus says. Both are equally important.

So, what is today’s Gospel story really about then?

At this point, I have to make a confession.

The story about Jesus at the beginning of my sermon is not really an established story. In fact, it is a story from the Gospel according to Mark – us Dünzkofer. Yes, I made it up. I made it up, just to make a point.

And the point is this.

The real Gospel story, the one from John is, as I said, not about diss-ing ministry to those in need. Yet very often, that’s what happened. And I believe that it shows something that happens far too often:

Far too often, we are rather quick to read into the Gospel our own agenda. We come with preconceived ideas, believing we know exactly what Jesus would do and say. We sometimes change scripture for our purposes, not the other way around. And this goes for liberals, as it goes for conservatives, or whatever other theological persuasion is out there.

Yet Jesus crosses out our agenda, challenges our assumptions.

Jesus meets us to embrace us. Yes.

But Jesus also meets us in those places where things are not right, where we fail, where darkness resides, and where we are swallowed by death. Sometimes these places are big. Like the place in which we find Judas today, or in my imaginary story the place for Peter. Peter is a hypocrite and Judas is a thief. Neither is able to see who God wants them to be. They have both have placed their own ego-centric desires and needs above the love of God and the love of neighbour. And both are blind for the abundance of God’s love which opens our eyes and nurtures our hearts.

Sometimes the places that are not right in our lives are small, like petty name-calling, or envy, or insistence on our own ways without looking at the needs of others. And then we are blind to see God’s abundant blessing flowing in diverse and colourful ways and seeking to welcome us home, whoever we are and wherever we find ourselves on the journey.

God is bigger than our hearts. God is abundance, abundant blessing, abundant life, and abundant love.

When Mary emptied her jar over Jesus, she symbolically affirmed God’s abundance by wasting, no, by using wisely, an abundance of oil. Much has been written about the significance of this holy anointing, and there are many, profound, and abundant meanings, especially as we move closer and closer to the celebration of Jesus’ last days on earth. All these interpretations have a place in the celebration of the Good News of God in Jesus Christ. But today, I would like to invite you to see Mary’s anointing of Jesus as a celebration of God’s abundance: an abundance that both challenges us when we deny the very abundance of God’s love, but an abundance that always calls us home to God: you, me, and everybody we meet on the way.

The Burning Bush

Posted by stpauls on March 14, 2010 under Bible Readings | Read the First Comment

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.”

When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM Who I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.”

Fire

Posted by Priest on under Sermons | Be the First to Comment

I have had a long fascination with fire. There is something quite profound about flames as they burn and flicker. It is a wonderful spectacle and there is nothing quite like sitting around a fire with friends, sharing old stories and creating new memories.

But fire creates not just cosiness and warmth.

Fire has played an important part in my own life, but sometimes not in a good way. Years back, as a wee one, (some of you might remember this story,) I decided to fill up an old oven my parents had hidden in the basement with spare automobile gas, which my parents had stored in our garage. I was barely tall enough and strong enough to empty the contents of the gas canister into the oven and I spilled some of the fuel. Thank God, though, I was a bit messy! Because, when I it the match to light the oven, it never made it inside the oven. A spark ignited a bit of fuel, which I had spilled on a piece of cloth in front of the oven. If I had been able to throw the match inside I would probably not be standing here.

But did that teach me a lesson? Oh no!

A few years later, the police caught me and a group of friends sitting around a fire – in the middle of the woods. What was I thinking! The ensuing police-visit to my parental home did not create fireworks of joy, I have to say. My dad might have a full set of hair, but there is a reason it turned grey early!

Yes, I have had a fascination with fire for a long time.

And I have been envious of my Hindu colleagues who do get to play with fire on a regular basis. There are all kinds of rituals in Hinduism that require for the priest to handle fire. And even better in Zoroastrianism! The main place of worship is even called a Fire Temple.

Hmmm, am I a member of the wrong religion? Maybe I need to reconsider…

Pity, though, that one cannot really convert into classical Hinduism or Zoroastrianism. You have to be born into these religions. And, furthermore, I really do hold fast to the promises of God as revealed in and through Jesus the Christ.

So, I am sad to say I am stuck: We don’t really have much to offer in the way of ritual fire. With one notable exception: The Easter fire. On the most holy of nights in our calendar, we light a fire during our most sacred ritual: The Great Vigil of Easter, which is the centre of our liturgical life and our worship of the triune God. This year we will celebrate the Great Vigil on 3 April. At 9pm we will gather and kindle the fire in remembrance of Christ, whose resurrection – like the flames of a fire – lightens and consumes the darkness that seems to swallow us all. What a great use of fire!

Yet, there is something else! And if you bear with me, there is one more personal story that I would like to share. I will remind us of the use of fire not so much in our rituals, but in God’s self-revelation to creation.

I was ordained a priest on 18 December, which of course is just five days before Christmas. The last days of Advent, as the season before Christmas is called, are marked by a special addition to the liturgical Evening Prayer of the church: the “O-Antiphons.”

It is quite traditional at Evening Prayer to respond to the biblical reading of the day by singing or saying the “Song of Mary,” a text from the Gospel according to Luke. The “Magnificat,” as the “Song of Mary” is also called, is often preceded with a short responsive introduction, called an antiphon. These antiphons change according to the liturgical season. Because the antiphons on the seven days before Christmas all start with the word “O” they are referred to as the “O-antiphons.” You can find these antiphons strung together into the Litany of Advent on page 119 in our Book of Alternative Services.

The antiphon for 18 December, my ordination date, is called “O adonai” and goes like this:

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

Of course, you recognise this as this as a reference to our Hebrew Scripture text from the book of Exodus.

Today’s reading from Exodus is one of the most central pieces from our scripture, because it reveals God in a particular and unique way. Much has been made of name of God in this story: “I am who I am,” God reveals. But I leave the discussion on this mysterious name for another year and another sermon to explore.

I want to focus on the other, the non-wordy, non-cerebral, non-intellectual aspect of God’s self-revelation in this story. I want to focus on the tangible, visual, experienceable aspect of God: I want to focus on the fire.

Unlike words, which are cognitive and set in stone, which point towards a certain, established goal, which already are a finished product, “fire” is something that is in process, that interacts, and shapes and is shaping. The burning bush speaks of “a becoming” rather than “a being.” Yet, both are revealed in today’s story: both God’s eternal changelessness is revealed in today’s text as much as the ever-changing character of God’s image among us, which never remains the same as it interacts with each and every one of us on an individual level.

And there is more: Whenever God chooses to be revealed to humankind in a public way, there is a new aspect of God’s identity that is brought forth. The newness of the revelation in Exodus is this: When we interact with God we are not consumed, not destroyed, but are set on fire with the love of God and the fire of God’s love does not consume us but destroys the darkness that threatens to swallow us and the world around us.

And this indeed is a new way for God to be revealed.

In ancient days, it was hard for people to imagine being close to God, being intimately connected to the Creator of all that is. God was believed to be so incredibly powerful and mighty, that any direct contact with God would destroy us. Just like one could not approach the kings and emperors of the time without being killed, neither could any mere mortal encounter God without being annihilated. This, of course, placed an immense distance and separation between God and God’s beloved.

But in today’s story, God puts an end to this understanding.

Yes, God is still the one whose power is beyond our understanding and comprehension. However, God chooses not to be overpowering, but chooses instead to interact with us in love, a love that burns like fire, but that will not destroy us, but will consume what threatens us in body, mind, and soul.

This is why for the early church the burning bush was a foreshadowing of the incarnation, of God’s coming into our flesh in Jesus. Despite being a mere mortal, our sister Mary conceives the immortal God. And she is not annihilated. The finite can indeed hold the Infinite and Mary is not consumed.

Hence the “O-antiphon” for 18 December.

But this is not Advent; this is the season of Lent, as we prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. And I believe as we move deeper into the mystery of the final days of Jesus’ life here on earth, Lent offers to each of us that we, too, can become vessels containing God. We, too, can be set on fire with God’s love. And we, too, will not be consumed.

The fire of God seeks to engulf each and every one of us. Yes. But the fire of God does not seek to consume us, but to consume what distorts our true, amazing, and awesome beauty. Lent is about a becoming, is about an intimate connection with God and a re-discovery of who God wants us to be. God seeks for us to be set ablaze with love: love for God, love for our neighbours, and love for our true selves. It is a process of refining and growing brighter with love of God and with love for God. The Lenten journey will lead us not to consumption, not to death, but will lead us to life, life abundant and life everlasting.

In Lent, we can discover, that we, like the burning bush, can burn with God’s fire.

Rainbow Spiritual Reflections Bible Study

Posted by stpauls on March 11, 2010 under Contributors, Webmaster Blog | Be the First to Comment

God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I establish between myself and you and every living creature with you, to endless generations: My bow I set in the cloud, sign of the covenant between myself and earth. When I cloud the sky over the earth, the bow shall be seen in the cloud.”

Genesis 9:13-14

We are called to lift up our hearts, to see God’s rainbow in the clouds; to know that whoever we are and wherever we find ourselves on the journey of faith, God loves us, God is with us every step we take.

Reading Schedule – October 2008 to May 2009

All are welcome to join us.

Time: 7:45 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. following the Wednesday evening Eucharists
Location: St. Paul’s Anglican Church

For more information, you are welcome to contact Rose by email.

“Who Is Jesus?”

Posted by Webmaster on under Staff Blog, Webmaster Blog | Be the First to Comment

This question was asked even by Jesus’ contemporaries and at times even by his own disciples.

“What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:27).

The church, especially in the first few centuries, was far from unanimous as to the answer. Today, it is posed from a wide variety of perspectives, from works of Anglican priests like Tom Harpur (The Pagan Christ) to the wildly popular The DaVinci Code mystery book and movie. There is a veritable plethora of works today asking this vital question.

Dr David Ryniker, member of St. Paul’s and professor of Anthropology at UBC, will lead a five-part Lenten Study on Tuesdays in March looking at this question and the diverse answers it has received.

Each session starts at 7:30pm in the King Room at 1140 Jervis Street.

2 March: Introduction, Sharing Our Own Backgrounds and Journeys

9 March: The Jesus Seminar Jesus

16 March: The Buddhist-Hindu East-West Dialogue Jesus

23 March: The Apocryphal-Gnostic Jesus

30 March: The Liberation Theology/Feminist & the Non-Christian Jesus

We will have wine and cheese to go along with the discussions. There’ll be no home work or any prep, just show up and join in!

Rector’s Report

Posted by Priest on March 7, 2010 under Sermons | Be the First to Comment

Another year is over and we come together to celebrate what we have accomplished, to fine-tune the things that might need adjustment, and to embrace the road in front of us. Above all, we gather to connect with each other and to praise the One in whose name we gather: God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.

It has been a year filled with a number of events and milestones. There has been success and there have been mistakes. I know I have failed you at times, for which I am profoundly sorry. I seek to learn from what I do wrong and I appreciate your feedback and your willingness to embrace me as your priest. But I also want to celebrate what we have accomplished over the last year, which is quite a lot. Thank you to you all for engaging in the ministry and mission of this amazing parish! Thank you indeed.

Of course, there have also been challenges, not the least, some personal losses that have diminished this community. We mourn those who have gone before us, even as we commend them into the loving arms of God. Nobody can ever be replaced and God will never forget those who have died.

At the same time, though, our community is alive in the Spirit and has been enriched by all of us who have been here for some time, and by the many who have joined us over the past year. There are many new and many “old-time” faces – both essential to who we are and who God calls us to be!

Thank you to those of you who continue to be here!

And welcome to all of you who have connected with us recently!

Communities such as ours are like vital organisms. They grow and develop and, yes, they change. With every loss and with every new face we change into something different. We are no longer who we once were. This is not a bad thing! Without change we would be stuck, would wither away. Change, as hard as it may be, is a sign that we stay alive.

This does not mean that we embrace change for the sake of change. We will hold on to what we have inherited from our mothers and fathers in the faith and what we proclaim in our services. However, as we watch Christendom quickly disappear, Christianity needs to find new ways of making the Good News of God in Jesus Christ heard. And we need to listen to what the Spirit is saying to us today – through those who have gone before us, through those who are part of our journey now, and through those on the outside, those who are seeking understanding, searching for meaning, and yearning for healing.

This is why I believe the rector’s report needs to be more than a list of statistics. Sure, I can provide numbers for the time since our last vestry:

Not to mention the many pastoral encounters, or the community and diocesan involvement, all essential for the vitality of our community.

However, I do not believe that these statistics speak all by themselves – and, quite frankly, as revealing as they might be, they can also easily be used for me to show off, which is not a good thing! These statistics can never fully measure the building up of our community in Christ.

Rather, it is the voices of the people that shape us and I would like to share some of these voices with you.

As many of you know, I was able to co-lead a retreat for our Labyrinth Guild a few weeks ago. At the retreat the Spirit was able to make Herself known to us in new and intriguing ways.

It was a weekend that brought together amazing people, who are connected deeply and celebrate true friendship. Yet, there was also some difficult work we had to do. It was not a conflict between us, but we had not been able to agree on one particular question. (Something that is quite usual for any community.) What was surprising, though, was the way the Spirit of God chose to speak to us, particularly to those of us who are members of the Body of Christ. To be more concrete: My fears, anxieties, and insecurities about my own and the church’s identity had drowned out God’s voice in my heart. So, God needed to find another way. And He did: God spoke through voices from the outside! Through people who are not part of the Christian community, God spoke words that overcame my fears, anxieties, and insecurities and allowed me to move deeper into the mystery of God. It was quite a revelation! And it was an affirmation that we must remain open to be surprised by God – even through unexpected voices.

In a similar way, I continue to hear God’s voice in encounters with clients, staff, and volunteers of our Advocacy Office. Some 2000 people came through our doors last year and God is speaking through our Advocacy Office to us about where we need to be!

God also continues to be revealed among us through the residents of “Our House.” Granted, these are not outside voices. The residents of Our House are integral to who we are. But it is still humbling for me to hear God’s voice through the words of Norm Sharkey and all the other residents. They are prophets among us as they speak truth and remind us about the things that really matter: Love of God. Love of neighbour. Love of self.

I also re-discovered God’s voice loud and clear in the ministry of our Healing Guild. It is an established ministry, but over the past year the Healing Guild has reclaimed its identity. Whenever and wherever the Healing Guild meets, “there is a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place” as one old Gospel spiritual puts it. “And I know it is the Spirit of the Lord.” It is this very Spirit that is manifested as the members of the Healing Guild claim new ground, as they minister to each other, and as they minister to the parish as a whole. I am very excited about how our parish as a whole will claim “healing” for our mutual ministry and mission.

God’s voice is particularly manifested through the voices of our choir and our music program. These are voices that continue to be heard in our ears and in our hearts. The music program here at St. Paul’s continues to enrich our lives as a worshipping community, opening an avenue into the divine. Music is indeed one of God’s voices among us.

With deep, deep gratitude I must talk about the voices of our staff. Dale Pleven, Cathryn Schultz, Ellen Silvergieter, and Colton Dodsley have been invaluable assets to our life. Without them, our mission and ministry would not be possible. Thank you!

We have also immensely benefitted from the ministry of Elizabeth Erlach (Labyrinth Office Administrator) and Linda Hale (bookkeeper). They have opened new and exciting possibilities for us. As they move on in their lives, I want to express my thanks and blessings for them.

And of course, the same (and much more!) goes for our Parish Administrator, Nancy Kwasnicki, who will retire at the end of this month. Nancy is a wonderful presence among us. We are forever indebted to her. I hope Nancy knows that she has left a profound mark on this parish and helped shaped our identity. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now we will welcome a new voice in our midst: Barry Goheen, our new Parish Administrator, who will start his job this week. Welcome, Barry, to this beautiful community of faith. I hope a full-time administrator will free me to do more ministry, to be more visible among you in pastoral care, in our reflection of God’s will for us, and in such matters as stewardship, communication, or community events.

There are a number of other voices that also need to be recognized: Nina Shoroplova, our webmaster extraordinaire, continues to explore new avenues in telling our story. Thanks to Nina, our voice is heard some 90 times every day on the net. The Library provides a voice of wisdom and knowledge. Our Altar Guild makes sure God’s voice is heard in this beautiful sanctuary. The coffee hour ministry is essential to our hospitality and often is overlooked… And so are our ushers, who continue to provide God’s voice of welcome. And there is so much more… What an amazing place of ministry! Thank you to you all.

And of course there are the lay leaders of the parish: the members of the church committee, the secretary, the treasurer, and our three wardens. Very often their voices only are heard by few. Yes, this is a new way of leadership. But these are creative, productive, and efficient voices, getting things done. Trust me, without Jo Anne Tharalson, Wade Richards, Steve Shannon, Rose Desrochers, and Richard VanDelft we might as well pack up! Thank you to them too!

So, where do we go from here?

Well, we will open today’s vestry meeting with the presentation of the committee charged with the Ministry Assessment Process. Under the wonderful leadership of Jillian Christison, Steve Shannon, Ross Bliss and all the other members of the MAP committee we will move forward in our mission and ministry. I commend their report to you. I am excited about our possibilities ahead of us, which we will embrace together! With the establishment of Education for Ministry (EFM), our Lenten Study, and our recent outreach during the Olympics, we are already moving forward.

We are all called to keep this amazing parish alive. Without you and your talent, time, and treasure, we are nothing. Thank you for continuing to give!

An old biblical command talks about giving 10% of what we have back to God. While we do not discriminate along those lines anymore, I do want to post this question to you: can you imagine what St. Paul’s and our neighbourhoods would look like if we all would commit to giving 10% either of our talent, our time, or our treasure?! What is the Spirit saying to us today…???!!!???

Again, there are exciting avenues for us ahead and you are all very much part of our ministry and mission and of our mutual discernment of God’s will for us. Our biggest assets and treasure are the wonderful people of St. Paul’s. Thank you.

You know I will start my sabbatical on 8 April. It will be a time to intentionally listen to God’s voice for me and to discern how I can serve this community better. You can follow my time away on my blog at: http://homoousious.blogspot.com.

I have a number of goals that I would like to pursue while on sabbatical. Some are personal (such as reconnecting with a regular pattern of prayer, discerning what God is saying to me for my future, taking retreats to deepen my intimacy with God, reconnecting with my biological family, celebrating my cultural heritage). Some are academic (such as pursuing theological education for one semester at a seminary and taking intensive one-week theological courses). Some are professional (such as analysing my leadership style, my communications style, and the way I can improve my presence as your priest among you). It will be a fruitful time – not just for me  – and I ask your prayers on the way. And I look forward to reporting back to you in late summer.

In closing, I would like to leave us with a blessing, which (for the most part) is attributed to St. Clare of Assisi. It is my prayer for us all in the year to come:

Live without fear. Your Creator has made you holy, has always protected you and loves you as a mother. Go in peace to follow the good road, and the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with us all, now and for ever. Amen.

[The Reverend Markus Duenzkofer delivered his annual Rector's Report at the 120th Annual Vestry on February 7, 2010.]