Anglican Life April 2009

1ANGLICANLife April 2009

ANGLICANLife

SERVING THE ANGLICAN DIOCESES OF WESTERN NEWFOUNDLAND + CENTRAL NEWFOUNDLAND + EASTERN NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

April 2009 A Section of theANGLICAN JOURNALin NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

“I was in prison...O LAMB OF GOD

A Blessed and Holy Easter to our Readers!

Easter Greetings fromBishop Percy Coffin

“There’s certainly aGod, so stop worrying andenjoy your life.”

My apologies to ArianeSherine who created the con-troversial London bus ad whichreads, “There’s probably noGod, stop worrying and enjoyyour life”. However, I havetwo brief positive comments onher ad:

First, the ad is a responseto “Christian” ads that havebeen running on London busesfeaturing a website which says,“All non-Christians would burnin hell for eternity in a lake offire”. She gives the would-beevangelist a failing grade andso would I for trying to attractan outsider to a living faith inJesus Christ in this manner.

And secondly, we knowthat trying to motivate peopleby fear rather than love is a nobrainer. So thank you for thewake up call by challenging usto examine our own faith andthe image we present to theworld to which we are calledto serve and witness.

To Serve and WitnessThe Christian proclaims,

“There is a God!” and, simplyput, for this reason we are freefrom worry and filled with joy.The greatest of all Bible sto-ries tells us so. Mary ofMagdala was among thewomen who aligned them-selves with Jesus in his minis-try. Some were relatives, per-haps some were wealthyenough to support his ministry,some were young and somehad sons the age of Jesus whoalso followed him. They werebonded with him and eachother because he had reachedtheir hearts and changed theirlives. The women especially(Mary his mother, Mary thewife of Clopas and MaryMagdalene) stood nearby in theJudgement Hall and at the footof the cross on Calvary. Theywere so moved by him thatthey faithfully offered him thefinal service of love by goingto his grave to anoint him.

The glorious ending to thegreatest story is Mary’s wit-ness to the risen Lord. While

the others witness an emptytomb Mary Magdalene is theonly woman named in all fourGospel accounts as a witnessto the resurrection of Jesus.That delayed encounter con-veys immeasurable delightwhen she, in tears of grief,hears her name spoken by herbeloved Rabboni.

Why the delay? Why is itthat Mary did not immediatelyrecognize Jesus and why do wehave to be jarred so severelyby atheistic bus ads before re-sponding to his extravagantgoodness and love for us?Maybe it’s the things we need-lessly grieve over or our pre-conceived notion of a risenLord, our hopelessness or aheart filled anything but hislove. Be assured that each ofus is called, by name, to sharehis life and live in resurrectionsjoy. Listen to him!

Here at the Synod Officewe gather for Morning Prayerin our chapel, The UpperRoom. We often use A WeeWorship Book for MorningPrayer. In one of the rites thereis a common refrain, proclaim-ing resurrection joy, before theProclamation of the Word:GOODNESS IS STRONGER

THAN EVIL,LOVE IS STRONGER

THAN HATE,LIGHT IS STRONGER

THAN DARKNESS,TRUTH IS STRONGER

THAN LIES.Wishing you the joy of that

story,The Synod Office staff:

Brenda, Gloria, Ed+,Roberta+ and David+

Bishop Percy and family(Monica, David, Andrew,Johanna and Laura)

Article by Jean NashPhotos by Georgina Short

Reprinted from an previousissue of Anglican Life

Have you ever felt thatsomething is so exciting, soenlightening, so inspiring, thatyou feel the need to share it?That is one of the reasons I’mwriting this; the other reason isthat by relating my experi-ence maybe someone willfeel the need to partake ofthe same or similar experi-ences in the future.

By the time this is read,we will have sung “Thestrife is o’er, the battle won.Alleluia!” We, each in ourown way, will have com-pleted the Lenten journeyand be celebrating the joy ofthe Easter season. Ofcourse, during the Lentenseason many attend themoving Sunday liturgies, theweekly evening services, theweekday Communion andBible studies within their re-spective parishes. This yearI decided as my Lenten dis-cipline that I would try to de-velop a better relationship withGod by participating in all thespecial activities/services ourParish provided, and indeedmuch provision was made in the

Church of the Ascension forour journey.

One special service was“Stations of the Cross” - notnew in Christian churches butnew to me. This Wednesdaymidday weekly service was ledby Archdeacon Kellett and ourRector, Rev’d Burrows. Itwas spiritually moving as agroup of parish members wentfrom station to station follow-ing the Passion of Christ, call-

ing to remembrance His roadto Calvary. The leaders en-gaged those present by read-ing the Gospel pertinent to theevent depicted in each compel-ling illustration, followed bywords of meditation and prayerthat reached my innermost be-ing. I felt I was there “whenthey crucified my Lord”. Iwanted to go out and call all toparticipate – to “Come andSee,” especially those whom I

had heard articulating con-cerns about this particularservice, concerns that re-lated to straying from theusual practices and modes ofworship.

A prayer group was alsoformed during the Season, afive session course onprayer for Lent, which fo-cused on prayer patterns. Inthe quiet, softly lit chapel,Rev. Burrows often led usin prayer while exploringthese patterns. It involveda voluntary sharing of ourfeelings/concerns/joys andsorrows. We listened to eachother, we prayed, we wept,we felt God’s presence. Itwas a spiritual enlightenment

for me. Up until then I had notmoved far from the prayer pat-

Behold the Lamb of God: The Rev’d David Burrows carries a real lamb into the Church of theAscension, Mount Pearl during the Easter Day worship last year.

I Come Among You As OneWho Serves: The Rev’d DavidBurrows washes the feet of hisdaughter Leah during theMaundy Thursday liturgy.

See Easter at the Ascensionon page 5

2 www.anglicanlife.blogspot.com

PARROTT’S HEARING CLINICDr. Valerie F. Parrott

Audiologist84 Thorburn Road

St. John’s, NL, A1B 3M3

(709) 754-4884 1-800-563-0957

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Do you want tosee news itemsfrom your parishincluded here?

Then send alongyour parish news tothe Editor-in-Chief

via email:[email protected] by snail mail atthe address listed

on page 3 ofAnglican Life.

The Parish of BayRoberts-Coley’s Point held aLenten Quiet Day on Satur-day, March 21st at St. John theEvangelist Church, Coley’sPoint. The Rev. Dr. Sam Mar-tin of The Arms of Jesus Chil-dren’s’ Mission was the guestspeaker. Dr. Martin deliveredfour addresses on the theme“Christ’s Mission is theChurch’s Mission!” (Parish ofBay Roberts/Coley’s Point)

Beverley Buffett hascompleted all her studies andhas been recommended toBishop Torraville by the LayMinister’s Chaplain, the Rev.Daphne Parsons, that she beissued the appropriate license.The Bishop says he will issuethe licenses as soon as possi-ble. In the meantime, Beverlyhas been given his authority toher to take up her duties as aLay Minister and as a Eucha-ristic Minister. (Parish of For-tune/Lamaline)

Recyclable Collections

are being carried out in ourParish by St. Andrew’s Men’sClub - Port au Bras, and StMatthew’s Church - St Law-rence, as ongoing fundraisingprojects. Anyone withrecyclables that they wouldlike to contribute to theseprojects can drop them off atthe Church in each respectivearea. Please support thisworthwhile project and helpSt. Andrew’s and St Mat-thew’s as they help keep ourenvironment clean. (Parish ofBurin)

All are invited to makepalm crosses for our ParishCelebration on Palm Sun-day. Don’t know how tomake the crosses...no worry,we will learn together! Cometo the Veteran’s MemorialCenter, New Perlican on Sat-urday, April 4 at 2:00pm. This is a great activity for theyoung and young at heart,those who like crafts andthose who desire a time of fel-lowship. (Parish of Heart’s

Content)

Did you know that yourperfume may be makingsome people sick? There isa dramatic increase in peoplewho are made sick by fra-grances because so manyproducts are now scented.We want to create an envi-ronment where everyone canparticipate and enjoy educa-tion courses, meetings, wor-ship and other events. In or-der to make that happen weask that congregation mem-bers refrain from usingscented products. (Parish ofAll Saints’, Conception BaySouth)

A.Y.P.A. Talent Show.The fifth annual Youth GroupTalent Show was held on Fri-day 13th February at 8:00p.m. It was an exciting eveningof fun, excitement and magi-cal curates! Desserts for thedessert party were served af-terwards. (Cathedral Parishof St. John the Baptist, St.

John’s)

At our congregational An-nual Work Plan meeting (Jan25) we heard about one of theplans for the parish regardingspecial teaching and worshipevenings during Lent. We areinviting each of the majorgroups of the parish to attendone specific Wednesdayevening 7:30pm Eucharist dur-ing Lent. Each evening will befocused on a different one ofthe “5 Marks of Mission”developed by the last threeLambeth Conferences andadopted in our Diocesan Min-istry Plan “Living our Faith inAction”. We endure as bea-cons when we allow the lightof Christ to go deep into thecore of our lives. (Parish ofSt. Thomas’, St. John’s)

The Rev’d Donna Mer-cer was ordained the Priest-hood on March 26th at theParish of St. Mary the Virgin,St. John’s where she is the As-sistant clergy. (Parish of St.

Mary the Virgin, St. John’s)

The Pasadena FoodBank has asked each congre-gation to focus on one item forthe next few months. St.David’s has been asked to fo-cus on instant coffee. (Parishof Pasadena/Cormack)

The Passover Seder:The Seder is the Passovermeal which commemoratesthe Jewish people’s flight fromEgypt in the time of Moses(about 1450 B.C.E.). TheSeder is the meal which Jesusshared with his disciples thenight before he died. On Tues-day in Holy Week (April 7th),you will have the opportunityto experience the Seder/Passover meal for yourselves.The meal with include all thetraditional ingredients (roastlamb, unleavened bread, bit-ter herbs, haroset, etc.); thesignificance of each item on themenu will be explained at sup-per. (Parish of All Saints’,Corner Brook)


ANGLICAN LIFE in Newfoundland and Labrador is thenewspaper of the Anglican Church in the Province ofNewfoundland and Labrador. A co-operative effort of the threeDioceses in Newfoundland and Labrador, it is publishedmonthly, except July and August, with an independent editorialpolicy.

A section of the Anglican Journal

Editor-in-Chief:The Rev’d Sam Rose45 Tildacane PlaceConception Bay South, NL A1X 3C7(709) 834-9190 (h)Email: [email protected]

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Each parish is responsible for maintaining its own subscription list- please notify your parish office of any changes. Changes sent toparish offices may take months to take effect. Please also sendyour updated information to Circulation at the Anglican Journal(above) or to Don Young at 34 Fraser Road, Gander NL A1V 2E8.

Articles and photographs: Send to the Editor-in-Chief (above)

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ANGLICANLifein NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

Virtual Church SchoolSubmitted by Fiona Brownlee

Communications for the Council of the North

What do you do if yourparish doesn’t have enoughmoney to pay the bills and youhave lots of children who needto hear the word of God? Youcan hardly begin to think aboutproviding an adequate minis-try. This is the experience ofmany parishes in thenorthern parts ofCanada that are partof the Council of theNorth.

Just over a yearago the diocese ofKeewatin began aninternet ministrycalled “VirtualChurch School” thatprovided weeklySunday School les-sons usually based onthe Gospel for theday. It can be found at :www.dioceseofkeewatin.ca/virtualchurchschool. Theselessons include some form ofopening worship, a story andthree craft ideas. The surprisefor everyone who discoveredthem is that they are free.There is no cost to the parishor local leader whodownloads them.

The news of this new min-istry became wider knownthroughout the Council of theNorth. People working withchildren in isolated parishesbegan to use the material. Alay reader from the diocese ofMontreal who is French of-

fered to translate the materi-als for free so that smallfrancophone parishes in Que-bec would have access toquality materials. A lay womanfrom the diocese of Brandon,who is on the executive for theAnglican Fellowship of Prayerand has a keen interest in chil-dren’s ministry, offered to pro-vide seasonal prayer ideas. As

the ministry grew so did theenthusiasm for it.

At the end of 2008, theCouncil of the North decidedthat this program should be-come a ministry of the Coun-cil as a whole. It is one thatmeets the Council’s mandate

to provide pastoraland sacramental min-istry to Anglicans liv-ing in isolated com-munities in Canada’snorth. As a result theprogram is beingpromoted within thenorthern dioceseswidely.

The wider churchhas a hand in this aswell. Our churchhelps to support theministry of the Coun-

cil through a yearly grant fromthe budget of General Synodand through the generous giftsAnglicans across the countrymake to the Anglican Appeal.If you are interested in sup-porting this ministry directlythen please do so through theAnglican Appeal and indicatethat it is for “Virtual ChurchSchool”.

Easter Greetings from BishopDavid Torraville

I do not know where Ifirst heard it, but I have beenrepeating it ever since. InNewfoundland and Labra-dor it takes more faith tobelieve in Spring than itdoes in the Resurrection.We are used to living on arock, used to making a liv-ing and a life on a spot inthe North Atlantic, wheremost passed by, on theirway to richer lands andmilder climates.

We know that rebirth isas painful and as tenuous asbirth itself, as we watch ourtender plants push themselvesthrough the snow and frigidsoil - and yet the rewards ofliving here! The rewards thatcome from nurturing those

flowers and shrubs and againstall odds watching them bloom.The rewards that come fromnurturing deep friendships,and family ties in communitieswhere many of us continue toknow one another. The re-wards of deep roots of faith;faith that first took root in little

communities around our prov-ince and which remains alive,renewed each year in the cel-ebration of Christmas, the re-membrance of Good Friday,the devotion of Easter, re-

newed daily in prayer and Bi-ble reading and weekly in cor-porate worship.

On Easter we recall andcelebrate the stone beingrolled back. We proclaim theresurrection, not only in the re-membrance of the historicevent, but as a living and an

ongoing event in our lives.As with the rebirth of ourSpring, it is sometimesfraught with difficulty andunexpected challenge in ourlives, nevertheless, “Christis Risen! Christ is RisenIndeed!” is a proclamationof faith and hope, a procla-mation that God is with useternally even when it ap-pears that the stone willnever move.

May the Lord who cre-ated you, the Lord who re-deems you, the Lord who

sustains you, fill you with thejoy of his life giving Spirit, thisEaster and every day to come.

+David


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Easter at the Ascension

Dancing with the PriestsMile One Centre will host dance competition with a purposeArticle by Merissa Wiseman

tern of my youth. Often Iwasn’t focussed. Often I wasunsatisfied. I needed to enterinto a more spiritual commun-ion with Him. I needed guid-ance. These occasions put meon the road to establishing abetter relationship with God, notjust for Lent but, in my dailyliving.

I am so grateful that As-cension opened its doors everyWednesday morning an hourbefore the Holy Communionservice started. All were wel-come to come and spend timein the subtly lit church with itssoft background music. It wasa time for meditation, prayerand reflection – a time to ‘bestill and know.’ The music ena-bled me to quiet my wandering

mind, to focus on God’s pres-ence. It was so wonderful topause from the distractions ofhome and to be in the prayerfulatmosphere of the Church.Early Wednesday morning‘quiet time’ was both a newand rewarding experience.

Indeed, we all have ourLenten practices. We eachchoose what we feel is best forus. I still have far to go withrespect to my relationship withGod but I feel my participationat my church this Lent haspointed me in the right direc-tion. I am glad I moved frommy ‘comfortable Lenten pew’and sought other ways to re-new and improve that relation-ship.

Continued from page 1

This spring, St. John’s willshowcase its own unique twiston the popular television pro-gram Dancing with the Stars.On Friday, May 8, 2009 atMile One Centre, 11 Anglicanpriests and their professionaldance partners will kick uptheir heels in one of the mostunique fundraising events ever- Dancing with the Priests!

The 11 priests are from theAnglican Church Diocese ofEastern Newfoundland andL a b r a d o r.Together withtheir profes-sional dancepartners, theypromise tomaster thedance floorand wow theaudience, allin the name ofraising fundsfor VibrantCommunities, St. John’s.

Vibrant Communities is anon-profit organization thataims to ensure individuals andfamilies in St. John’s neigh-bourhoods have the resourcesto maintain a decent standardof living and can participatefully in the life of our commu-nity.

“This event has broughttogether an enthusiastic groupof people who are passionateabout making a difference inthe community,” says eventco-chair Gina Pecore. “Thedancing priests, volunteerdance instructors, our judges

Judy Knee of the Judy KneeDance School and The Rt.Rev’d Cyrus Pitman of Dio-cese of Eastern Newfound-land and Labrador, and ourdedicated event volunteers,are all working hard to makethis day a success and ulti-mately raise funds for low-in-come families and those livingin poverty.”

Guests of the Dancingwith the Priests Gala Per-formance and Banquet willenjoy a delectable meal ca-tered by executive chefs Roary

McPherson of the Sheraton,Brian Abbott of College of theNorth Atlantic, and ToddSmith of Academy Canada.Then the spotlight will be caston the dance pairs as they per-form before a panel of judgeswhose results will determinethe winner. After the competi-tion, the audience will strap ontheir own dance shoes to thetunes of the Kirk NewhookSix band featuring Dana Par-sons.

“We’re thrilled by the levelof support from the commu-nity to raise funds for VibrantCommunities” says Pecore.

“Many individual and corpo-rate sponsors have alreadypledged their financial supportto the event. And there aremany more opportunities toget involved! You can pick upa pledge sheet to join ourfundraising drive or volunteer.We need many helping handsto make this event a success.”

All proceeds will go toVibrant Communities. A fewof their priority areas includeimproving high school com-pletion rates for youth in low-income neighbourhoods, pro-

viding op-portunitiesfor unem-p l o y e dadults whowant tolearn and towork, en-h a n c i n gavailabilityof afford-able/qualitychi ldcare

and helping to building spirit inlow income areas of the citywhere volunteers are trying tomake a difference.

To learn more aboutDancing with the Priests or toreserve tickets for one of thegreatest dance performancesof the year, contact Jane atMyx Meeting Centre at709.834.6370 or [email protected] more information aboutthis exciting event, please visitwww.dancingwiththepriests.com.

Remembrance Dayhonoured in Corner Brook

November 11, 1948. Whilequite a few of us weren’t evenborn, this date became one thatwe, as a nation, would remem-ber and hold near and dear,hopefully, now and for manygenerations to come. Very fewof our families, if any, were for-tunate enough not to have beentouched by war. The majorityof us have had brothers, sisters,aunts, uncles, grandparents,etc. who have served in one ofthe many wars. Some havepaid the ultimate price for thegood of all. And we remem-ber them… One of our parish-ioners, Gordon Osmond, aWW11 veteran, was grateful

and honoured to be given theopportunity to represent ourmany veterans - those whohave served and to those whohave been fortunate not to havebeen called to active duty butserved none the less. Sur-rounded by four generations ofthe Osmond family, Gordon laida wreath at the altar and stoodby as we observed two min-utes of our time – a mere pit-tance – to pay homage to themany heroes who have givenus our precious freedom.Many blessings and manythanks go to Gordon and to allour veterans from all yourfriends here at St. Michael’s.

Article & Photo byDebbie Ford


bishop’s letterBishop Cyrus Pitman

Diocese of EasternNewfoundland & Labrador

The future shape & organization of the dioceseBishop Seaborn, in his

Charge to the 1971 Synodsaid, “But has not the timecome for an overall study ofthe future shape and organi-zation of this Diocese, with aview to a fresh realization ofthe very purpose and missionof the Church and a renewalof its life in fath, in worship andin service to the world?”

The 60’s and 70’s was atime of great upheaval andtransition for the ChristianChurch as it was for the wholeof society. In 1963 Anglicansfrom many parts of the worldgathered in Toronto for theAnglican Congress and theymet at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Many good things emergedfrom that gathering especiallythe call to mission and a callto become engaged in God’smission together.

Nationally our Churchasked the famed author PierreBurton to look at our Churchand give a diagnosis so that wecould be better engaged in themission of the Church. Heproduced the controversialbook “The ComfortablePew”.

Within the Diocese ofNewfoundland, there werestirrings that we needed todevelop new models so thatwe could provide more effec-tive ministry throughout New-

foundland and Labrador.It is out of this context that

in 1971, the Rev. JacobRogers moved “Be it resolvedthat in the words of the Bish-op’s Charge an overall studyof the future shape and organi-zation of this Diocese, with aview to a fresh realization ofthe very purpose of mission ofthe Church, and a renewal ofits life, and faith, in Worshipand Service to the World,” bemade, and that the Bishop berequested to appoint a TaskForce of not more than fivepersons, one of whom shall beunder 21 years; another resi-dent outside the Diocese, onelayman, one priest and one

person not involved in theChurch’s fellowship.

They were empowered toprepare a plan for presenta-tion to a special Session ofSynod. After much prayer andconsultation it was decided torestructure the Diocese ofNewfoundland into threeseparate dioceses. A processwas put in place to make thishappen effective 1976.

The Church landscape hascertainly changed in the pastthirty-three years since the re-structuring. Maybe the timehas come for us to look againat how we share in God’s mis-sion in this Province of New-foundland and Labrador.

This is a very exciting timein the life of our Church. It isa time of opportunity and atime of mission as we share inChrist’s ministry. The shapeand organization of our par-ishes and dioceses need toreflect this.

David Davis

The Document

our historyThe first priest?The article by the Reverend

Edmund Hunt concerning theReverend Erasmus Stourton isfound in a clipping from theEvening Telegram newspaper.There are many interesting itemsburied in the mounds of pastnewspapers which are almostimpossible to retrieve. The writeris grateful to Ms Gladys Bensonfor giving him a copy of it andthe Telegram newspaper forpermission to reprint it.

The writer is not very famil-iar with the career of the Rev.Stourton so he would like to re-fer readers to the article by DrHans Rollman entitled: Angli-cans, Puritans, and Quakersin Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Newfoundland, atinternet address: http:/www.mun.ca/rels/ang/texts/ang1.html

One issue in the articleneeds comment: the attitude ofRev Stourton to life and others.The characteristics ascribed tohim are those which would havebeen esteemed at his time, a timewhen the religious destiny ofEngland was still in doubt. In factfor many years after this timeclergy were expected to beforceful for their faith and ag-gressive against other faiths.

Mr Stourton was not with-out influence as Mr Hunt notes;his connection with Villiers fam-ily headed by the Duke of Buck-ingham is interesting: that mayhave helped him approach thePrivy Council.

The article is reproducedas it appeared in the EveningTelegram.

Retired Anglican minis-ter disputes historian’sclaim

By E. Hunt

Historians and other havebeen telling as fact that Rev.Erasmus Stourton was the firstChurch of England clergymanto come to Newfoundland, andthat he came over with JohnGuy on his second trip in 1612as chaplain to his colony atCupids.

These alleged facts aregiven by Prowse in his Historyof Newfoundland, also by thelate Canon Pilot in a supple-mentary chapter of the samevolume, and many others. Thelatest reiteration of it in volumeform is told in the Book ofNewfoundland, by Joseph R.Smallwood, in the Frameworkof our History under the by-lineJames R. Thomas; it reads: “Aclergyman named ErasmusStourton arrived with the colo-nists and remained many yearsafter Guy’s Colony was aban-doned.” None gives the sourceof his information.

The first point, as toStourton being the first Angli-

can clergyman to come toNewfoundland, is in itself amoot question. The late CanonWR Smith, local historian, saidthat, “the first Anglican serv-ice held in Newfoundland issaid to have been held on thebeach at St John’s by SirHumphrey Gilbert’s chaplainwhose name is not recorded.”that was in 1583. If this is so,Stourton was not the first butthe second clergyman to cometo Newfoundland. However,the first to be known by name,and the first resident clergy-man.

The second point, as to hiscoming over with John Guy in1612 as chaplain at Cupids, andremained “ many years afterGuy’s Colony was aban-doned.” is no longer tenable inthe light of recent research, andis regarded by up-to-date his-torians as pious fiction or wish-ful thinking. On this point, thefollowing biographical sketch isproof that he did not come withGuy in 1612:

“Erasmus Stourton wasborn in 1603, eldest son of sixchildren of Edward and MaryStourton of Narborough,Leicestershire, England. At 16he matriculated from St John’sCollege, Cambridge; graduatedBA 1622 and took his MA in1627.” (For verification, seeLincolnshire pedigrees 1902-04, and Alumni Catabrigensis1922-54 (English parochial and

Academic records).It would be absurd to say

that Stourton came over aschaplain wit Guy in 1812 whenhe would be only nine yearsold. Furthermore, there is nomention of Stourton in a re-cently discovered document,the Willoughby or Middletonpapers, a historic documentcontemporary with and relativeto John Guy’s colony at Cupids.A photo static copy is availableat Newfoundland Archives,Colonial building.

Stourton’s tenure in New-foundland was of compara-tively short duration. He estab-lished himself at Ferryland in1627 and that he returned toEngland the following yearrules out the idea that he spentmany years in Newfoundland.In a document dated Oct. 9,1628, after he returned to Eng-land, he refers to himself as “thelate preacher of the colony ofFerryland.”

The only connectionStourton might have had withCupids was, possibly and veryprobably, that after his banish-ment by Calvert at Ferrylandhe journeyed there to awaitpassage to England on one ofcolony’s boats, and while theremay have held a service when,according to Prowse, Anne, thewife of John Mason, governorof the colony at that time,“found the preaching ofErasmus Stourton rather dull.”

It is difficult to assessStourton’s human qualities be-cause there is not much in lo-cal literature about him. Whatlittle is written is one-sided andof a debasing nature. Calvertcalled him “an audacious man,a narrow-minded sectary, anda troublesome meddlesomebusybody.”

The late ArchbishopHowley referred to him as “anaggressive protestant, unbear-able, and most likely seditious.”

Such views may well beexaggerated by reason of en-mity and prejudice, common inthose non-ecumenical days,when much bigotry and bitter-ness existed between the tworeligious faiths.

But there is evidence thathe was audacious, aggressive,and perhaps a bit on the sedi-tious side. When he returnedto England it is said he tried tostir up the Privy Council andother authorities against thepopish colony of Ferryland, andtold how the priests said Massthere “and carried out all theceremonies of the Church ofRome in the ample manner asit was used in Spain.”

On the other hand he wascourageous. His leaving theamenities of home and comingto this desolate rock-bound isleamid the conditions that existedin those days, attests to that.

He apparently too had thecourage of his convictions, ofwhich he gave utterance withno uncertain sound. It was abrave act on his part to with-stand the powerful and influ-ential Calvert, then a royal fa-vourite.

When he returned to Eng-land in 1628, the Rev. ErasmusStourton continued in his call-ing. He became in turn chap-lain to Christopher Villiers, Earlof Anglesey, and Rector ofWalesby, Lincolnshire (1631-1658) where died in 1658 at 55.


St. Martin’s Cathedral celebratesfifty years of worship

Many members of St. Martin’s Cathedral congregation, who were present at the 50th AnniversaryService on February 8 of this year, were also present at the Dedication Service in 1959.

Article by Stella WalshPhoto by Ralph Miller

On Sunday, February 8,2009, St. Martin’s Cathedralheld a rededication service tocommemorate the 50th anni-versary of the official openingof the present church building.This liturgy followed the sameorder of worship as the origi-nal dedication on February 8,1959. The order of service,along with other noteworthyinformation, was printed in abooklet for each member of thecongregation to keep. Thebooklet included the samereadings, hymns, and prayersas those used in 1959. As well,during this anniversary, theEucharist was sung using theMerbecke Setting.

Bishop David Torravillerededicated the church build-ing, while Reverend John

Watton, Rector, presided overthe Eucharist. Both BishopTorraville and ReverendWatton spoke of honoringthose who were committed toworking for the Church in thepast, are committed now, andwill continue to work for theChurch in the future.

This anniversary was wellattended, with several thingsadding to the feeling of nostal-gia. Bishop Torraville carriedthe staff that originally belongedto Bishop John A. Meaden in1959. Also, several membersof the congregation attendingthe service were also presentat the dedication service in1959. A particularly nice touchwas that Gerald Saunders wasable to attend as crucifer. In1959, at age sixteen, he wasbrought from Gambo to serveat the dedication.

Following the service, the

congregation moved to St.Martin’s Hall for refreshments.During this time, the elders en-tertained the younger genera-tions with stories of the waythings were back in 1959. Itwas evident that the senior pa-rishioners delighted in reminisc-ing and sharing their memoriesof the past. The words “Inthose days...” could be heardfrom all corners of the hall.Throughout the day, manyspoke of the late ReverendJohn H. Moss, and how proudhe would be of St. Martin’sCathedral today.

This anniversary marksthe beginning of the celebra-tions at St. Martin’s Cathedralduring this 50th anniversaryyear. There are more activitiesplanned for later, during thewarmer months.

Life in the Eucharistin Milltown Article & Photo

by Shawn Fowlow

On Sunday, February 22,five young members of the con-gregation of Christ Church,Milltown participated in theirFirst Communion. For ChloeAnn Hicks, Mark Fowlow, KylaKendell, Allysa Organ, andPierce Roberts the eventmarked the conclusion of theirinvolvement in the Life in TheEucharist program.

The Life in the EucharistProgram, a program of theAnglican Church of Canada,promotes co-operation be-tween sponsors, children,clergy and the parish commu-nity and is designed to help chil-dren participate more fully inthe Eucharist and therefore

Christian life.Throughout the program

the youth meet to discuss themany topics including the sig-nificance of prayer, the Wordof God and Holy Eucharist.They took part in the worshipservices by leading the prayersof the people and participatingin the offertory.

During the February 22ndservice, the Rev. Roy Simmsled an instructed Eucharist withthe youth and the entire con-gregation to share the mean-ing of the various parts of theservice of Holy Communionfrom the time the priest puts onthe vestments to the dismissal.

Life in the Eucharist: The Rev’d Roy Simms (rear) stands withthe five young persons who completed the Life in the Eucharistprogram in Christ Church, Milltown.

New rector inducted

Archdeacon John Dinnwas inducted as Rector of theParish of St. John the Evange-list, Topsail on 22 February2009. Bishop Cyrus Pitmanofficiated at the liturgy.

The church was filled tocapacity. The congregation in-cluded members of the CLB,visiting clergy and guests.Bishop Pitman stood with thenew rector and wardens Kel-vin Fowler and Robert Daweas Father Chris Snow (Re-gional Dean) read out the in-cumbent’s licence. Archdea-con Sandra Tilley read theoaths, letters and declarations.Members of the congregation

made presentations of appro-priate symbols of ministry toArchdeacon Dinn.

During the signing of theCovenant by all involved,Nicholas Dinn (ArchdeaconJohn’s son) played “Take MyLife and Let it Be” on the clari-net. The senior choir under thedirection of Stephanie Gavelle,sang several selections includ-ing “I Feel the Winds of GodToday.” Following the service,all gathered in the Parish Hallfor a social time.

St. John the Evangelist isvery pleased to welcome Arch-deacon Dinn and his family tothe parish.

Article & Photo by Lois Baker

The Junior/Intermediate choir of St. James’ Church in Port aux Basques raised their voices in praise onDecember 5th, 2008 to entertain the residents of the Mountain Hope Manor and the Charles L. LeGrowSeniors’ Complex. The choir members are pictured here with some of the residents of the Complex and theirdedicated leaders, Jane Allen and Kay Osmond. The joyful singers were rewarded for their efforts withpopcorn and a movie at the St. James’ Memorial Centre. Submitted by Kay Short.


Twillingate, 1821

One hundred years of faithful service

Article by Shirley ChurchillPhotos by Melvin Knee

St. Alban’s in Badger’s Quay celebrates historic milestone

At 4:30 p.m. Jan. 17,2009, St. Alban’s congre-gation began its 100th cel-ebrations with a potlucksupper held in The LionsHall followed by a 7pmEucharist at St. Alban’sChurch.

After Rev. RobinTrevors invited the peopleto be seated, the buffetsupper began with thesinging of “Be present atthy table, Lord”. Rev.Robin welcomed the con-gregation and invitedguests. The Matron ofCeremony, Mrs. SybilKnee, kept the event run-ning smoothly as she in-vited each guest to speak.Emma Gale brought greet-ings from our motherchurch St. James, BishopDavid Torraville from theCentral Diocese, Rev.Shaun O’Connor from theMinisterial and from ourneighboring parish, MayorGrant Burry from theTown of New-Wes-Valleyand MHA Harry Hardingfrom the Government ofNewfoundland and Labra-dor, Premier Williams, andalso personal greetings tohis home church of 36

years. On behalf of MPScott Simms, Sybil Kneeread a letter he had for-warded. Sybil thankedthem for their reflections,appreciations and bless-

ings.As we enjoyed a meal

together, the guest bookwas signed. MC Sybil in-vited Minnie Janes for aphoto shoot with the cakeshe had baked and beauti-fully decorated for this oc-casion. A well- known and

loved member of our con-gregation and town, DavidKnee assisted by his goodfriend Jim Combden cutthe anniversary cake.

Rev. Robin thanked the

Centennial Committeemembers and all who at-tended. The supper endedwith the singing of the songcomposed by MinnieJanes set to the tune of“The Church’s one foun-dation”.

Ms. Denise Hounsell

photographed individualsand families to be dis-played at our week- longcelebrations August 17th-23rd, 2009.

The Centennial Serv-

ice began with a proces-sional consisting of thechoir, lay ministers, Eucha-ristic Assistants, servers,Rev. Robin and BishopDavid as those gatheredsang the hymn “TheChurch’s one foundation”– the first hymn sung at

the consecration of thechurch on January 17th,1909. Gordon Norris andMelvin Knee providedtheir gift of music. Thechoir sang, “Great is thyFaithfulness”.

Bishop David spokeabout how God was notjust God of some long agoancestors but a God whois present to each of us to-day. What the structure ofthe Church will be in an-other hundred yearsBishop David said hecould not say, but he knewthat there will always bebelievers because of God’senduring love and witnessfound in Jesus Christ.

Our service of Thanks-giving ended with liftedvoices and in spirit joinedwith all the saints of St.Alban’s as we recessedsinging “Onward ChristianSoldiers”.

St. Alban’s is lookingforward to having ourfriends and former mem-bers come and celebratewith us in August. Formore information on all theevents, go to our parishwebsite atwww.parishofbqpi.org.There’s a whole year ofcelebrations planned!


A Sabbatical Diary - part twoArticle & Photos by

The Rev’d Robin Barrett

The Rev. Robin Barrett shares his sabbatical journey with Anglican Life

Twenty five years ago, onMay 8, the Feast Day ofMother Julian of Norwich, Iwas ordained at the Cathedralof St. John the Baptist in St.John’s. Until then I had notheard ofMother Julian,a medievalmystic and thefirst woman tohave her writ-ings publishedin English. Shehad suffered avery serious ill-ness at the ageof 30. Duringthat illness, shehad receivedvisions fromGod. For therest of her life,she lived in hercell attached tothe Church ofSt. Julian inNorwich, (fromwhich she tookher name) andcontemplated these visions, allthe while counseling peoplewho came to see her. Her cellhad three windows, one look-ing into the sanctuary of thechurch, one to the outside tocounsel people, and one for her

maid to give to her the neces-sities of life for her and her cat.I spent a week in the GuestHouse with Sr. Pamela of theSisters of All Hallows, nextdoor to St. Julian’s church. Itwas powerful to worship in thevery place where Mother Julianspent most of her life and in

which shewrote her book,Revelations ofDivine Love. Ialso exploredNorwich withits manychurches and itscastle and mar-ket place, theresince Romantimes.

Next stopwas the westcoast of Scot-land and theholy isle of Iona,just three mileslong and onemile wide, butbig in the historyof ScottishChristianity. Itwas here in 563

that St. Columba came fromIreland to convert the Picts, theoriginal residents of Scotland.To get to Iona, involved a jour-ney on trains to Oban, ferry tothe Isle of Mull, a bus acrossthe one track road and then a

ferry to Iona. There stood therestored stone Abbey of themedieval period. The originalAbbey of Columba was longgone, the brothers having beenkilled at the turn of the centuryby the Vikings. The medievalmonastery, long in disrepair,was restored during the De-pression of the 1930’s under thesupervision of the Presbyterianclergy, Rev’d Ian MacLeod, asa way to train unemployed menin stone masonry. The Abbeyis now the center of the IonaCommunity, and the Abbeybuilding itself and the MacLeodCentre offer weekly course for

Statue of Mother Julian atthe entrance of NorwichCathedral

pilgrims all year round. I spentone week in the Abbey duringa holiday week with manyfamilies present, and one weekat the MacLeod Centre, on acourse called Spirituality andSexuality for the 21st Century.During each week, you wor-ship twice daily in the Abbeychurch, take part in dailychores, go on a one day pilgrim-age around the island and par-ticipate in a Scottish ceilidh(dance). I also went during thesecond week on a trip to StaffaIsland which has a very uniquegeological formation and caves,which became the destination

for travelers in the 19 century,including Queen Victoria, Dar-win and Mendelssohn, whowas inspired to write one of hismusic pieces by the sound inthe caves.

George Macleod calledIona a thin place, a place wherethe divide between heaven andearth seems less. There defi-nitely was a feeling of the sa-cred there, as it has been foryears, to the extent that manyScottish kings and some Frenchand Norwegian kings havebeen buried there. Iona was aplace to breathe in the presenceof God.

Abbey on Iona

Ready for the Souper Bowl!

You’ve heard of SuperBowl Sunday. It’s a day ofhype, great half-time perform-ances, snazzy commercials, anexcuse to have a mid-winterparty, and somewhere in therea football game happens. Wellat St. Mark’s in St. John’s it’snot about the football at all, it’sabout the soup, and support-ing a good cause. We call it“Souper Bowl” Sunday. TheYouth of St. Mark’s provideand serve the soup and all themoney raised goes to someministry that the parish is in-

volved in. This year we raised$360 in aid of the CLB Mis-sion to Belize. Roy Leake an8th grade student member ofSMAC Youth and the CLB,along with the Rev’d LynnCourage, Ruth Leake, JenniferWheeler, Heather Wheeler,Trelyn Derrington, andKimberly Lilly will be going onthe Belize trip from St. Mark’s.

Article & Photo byRobert Cooke

Souper Bowl Sunday: (left to right): Melissa Cullen, RebeccaDawe, Becky O’Leary, Meagan Cullen, and Kim Petley.


PPPPPlease send this form to:lease send this form to:lease send this form to:lease send this form to:lease send this form to: The Circulation Manager, Anglican Journal, 80 Hayden Street,Toronto, Ontario,Canada, M4Y 3G2, attention Beverley Murphy, or send changes [email protected]. Please notify your parish of these changes. You mayalso send changes to Donald Young at the Anglican Life business office, 34 Fraser Road,Gander, NL A1V 2E8.

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ANGLICANLife

let us prlet us prlet us prlet us prlet us praaaaayyyyy...............The Rev. Everett HobbsBooks on prayer

We read books on prayerfor understanding and guid-ance. Obviously, reading abook about prayer is not thesame as praying. We learn topray by praying. A book onprayer is only helpful if we dowhat it says. In this article Iwill recommend a few bookson prayer that I have foundbeneficial. Now there arethousand of books aboutprayer and you will have yourown favourites but you may beat a place in your prayer lifewhere a suggestion is just whatyou need.

The Art of Prayer: Asimple guide to conversa-tion with God (TimothyJones) is a first-rate guide to

prayer. Jones integrates hisown experience and the wis-dom of the ages in prose thatis a pleasure to read. To Prayis to Love (Roberta Bondi) isdescribed as a conversationon prayer with the earlyChurch. She looks at howChristians prayed in the firstfour centuries and what it canmean for our thinking, prayingand living today. Heart ofPrayer: Finding time, aplace and a way to pray(Brother Ramon) is a practi-cal companion to nourish anddeepen prayer and the spirituallife. Sister Wendy on Prayer(Sister Wendy Beckett) treatsprayer as a normal part ofChristian living. She writes

well and easily. Approachesto Prayer (Ed. HenryMorgan) isproduced bythe Diocese ofSouthwark asa lesson bookfor groups andindividuals.

P r a y e r :Finding theheart’s truehome (Rich-ard Foster) is areview of thedifferent tradi-tions/streamsof prayerpractised byChristians. Beginning toPray (Anthony Bloom) is de-

scribed as a primer for ‘peo-ple who have never prayed

before’ butthere is muchwisdom in itfor any of us.It is a beautifuland movingbook. Di-mension ofP r a y e r( D o u g l a sSteere) is of-fered as aworkbook onprayer ad-dressed tothose alreadywithin the

Christian community and com-mitted to its life. For him to

pray is to change. Other rec-ommendations are How toPray (Jonathan Pritchard) andApproaching God (SteveBrown).

Letters to Malcolm:chiefly on prayer was the lastbook penned by C.S.Lewis(1963). It contains wide-ranging observations onprayer. It doesn’t tell us howto pray but deals with issuesand concerns around prayer.Other fine books no longer inprint but still available online:The Use of Praying (J NevilleWard), Teach Us How toPray (Louis Evely), Let’sStart Praying Again(Bernard Bassett) and Day byDay (Michael Hollings).

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith is a giftplanning consultant for the

Anglican Church of Canada.He can be contacted at:

(709) 739-5667or by email:

[email protected]

stewardshipThis fragile earthMuch talk has been centred

recently around the five “Marksof Mission” that the AnglicanConsultative Council adoptedsome time ago. The purpose ofthis list was to give parishes anddioceses around the world apractical and memorable check-list for mission activities. Theone that I will concentrate on isthe fifth mark:

To strive to safeguard theintegrity of creation and sustainand renew life of the earth.

The Anglican Church’s“Eco” Working Group studiesenvironmental and economic is-sues and looks at ways that thechurch can respond in faith. They give priority to issues thatare a concern for CanadianAnglicans and our partners orthat have broad ecumenical sup-port. In addition, they seek op-

portunities for the AnglicanChurch of Canada to partici-pate in campaigns and advo-cacy initiatives such as protect-ing the earth through variousways:

Climate Change throughreducing carbon emissions:Their web site goes on to say:

Climate change is increas-ingly regarded as one of thegreatest threats to the wellbe-ing of our planet. More than2,000 scientists who contrib-uted to the UN Intergovern-mental Panel on ClimateChange predict that by 2100the average temperature of theearth will climb between 1.5and 6 degrees Celsius, withconsequences to the health andsafety of all living creatures.They found that most of thewarming in the past fifty years

can be attributed to human ac-tivities and in particular to burn-ing fossil fuels.

The webpage reports thatsince the General Synod of2007, the Task Group to Re-duce Carbon Emissions of thePartners in Mission andEcojustice Committee hasbeen exploring ways to supportAnglican churches to reducetheir carbon footprints.

The KAIROS website sug-gests the following:

Our addiction to oil is kill-ing people and theplanet...sometimes slowlythrough the degradation of theair that we breathe and theecosystems on which we alldepend, and sometimes quicklyas a result of human rightsabuses and conflict over thecontrol and use of fossil fuels.

Finally, the working groupis encouraging dioceses andparishes to set targets for re-ducing green house gas emis-sions. Wikipedia, the free en-cyclopedia, defines greenhouse gases as the following:

Greenhouse gases aregases in an atmosphere thatabsorb and emit radiationwithin the thermal infraredrange. This process is thefundamental cause of thegreenhouse effect. In oursolar system, the atmos-pheres of Venus, Mars andTitan also contain gases thatcause greenhouse effects.Greenhouse gases, mainlywater vapor, are essential tohelping determine the tem-perature of the Earth; with-out them this planet wouldlikely be so cold as to be

uninhabitable. Althoughmany factors such as the sunand the water cycle are re-sponsible for the Earth’sweather and energy balance,if all else was held equal and

See This fragile earthcontinued on page 10


Canadian News Briefs

DDDDDooooocccccumeumeumeumeumennnnntatatatatarrrrry fy fy fy fy fooooocccccusususususeeeees os os os os on Jn Jn Jn Jn Jaaaaamememememes Ss Ss Ss Ss SeeeeetttttttttteeeeeeeeeeA new television documentary has been produced about the

life, teaching, and impact of Rev. James Settee, who at 86 becamethe oldest man ever to be ordained priest in the Anglican Commun-ion, and who is best known for having translated John Newton’sAmazing Grace in Cree.

“Jim Settee: The Way Home,” written, produced and directedby Metis filmmaker Jeanne Corrigal, was to premiere at the Broad-way Theatre in Saskatoon March 15, and air on March 25 andlater on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN).

“The Way Home is a retrospective of a remarkable life, andalso a story of transformation for me and many others who camehome through Jim’s teaching,” said Ms. Corrigal.

Born on the Montreal Lake Reserve, Settee was the great-grandson of an earlier James Settee, who brought the Gospel tothe La Ronge and Stanley Mission area in the 1800s.

The former bishop of the diocese of Saskatchewan, AnthonyBurton, once described Mr. Settee as the diocese’s “living memorybank,” citing that he had “attended his first diocesan synod as achild in 1912; he remembers his father’s stories of having visitedin Prince Albert the camp of Sitting Bull following Custer’s LastStand.”

A respected elder and community builder, Mr. Settee had anactive ministry: he led the renovation of the church at Little Red,Sask., and gave Cree lessons to the young.

“Settee was well-respected for his integrity, generosity, hu-mour and kindness. He was also a good story-teller, who collectedthe memories of others as an enthusiastic historian,” wrote thediocesan newspaper, The Saskatchewan Anglican. He was “verymuch a seeker of lost souls in his ministry, and of lost bodies withsearch and rescue teams in the Saskatchewan bush.”

Parishes press for poverty reductionMore than 150 parishes across the diocese of Toronto are

presenting an anti-poverty motion at their 2009 vestry, as requestedby their diocesan bishop, Colin Johnson, and the diocese’s socialjustice and advocacy committee.

The motion says: “The vestry of (name of parish) commendsthe Government of Ontario for its commitment to a Poverty Re-duction Plan for Ontario, and urges that the government’s 2009budget contain specific anti-poverty measures so that substantialprogress is made toward poverty reduction and in alleviating hard-ship among the poor during 2009.”

Details of the campaign, along with information about povertyin Ontario, are posted on the diocese’s Social Justice and Advo-cacy Web site, www.torontoanglican.ca/sjac.

Money for Gaza hospitalThe diocese of New Westminster has raised $56,000 as of the

middle of February for the Anglican-run Al Ahli Arab Hospital inGaza City, which has been providing crucial services following therecent conflict in Gaza.

“It’s really a very, very heartening result,” said the diocesanbishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, who initiated theappeal in response to what he described as a “humanitarian disas-ter.” Forty-eight parishes and several individuals gave donations.

Bishop Ingham asked priests in the diocese to read a pastoralappeal in January in which he said, “The situation in Gaza hasbecome urgent and I believe we must respond.” He added, “I hadthe opportunity to meet the new bishop of Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani,on several occasions last year and I have also visited the Anglicanhospital in Gaza. Both deserve our support at this crucial time.”

Bishop Ingham said that “the political roots of this conflict arecomplex, but we have an opportunity now to respond in a compas-sionate way to the needs of the suffering, regardless of politics.”

Bishop Suheil thanked the diocese for the support, saying, “Oursis a humanitarian hospital, where civilians receive the best possiblecare, regardless of faith or ability to pay.” He said that a majority ofpeople in Gaza “must rely upon aid for the health and welfare oftheir families.”

Orchestra performs original workThe Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra recently performed And

There Was a Great Calm, a 10-minute work by an emerging Rupert’sLand composer whose music was based on her experience of camp-ing trips and thunderstorms in the Canadian Shield country of North-western Ontario.

Karen Sunabacka’s entry in this year’s Canadian Music CentrePrairie Region Emerging Competition also earned her a $1,000 cashprize. Her husband, Rev. Preston Parsons, rector of St. MaryMagdalene, diocese of Rupert’s Land, suggested the title of hercomposition, drawing attention to the incident when Jesus calmsthe storm in the Sea of Galilee.

Ms. Sunabacka’s piece “starts in quiet sweetness, swells tothunderous violence and then returns to a calm which recalls theopening, though the opening material is transformed at the end,”wrote Rupert’s Land News, the diocesan newspaper.

stable the planet’s averagetemperature should be con-siderably lower withoutgreenhouse gases.

This is a topic that manyyoung people are taking up andattempting to make a differencein this world. A young lady toldme the other day the she com-posts, uses laundry detergentthat is eco friendly and onlywashes her clothes when shehas a full load. Youth at my par-ish have taken up the environ-mental cause as well accord-ing to Youth Minister, RobertCooke, “We’re planning onstarting composting at St.Mark’s in the spring and alsotaking part in the PWRDF Offthe Grid 24 hour fast from elec-tricity. We also started doingsome hiking and camping as away to get out and enjoy na-ture. The CLB at St. Mark’s

also do recycling blitzes fromtime to time.”

What is your carbon foot-print? We have much to learn

This fragile earthContinued from page 9

Picture this. It’s a grad stu-dent pub on a secular campus,there is loud music filling theroom from the latest independ-ent artists like Vampire Week-end or maybe it’s poeticmusings of Leonard Cohen.Around the ta-bles are stu-dents discuss-ing the latest inacademics orpolitics, Profsgiving advice tothe students onhow to writethe perfect pro-posal, and folksjust relaxing af-ter a hard day inthe office.Around oneparticular table,though, there isa group of 6-8students where the discussionis decidedly religious, eventheological. The group is a verydiverse one. There areundergrad and grad students, achaplain or two, and perhaps afaculty or staff member or aninvited clergy. There are An-glicans, Catholics, Pentecostals,Baptists, Salvation Army,United Church, agnostics, athe-ists, even a Buddhist, a Paganand one girl who describes her-self as a Gnostic. The topicsvary from the nature of Christ,to the Bible’s teaching on mas-turbation, to the inspiration ofscripture, to the reasons whythere is evil in the world, tosexuality, politics, technology,ethics, and everything in be-tween. What you have stum-

bled upon is Theology on Tapand it’s happening at MemorialUniversity’s St. John’s campus.

In reality this is not a newidea at all. Jesus reclined aftermeals to sip wine and teachabout the Kingdom of God.Martin Luther, the great Prot-estant Reformer, talked theol-

ogy with his students over pintsof his homemade ale. Scholarslike Karl Barth loved to meethis students in the pubs of Swit-zerland to talk scripture andtheology. Likewise, the famousInklings, which included greatminds like C.S. Lewis andJ.R.R. Tolkien, gathered to dis-cuss all things theological.

Theology on Tap doesseem to tap (pun intended) intoa latent need among the“twenty-something” genera-tion. Rebecca is a second yearstudent from BC raised in theChristian Reformed tradition,and converted to Anglicanismwhile living in the Diocese ofthe North. She was drawn toTheology on Tap for the diver-sity of thought. “The appeal of

Theology on Tap to me is thatit doesn’t assume a specificbackground or set of beliefs.With a varied group, it’s won-derful to hear and discussstruggles or questions of faith,doubts, or even world events.”This thinking is echoed byJohan a grad student from the

EvangelicalL u t h e r a nChurch of theFaroe Islands,who has beeninvolved withthe PentecostalChurch sincecoming toMUN. Hesays, “The en-vironment anddiscussion areless re-stricted.”

The pur-pose of suchan event is to

meet students where they are,to talk about religion and spir-ituality in a safe and respectfulatmosphere. You see, youngadults are very interested inthese topics. Like anyone elsethey have a longing for God andcommunity, but they are notlooking to traditional churchesto feed that longing. The rea-sons for that are many and bestleft to the musings of anotherarticle. This is not a problemunique to the Anglican Church,but one that plagues all theChristian denominations. The-ology on Tap, then, is a freshexpression of church. After all,Jesus did promise that wher-ever a group of believers gath-ers, he too is there in the midstof them.

God in a pub?Article by Robert Cooke

here. Let’s make an effort totruly protect this fragile earth,our island home.


How to save money columnistThe Rev. Michael Li

John Wesley (1703-1791), Anglican priest andfounder of Methodism, said:“Get all you can; give all youcan; save all you can.” Let usconsider the difficult task ofsaving money.

Saving money requires dis-cipline, sacrifice, and hardwork. I have learned to watchmy pennies from my father(1906-1979), who was a fru-gal person. My father stressedacademic excellence and sim-ple lifestyle. Growing up inHong Kong, I remember myfather used to walk almost eve-rywhere so that his four kidshad money for a bus ride. Later, he would take the busso that we could afford an oc-casional taxi ride. Between theage of 60 and 65, he spent one-quarter of his teacher’spaycheques on my universityeducation in Ontario. His totalinvestment in my educationwas about $10,000.00.

During our current eco-nomic hardship, many of us aretightening our belts. We need

to re-examine our lifestyle. We need to rediscover thatmany of the best things in lifecost little orno th ing . Fresh air,sunshine,radio pro-grammes,use of pub-lic libraries,enjoymentof friends,church, andcommunityfunctionsenrich life atlittle cost. But gam-bling, drink-ing, ands m o k i n gcan be costly to our financialhealth.

Our basic physical needsinclude food, clothes, shelter,and employment. Here aresome money-saving tips re-garding grocery shopping. Don’t take the kids to the gro-cery store. Make a list to

avoid overbuying. Take ad-vantage of sales and coupons. We all need clothes, but we

don’t needto buy ex-p e n s i v eclothing. We cans w a py o u n gk i d s ’c l o t h e sw i t hf r i e n d sand familymembers. We canbuy chil-d r e n ’ sclothes outof season.

Othermoney-saving tips include con-serving energy at home by us-ing a programmable ther-mostat. The optimum highwaycruising speed for most vehi-cles is 90 km an hour. In win-ter, idle the car for a maximumof 30 seconds. Plan carefullyfor Christmas and other holi-

days. Think carefully beforebuying a pet.

We need to adopt a sim-pler lifestyle, which may meannot buying four or five coffeesa day, not eating out all thetime, or not shopping at the mallfor frivolous items every week. Don’t dry clean clothes wecould wash ourselves. Don’trun up excessive cell and phonebills. Don’t buy extended war-ranty plans. Try not to buy toomany DVDs, CDs and com-puter games. Also never be ina hurry to buy into new tech-nology. We can always get itlater when it is better andcheaper. The bottom line is, ifwe don’t need it now, buy itlater.

Most people cannot buy ahouse without a mortgage. Tryto pay off the mortgage asquickly as possible. When aterm expires, shop around fora better deal. Signing up forshort-term mortgages usuallysave money. For retired peo-ple, selling the house and mov-ing to a smaller accommoda-

tion can generate money forinvestment.

Last fall the stock marketfell sharply. Karen and I werefortunate that our assets in-creased by 7.91% in 2008. Webelieve in spending our moneywisely. Saving money is notwhat life is all about, only ameans to an end. The moremoney we can save, the moremoney we can share with oth-ers - family, those less fortu-nate, charitable organizations,and the ministry of the church. We should be thankful to Godfor the money entrusted to us. We need to learn to use our fi-nancial resources for the serv-ice of God and others.

columnistThe Rev. Greg Mercer

Straight Talk...on life’s difficultiesPeople have said to me

from time to time, “There arethings in life worse than death.”What could be worse thandeath, especially the death ofa child in the prime of his/herlife? I guess the old cliché ap-plies, “until you walk a mile insomeone else’s shoes” you willnever know.

Consider, however, goingthrough life without family oreven a friend to share your lifewith. I remember one timecommitting a man to the groundand there was no one by thegraveside except for me andthe funeral director. Here wasa man who had no one to re-member him, utterly alone.Loneliness has been called the

“silent killer.” I can’t imaginethe anguish of such a life, butcould it be worse than death?

Then I have known andcounselled people who havebeen wrongly accused in life.What must they endure – theinsults hurled at them, the mis-trust of society, the rejection –only in the end to be proveninnocent? But by then it is toolate, they are out of a job andnothing left only a bad reputa-tion, labelled by society. Oh,the heartache, but surely thatcan’t be worse than death?

Others are born with ill-ness, misfortune and are left toendure the whole of their lifein pain – physical, emotional.The stress of it all becomes too

much. They are tired of beingtired; they are tired of being

sick, tired of having to dependon others. Their cry of mercy

often falls on deaf ears – or soit seems. Some people rarely

experience thebrighter side oflife, but to com-pare that todeath?

I don’t knowif anything canbe worse thandeath. In myown experiencethere is nothingworse than theloss of a child.But then, thereare those whoclaim that deathwould be their lib-

eration from life. Unfortu-nately, personal crisis is the fate

and sufferance of many. Nev-ertheless, we are assured that“death has been swallowed upin victory. Where, O death...is your sting” (1st Cor. 15:54).Jesus says, “let not your heartsbe troubled...in my Father’shouse there are many rooms”(John 14:1-2).

What we call death Jesuscalls home. If we truly believethat, then in spite of the physi-cal absence of a loved onethrough death, there must besome comfort in the fact thatthey are in the nearer presenceof God and reunited with theirloved ones. Death has beendestroyed and not to be feared.And as for the rest of life, wellwe only have each other.Probably that is why Jesustaught and preached and liveda life of love and forgiveness.Over and over again he re-minds us to be in a right rela-tionship with one another andwith God, and to be charitabletowards each other. It is theformula for life’s difficulties.


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columnistHappy Easter - to me!

featureQueen’s CollegeProfile: Garry & Christine Milley

Article & Photo byMeaghan Whelan

Photo by: Karen Simon

Easter, for me, takes onmore meaning as I get older.When I was younger, I seldomthought very much aboutdeath. Death, after all, was forthe elderly or the unfortunate.I was young, healthy, well-protected. Whenever I heardof somebody dying I felt sorry,in a general sort of way- but,while others might die everyonce in a while, I was sure thatwould not happen to me, atleast for a long, long time.

Most other people, Iguess, feel the same way I felt.When we are reminded ofdeath because somebody elsehas died, we either try to pushthe thought from our minds asfar as we can, or else sweetenthe whole experience as soonand as much as possible. Webuy fancy cards, send expen-sive flowers, shake hands withthe bereaved, and get awayfrom there fast! We treat deathas we would handle unpleas-ant odours in our kitchen byspraying sweet perfumes (deo-dorants or whatever) and ig-noring the basic situation un-derneath.

If you’re not overly con-cerned with death, then you’renot overly excited about res-urrection. But, as I get older,I can no longer dismiss thethought of death so easily. Oldpeople surely die- and I’m get-ting older!

As I get older, however,death loses more and more ofits terror for me- for severalreasons.

First, I have learnedthrough increasing maturitythat death is a NATURALprocess- just as birth is. I wasborn, brought from another“world”, or mode of existence,into this world. Like death,birth was not an entirely pleas-ant process, but it was neces-sary because my Father Godwilled that I should spendsome time in this “vale oftears”, hopefully, doing his will.So, here I am, and if I had hada choice, I probably would nothave been born at all!

Just as my life had a be-ginning, it must have an end-naturally. One of these days Imust return to that otherworld, God’s realm fromwhich I came. Foolishly, likeeverybody else, if I had achoice I would not leave this

world either. Would not leavethis world?? How foolish in-deed! This world is full ofwork and worry and uncer-tainty and disappointment andillness. Not want to leave sucha place? Why not??

Ah, yes, the promised joysof that other world begin tosound more and more attrac-tive as I get older. Increasingage diminishes my physicalappetites, decreases my vital-ity. As I become wearier, thethought of rest and heavenlybliss becomes more and moreattractive.

And what’s Easter got todo with all this? Well, accord-ing to the Scripture, becauseChrist died for me I am saved,“born again”. And because Iam saved I have inherited,through Christ, eternal life inGod’s kingdom, that otherworld I am so foolishly afraidto go to!

Not only did Christ die,

but he ROSE. At his resurrec-tion, the Scriptures tell us hehad a NEW BODY, a spir-itual body. That new body nolonger had those physicalcharacteristics that so oftenmake life so miserable: thecravings of hunger, the debil-ity of fatigue, and the gnawingof pain. The spiritual body ofChrist is perfect in every de-tail.

Because Christ rose I,too, shall rise and my resur-rection body will also be spir-itual and perfect. Oh howwonderful it will be never tobe ill. And how wonderful itwill be to be rid of a “bum”leg that has hampered me sincechildhood. I think I shall joy-fully run and jump and kick forat least a century and a half,just to enjoy my new leg.

Oh, yes, Easter not onlymeans that I don’t have to beafraid of death. Easter meansthat, in God’s good time, I too

shall have a perfect, spiritual,resurrected body like that ofChrist, the first-fruits, broughtback from his death onCalvary that Easter day 2000years ago.

If we REALLY BE-LIEVE the story of Good Fri-day and Easter, then all of usshould be waiting eagerly, im-patiently, for that life of secu-rity and immeasurable blissthat awaits us in God’s otherkingdom. Once again, thankGod for Good Friday andEaster.

“What are Pentecostalslike you doing in a nice Angli-can place like this?” Of course,no one actually asked Garryand Christine Milley this ques-tion, but they did ask them-selves as they began studyingat Queen’s College.Garry had taught church his-tory and theology for the Pen-tecostal Assemblies of Canadain Ontario for 25 years. Afterreturning to pastoral life aboutthree years ago, he and hiswife, Christine, decided to au-dit a number of Queen’scourses together for personalenrichment. The pair is nowworking towards the diploma intheology and ministry and isexpected to graduate at thespring 2009 convocation.

In fact, last fall Garry wasan adjunct professor atQueen’s College. “It was anaffirming experience and partof the exciting journey of livingin the grace of God,” he said.“God is at work in all parts of

the church, although many de-nominations serve Christ in iso-

lation and ignorance of eachother. We pray this willchange.”

Garry says he andChristine had a textbook knowl-edge of the Anglican Church,but they had never spent muchtime worshipping or praying

with Anglicans until they cameto Queens. “Last fall, we were

blessed. Ieven had theprivilege ofpreaching inc h a p e l .Thanks beto God thatour heartscan beunited to-gether in thelove andservice ofChrist ourLord, eventhough ourheads areapart ons o m e

things!”Garry earned the Doctor

of Ministry degree at AcadiaUniversity. Anglican scholarsJ.I Packer, Geoffrey Bromileyand N.T. Wright were amonghis professors. He considershimself a Narniaphile and is an

avid C.S. Lewis reader. Al-though they are Pentecostal,Anglicans have made a greatcontribution to the Milleys’ spir-itual and intellectual life.Christine was baptized an An-glican, their daughter Erika isin ministry at St. James Angli-can Church in Dundas, Ontarioand her husband JonathanMassimi is preparing for ordi-nation. Even grandson Samuelis a baby Anglican. As Garryexplained, with a twinkle in hiseye, “we wanted to be goodteam players for thePentecostals, so we are not ‘onthe way to Canterbury’, as theysay, even though we are con-tributing to Anglican Churchgrowth.”

The Milleys see a numberof connections between Pen-tecostalism and Anglicanism.The first Pentecostal BibleCollege in Canada was startedby Rev. Dr. J. E. Purdie, agraduate of Wycliffe Collegewho was an Anglican all his

life. He always wore a clericalcollar and wrote a catechismfor the Pentecostals.“Anglicanism is a grandparentof Pentecostalism,” Garry said.“As Methodism sought to re-vive Anglicanism, Pentecostal-ism, in its origins, was seen asa revival among the Method-ist/holiness people.”

Garry says his Pentecos-tal roots were welcomedwarmly at Queen’s College.“Christine and I want to ex-press our thanks to the Prov-ost, Dr. John Mellis for the privi-lege of teaching at Queen’sCollege and to the faculty andstudents for accepting us aspart of the community. Wethink of Queen’s College as anundiscovered treasure thatwe’re very happy to havefound.”

Rev. Dr. Garry E. Milley,DMin (Acadia) is the SeniorPastor of Park Avenue Pente-costal Church in Mount Pearl.

Anglican Life April 2009

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Transcript of Anglican Life April 2009