June 9, 2008
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."
~ Jeremiah 29:11-12.
Dear Friends,
As I begin to see more signs of spring and summer, I am personally struck, more so this year, with the seasonal shift that occurs in Northern Alberta. Last year I must confess that I still had a West Coast Seasonal mind-set; subsequently, I did not truly understand how a long-winter affects people. This year I am more acutely aware of the psychological need to take advantage of the long bright days. Because of this, many of the church plans take a pause for the next few months. Before I go on holidays, I wanted to encourage you to think about our future together and to take a few moments to pray and contemplate what God has in store for St. Georges.
At the beginning of the year, during a private prayer time God inspired me with these words: “Shake the Doom and Gloom”. I believe much like when God spoke to Israel in Nehemiah, God is also speaking to St. Georges: "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” To appreciate this message I wish to share with you what was occurring in the time Nehemiah spoke these words. The walls of Jerusalem have been restored, but there is something lacking. Life is more than brick and mortar. They have finished rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but their lives are in shambles. They have spent seventy years in Babylonian captivity and they have finished the walls but their distress continues.
This resonates with my experience of what is happening at St. George’s. I have been so excited about the many new faces I see regularly in our congregation and our numbers are greater than they were last year. There are so many things to be excited about and the fresh clean and new paint has truly uplifted the physical environment of the parish. But with all this there are still words of discouragement and concerns expressed about our future that momentarily blinds all of us from the ‘walls that have been rebuilt’.
I think a part of ‘shaking the doom and gloom’ is to acknowledge the things that cause feelings of sadness, hopelessness or despair but our challenge is to not dwell on these things. I believe that each one of is called to consciously work towards a discipline of joy and thankfulness. The most obvious way to do this is to speak to one another with words that share our thankfulness and joy. God is at work doing great things in our midst remember that and rejoice! The joy of the Lord will be our strength!
I also want to do something concrete for our future, so mark your calendars, Sunday, September 28th at 6pm we will be having a bag lunch and visioning session for ALL St. George’s members. I hope that we can come together as a congregation and develop a short specific vision statement that will envelope the unique character of St. George’s, Edmonton. I then want to work on a mission statement that will tangibly encourage us to implement our new vision. At the end of this session I hope to have picture in our hearts and minds of a banner to place at the back of the church. This banner should state our vision and descriptively, creatively and colourfully; by this, I hope that all visitors/new comers will know immediately that they belong and are welcome.
May the Lord richly bless you and your family this summer,
The Rev. Emma Vickery
Rector
One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade. –Chinese Proverb
March 2008
“ Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.” –Psalm 30
Dear Friends,
During this Season of Lent I have been struck with the important notion of fasting and feasting as part of our liturgical practice and Christian witness. The Christian tradition models feasting and fasting in many different ways, but the Season of Lent and Easter is the paramount expression.
The Christian community walks forty days in the wilderness where together we experience a period of abstaining from those things which take our attention from God and fill this space with prayer, devotion and worship. We also experience a form of fasting within the Eucharist celebration; in that, we also withhold from singing songs of praise and from decorating the sanctuary with flowers. At the end of this period, there is a great Easter celebration where the sanctuary is transformed with light, spring flowers and with songs of praise to the resurrected Christ. The Easter Eucharistic Celebration breaks forth as a true expression of our fast coming to an end and Christians witness to the world a reason to feast.
The Anglican Church has always shown examples of balancing our lives with blessing and repentance, silent devotion and loud proclamation, reason and spiritual reflection, and feast and famine. There is an early church tradition that teaches everyone to carry in each pocket of their coat a slip of paper. In one pocket, there is a slip of paper that reads: “I am dust and ashes.” In the second pocket, there is a slip of paper that reads: “For me, the whole universe was created.” In this Lenten season, we are invited to fast in order that we might feast:
“Fast from worry and feast on trust. Fast from bitterness and feast on forgiveness. Fast from self-concern and feast on compassion for others. Fast from sorrow and feast on joy. Fast from idle gossip and feast on purposeful silence. Fast from judging others and feast on Christ within them. Fast from emphasis on differences and feast on unity of life. Fast from thoughts of illness and feast on the healing power of God. Fast from words that pollute and feast on phrases that purify. Fast from unrelenting pressure and feast on unceasing prayer. Fast from anger and feast on understanding, tolerance and patience. fast from thoughts that weaken and feast on promises that inspire. Fast from problems that overwhelm and feast on prayer that submits to God.”
The Holy Week services are set up so that your family can have time for quiet, devotion and
mediation on both the scripture and the theology surrounding Lent and Easter. Much like last year, I will set up the Stations of the Cross for your personal devotion and help you to connect the powerful message of the cross with your life. The Maundy Thursday service reminds us of the servant leadership Jesus modeled, and the intuition of the Lord’s Supper that Jesus left for us all. At the end of the Maundy Thursday service the sanctuary will be stripped which is a powerful symbol of the stark nature of Good Friday worship. The Good Friday service we will not have a Eucharistic Celebration because within the Anglican tradition we completely fast of all forms of praise while we meditate on the significance of our Saviour’s death. The Easter celebration begins on Saturday night with new fire and then we bring the light of Christ into the sanctuary. The Easter celebration is truly a feast of celebration and praise as the sanctuary is transformed with white hangings, bright spring flowers and candles. Come to the following Holy Week Services so that the parish of
V Palm Sunday services : 8am and 10am Sunday March 16th. Childcare and Sunday School provided at the 10am service.
V Stations of the Cross: will be set up during Holy Week in a similar way to last year for your personal devotion. The doors will be open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am until 4pm.
V Maundy Thursday service: Service of Holy Eucharist, Washing of Feet and Stripping of the Altar will be held at 7pm March 20th.
V Good Friday services: 3pm and 7pm Friday March 21st.
V Saturday Easter Vigil: Will be shared once again with the Richard Reimer and the University of Alberta Chaplaincy Program and the Easter Fire will be lit at nightfall at 9pm Saturday March 22nd.
V Easter Sunday services: 8am and 10am Sunday March 23rd. Children will stay in the service to experience the Baptism.
Please note that the special offering this Easter will go equally to PWRDF and ECCCC.
May the Lord Richly Bless you with laughter and dancing this season of Easter feasting,
The Rev. Emma Vickery
December 2007
“For there is still a vision For the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.” - HabakkukDear Friends,
Many of you know, Edmonton is going through a baby boom, and although I am not pregnant nor have I ever been pregnant, every time I turn around another friend is telling me all about her pregnancy. I believe strongly that God created woman to give birth in nine months so that the parents may prepare for their child not just physically and financially, but also mentally, socially and spiritually. I have also learned that Father’s
take a longer time than the Mother’s to come to terms with parenthood, sometimes it takes the confirmation of feeling the flutter of legs kicking, seeing the stomach grow, hearing the first cry or even up until the point of holding their infant in their arms for them to truly believe that they are Fathers. It is not surprising that the Advent lessons focus on Mary and Joseph and their journey from doubt, to acceptance, to expectation. They were not just a couple coming to terms with raising a child, but they were discovering what it means to raise the blessed Saviour of the World.
I believe that Advent prepare us spiritually much in the same way as gestation prepares expecting parents. We are waiting, expecting, and anticipating something great will happen. In our inner most beings we hope every year as Christmas approaches that we will see a miracle in our lives, we will see people’s attitudes change and we hope that we will see a glimpse of God. I am reminded of a line from a Jim Strathdee song: "What we do while we wait depends on what we're waiting for." What are you waiting for this year? Are you waiting for a Miracle on 34th street or a moment of glittering magic by the Christmas tree or are you expecting to encounter a babe in a manger?
We like the prophet Habakkuk are also waiting and hoping but remember that hope is not just simply ‘wishful thinking’ it means absolute certainty. If we hold firm with hope and believe that God is going to enter in and change our lives then we are waiting and hoping for something that will indeed happen. Martin Luther once said: “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. It is so sure and certain that a person could stake his or her life on it a thousand times.” I believe with sure and certain hope that God is going to do great things this year and it will begin at the centre of all our hearts.
The Rev. Emma Vickery
Rector
August 2007
Dear Friends,
I am glad that so many of you have taken advantage of the hot days of summer by visiting relatives across the country and spending these few months at your cabins. I have missed you, but I am excited to see you as the fall season quickly approaches. I enjoyed my two weeks on the coast visiting my family and celebrating both my marriage to Donovan and an ordination of a close friend.
We entered the summer with high expectation about our future together; I felt this strongly through, Saturday morning gatherings with the Luke 12:48 initiative, the preliminary meetings with Paul Nahirney and at the gathering held to reflect upon General Synod. I felt more and more in subtle and now in more direct ways that the parish of
“That it is the will of the membership of
Members felt that by passing this motion, albeit unofficial, it is a message that we need to get out to the broader community, letting them know of the fact
I met with the Bishop shortly after this informal meeting and we shared in a frank, open and constructive discussion about the motion made by the informal gathering. Bishop
Ø Why do we wish to make this public statement at this time? Why did we not inform the Bishop of our stance before the General Synod in June?
Ø Why did we restrict our motion to the blessing of same sex unions? The Bishop thought we consider changing the motion to read “blessing of same-sex marriages or blessing of same-sex civil marriages? If we want to be fully inclusive then we should show that in our statement; in that, we do not bless heterosexual couples in common-law marriages and so we should not bless same-sex couples in common-law marriages.
Since we are taking the opportunity to meet with you to seek your thoughts, opinions we wish to discuss a second critical matter at the meeting. Another issue that the parish of St. Georges needs to discuss at the September meeting is the future of the Rectory. We have a number of potential options available to us and we will welcome ideas and suggestions as to its future. I do not wish to sway the discussion, but we will be presenting ideas that range from doing nothing, fixing up the building, creating more parking or constructing a apartment/condo complex and everything in-between.
Two quite seemingly disparate topics for our meeting, but both critical to the future of
Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Emma Vickery
Rector
June 28th, 2007
Dear Friends,
As many of you are aware, General Synod carried a resolution accepting same-sex blessings as a core doctrine of faith, but defeated a resolution to move forward and bless same-sex unions. This outcome has left many people confused, frustrated, disappointed and hurt. I have personally felt all these emotions and many others this past week. My initial impression was that General Synod representatives kicked the Anglican Church of Canada at both ends. I believe that there will be fall out of members on both ends of the spectrum. Some people will leave, because they do not believe same-sex blessings are a doctrine of their faith. While others will leave, because the General Synod did not move forward and accept the blessing of same-sex unions. I was once told that leaving a parish is similar to a divorce; in that, the decision is both heart wrenching and painful in much the same way. I believe that we are called to listen and help people whenever a decision of this magnitude is made, even if we disagree with the position they hold.
After discussion with my colleagues, prayer and deep reflection, I have begun to see a glimmer of hope in the midst of this ambiguity and hurt. I believe hope is seen by looking at the Anglican Church’s history, for the Anglican Communion has always lived, worshipped and matured in the middle of theological controversy. It is painful to work towards compromise when no compromise is evident, and it is painful to lay everything bare when others ignore different views. The Anglican Church history presents people who do not understand liturgical, spiritual and biblical beliefs as either black or white, but it presents people who strive to understand the areas that are grey. I wish to share a quote with you, which sums up much of what I am trying to explain about the history of the church, but I believe that it also speaks into our present situation.
“While the Anglican Church is vindicated by its place in history, with a strikingly balanced witness to Gospel and sound learning, its greater vindication lies in its pointing through its own history to something of which it is fragmentation. Its credentials are its incompleteness, with the tension and the travail in its soul. It is clumsy and untidy, it baffles neatness and logic. For it is sent not to commend itself as ‘the best type of Christianity’, but by its very brokenness to point to the universal Church wherein all have died.” – A. Michael Ramsay
Just as our Saviour showed us how salvation is given in the midst of pain, the Anglican Theological history has also grown in the midst of tension, brokenness and pain. My colleague shared with me that she believes the House of Bishops chose to waffle when voting for the resolutions, in order that the question about same-sex unions can remain on the table. In this, the Anglican Church of Canada can be a forerunner by living in the midst of tension and controversery, when other denominations will not even discuss the issue. The Anglican Church Canada might be able to keep the conversation on the table while other cultures are killing people, so this very same question is not brought to the table.
I do recognize the conversation is exhausting and the desire to get on with the real ministry to the hungry, homeless, sick and imprisoned is strong. Nonetheless, I wish to share with you that one of the main reasons I felt called to be a Priest within the Anglican Church is because of its very imperfection, tension, and openness to discussion. My prayer for you these past few days is that you may know hope in the midst of ambiguity, frustration, pain and brokenness.
“The glory to God who’s power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”
May the Lord richly bless you,
The Rev. Emma Vickery
Rector