Reflections of a Canadian Churchman

This morning, it was announced that the Most Rev. Colin Johnson, Archbishop of Toronto, has appointed me priest-in-charge of Trinity Church, Bradford. This appointment is effective September 20th, 2010 and as such, September 19th will be my last Sunday at Holy Trinity, Thornhill. There is, of course, excitement on moving into a new appointment, but there is also the sadness that departure brings. I came to Holy Trinity in August 2007 as assistant curate under a two year appointment. I was very pleased when Bishop George allowed me to stay for an additional year as associate priest. I am grateful to God for the opportunity to minister in such a wonderful community, journeying through joys and sorrows, and forming pastoral relationships in this community. I am grateful to all the people of Holy Trinity, Thornhill for welcoming me allowing me to journey with them. I am also grateful to my mentor and friend, Canon Greg Physick for the time we shared in ministry. With such wonderful memori...

On Friday, July 30th, I left the office and headed home, looking forward to beginning my holiday time. My final ten days in the office before my holidays were to begin were days in which I was filled with joy and gratitude at being a priest in the Church. I count it a great privilege to journey with the people of this place through moments of joy and moments of sadness. Two funerals, two weddings, a confirmation, and a couple of more wedding interviews were all features of these days leading up to vacation time. Each event was filled with such abounding grace and love. Although ready for a holiday, I was feeling grateful to God for being called into this wonderful vocation. I arrived home that evening to the unnerving news that my sister-in-law (Athena’s youngest sister), who was expecting, had gone into labour at 23 weeks. We hurried to the hospital and it quickly became clear that the outlook was not at all good. The next morning (in a sad convergence of events, as it was also Athena...

This past week, we celebrated the feast day of St. Benedict, a great father of Western monasticism. What follows is a reflection on the text of the day, John 15:12-17, and the words of Jesus, "You did not choose me, I chose you." You did not choose me, I chose you. Putting aside the debates of the Reformation on predestination and double-predestination (and any other kind of predestination!), these words of our Lord give us pause to consider the purpose of all our pious striving. Ah, how often we forget that it is not our longing for God that has brought us to this place, but God’s longing for us! You did not choose me, I chose you. And yes, while any relationship requires a mingling of the “yeses” of delight in one another, may we never forget that God’s “yes” is the affirmation in which all our hope is grounded. Every “yes” that builds up the commonwealth of God’s gracious rule, and points forward to the perfect day in which all things are gathered together in God, is a ...

I am pleased to announce that our area Bishop, the Rt. Rev. George Elliott, has appointed the Rt. Rev. William Hockin, the Eighth Bishop of Fredericton (ret.) as Interim Priest-in-charge of Holy Trinity Church, effective September 1st, 2010. Bishop Hockin’s first Sunday with us will be September 5th. Bishop Hockin received a licentiate in theology from the College of Emmanuel and St. Chad (Sask), in 1963, his BA from Waterloo Lutheran University in 1967 and holds three honorary doctorate degrees. He was ordained a deacon in 1962 and was priested in 1963. From 1962-1966 he was the Assistant Curate of All Saints’ Church, Windsor, ON, and later the rector of St. John’s Tillsonburg and St. Stephen’s Culloden, the Rector of St George’s London, and St. Paul’s Bloor Street. He also served as the chaplain to Havergal College from (1986-1993). In 1996 he left St. Paul’s Bloor Street to become the Dean of Fredericton and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral and in 1998 was elected co-adjutor bisho...

This past Sunday, Canon Greg Physick, the rector of Holy Trinity Church in Thornhill retired after recently celebrating thirty-five years in Holy Orders. Canon Greg served at Holy Trinity for nearly five years, after a lengthy incumbency at St. Matthew-the-Apostle, Oriole (in Willowdale). He had also been the rector of St. Francis-of-Assisi, Mississauga, St. Paul's, Pickering, and began his ministry as Assistant Curate of St. Clement's, Eglinton. It was a privilege and a pleasure for me to serve first as his Assistant Curate, and latterly as his Associate Priest. I learned much from the Canon, specifically, about loving and caring for the people of God. The thing most to be admired about the Canon, though, is his love of being a priest of the Church. Whether it is at the altar as he offers up the sacred mysteries or as he visits the sick and "shut-in" of the Church bringing them the sacrament of our Lord's body and blood, his joy of ministry is always evident and ...

The parish in which I serve as associate priest ( Holy Trinity Anglican Church, in Thornhill, Ontario ) is steeped in history. It is the oldest continually used church building in the Diocese of Toronto. The church was completed in 1830 and dedicated by Archdeacon (later Bishop) John Strachan in February of that year. It 1840 it was widened to include two side aisles with p ews. I'm told by Prof. John Hurd, who gave a lecture on the architecture of the church last year, that this was accomplished by raising the roof. The original trusses from the first roof are still in place with the new trusses constructed several feet above the original ones. This is all the more remarkable, given the fact that the building was disassembled (the boards marked and numbered), moved, and reconstructed in 1950 in its current location. In future posts I do hope to offer a bit more about the history of this remarkable Georgian building (more parish history can be found here ), but today I wish to hig...

“Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.” (John 21:4-8) When we preach on this, the last of the Resurrection appearances in St. John’s Gospel, we rarely stop to ask the question, why was Peter fishing in the nude? After all, the story from which this short excerpt is taken contains so many wonderful images on which we might otherwise preach: the multitudinou...