A Section of the Anglican Journal September 2014 Serving the Diocese of Kootenay

HighWay w w w . k o o t e n a y a n g l i c a n . c a

The

“Anecdotage” from the ArchivesPAGE 7

Triple Honours for aCentenarian PAGE 5

Let’s Jam for a Good Cause PAGE 4

omething exciting is happening in our diocese. You can feel it building. This

month, on September 21, we are ready to launch our Together in Mission cam-paign!

This campaign is partly about raising funds. Much more importantly, Together in Mission is about working together as a diocesan family to discern and fulfill God’s mission in the world.

A small committee has drafted the diocesan Case for Support. The Case is com-plete. To summarize it in one phrase: “developing leader-ship for the church in the 21st century.” It is leadership which is exercised by all God’s people, ordained and non–ordained. We are dis-cerning new ways of being

the church and developing new forms of leadership as the church engages in “living faith in the 21st century.” It is an important, valuable and life–giving initiative in our diocese.

In the next few months, congregations will do the same work of identifying how they will live out God’s mission. What is God calling you to do as a parish? How will you find the resources to

“We are ready to launch

S

❑

Developing Leadership for the Church in the 21st Century

By YME WOENSDREGT

live out that mission? How will you participate in God’s mission to the world? Some congregations, part of the pilot phase, are doing that work right now.

In the logo for our cam-paign, a vine grows, wrap-ping itself around the cross. The community of God’s people is rooted in the self–giving love of Christ. The vine bears fruit as we seek to embody God’s love for the

world. The vine draws us to one another and to Christ as we abide in him, as we seek to love God with all our being and to love our neigh-bours as ourselves. We embrace fully the ministry of reconciliation given to us by God (2 Corinthians 5: 16–21).

On September 21, the Diocese of Kootenay official-ly launches Together in Mission. Plans are complete. Resources have been pro-duced. The work of congre-gational discernment is hap-pening.

Logo for our campaign

‘Together in Mission’”

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15.5

Join the excitement. Be part of this initiative which invites us all to re–imagine living faith in the 21st centu-ry.

Page 3 in this issue of The HighWay you will find our prayer for Together in Mission. Let me encourage you, as you think more intentionally about your life of discipleship, to join with others to pray regularly and often that God will continue to strengthen us in grace and hold us in love.

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation... So we are ambassadors for Christ... 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20

Page 2 The HighWay September 2014Archbishop’s Page

The HighWay is published under the authority of the Bishop of Kootenay and the Synod of the Diocese of Kootenay. Opinions expressed in The HighWay are not necessarily those of the Editor or the Publisher.

editor

Jonn Lavinnder 5-7126 Hwy 3A Nelson, B.C. V1L 6S3 Phone: (250) 354-9734 anghighway@gmail.com

Submissions & Deadlines: All articles, advertising and correspondence submitted to The HighWay is subject to editing for length, clarity, timeliness, appropriateness and style in accordance with the Canadian Press. Letters should be limited to 250 words, columns and articles no more than 600 words. Please include with all submissions your name, e-mail address and parish, as well as the name of the photographer, if applicable. Deadline for submissions is the first of the month prior to publi-cation unless otherwise indicated.

Advertising Policy: The acceptance of advertisement does not imply endorsement by the diocese or any of its principals. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for all content, including text, representations and illustrations, and also assume responsibility for any claims and costs arising there from. Display advertising for commercial parties is available in accordance with our ethics and advertising policy.

Advertising material and inquiries should be addressed to the Editor. Payment is to be made in advance to the Diocese of Kootenay.

Advertising is to be pre-paid to: The Diocese of Kootenay #201 - 380 Leathead Road Kelowna, BC V1X 2H8 Phone 778-478-8310 Fax 778-478-8314

Printed and mailed by Webnews Printing Inc. North York ON.A section of the Anglican Journal.

Editorial Assistant Micahel Lavinnder

On-line: http://www.kootenayanglican.ca/diocesan-news/

Privacy Protection: Photographs and articles submitted to The HighWay for publication requires that authors and photographers have received permission from parents or guardians of all minors (under 18) that have their names or whereabouts published in The HighWay.

HighWThe

September 2014 The HighWay Page 3Columns

By NISSA BASBAUM

W

❑

ay

By ARCHBISHOPJOHN E. PRIVETT

In My View

Dear Friends,

t the end of July I had the privilege of serving as Chaplain at Camp

Owaissi for a week. It was typical of a beautiful Okanagan summer – high daily temperatures, cool in the evenings and stunning blue skies. The setting of the camp with its playing field, gathering spaces and stunning beach along the shore of Lake Okanagan is unsurpassed. I was impressed with the skill and dedication of all the staff from the Junior Counsellors through to the Summer Director and everyone in between. They care about the experience of the campers and put in long hours each day; all with a

positive attitude, good fun and enormous energy.

As Chaplain I led daily wor-ship and a daily Christian educa-tion time; and spent time with staff and campers during other times of the day. Early on I had the oppor-tunity to meet campers from sever-al of our congregations, and from other churches. I smiled when a young boy asked whether it was me who had visited his church or was it the Pope! I said that it must have been Bishop John Corriveau of the Diocese of Nelson who is a

brother bishop to me. I also came to discover that nearly two thirds of the campers had no church experience or awareness of the gos-pel. Very few knew the words to the Lord’s Prayer.

The Staff wore T-shirts with the words, “Values Added” written on the back. It was a great sum-mary of what makes Owaissi dif-ferent from other camp experienc-es. The week was a mixture of a lived faith, worship, physical activi-ties, learning new skills such as canoeing and archery, time for cre-

hen I was a child, I lived in a neigh-bourhood popu-lated by Roman

Catholics and Jews. My best “street” friends were Roman Catholic. It was the mother of one of these friends who intro-duced me to the sweet, salty and sinful taste of baked ham, and it was my friends them-selves who introduced me to the black and white and any-thing but sinful nuns at the local Catholic Church. I was overcome by both. At the time, I desperately wanted to be allowed to eat ham and I also decided that when I grew up, I would become a nun. So what if I was Jewish?!

What an odd combination of things! Eating ham felt like the height of disobedience in the context of the orthodox Jewish faith in which my moth-er was raising me, while becom-ing a nun felt like the breadth of obedience in the Roman

Catholic religion of my street buddies. Lo these many years, nothing for me about this con-tradictory universe has ever real-ly changed. Life remains a bat-tle between disobedience and obedience, an ever-constant struggle between what I know “tastes” good and what I am told “seems” right.

Now all of this may appear to be very Pauline — I find myself doing the things that I should not be doing when I am fully aware of the things that I should be doing. Unlike Paul, however, I am not necessarily convinced that the things I’m told are right are the things I actually should be doing. Then again, when Paul chose to preach Jesus the Christ as the expected Messiah, he was hardly adhering to the teachings of the synagogue in which he had grown up.

Historically, in both the church and society, what “seems” right is sometimes merely an attempt to keep the status quo intact, which leaves me wondering about the place of prophecy in our world. Are we able to hear the prophetic voice in our church and our society? Scripture makes it obvi-ous that this is not a new prob-lem for human beings; hearing the prophetic voice in the world, in our church and in our

I once heard one of our retired bishops refer to the 1960’s civil-rights protests in Selma, Alabama and in particu-lar to Rosa Parks, when she refused to move to the back of the bus. In the same breath, he referred to the 19th-century abolitionists who fought the British slave trade. In each of these instances, this bishop said these people challenged their church, their government and their society, and what it took for them to do this was cour-age.

There have always been and will continue to be historical moments when a groundswell challenges us to respond with courage to the spirit of the law rather than simply to fulfill its letter. When this happens, these are usually frightening times, frightening times that cause many of us to pull back and throw up the drawbridge. For this reason, it is sometimes dif-ficult to find prophets amongst either the priests or the politi-cians, and should we in fact be blessed enough to find them, it is often even more difficult for the rest of us to listen to what these people are saying. On any given day, whatever the issue might be, for God’s sake and for our own, I hope we will ultimately be able to do this.

personal lives is and always has been a difficult thing to do.

For Anglicans (and others), much of our communal life is biblically described by words from the prophets of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Scriptures, words that hardly portray an adherence to the sta-tus quo. Indeed, this past sum-mer when I was presiding at a Friday Eucharist at the Cathedral, the reading and mes-sage from Jeremiah were both all too familiar.

Says Jeremiah, as he believes himself to be speaking on behalf of God, “If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, and to heed the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently – though you have not heeded – then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.” The response from the priests and the “accepted” prophets of the day is not unex-pected: “…they laid hold of him, saying, ‘You shall die! Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, “This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant?’ ”

Then, in the New Testament we encounter the likes of John the Baptist, a man

whose person and actions hard-ly describe an adherence to the status quo.

In these instances, it was never a legal body, an approved council or a representative speaking on behalf of the ruling power that proclaimed the word of God among the people. Rather, it was always individuals – rising from the ground up – who voiced their message to those who would listen, a mes-sage they believed was divinely inspired. When we seek to crush these people with a ren-dering of the rules and regula-tions, we are in danger of crush-ing the prophetic voices among us, with one menacing result; we come perilously close to repeating the mistakes of our ancestors.

Clearly, these past or pres-ent prophets often make us uncomfortable, yet what I hear in their words and see in their actions – whether I agree with them or not – is both a desire to stand up for something, and a willingness to take a risk. Ultimately, as it is written in scripture, “we shall know them by their fruits.” Sadly, I fear we will never “know” anything if our common stance is primarily to allow ourselves to choose the safe route, ruled by whatever is the current or former rendition of the law.

Discerning the Propheticativity in crafts time, building community, and sharing good food in the dining hall. There was a sense of safety and freedom as campers had time for organized events, rest time and free time. In my sessions we spoke of time in the circle as a time of respect, responsibility and relationship – with God in Christ and with each other. We listened to short scrip-ture passages and talked about who Jesus is. By the end of the week campers could be heard humming familiar tunes and gathering in groups in which they had begun as strangers, but now had become friends. The closing ceremony involved quiet singing by candle-light as dusk fell across the lake, hearing readings and prayers and the floating of a candle lit cross into the bay. It was quality time for campers and a chance to expe-rience and consider the values that Christian faith adds to our life and to all of life.

In my view Camp Owaissi is an important part of the mission of the Diocese of Kootenay. Over the summer more than 200 campers and staff gather in the context of Christian faith, community and the beautiful outdoor environment of the camp. For many it is the primary exposure to the Good

A

Values AddedNews of the Gospel and the life affirming values that the gospel brings us. Camp Owaissi is now over 50 years old. The buildings are in need of repair, we need to provide additional staff support, and it’s time to renew some of our equipment. If we are to strengthen our camp’s mission for the future, additional funds will need to be directed to Owaissi.

This month we are launching a Diocesan wide mission-focussed financial campaign. Together in Mission will provide much needed funds for our work including the work of Camp Owaissi. The funds are essential for the ministry that is Owaissi and for other Diocesan endeavours, but more than the funds, the experience of working together will add values to our church in ways we cannot ask or imagine! I encourage your prayers, your enthusiastic participation and your generous support. Thank you and may God bless our work in Together in Mission.

Faithfully,

+John

Pray for Together in Mission

Nissa Basbaum is the Dean of St. Michael & All Angels Cathedral in Kelowna

amongst us

❑

Learn new skills at Camp Owaissi such as canoeing and archery

Opportunities for Youth

wo opportunities arising in the diocese to support youth and the wider

church.

1. At the last Provincial Council meeting, diocesan rep-resentatives Rita Harrison and Cindy Corrigan learned that the BC and Yukon Anglican Youth Movement (BCYAM) will be holding their fall confer-ence in Cranbrook. As Cranbrook youth regularly attend this conference, the organising committee decided to hold it there. This is the far-thest away from the Lower Mainland this conference has ever been. Therefore it is a good opportunity for Kootenay youth to attend.

The fall conference will be October 10-13. There will be more intentional programming for a wider variety of ages of youth as part of the decision to pay more attention to the needs of emerging adults. Youth should be encouraged to check

out the BCYAM website: bcyaym.wordpress.com and book the weekend for this very exciting conference.

2. The other opportunity comes from the Anglican Foundation, which was estab-lished in 1957 with the com-mitment of all parishes to con-tribute $50.00 per year. The mandate of this foundation is to provide abundant resources for innovative ministries, Anglican presence, and diverse infrastructure projects across the Canadian Church. What makes this foundation unique is the desire to serve the people of God and their ministries by being responsible stewards of the donor dollars, supporting innovative, inclusive and diverse projects.

Each diocese may apply for funds twice per year for such things as program and building grants. This includes building construction, repair and renova-tion, church music, education and programs in Canada’s North, worship initiatives, litur-gical arts, outreach in commu-nity endeavours, and for theo-logical studies.

Over the past years, many parishes and programs in the Diocese of Kootenay have been recipients of Anglican Foundation loans and grants. Christ Church Fernie was the recipient of a loan in 2007. They installed in a lift in their parish hall, and applied through the diocese to the Anglican Foundation. The project was accepted and the loan paid off at the end of April 2014.

Cindy Corrigan said, “This project and the work at the Provincial level has made me acutely aware of the many needs in our parishes that this organi-zation may help us.”

The Provincial Council would like to encourage all par-ishes, clergy, bishops, and indi-viduals to consider becoming members of the Anglican Foundation.

For further information contact: The Anglican Foundation of Canada, 80 Hayden Street, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 3G2 | Telephone: (416) 924-9199 Ext. 322 | Fax: (416) 924-8672 | Email: foun-dation@anglicanfoundation.org

SuBmITTed By Cindy Corrigan and Rita Harrison, Provincial Council Reps

T

❑

Page 4 The HighWay September 2014 September 2014 The HighWay Page 5Around the dioceseAround the diocese

nne Land, our des-ignated matriarch at St. Francis Church, Lake

Country, was celebrated for her 100th birthday on no less than three occasions. The third of these celebrations was a com-munity and family tea in the Okanagan Centre Hall in the community where Anne spent her life. She has the distinction of being the only person who has resided in Okanagan Centre for 100 years.

Approximately 120 people shared in Anne’s celebration seated at tea tables covered in white cloths. Tea was served by the ladies auxiliary. There was also a self-serve table containing a selection of vegetables, dips and various sweets.

Anne was seated at the head table among her three children, Nancy, Elizabeth and Graham. Nancy presented a speech high-lighting her mother’s personali-ty, her assets as a mother, as well as focusing on specific memories of growing up and Anne’s way of handling situa-tions.

Let’s Jam for a Good Cause

ne by one our “Let’s Jam” and “Some Like it Hot” group

members entered St. Michael’s House and followed the won-derful aroma of bubbling jam through the corridors. Before we knew it we arrived in the kitchen. There we were greeted by a wonderful atmosphere filled with smiles, fun, friend-ship, and the common desire to help others less fortunate then ourselves. Prior to my arrival Dean Nissa Basbaum was busily preparing jalapeno peppers, accompanied by Deacon Heather Karabelas, who was orchestrating several ladies gath-ering the jam jars. As tasks were being assigned to all, I watched in awe as the Dean simultaneously welcomed us while adapting the jam recipe from the well-worn cookbook page sitting on the table. Once everyone was organized we

began to prepare the jam. Many of us chopped fruit, some steril-ized the jars and seals, while still others carefully wrote out the labels for the completed jars.

This creative fundraising idea, “Let’s Jam,” came to us compliments of Deacon Heather. She had been tasked with coming up with an idea that would blend the many tal-ents of our congregation with the PWRDF, May/June fund-

raiser “Fred Says, ‘Some Like it Hot!’” campaign. Then it came to her: Let’s utilize the talents and passions of the Dean, incorporate word play, and have fun doing what so many of us love to do – cook!

With that said, 18 women have been very busy of late pre-paring jams and sauces in St. Michael’s kitchen for this most worthy cause – feeding the chil-dren of Haiti one hot lunch

every school day. Led by our Dean and Deacon, two groups of eight women took part over two sessions preparing jam from the Dean’s well-loved cookbook. The first group of eight women gathered on Tuesday, April 29th from 9:00 am until noon and prepared Sour Cherry Jam and Sauce. The second group, in which I took part, gathered on Tuesday, May 6th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and prepared Peach

and Pepper relish. We paid $25 each and took home one jar of jam or sauce. The remainder of the jams and sauces were sold to the congregation after Sunday Services as part of the PWRDF fundraiser “Some Like It Hot.”

The lunch program in Haiti is more than the much needed sustenance for impover-ished children and their fami-lies. It is threefold, in that par-ents are more likely to enroll their children in school know-ing they will be fed a nutritious hot meal. With full stomachs the children’s minds are alert and therefore focused on learn-ing, and they are freed from the burden of hunger which in turn allows them to flourish and realize their potential.

It was a joy and a pleasure to be able to gather together for this project, meet other people from the congregation and rec-ognize that through this meet-ing, we were each doing some-thing that would provide help for people in great need.

OBy LORI JOLIN

❑

f you have been reading the Diocesan Newsletter “Contact,” you would probably know that the

principal of the Kootenay School of Ministry, Bill Harrison, has a new position in the Diocese of Huron. I’m sure most of you are sad to see him go. As I had recently received a copy of Bill’s new book from his publisher, I took it upon myself to write an article about his book in tribute to his work in Kootenay Diocese.

“In Praise of Mixed Religion — The Syncretism Solution in a Multifaith World” is published by McGill —Queen’s University Press. It is a hardbound 262 page book with a very well designed and attrac-tive fly cover.

Douglas Todd, columnist at the Vancouver Sun said, “Most people are not aware of the per-

vasiveness of syncretism. William Harrison shows how syncretism leads to creative transformation in many fields — religious, practical, ethical, ecological, scientific and politi-cal — in this fascinating, visionary, and important new book.”

My first reaction in receiv-ing this book was one of pride; mainly because as a writer it

I

❑

In Praise of Mixed ReligionBy BEVERLEY SLOBODA

A

❑

Photograph by Heather Karabelas

pleased me that one of our own should publish a book; especial-ly as book publishing is becom-ing increasingly more difficult though publishing houses. Just before I started jotting down some notes I randomly picked up a book to lean my papers on. It was the Time Life edition of “The World’s Great

Religions” (1957). By pure chance I looked in the glossary for “syncretism” and there it was on page 4:“With increasing frequency, comes a proposal that humankind’s future welfare would be insured if the major religions would recognize their essential unity of purpose and drop their differences to merge

in a synthesis of beliefs on which they can agree.”Bill Harrison, in his new book, takes this idea further and applies it, not only to religion as we might conventionally understand it, but to politics — communism and capitalism. Let Bill inform you directly:

“This book,” he says, “is built around three insights: 1. Religion is everywhere.2. Everyone’s religion is a syn-

cretism; and 3. On the whole, though not

inevitably, that is a good thing.”Given that we live in a

multicultural society; and from a multifaith perspective, Bill gives a number of conditions and examples of syncretism demonstrating where it exists in different religions and the necessity of syncretism to help solve the problems the world faces today.

This book is more than comparative religion. It opens the door to Critical Openness, and from a contemporary per-spective follows in the Anglican footsteps of Via media.

Christian Science Makes a Donation

embers of the Christian Science Church in Balfour receive a thank you lunch for their generous gift of a new sub floor and carpeting

installed in St. Michael & All Angels, Balfour. The Christian Science Church hold their Sunday morning service before St. Michael’s regular ser-vice at 11 am. Members of both churches have participated in each others joint social events and special services for the past two years.

Photographs by Jonn Lavinnder and marven Pedersen

Mdean Nissa Basbaum in St. michael’s House kitchen preparing jalapeno peppers with the help of the ladies in the “Let’s Jam” and “Some Like it Hot” group.

Truus Zelonka, deputy for the Christian Science Church in Balfour receiving thanks from Bob moore, Incumbent’s Warden of St. michael & All Angels, Balfour.

Triple Honours for

One guest related a story of how Anne and the guest’s mother were given, as children, two stuffed rabbits by a man in Okanagan Centre who had taken them under his wing. Her mother still had her rabbit and the guest had brought it along. She presented Anne with two new stuffed rabbits as reminders of the long ago gifts.

Among special friends from Okanagan Centre in attendance were Anne’s neighbor, Lynne Blake, Patty & Mick Wentworth, her niece, Tessa Van Roechoudt & husband, Mark, and her sister’s husband, Roger MacDonnell. Other rela-tives and friends attended from throughout the Okanagan and the lower mainland.

In the evening 58 friends and relatives joined Anne in a

celebratory dinner. Among them were her brother and nephew Bob & Jeff Goldie from California who were unable to arrive in time for the tea.

The first celebration for Anne was at St. Francis Church on Mother’s Day where she was made a fuss over by her church family. Bunwiches and beverag-es were prepared by the ACW and various pot luck sweets, veggies & dip, and a birthday cake came from other parishio-ners.

The other celebration was held at the Lake Country Seniors Centre and was high-lighted with coloured table-cloths and balloons and attend-ed by many Lake Country friends accumulated by Anne throughout her life.

Anne was also interviewed by CBC with regard to her interesting life. She related numerous details about the Okanagan Centre and its resi-dents in the early years.

Centenarian

Anglican Journal Appeal

or decades, The HighWay and the Anglican Journal have been a vital communications link between parishes, dio-ceses and the national Church. Together, we have shared stories, ideas and opinions from a faith perspective in a

way that has helped us put that faith into action. Whether encour-aging a response to human need, educating about the care of cre-ation, or helping readers discover new ways to reach out and grow the Church, The HighWay and the Anglican Journal spark compas-sionate conversations in an increasingly secularized world. Please give generously to the Anglican Journal Appeal this year. With your help we can keep the conversation going! Please fill out and return the enclosed postage paid donor reply card or call 416-924-9199, ext 259. Alternatively, you can email mross@national.anglican.ca or go to www.canadahelps.org to make your gift today.

F

By JONN LAVINNDER

❑

September 2014 The HighWay Page 7Columns

Page 6 The HighWay September 2014

By NEIL ELLIOT

When God Talks BackBy T.M. Luhrmann

In My Good Books

Pam Wilson is a member of the Diocesan Spiritual Development Group

“T

“Tuning In” to Heart

❑

❑

T

Neil Elliot, Priest for Kootenay Summits, BC ++Playing with Gravity++

By PAM WILSON

I

By YME WOENSDREGT

This column has been written with the intention that it may be reprinted in local newspa-pers for the religion page. Yme will be writing a short article each month expressly with this purpose in mind. You are free to reproduce the article with-out prior approval. Drop us a line anyway... The Editor

his review has taken a while to write- like months – because this

book has taken a while to read – like months. Why?...because it is so… good and so… dense. Nevertheless, it is a book I have longed to share with you, longed to encourage you to read. Why? Because it is so insightful, so challenging, and yet so…Gentle.

Okay let’s start with the basic premise. This is a book about Pentecostal Christianity. Still there? – good. This is a book about “the American Evangelical

relationship with God,” written by a psychological anthropologist. Still there? – excellent – ‘cos, as I’ve said, this book is really worth read-ing. The topic may not be appealing, and the author may be from a more obscure aca-demic discipline, but the result is worth it. Luhrmann went to study what it was the evangeli-cals thought was happening when they communicated with God. She did it from a value neutral position: she didn’t judge whether they were or were not actually communicat-ing with God. She went, partic-ipated, and observed as a good anthropologist should do.

The church she connected with, and which accepted her, was the Vineyard Church, both in Chicago and in California. Vinyard is a well-known charis-matic denomination, with asso-ciated churches throughout the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK etc. She became a part of the community, and talked to

members. She would not describe herself as a Christian, even though her personal posi-tion on faith has changed as part of the process. Indeed, the way that Luhrmann interacts with the subjects and inserts herself into the study is one of the many great things about this book. However, Luhrmann has read widely in connection with this study – her list of ref-erences really is a definitive list of appropriate reading in this area over the last 30 years. So Luhrmann has both critical objectivity and an insider’s per-spective – again, exactly the appropriate position for an anthropologist.

What does she find? I don’t want to cheapen the depth of her study by giving too much away, but what she identifies are the skills involved in building a relationship with God; one in particular sticks out – that of creative imagination. Listening to God in this context means

learning to “hear” God speak-ing, to be playful about this. Luhrmann compairs Vineyard church practice with Ignatian spiritual prac-tice. Allowing our minds to enter into a biblical scene and letting ourselves notice what is happening is the type of activi-ty in which we hear God. This is extended into other opportu-nities to listen. Again, no value judgements are made, Luhrmann does not say wheth-er this is valid or not, although she does address the question of what is real.

And here is where I have found the true value of this book for me. It has encouraged me to think about what we do, what I do in our very different kind of Christianity. Luhrmann suggests that a major part of what happens in Vineyard church meetings is teaching people how to connect with God: teaching them, not in an explicit manner, but in an

implicit manner. People are being shown and encouraged how to connect with God and how to pray: how to listen to God. And it made me re-think both my own experience of God, and what I do as minister in Trail.

That connection with God, which I have always seen as the heart of what I am promoting as a minister, is also the most ephemeral, the most challeng-ing part of what I hope the congregation will experi-ence. Yet it is profoundly Anglican. We listen for what the spirit has to say in the read-ings, we receive communion with Christ by faith, not by magic. This book is challeng-ing me to think about what we are doing in our services, and how we are teaching and learn-ing to connect with God. If connecting with God is a skill, rather than a gift, then how are we teaching it and developing it in our congregations…

he World is Too Much With Us” (Wordsworth,

1807). How is it that two hun-dred years later we are saying the same thing? How can we possibly keep up! Perhaps Wordsworth felt much as we do today, that the not urgent but very important relationships with nature, music, people and God are pushed aside to keep up with mortgages, jobs, house-hold and the responsibilities of day to day living. God is in the midst of all our busyness

day to day and doesn’t stop try-ing to get through to us. God, through the life of Jesus on earth, shows us how to live in the world making justice and the love of God known. Whatever we are doing, whatev-er path we choose to take, God is a willing guide calling to us in love. Consider what it takes to accept the invitation to know and feel known by God. ‘Ask a busy person to do something

for you and it gets done’ is a well-known belief. So perhaps the busy person prioritizes the urgent tasks and is intentional about where and how to spend their highly valued time. Perhaps the busy person is obe-dient (listens) to heart’s desire and creates space to nurture non-urgent, important connec-tions.

Spiritual exercises like phys-ical exercises require intentional

time and practice. Developing a desire to spend time with God is born of an awareness of God’s awesome presence in all things, where the words “Thanks be to God” come from somewhere deep in the core of our being far from our intellect. This awareness is an invitation from God to enter into prayer.

The word prayer from the Latin, votum voti is loosely translated to vote, to vow, to wish, to long. Prayer is experi-enced in the heart. “Prayer is not about this or that; it’s about God’s desire to give us the gift of himself, the gift of gifts, the one thing necessary” (Benedict XVI). Prayer is about finding God everywhere and about rec-ognizing a desire in the heart to be drawn gently into prayer, rather than to be driven by a sense of duty. Being in prayer is like “tuning in” to a bird’s call, or listening for a baby’s cry, or hearing the tone in a voice. Prayer is meeting heart to heart, sharing feeling and emotion rather than ideas or judgements. Prayer is a deep assurance of being known and not alone.

❑

M❑

Columns

grew up in a household which claimed never to be rich. One of my father’s favourite sayings

was—you guessed it—“Money doesn’t grow on trees.” Our family’s story is that we never had enough.

It didn’t matter that we always had electricity and a warm house and food on the table and enough clothes to wear, that we had a car and annual vacations in a cottage when I was very young, and later a tent trailer which took us

from Surrey to the Okanagan. It didn’t matter that we had a TV. We were far from rich.

It doesn’t matter that we know in our minds, or some-times see with our eyes, what real poverty looks like. It doesn’t matter that we know that even the poorest in our society has more stuff than 80% of the people in the rest of the world. We just know that we are not rich.

I visited a website where I could input my salary, and it calculates my wealth in relation to the rest of the world. It doesn’t matter when it tells me that I am in the wealthiest 2.5% of people in the world. Even when I input the poverty line in Canada ($20,000), that amount puts people in the top 12% of the world’s wealth. But that doesn’t matter; we are not rich.

And this is why “rich” is a problem. “Rich” simply doesn’t apply to me. “Others” are rich; not us. They have more. We have less.

So when the Bible warns “those who are rich,” it doesn’t apply to us. Both Jesus and the Old Testament prophets warn the rich about the dangers of wealth. Those stories, of course, are meant for someone else—“Wow, I wonder what I would do if I were rich. Would I be able to sell everything, give to the poor, and follow Jesus?” Or, “Wow, it will be hard for those folks to get into the Kingdom of God. I should pray for them.”

Then comes a wonderful story in Mark’s gospel which redefines the question and does us a great favour. A man runs up to Jesus in Mark 10:17. We don’t know anything about him, except that he wants to know what he must do to inherit life.

Jesus loves this man, and invites him to live deeply and abundantly: “Go, sell what you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come! Follow me!”

But the man becomes gloomy, and goes way sad. As the translation “The Message” puts it, “he walked off with a heavy heart.”

Why? Because he was … “someone who had a lot of stuff.” Literally, he had “many possessions.” Or as The Message puts it, “He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.”

Uh oh.Now that begins to sound

familiar. Mark’s warning is not for someone who is “rich”. The warning is for someone “who has a lot of stuff.”

Now that hits home—to people with garages cluttered with too many bicycles, book-shelves with too many books or DVD’s or other stuff, in houses loaded with retired phones and iPads and computers and televi-sions and multiple sets of dishes and overflowing closets and bas-ket fulls of toys.

Jesus doesn’t warn “the rich”—those ethereal others—but us. Us! “Oh, how tough it

is for those who have a ton of “crap” (okay, more literally, “a lot of stuff ”) to enter the king-dom of God!”

This is not for some myste-rious “them.” It is for us.

“The Message” helps us understand why—We hold on tightly to our stuff; sometimes it seems that our stuff owns us. Imagine the freedom of letting go. Imagine, if you even can, the sense of no longer being held by our stuff.

Our lives are cluttered. Imagine letting go ... and living abundantly.

The Problem with “Rich”

Amazon $14

By KATHRYN LOCKHART

“Anecdotage”

Kathryn Lockhart is the Archivist for the Diocese of Kootenay

From the Archives

Prayer is allowing the Divine to flow into our hearts to illumi-nate our deepest desires, the desires God has for us to bring us to wholeness. Prayer is con-necting at the center of our being where we are at home with God loving us more than we can ask or imagine.

The practice of prayer requires stillness, a focus on the Word, and the setting aside of intentional time such that, we tune into God’s voice in our heart. Being quiet regularly with intention to be with God, brings us nearer to hearing God all the time, whatever we are doing. Looking back over the activities of a day, noticing God’s touch in all that hap-pened is key to our continued awareness of God’s deep com-mitment and guiding. It is the desire to be close to God that will keep the practice of prayer alive, more so than sheer deter-mination. “And remember I am with you always to the end of the age” Matthew 28:20.

Yme Woensdregt is the Incumbent for Christ Church, Cranbrook.

y summer project is to tidy up the archival files on all the clergy who have served in the

Diocese of Kootenay for the last 114 years. Since the archives were not established until 1987, there has been plenty of opportunity for some of the older files to go miss-ing. For example, out of 608 files, 89 provide only the last name and initials, such as The Rev. L. Amor or the Rev. C.F. Yates. (If I could spend a week with Crockford’s Clerical Directory I could rebuild these files!)

Many of these priests were from England, answering the call to the wild and woolly mission

field of Kootenay. Quite a few last-ed only one year (too many bears... not enough Royal Doulton with the blue periwinkles) then either went back to England or westward to the relatively more civilized Diocese of New Westminster. Many of them had distinguished careers in World Wars I and II. There are priests from DeBrett’s Peerage and priests from humble beginnings. Some had interesting secular careers prior to answering the call to the priesthood later in life, while others eventually left the priesthood to pursue other work.

Below are short biographies of a few of the interesting characters who helped to build the Diocese of Kootenay.

The Rev. Sir Aubrey Neville St. John-Mildmay 1865-1955. 10th Baronet of Farley. Served in Vernon 1905 and in Penticton/Summerland/Peachland 1906-07. His daughter, Grace Audrey Louisa Mildmay, was a lyric soprano who founded the Glyndebourne Opera Festival in 1934 along with her husband, John Christie.

The Rt. Rev. Adam Urias de Pencier 1866-1949. Bishop in

Charge of Kootenay 1910-1915 until Kootenay could afford its own bishop. He was awarded the OBE on June 3, 1918 for service in WWI.

The Rev. Stephen Henry Phillimore 1881-1956. His brother inherited the title, so he went off to seek his fortune in the Arrow Lakes incumbency 1911-1913. His father was Walter Phillimore, 1st Baron Phillimore, who donated the bell to St. Mark’s, Nakusp. His mother, Lady Agnes Phillimore, gave money to St. Agnes, Edgewood, and the church was named after her.

The Rev. Rowan Ernest Grice-Hutchinson 1886-1997. From England. 1913-16 served Sorrento & Shuswap Lakes. 1916-18 to England (as military chap-lain). He loved the Sorrento area so much that he returned 1919-23. He was a well-educated, multi-tal-ented, indomitable man who, when Shuswap Lake froze, pur-chased skates from Eaton’s, taught himself to skate, and criss-crossed the lake to his multi-point services, towing a harmonium behind him on a sled. Please read part one of his diaries on the archives page of the Kootenay website.

The Rev. Basil Alfred Resker 1889-1969. From 1938-1946 served Kimberley. In November 1942 was made Archdeacon at Nelson. 1946-58 served Castlegar and Fruitvale. He had a long and distinguished career with the Boy Scouts from 1902 and received a

Medal of Merit from Lord Baden-Powell himself at The Royal Albert Hall in 1918.

The Rev. Henry Wood Simpson 18(?) -1946. From England. Served 1908-16 at Rossland. One of the 764 passen-gers who survived the torpedoing of the RMS Lusitania May 7, 1915 (1195 passengers died). 1916-18 served at Greenwood, Phoenix and Rock Creek, then returned to England after the war.

The Rev. William H. King 1912-1940. While returning to the Diocese of Kootenay, his ship, the City of Benares, was torpedoed September 18, 1940 and he was killed at age 28.

The Rev. Oscar Berry 18? - 1959. From 1948-49 he served at Grand Forks. In WWI he served as personal secretary to General Sir Sam Steele, officer of the North-West Mounted Police, head of the Yukon detachment during the Klondike Gold Rush, and commanding officer of Strathcona’s Horse during the Boer War (Fort Steele was named after him.)

The Rev. John Stainer 1915-1997. (Not to be confused with the St. Paul’s organist who wrote Crucifixion.) In WWII (1944-46) he served as Locust Officer, Middle East Anti-Locust Unit, Arabia. Then in Kootenay, he served from 1961-70 in Oliver, 1971-76 Nakusp, and 1977-82 Invermere and Windermere.

Archdeacon Basil Resker in 1946 visiting parishioners at Sheep Creek near Kimberley.

Page 8 The HighWay September 2014Camp & Education

❑

y name is Samantha Conway, and for as long as I can remember I have

been involved with Camp Owaissi. During the past four summers this has been in the form of a camp counsellor and youth leader, as well as working in the kitchen.

Working at camp has a big impact on me. Not only has it taught me more about dealing with kids, leadership and responsibility than any other course, group or activity, but it has also taught me more about myself. I feel like it gives me a sense of purpose. I spend my summers helping kids make memories and have fun. I come home on the weekend feeling like I accomplished something with my time.

In addition, camp has also shown me how important it is to persevere through difficult times. There are many moments during the summer where I feel like I have

had enough, and will never come back. When I am exhausted, bruised from running around the forest and have a terrible headache from loud voices, I begin to ques-tion myself. But, somehow I make it through. The campers don’t go away, they don’t stop wanting attention and I can’t just “take a day off.” So I just take it ten min-utes at a time. Pretty soon, it’s time for bed. I then take a minute to think and realize that normally I never could have coped, but camp

seems to have a habit of bringing out the best in people.

Summer camps are special places. Away from the stresses of home, school and society, kids are free to be themselves. I have met a lot of different campers, from many different backgrounds. Some are extremely well off, while others are only able to come to camp thanks to generously provid-ed bursaries. Regardless of their family situation, many kids need camp. It’s the one time they can

relax and not worry. Once or twice a summer, I meet a camper who touches my heart. It’s nothing spe-cific they do or say, but there will be a few moments, and they make the summer entirely worth it. When a young girl wrapped in a blanket curled up beside me, during a stormy afternoon, it reminded me that I work at Camp Owaissi because of the kids.

When parents tell me their child might be homesick, and two days later that same child is already

By SAMANTHA CONWAY

Owaissi Remembered

M

talking about how they want to come back to camp next year, I realize that camp has had an impact on that child. I may have absolutely no idea who or what it was, but something at camp changed that child’s mind.

Every day I see campers take on new challenges and activities that they would never attempt out-side of camp. Not a week goes by that I do not hear a camper say “I never knew I could do that” or “I was really scared the first time, but now I want to do it again.”

There is one other way camp impacts me. I attend church regu-larly at the cathedral church of Saint Michael and All angels. After the service I talk with other parishioners. When I hear positive stories about camp, from parents and grandparents it makes me extremely happy. When people who have no apparent connection to camp, ask “How is camp going?” or “What do your campers think of the new...?” It makes me realize that camp not only has an impact on staff and campers, but the community as well.

Come and Learn! Interested in...

n evangelism for today’s Anglicans?n thinking about the Good News?n biblical and theological foundations of evangelism? n Jesus as an evangelist?n evangelism as an aspect of healthy parish life?n how to help a congregation embrace evangelism?n evangelism in a pluralistic society?

Then be a part of this amazing opportu-nity to learn, discuss and grow!DATE: October 17-20, 2014 PLACE: All Saints, Vernon BC

REGISTER: kootenayschoolofministry.ca

The Ministry of Evangelism Today will be taught by Dr. John Bowen, Associate Professor of Evangelism and Director of the Institute of Evangelism at Wycliffe College in Toronto. He is a leader of the annual Anglican Church Planting Conference, and in the Canadian Fresh Expressions Initiative. John is author of several books, including Evangelism for ‘Normal’ People: Good News for Those Looking for a Better Way (2002).

Kootenay School of MinistryThe Ministry of

Evangelism TodaySorrento Centre

This time of retreat will focus on the difficulties that can arise on our spiritual journey and how we can drink from the dry well until it fills once again with living water.

Each day will offer opportuni-ties for worship, theme presenta-tions, and lots of time and space for silence. Please join us for a time dedicated to finding and being found by God on a deeper level.

Course fee: $423 includes instruc-tion, meals ( Mon. dinner through Thu. lunch) and accommodation based on single occupancy.

Drinking from the Dry Well with Brooke MitchellBrooke Mitchell is a priest with over 30 years of ordained lead-ership within the Anglican Church. After having served in various parishes, Brooke now specializes in spiritual direction and retreat work. She is current-ly serving as the Coordinator of Spiritual Development within the Diocese of Kootenay.

For further information and to register, please contact Sorrento Centre 1-866-694-2409

October 6 - 9, 2014