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Rector's
Messages
Annual
Report 2005
“The
Parish of St. James Armdale seeks to live out The Christian faith in the
Anglican tradition, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”
The
Annual Report is an attempt to document the tasks, undertakings, and
achievements of in a parish after year’s end. Documentation requires a
referencing to funds, buildings, programs, organizations, and activities.
Documentation also records something of the invaluable contribution which
the faithful of the parish make as they seek to give concrete expression
to their Christian faith grounded in the setting of an Anglican parish
community. However, you will recognize the caption above as the first
sentence in the Mission Statement of our Parish. As we review the
past year, and look forward to the year now before us, we need to be
mindful of the guidance that comes from The Holy Spirit at work in our
midst.
Let
me begin by saying “thank-you”. I have read carefully, and wish to
echo here, all the expressions of gratitude extended by the parish wardens
in their report. I am very grateful to our parish wardens, Ernie Clarke,
Carmon Stone, and Pam Williams for all the support offered and work
accomplished during the past year. A thank you and well done is also
extended to the members of St. James Parish Council and the standing
committees. We are blessed in our parish with a great multitude of
talented and committed people. The positive feeling, which so many
visitors express to me about our parish life, is the result of the
dedication of our parish staff, Michael Hadley, Betty Rice, Allen Simpson,
and David Wilson. A thank you is extended to all the groups and
individuals who contribute to the planning, preparation and conduct of our
parish liturgies. A thank you is extended to Canon David Boston for his
assistance with worship, presiding at liturgies during my holidays, and
for helping with pastoral matters at the hospital. Thanks go out to The
Rev. Randy Townsend, of St. John’s Fairview, for taking emergency call
when I was away. Once again, a very special thank you is extended to Wendy for all her patience, support, counsel, and insight.
Pastoral
Care is one of the vital signs in a
healthy parish life. This past year I conducted 221
pastoral consultations. These were opportunities to meet with people in
the hospital, in homes, in my office, or in other settings for prayer,
conversation, and the sacramental moments in the life of the church. I am
grateful for the contribution made by our pastoral visitors, individual
volunteers, and the team of hospital chaplains in the pastoral support to
parishioners. Our connection to Glades Lodge, with the monthly Anglican
Eucharist and Glades Pastoral Care Committee, bridges our parish’s
pastoral work with the wider community.
Christian
Education. Confirmation in January
of 2005 provided us an opportunity to welcome Bishop Moxley to our parish.
The class of 18 candidates was
well prepared by Carmon Stone. The participation of candidates from St.
Paul’s, together with clergy from our Region made it a regional event.
This past fall four families
participated in the Life in the Eucharist program, including one
family from our neighbouring parish of St. John’s, Fairview. The weekly
lectionary bible study and seasonal Inquirer’s Group continued this past
year. During Lent I conducted a sermon series on the Eucharistic prayers
of our church. The children’s focus in Lent explored the theme of Faith
in the World. The village constructed by Colleen Day and the Sunday
school students made our exploration a lot of fun as well. A team of laity
presented an adapted version of the Diocesan Lenten Program. The day long Parish
Council Retreat on financial and congregational development took place
on September 24th. This event was a major undertaking that will bear fruit
into the future. We welcomed Charles O’Neil and The Rev. Dianne Parker
as facilitators. We welcomed, as well, two guests from other parishes. On
October 24th the Planned Giving Committee sponsored an Estate
Planning Workshop. Charles O’Neil and John Arnold proved to be
excellent resource persons for persons this event. Our parish was very
pleased to help sponsor Brittany Green for the Ask and Imagine
leadership development program hosted by the diocese of Huron. Brittany
has continued to develop her skills and interests in this area in the
parish and at Diocesan Youth Conference. We are blessed with the
leadership of Audrey Li and her dedicated Sunday school staff.
One
of the Liturgical Highlights of the past year was the November
Celebration of All Saints Sunday and the dedication of the Stain Glass
Creation Mural. This liturgy allowed us to celebrate the completion of
this distinctive project that has attracted attention far beyond the
bounds of our parish. The service allowed us, as well, to celebrate the
contributions of so many parishioners to this project with financial
gifts, but also with time, and discussion and debate and reflection. It
was great to welcome Sue Obata and the Sattlers on that occasion. The
members of the Window Committee should take great satisfaction as a result
of their labors. It seemed an appropriate time to say a heartfelt thank
you to Ernie Clarke and his bride Nancy. We wish them every blessing in
their new home together in New Brunswick.
Our
parish is, of course, is an active contributor to diocesan life.
This past year I completed over a decade of work on the Bishop’s
Advisory Council. I remain a member of the Dean and Chapter of All
Saints Cathedral. This past year afforded me a couple of stopgap
opportunities. I had a very interesting time this fall as acting Anglican
duty chaplain at Dalhousie University. I was pleased to be acting Regional
Dean on behalf of The Rev. Dianne Parker for the several weeks. I continue
as chaplain to the diocesan board of Mothers Union. Bev Wentzell of St.
James is the current diocesan MU president. We also observed Leap for
Faith Sunday. I’m grateful to Allan Conrod for speaking to the
Sunday’s congregations on Leap for Faith Sunday. I appreciated
the help provided in support of Leap for Faith by Pam Williams,
Nancy Green and Phil Page and the Faith, Worship, Ministry Committee.
Several opportunities were provided to our groups and organizations to
view the Leap for Faith DVD. A number of the members of St. James
may be seen wearing the Leap for Faith pin. Once gain this year, we
enjoy the presence a third year theological student from Atlantic
School of Theology in the person of Ms. Brieanna Hutchinson. Brieanna
is also an “alumnae” of the Ask
and Imagine program. The year 2006 afforded me two continuing
education opportunities. In April I was able to tour the National
Cathedral in Washington DC, and visit old Christchurch, Alexandria,
Virginia for Sunday worship. It was interesting and compelling to discover
how connected both the Cathedral and Christchurch are to their wider
social contexts. Closer to home, I attended a lecture by Dr. Timothy
Ashley, sponsored by the Atlantic Baptist Fellowship.
We
have accomplished much under the guidance of the Spirit in 2005. The
challenges of 2006 are already before us.
Financial
Development. Our Finance Committee
with our very capable treasurer Sarah Jane Raine have worked very hard to
develop a responsible and prudent budget for the current year. The budget
has been developed with attentiveness to reducing down the operating short
fall. Deficit financing is prohibited by diocesan canon; but we recognize
that, in addition to income, operating expenses will require the
utilization of some of our unrestricted endowment funds. I hope we will
view this not as a partial solution to a problem, but as a challenge for
continued efforts on the area of stewardship and financial development. I
trust that the creation of a Stewardship Committee, with stewardship
education as part of its mandate, will help us to greet this challenge. We
look forward to further work from the Planned Giving Committee ably
chaired by Rob White.
Outreach.
Our parish has a serious commitment, including a budget commitment, and a
commitment of people to the work of outreach. I hope we can continue to
work at out reach education as well. The work planned for Priamte’s Fund
this lent will be an important part of increasing outreach awareness in
our Parish. We might also become more deeply aware of some of the very
valuable community agencies in our City—like those that contributed to
the Metro agencies information evening at Regional Council this past
November.
Baptismal
Preparation. This is an item
explored by our Faith, Worship, Ministry Committee this past year, and
which I hope we will be able to advance in 2006, in our efforts to be a
welcoming friendly parish family.
Under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may we build on the past year and meet
the days and weeks ahead with the confidence of a lively faith.
Easter
Octave: attendance 511; communicants 420
Christmas:
attendance 532; communicants 474
Respectfully
submitted, The Rev. Canon Rod Gillis
The
Parish of St. James, Armdale, seeks to live out the Christian faith in the
Anglican tradition, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We strive to
grow as a welcoming, friendly, parish family that has strong liturgical,
pastoral and teaching ministries. We are dedicated to fostering the values
of the Christian Faith in our parish, and reaching out to the wider
community.
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