Incumbent Priest’s Report

Grace to you and peace.

Despite the many challenges of the past two years Good Shepherd Barrhaven continues to be a parish blessed with a loving and faithful community.

We have had a Parish Council who has stayed in leadership throughout the pandemic and throughout the transitions we have undergone in the past year. My thanks for the dedication of our Board members who seamlessly transitioned to become Parish Council members: Judy Rodrigues, Caroline Baskerville, Sandy Holmes, Ramon Lashley, Milo Cruikshank, Court Harkness and Andrew Gibb. I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you.

We are richly blessed by Jack Earnshaw and Cyndy Darling, who have continued to lead and film Morning Prayer four weekdays every week, and Compline two evenings a month. From live service to livestreamed services, the offering of morning prayer publicly for everyone is a hallmark of our parish.

Jack and Cyndy also sing with our current small music group, and for the past year have been recording psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with Guylaine Chartier, our music director and Caroline Peska, our pianist, for our live or livestreamed worship services on Sunday.

Jack, Andrew, and Court have taken upon themselves to learn to use the A/V system in Barrhaven United Church (BUC). When we gather and when we film from the church, we need a PowerPoint slideshow, microphones, and lights, camera, action! The technology has bugs, but our crew works with the members of the BUC crew to work them out. They have my gratitude.

Another measure of good sharing of the two parishes sharing the space has been demonstrated by the decorating group. Paula Desrosiers, Judy St. Hill, and Irene Barbeau, along with the decorating crew from BUC have kept the space beautifully appointed.

The Year In Review

I always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in my prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

2021 was a year of change. While the pandemic lockdowns had some things feel like they weren’t moving at all, our church experienced several moves: out of the mall, into the offices, out of 3500 Fallowfield, into worship at BUC on Jockvale, out of the Lutheran Deanery, into the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa as a conventional Anglican Parish.

In deciding on the place to move, Brad Firth and Michael Whittaker prepared an exceptional report, and you all asked great questions and shared your concerns and hopes.

Paula and Ted, Judy, Irene, Andrew and Stuart, Court, and Michael were instrumental in clearing out the space at the mall, and helping with the moves. Memories were shared and new memories were made during the packing and moving. Jackie Rogers, owner of the building were our offices are rented, and George Macdonald, from the BUC facilities team, were our helpful contacts before and during the signing of the leases.

In preparing for the spring Special Vestry about becoming a conventional Anglican Parish and continuing the work that needed to be done, Henry Schultz, our Diocesan Chancellor, kept me informed and encouraged!

In beginning the new Shape of Parish Ministry (SPM) Program, every member of this parish stepped up and shared what you love about your church, what challenges you see, and what opportunities you delight in. Thank you for answering the questions and emailing in your answers and thoughts. Thanks to Andrew and Sandy for joining me in leading the parish SPM team.

The SPM invites us to examine possible partnerships. Our first partnership has already been established through the cemetery. Not only did Sandy and Shirley Kelly arrange the building of a new columbarium, but they also established a new understanding with Julian of Norwich Anglican Church on Merivale Road, who will be adding a columbarium. Julian of Norwich is rebuilding on their site. Interesting and faithful work is being done there which you can read about at https://julianofnorwichottawa.ca/.

Looking Ahead

Draw your Church together, O Lord, into one great company of disciples.

Let there be encouragement in Christ, consolation from love, sharing in the Spirit, compassion, sympathy and joy in humility. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. (cf. Proverbs 3)

Looking ahead to 2022, God willing, the pandemic will end[1], and our church and our community can return to meeting together in person, in small groups and large. This may be the year we are able to visit each other in our homes, or we can gather for educational sessions or prayer retreats. Thank you for your resilience. Pandemic fatigue and winter “blues” are real. Relying on faith can help to carry us through; practice those disciplines that enrich your faith, and remember we have faced difficulties before and have overcome them.

Throughout the past year, we have maintained our worship schedule and continued to support each other and our community ministries. You are continuously generous with your donations and for this I am deeply appreciative. Your Parish Council is working to pay off commitments to the Diocese, and we may need to work with deficit budgets for a few years more. In the meantime, we have investments with the Diocesan Consolidated Trust Fund that could be used to build an Anglican Church in Barrhaven.

The SPM program will come to its fruition at Synod 2022 this coming October. Between March and August of this year, some of us will meet with members of other Anglican parishes and develop some sharing and reshaping proposals: other parishes may have similar situations. We may have knowledge or experience to offer each other, or we may explore new ideas together. The shape of parish ministry is changing in the Ottawa Diocese. The shape of our parish ministry needs to be discerned together.

Bishop Shane Parker, along with the senior leadership of the Diocese, continues to care for us as we pray together with them, through weekly Pandemic Communiqués and more. The Diocese has begun new work: in communications, on anti-racism training, within the governance structure, and with the SPM. All of this will effect our work at the parish.

We have various activities planned for our church and with our neighbours this year. Your continued support will allow us to grow in faith and to spread the love of Christ. As we move forward into a new season, my prayers for your faith and your continued spiritual growth in Christ are always with you. May there be light and warmth in your heart, and may Jesus, our Good Shepherd, grant us all peace. Amen.

Margo

[1] “…the world will have to learn to coexist with a virus that’s not going away, experts say.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/pandemic-end-omicron-forecast-1.6302465