CHRISTMAS LETTER TO CHRIST CHURCH RAWDON 2011
ADVENT I
It is with a heavy heart that I begin my last letter to you as your Rector. You will find enclosed a letter from the Bishop of Montreal announcing my appointment by the Bishop of Quebec as the Archdeacon of St Francis and Incumbent of St George’s Lennoxville. Letter to Wardens November 2011
Let me begin by saying what a privilege it has been to be your priest for the last decade. It has been an honour to minister with you these many years. It will be hard for me to leave the parish and to say goodbye to so many people I have grown to care about and love. I am not very good at strong emotions so I hope you will forgive my awkwardness when saying my farewells. Archdeacon Hannen told me that he was so distressed leaving his last parish that he could not face it and so left for Cuba on holiday and had the Archbishop make the announcement for him!
Many of you may wonder why I am leaving such a vibrant parish and such a stable position to take up ministry in an area experiencing such great flux and financial insecurity. I have shared with you before my belief that, as a priest, to make your own plans about your life can significantly hinder one’s spiritual growth. We tend to play to our strengths and seek our own material and social comfort. We thus risk becoming a caricature of ourselves instead of the full well rounded example of humanity God wishes us to be. As a member of a religious community I have sought to be faithful to the call to go, not where I wish to go, but rather where I have been asked to go. Few understood my decision to acquiesce to the request to leave the United Kingdom to travel halfway across the world to minister to a small isolated area in the Rocky Mountains. However a Bishop asked me to serve so I did. The same occurred when Archbishop Hutchison requested that I take up ministry in the Diocese of Montreal, and now it is the Bishop of Quebec making that request. Many will find this allowing of Bishops and circumstances to determine the course of my life naive at best and crazy at worst. However, I put it to you that on the day of my ordination as a priest I made the last significant decision about the course my life would take – “not my will, but thine, be done.”
It is here in the parish of Rawdon that I have really grown up in my ministry. Personally, my time amongst you has been the single most stabilising time in my life. As you know I have been moving since I was very young and was sent away to boarding school. I have lived in the Rectory and in this village longer than I have lived anywhere in my life. Your acceptance of me and your generous spirit has allowed me to settle for the first time. I thank God that He has allowed me to stay amongst you for as long as He has.
I want to reiterate what I have told you many, many times: the parish of Rawdon is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, rural parishes in the Diocese. This is not just from a strategic or material perspective but in terms of the diverse lay leadership, the ability to get along well as a community, as well as the full range of activities and ministries provided. I was sent to the parish many years ago to address a number of concerns, most prevalent being the history of control by a small group and the consistent conflict this created with the rest of the parish and the clergy who, partially because of this, came and went like there was a revolving door at the Rectory. There was also much needed work to do in regards to restoration work, the reorganisation of the parish administration and the raising up new leaders across the parish. My most important task was to stay long enough to provide stability for the parish to break the trend of short term ministry. My first three years were difficult. Yet once the era of the ‘old way’ was finally gone the parish transformed itself. It has gone on to be more and more friendly, more and more gracious and welcoming to strangers, and become one of the nicest congregations I have known with the least amount of conflict. The church has been completely restored, top to bottom, the administration has been overhauled, and now there are many many people lay people involved in all aspects of the running of the parish. As the years have gone by there has been less and less for me to do as you have taken over much of the work that used to be left solely to the priest. This makes you strong, resilient and faithful to your vocation as the Baptised in this place and time. I am very proud of the parish and hope you are as aware of the significance of what you have accomplished as I am. Each individual priest brings their own talents and expertise to a parish. We have now finished a chapter together and it is time that you continue your journey with a priest with different skills and talents to help you grow in areas that I am unable to.
I cannot leave the parish without saying something about our assets. I have thus sent a memo to the Corporation of the parish outlining the reasons I believe the real estate of the parish should be held onto as long as possible and the importance of land development. You will be able to find this in the Corporation minutes and the annual Vestry Statement.
I wish I knew what else to say. However, the reality of the situation has not yet hit me. Once it does I am sure there will be many things that I wish I had said in this letter. How do you begin to say goodbye when you are still in denial? I know this much, I will be sad to leave you, will miss you, and I will remember you in my prayers for the rest of my life.
In the interim I leave you in the very capable hands of our former Archbishop, Bruce Stavert. Archbishop Stavert will supply half time ministry until at least May. I am sure you will find him an invaluable help as the parish begins the process to discern its future and prepare to call the next Rector of Rawdon.
May God be with you.
Winter Events
ACW Christmas Luncheon, Dec 3rd
ACW Christmas Card Party, Dec 6th
Advent Carol Service, 7pm, St John’s Masonville, Dec 11th
Christmas Eve, 9pm, Christmas Mass *, Dec 24th
Christmas Day (Sunday) 10am, Dec 25th
Epiphany Sunday, Jan 1st
Rawdon Vestry, Friday 7pm, Jan 6th
Baptism of the Lord, Jan 8th
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan18th– 25th
Candlemass, Feb 5th
ACW Valentine’s Mission Tea, T.B.A.
Winter BBQ and Dance, Feb 18th
Shrove Tuesday Card Party, Feb 21st
Ash Wednesday, Feb 22nd, 7pm
World Day of Prayer, March 2nd
Lenten Book Group, T.B.A.
* PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE TO THE CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE. There will be no 5pm service as last year there were almost no children. The evening service will be at 9pm.
Christmas Poinsettias
Please contact Ann Allen on 450 834 2492 to purchase a poinsettia in memory of a loved one to decorate the parish church for Christmas.
