Past Events
Study Day 2011
Exploring Leadership in Edge Habitat was the Theme of Lay Reader Study Day 2011
Adele Finney, executive director of PWRDF (The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund), was the guest speaker at the annual Study Day with Montreal Lay Readers on November 26th. Gathered at the Church of St. John the Baptist in Pointe Claire were Lay Readers from every corner of the Diocese to enjoy a day of learning and fellowship. The annual service of Commissioning took place in the afternoon with Bishop Barry Clarke, and with Bishop Barbara Andrews from our partnership diocese of the Central Interior, who had been invited to preach at the service.
Exploring the concept of “Edge Habitat”, a place between two eco-systems, a place of vulnerability and new possibilities or abundance, Adele Finney invited the Lay Readers to walk through the Samaritan stories. Re-enacting the story of the Woman at the Well, (John 4: 1-42) and the Good Samaritan, (Luke 9 and 10) enabled many new insights into the experiences of Jesus and his disciples as they travelled through places of transition, the edge habitat of the biblical story, to proclaim the Good News. Through this Study Day the Lay Readers were able to identify the edges of their own life experiences, places of vulnerability, challenge and learning.
The focus of PWRDF is the creation of a more just, healthy and peaceful world. Through tales of her travels and experiences in edge habitats worldwide, Adele was able to illustrate the importance of leadership in the mission of God’s Church. This theme was also illustrated in the sermon delivered by Bishop Barbara who had spent the day with the Lay Readers.
Five new Lay Readers were commissioned at the service and a program of Study for 2012 was distributed by Pastor to Lay Readers, the Revd. Canon Tim Smart.
Please visit the photo gallery for photos.
Study Day 2010
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2010 Lay Reader Study Day and
Commissioning Service with the Rev. Dan Hines, Ministry Developer Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior, BC.
Please click here to view the presentation for an understanding of the day’s teaching.
Please click here for photos. |
Lay Readers’ Study Day and Commissioning 2010
One Saturday in November, about sixty diocesan Lay Readers were pondering a PowerPoint image, an aerial view of a river flowing down its course in a wide flood plain, with a magnificent bridge built to one side of the river. The river had changed course, but the bridge remained on dry ground! Its approach roads had long gone, washed out by an immense spring flood or a tidal surge.
We wondered, “Was this magnificent bridge, with solid foundations, like the church? Has the river of society passed us by? What does this mean for our Christian activities?”
Dan Hines, from the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior (APCI) in British Columbia, was challenging us to consider our ministries in a new world. He showed us another slide of a vinyl LP of a bygone era. The vinyl LP gave way to the CD, which is being superseded by songs downloaded to the iPOD. What is the core message – the music or the vinyl record? In what areas of our lives do we confuse the method of delivery with our core purpose?
Dan lives near Kamloops, in an area that had been organized into the Diocese of Caribou. That diocese went bankrupt in 2000, felled by the outfall from abuses at a native school. The churches that were left had to ponder the prospect, “what does it mean to be a Christian community without property?” (They did keep their church buildings, thanks to a consolidated effort by the National Church.)
He described the ways that the fourteen parishes work out their mission without the formal structure of a diocese. They have had to consider what to give up and what to keep in order to serve the people in their communities. They walked the neighbourhoods, knocked on doors, and found out what people wanted. In one community, the people wanted a Sunday evening service of an ecumenical nature, one that eventually filled with young people!
Dan talked about baptismal ministry, the work that is given to all Christian people. Holy Spirit gives out gifts, but the calling of each person is of equal worth. The local community is the primary context for formation, ministry and mission. The challenge has been to form leaders, including ordained ministers, within this community. After all, the Spirit equips every congregation with what it needs to do what God is calling it to do.
The response in those churches was to consecrate teams of multiple local priests, deacons and ministers to share the work in each parish. The result has been shared and owned local mission, with church halls deliberately used for AA, shared meals and outreach of all kinds.
Dan directed us to Living Stones Partnership, an association of about twenty North American Anglican and Episcopalian dioceses who are working together to encourage a strong sense of the ministry of all members of a parish.
Under Dan’s direction, we asked ourselves probing questions – what are my strengths for ministry? How have I been encouraged by others? How have I been discouraged? What are my areas of weakness? What weaknesses are also gifts in my ministry?
Such questions probe just one corner of the “ministry grids” that were developed for the Anglican Communion. You can find them by googling “TEAC ministry grid”. They make for challenging reading – not hard to read, but hard to live up to!
The annual Commissioning Service followed our workshop. Someone was heard to remark that it is surprising how many Lay Readers there are in the diocese – an estimated seventy filled several rows at St. Paul’s Lachine. Of these, ten received new licenses and a further 41 received a renewal of their three-year licenses.
But we could sing! Led by Simon Hartropp on the organ, we celebrated Evening Prayer and prayed for the continuation of God’s blessing on our various ministries. Bishop Barry Clarke reminded us that, although we could be leaders in our own parishes, we must ever be servants. A highlight of the evening was the presentation of a new Bishop’s crosier to Dan Hiles, who accepted it on behalf of Bishop Barbara Andrews (who was unable to attend because of illness). The crosier was a wooden staff surmounted by a circular crook made of 14 layers of wood, symbolizing the 14 parishes of the APCI. When disassembled, it fits into a wood case with a lid inlaid with the road map of the APCI area, with flowers set in for the church locations, the whole looking very much like a branch of a wild rose.
Now, is there a message for ministry in that design? We left with many thoughts in our heads, and hearts filled with hope for the future.
Submitted by: Ian Sinclair
September 25,
2010
Lay Readers' Workshop
The Glories of our Anglican Liturgy
Archdeacon Peter Hannen met with 25 Lay Readers on Saturday, September 25th,
2010, to take a look at our Anglican liturgies, their meaning and usage. Those
in attendance were invited to look at the liturgical practices in their home
churches and in other churches they have visited. The conversation focused on
the integrity of liturgy, attention to seasons and celebrations, the selection
of appropriate hymns and the crafting of intercessions.
Participants shared their various experiences of leading in worship. Archdeacon
Hannen emphasized the importance of having one presider or president throughout
a service, with others, like lay readers, contributing by reading, leading
intercessions, serving the chalice and otherwise assisting the person presiding.
The afternoon was devoted to the crafting of intercessions. Reminders from our
speaker included the importance of silence at particular times in the liturgy,
attention to voice and posture and clear enunciation, and the practice necessary
in preparation for reading.
At the conclusion of the day, one Lay Reader exclaimed, “My eyes have been
opened today. I learned so much!"
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