Celebration of a New Ministry
The parish of St. George in Fort Langley has had a long history and seen many changes in its day, both good and difficult. When it came time to search for a new priest to lead the community, parish leadership had a clear idea of what they needed: a priest open to a part-time role, and committed to a church with “open doors, open hearts, open minds.” Very quickly the parish and diocese realized the Rev. Laurel Dykstra was the right fit for the role. On January 21, Rev. Dykstra was installed as Vicar of St. George’s during a service presided by Archbishop John Stephens.
Speaking just before administering the Oaths and Subscriptions to Rev. Dykstra, Executive Archdeacon Nick Pang said, “very rarely have I seen as good and obvious a fit as this new ministry here.” He said when he met with the Bishop Advisory Council on Appointments to review applications for the position of Vicar at St. George’s “it became clear very quickly how excited this community was to welcome Laurel here. There were so many points of convergence,” between the parish profile and Rev. Dykstra’s past ministry experience.
Rev. Dykstra started Salal + Cedar, a ministry of the diocese that aims to reconnect Christians to creation-values and land covenants through education, action, and worship set in nature. They have also written a book “Wildlife Congregations: A Priest’s year of Gaggles, Colonies and Murders by the Salish Sea” documenting a year of spiritual encounters in the lower Fraser watershed.
It is that experience of building a radical discipleship community committed to kingdom of God that will serve St. George’s well, according to the Rev. Clarence Li who preached during the service.
He said the parable of the mustard seed and the yeast that leavens bread –included in the reading for the service - “are not metaphors for the nostalgia of “the good old days when all the pews were filled.” Instead, these parables were aimed the small, fragile discipleship communities “striving to live a transformed life, empowered by the spirit of Jesus, struggling on behalf of others who have been disenfranchised,” he said. “This was Jesus’ way of speaking truth to the power of his day while promising hope for the current and future generations,” Rev. Li said. He added that St. George’s was receiving a “discipleship leader, theologian whose life has been steeped in the best strands of the Anglican Way of following Jesus and has proven experience in living and building radical discipleship movements.”
During the presentation of the symbols of ministry, the parish included wooden medallions as a symbol of the parish’s desire to engage in “eco-pilgrimage and contemplative ecology” and an invitation to live out the baptismal promise to safeguard creation. Also included among the symbols of ministry was a drawing in the Salish style to represent the parish’s commitment to reconciliation.
Returning to the metaphor of the yeast that leavens bread, Rev. Li said, “start the oven, for the risen dough is ready and next comes delicious bread, gluten and non-gluten inclusive, to feed all who hunger for the Good News.”
Photos from the Service of Induction are available here.