More than 200 people from around the Diocese of New Westminster attended the pre-synod day at St. Mary’s Kerrisdale on Saturday, May 7th, 2011.
In 2009, Synod approved a vision: “Growing communities of faith in Jesus Christ to serve God’s mission in the world.” At the pre-synod day participants heard an excellent address from Bishop Michael Ingham and attended interactive presentations on parish initiatives that are supporting the
Ten Diocesan Priorities.
In 2009, Synod approved a vision: “Growing communities of faith in Jesus Christ to serve God’s mission in the world.” At the pre-synod day participants heard an excellent address from Bishop Michael Ingham and attended interactive presentations on parish initiatives that are supporting the
Ten Diocesan Priorities.
The purpose of the day was to allow Synod delegates and others to join with friends from across the diocese and learn together about homegrown excellence in mission. Over 20 diocesan and connected organizations arrived early in the morning at the St. Mary’s Kerrisdale gymnasium to set-up display tables featuring their particular ministries. At 8:30am, the gym was a hotbed of activity as people arrived, registered, grabbed something hot to drink and enjoyed community time visiting the displays, asking questions and discovering new happenings in and around the Diocese of New Westminster.
The event officially opened with a brief worship service at 10am. Following worship the Rev. Andrew Wilhelm-Boyles, Chair of the Plan 2018 Action Committee introduced Bishop Michael Ingham. Bishop Michael began his address by thanking those in attendance “for a day of your weekend for your church.” He went on to observe that it was too rainy to be in the garden so “God wants us to be here.” Bishop Michael began his address with two words inspired by the reading (Deuteronomy 30: 11-20) choose life.
The Bishop's Address is available by clicking the link.
In his address Bishop Michael mentioned how the Ten Diocesan Priorities fit nicely in with the Five Marks of Mission designated by the National Church and the Anglican Communion.
The rest of the day was divided up into separate morning and afternoon sessions totaling 11 panel discussions involving 33 ministry initiatives from around the diocese. Each session was led by a facilitator responsible for moderating the presentations and the resulting questions and dialogue. The sessions embraced a large range of initiatives, all connected to one or more of the ten Diocesan Priorities.
In between the two sessions there was lunch. The lunch, prepared and served by members of the St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Community Lunch ministry was typical of the fare offered by that ministry to their regular Tuesday noon hour community and was greatly appreciated by the 200 plus who lined up around the St. Mary’s gym.
At the end of the day Bishop Michael began his closing observations by reading 1 Corinthians 12:1–12. He observed that the day “was a fountain,” that we had all drunk from, and that “there was a movie going on here today and we each were able to see a few scenes.” Like many faith communities, we met in small groups today but when we assemble together we are large and diverse. But in our diversity we still need each other and we need to remember that we aren’t in competition with other denominations or faith groups, we are in competition with a society that is increasingly distracted and disengaged. By pursuing our commitment to God’s Mission we are choosing life in this post-religious time.
At the end of the day Bishop Michael began his closing observations by reading 1 Corinthians 12:1–12. He observed that the day “was a fountain,” that we had all drunk from, and that “there was a movie going on here today and we each were able to see a few scenes.” Like many faith communities, we met in small groups today but when we assemble together we are large and diverse. But in our diversity we still need each other and we need to remember that we aren’t in competition with other denominations or faith groups, we are in competition with a society that is increasingly distracted and disengaged. By pursuing our commitment to God’s Mission we are choosing life in this post-religious time.
Images: Top left, Bishop Michael addresses the participants. Middle right, Elizabeth Northcott and Michael Batten at the Plant, Eat, Pray, Love Session. Lower right, LUNCH. Below, A full house enjoys the
Transforming the World session.