NEW PLAN: Order of the Diocese of New Westminster

Given the continuing rise in the number of cases of COVID-19 and the age of many who will be ODNW recipients this year, and in consultation with the Re-opening Team, the lay leaders of the Diocese, the Archdeacons, and the Dean of the Diocese, I have decided not to go ahead with the regional ODNW inductions as previously planned. We will instead empower priests-in-charge and parishes to invest their nominees in their parishes, with parish leadership getting to choose the way they will do this, a way that works best for the parish and for their nominee.

Plan Elements

• Parishes will be sent the ODCW medals, pins and copies of citations along with the options parishes have for investing their nominees.
• Parishes will be strongly encouraged to induct their nominees on or around the Feast of All Saints.
• Archbishop Melissa will provide a recorded sermon and the text of her ODNW sermon based on the lectionary readings for All Saints, 2020. We will also provide a bulletin for a Service of the Word that parishes may use at their investitures if they choose to do so.
• The options for parish investitures are:

1. Invest their nominee on Sunday, November 1st at an in-person service
2. Invest their nominee on another date close to Sunday, November 1st.  This, for instance, may be a smaller in-person liturgy with only the nominee and their family members attending as well as some representatives from the parish and/or other ODNW recipients
3. Invest their nominee at an online service
4. Invest their nominee in some other way that needs to be shared with and approved by the Archbishop

• We require that parishes not hold a reception after their investiture. A parish reception may be held at a later date after Provincial Health Officer’s restrictions are lifted.
• We require that the person putting the medal on the recipient be someone in the recipient’s “bubble,” that is, a family member or someone else who lives with the nominee or has been included in the recipient’s “bubble.”
• We will invest the Bishop’s nominees in their home parishes.  We will invest the honorary nominee at a place to be determined.
• We ask parishes to take a picture of the nominee wearing their medal and send it to the Synod Office immediately after their investiture.  These pictures will be a part of the story that will be shared on the Diocesan website and in Topic.  We will provide more specific information about how and where to take the picture and how to send it to Diocesan Communications Officer Randy Murray when we share the ODNW sermon and the bulletin which may be used by parishes.
• After the investitures, both Archbishop Melissa and the Regional Archdeacons will write a follow up note to every nominee to congratulate them on their investiture and to thank them for their service. 

For more information please contact Bill Siksay by email or by phone at 604.684.6306 ext 223