On Sunday September 7, at 10 am, the five newly aligned parishes of the Royal City/South Burnaby Deanery (St Mary’s Sapperton, St Barnabas New West, St Alban’s Burnaby, All Saints Burnaby, and Holy Trinity Cathedral New West) gathered for their first annual combined Eucharist and picnic. Approximately one hundred people from the five parishes descended upon Lower Hume Park in New Westminster for this special event.
It was a stunning day in New Westminster, the sun was shining, people were out walking their dogs, there was a young man operating a remote control eagle overhead which caught everyone’s eye just before the service. Many people were curious about what we were doing. A few people walking by chose to sit and listen to part of the service. There was a real spirit of togetherness and celebration throughout the day. Musicians from different parishes came together to lead the music and did a wonderful job.The Executive Archdeacon, The Venerable Douglas Fenton presided over the Eucharist, whilst the clergy of the Deanery participated in the first ever Diocesan Preacher’s “Preach Off” which had each preacher read a random parable, then give it their best interpretation in under 3 minutes. The Reverend Shirley Stockdill, priest-in-charge of All Saints’ totally rocked it with an interpretation of the parable of the Virgins and the Lamps citing an amusing and poignant tale of almost running out of gas in her car, and of the need to keep our spiritual reserves topped up.
Our Executive Archdeacon judged the “Bake Off” and awarded Susan Stennsgard from Holy Trinity Cathedral the “Purple Spoon”. The clergy from the Deanery were relieved The Executive Archdeacon reserved judgement on the “Preach Off”.
The Reverend Faun Harriman, regional dean and Rector of St. Alban’s (who threw her back out at a Pointer Sisters concert the night before, she was so excited) still managed to organize and participate in this special day, working alongside the St Mary’s Events Committee who both did a superb job in ensuring every little detail was looked after. Karen Baron, Warden of St Mary’s said, "It was an awesome day, and it was so great to get to know the other parishioner’s of our Deanery.”
Images: top and homepage, Over 100 gather for the first combined worship of the newly formed deanery – Royal City/South Burnaby. Lower left, Archdeacon Douglas Fenton prepares the Eucharist. Photos: Dale Yardy