Sarah Burns Invested into the Order of the Diocese of New Westminster

Diana Bragg, ODNW, read the Citation that St Philip's sent to the Synod Office when nominating Sarah for this honour:  

Sarah joined St Philip’s with her family in 1983 and quickly became an active member of the church serving on the Church Committee and as Chair of Christian Education. After her children were baptised, the whole family became heavily involved in all things St Philip’s!  As the children grew through nursery and church school, Sarah began volunteering at the ‘youth led’ services at Easter and Christmas and began her long term involvement with Rummage Sales and the Christmas Fair, where she became one of the renowned Christmas Cake bakers.

In the 1990’s Sarah's commitment and leadership continued to grow and by the turn of the millennium she had become a regular volunteer as a teacher in Church school, a reader in church, a chorister of St Philip’s choir, and member of the Altar Guild, later becoming its president.

Between 2010 and 2019, Sarah again served on Church Committee becoming the People's Warden in 2015, as well as being a Trustee for two years. During this time, Sarah took on the task of co-convening the renowned biannual St Philip's Rummage Sales - a task that she always executed with organizational flair, unflappable presence, humour and good grace. She also initiated the book table during coffee, became a memorial garden volunteer, joined the Jones Girls (later becoming its President), and served as a member of the Canonical Committee that chose the present rector.

In 2018, Sarah joined the Coordinating Team tasked with organizing General Synod 2019 that took place in Vancouver. Sarah was part of the group responsible for organizing the final banquet. Her calm leadership and organizational prowess shone through and the event was a tremendous success. Sadly, Sarah was unable to enjoy the fruits of her labours as she became seriously ill just prior to the start of the Synod.

For Sarah, St Philip’s is truly an extended part of her family. Her loving Christian service and quiet and calm leadership are an inspiration to all who have experienced them. During the period of her recent illness, Sarah’s presence has been so sadly missed by the whole church family. Yet, her determination to recover from such a life threatening setback continues to inspire us all.

Sarah was nominated enthusiastically and overwhelmingly by the Parish Council of St Philip’s to receive this recognition, which is so richly deserved. In short, we love her to bits!