Easter, as a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus– and let’s be clear, I mean the historical fact of his bodily resurrection – brings the hope of life everlasting to all who believe in his atoning sacrifice and rising again.
This year was bitter-sweet: not a sour disagreeable bitterness, but a tinge of sadness that, by being starkly opposed to the trite cheerfulness that so often accompanies the celebration of a holiday, made the hope shine more brightly.
Our first Easter service was at Coronation Park at 6:00 a.m. – a time of day that feels like the middle of the night to me. The exquisite sunrise made it seem a little less like the middle of the night and brightened the sadness of missing an old dear friend who no longer attends the sunrise service because he forgets to come – he has Alzheimer’s disease.
After the sunrise service and a quick trip home to splash cold water on my face, my wife and I set off to church for an Easter breakfast; we left early because my wife, an accomplished organiser, had to be there first to – organise. After eating too many just-baked croissants, I wandered into the sanctuary to tune my guitar and check the sound levels; as I looked around the familiar sanctuary and inhaled the unique aroma of cedar and carpet mould, I remembered that this would be the last celebration of Easter in our building. The negotiated settlement with the Diocese of Niagara means we will relinquish the building to them in June. In spite – or perhaps because – of this, the worship during the service was particularly moving.
Once the main Easter service was finished, a few of us drove to a local youth prison for a monthly chapel service: I supply the musical part of the worship. We have been conducting this service for over 20 years and, during that time, have had the pleasure of trying to sing above a row of Satanists chanting curses, ducking to avoid hurled projectiles, studied indifference and the occasional intervening of the piercing light of God’s grace. This time it was in the form of a young man who asked us to pray for him after the service. He was clutching a Bible and told us he was getting out soon and was looking forward to the birth of his new baby. I don’t know how old he was – he looked about 15. While we prayed, I tried not to think “he doesn’t stand a chance” – because, with God’s grace, he does. And the one thing in his favour was that, like the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14, he knew he was a sinner.
It’s always a relief to exit the prison and feel the cool air. It’s too hot in there: I keep thinking that it’s because the flames of hell are licking at the foundations. Arriving home, all I really wanted to do was lie on the bed, but the house was filling up with people for Easter dinner. After a few massive hugs from my grandchildren, I revived somewhat, settled down to eat, drink, be merry and regale my son with all that “has been happening at church”. He was especially interested in this photo.
Hello David Jenkins….I want to say a thankyou for this blog/website. I’ve been visiting it for over a year, maybe even two. At first, I was attracted by your satire, your ability comment and mock the pretentiousness of the Anglican Church of Canada. But, I slowly got to know you some, and I’ve come to respect your integrity, and your ability to speak for the truth.
I am really sorry to hear about the church building, and your congregation will have to leave….
I also appreciate how well you report, on the various oddities occurring in the Anglican Church. You seem to scan many websites, to find these stories.
Me, I am a bit of a fence sitter, out here in the Diocese of New Westminster. I am saddened and troubled by what is going down. And, I can assure you, the official Anglican Church here is a small circle of like thinking people, more and more homogeneous in their thinking, and living a second-class Christainity,(?), very concerned with appearances, a lazy, middle-class religious lifestyle, really.
In that report of the new priest appointed for St. John’s Shaughnessy, in the write-up, it read ” Fr. Michael what-ever-his-name likes opera, reading, and wine tasting, not necessarily in that order” That seemingly humourous detail is quite important. Out here in New Westminster, acting “cool” and “aloof” is a key element of the prevailing spirituality. One is not supposed to be too serious, or too religious. A retired Bishop, David Sommerville, who died last year at 94 (?) years old, he even said it, “Out here in this Diocese, we aren’t too religious”…
Keep writing your blog, you help keep my spirits up.
Dave, Vancouver.
Thanks Dave.
David,
Maybe you are too close to it to see, but it is a modern tragedy that a Christian denomination has deteriorated so far that it doesn’t treasure St. Hilda’s parishoners as a jewel in its crown.
I am deeply saddened.
The saddest part is the lack of concern by the Diocese for those that St Hilda’s has ongoing outreach ministry to. We deliver food to many needy families every week (touching approx. 120 people a week), our “Freebie Friday” lunch to the local high school has been an amazing tool to reach out to students. On top of that our community has come to love our “Garage Giveaway” as well as our outreach to Africa through our Artists4Africa ministry. We are hoping to eventually find a place of our own where we can restart some of these ministries but in the mean time we are very concerned for those in need that this move will impact negatively. In the interim the Diocese will have a building that they have no use for. At the start of this they made a public statement that it was built to be used as a place of worship for the Diocese of Niagara and they wanted to honour the founders by having it to use in this way. (We knew differently since the founders were still with us and voted with us to leave the ACoC and join ANiC). Let’s see how long they keep up the charade that this was done for this reason and not for greed.
I know that this is not exactly related to this specific topic, but I just have to share it.
This past weekend we were visiting my inlaws, who are what you would call “unchurched”. My mother-in-law told us of a book that she had been reading. I found a pdf of it on the internet and have started reading it myself. Find it here:
http://99.198.110.38/Czech/Heaven_is_Real_A_Little_Boys_Story_of_His_Trip_to_Heaven_and_Back.pdf
Yeah, I read the first few chapters of that book. Definitely sucked me in.