Say Yes! to Kids is AFC’s response to concerns about COVID-19’s impact on young people. This national campaign is meant to have local impact by supporting champions for children, youth, and family ministry across the country as we face a post-pandemic world. 

“The Diocese of Central Newfoundland understands the importance of helping children in our communities,” says The Ven. Terry Caines, Executive Archdeacon and AFC Representative for the Diocese of Central Newfoundland, “and by helping children in our communities, the Diocese believes that it is a way to build a better world, with better people. The Say Yes, to Kids campaign is a step in the right direction.”

“Children have had to endure so much as a result of the pandemic,” says Canon Rois, “social isolation, limited recreation, exposure to disharmony at home, depression, sleep difficulties, and emotional struggles. Say Yes! to Kids will ensure there is money available for homework clubs, nutrition and food security, private and group tutoring, safe outdoor recreation, mental health supports, and the many other courageous and creative ministries our church has the capacity to offer.” 

Between online and offline donations, the campaign is nearing the $20,000 mark of its $100,000 goal. “It is an ambitious target,” says the Very Rev’d Peter Wall, Gift Consultant for AFC. “But an achievable one. It is all that more achievable thanks to an extraordinary matching gift of $25,000.” Wall explains the matching donation will be applied to the Say Yes! to Kids peer-to-peer portal and double the efforts of online fundraisers.” 

To date there are close to ten Say Yes! to Kids fundraising teams registered, championed by Bishops, Diocesan Staff, AFC’s Diocesan Representatives, and individuals who are passionate about ministry and outreach to young people. “These teams are putting the fun in fundraising,” says the Rev’d Canon Amanda Taylor, AFC’s Diocesan Representative, and captain of the Anglican East NL Say Yes! to Kids fundraising team, “From community cleanup initiatives to Epic Online Game Nights, Canadian Anglicans are Saying Yes! to Kids in so many creative and wonderful ways.” 

In some dioceses, teams are rallying around specific ministries they hope will benefit from the campaign. “In our meetings across the country, we are seeing the emergence of a national story about outreach to children and youth,” says Wall. “It’s a story about compassion in the face of crisis. There are tireless champions for young people across the Canadian church who have been undeterred by the pandemic. They know exactly where and how new investments can be used to make an impact.”

Helping to strengthen existing ministries is only one goal of the campaign. “We are working through our network of volunteers at the diocesan level to get people thinking about pilot projects,” says Wall, “and what they might do if they had some extra funding. In this way Say Yes! to Kids has the potential to both seed and sustain ministry.” 

Since 2011, and the launch of the Kids Helping Kids Fund, AFC has invested over $1 Million in ministries that benefit children, youth, and young adults in Canada. Canon Rois says AFC will rely on the strength of its granting program to quickly turnaround Say Yes! to Kids campaign proceeds by funding a Request for Proposals (RFP) for youth-focused initiatives in fall 2021. 

Say Yes! to Kids launched on April 6 and will run until June 30. For more information email foundation@anglicanfoundation.org. To join a Say Yes! to Kids fundraising team, or to make an individual donation to the campaign, visit www.anglicanfoundation.org/kids. 

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Yvonne Cheater was inducted as a licensed lay minister and eucharistic assistant in the Parish of Gambo at a service of the Holy Eucharist, at St. Augustine’s Church, Hare Bay, on Sunday January 24th, 2021. The Rev’d Hannah Dicks, rector of the parish, presided over the induction. Yvonne’s two daughters, Nicole and Nadine, and granddaughter Kendra, did the readings at the service. As well, a number of the lay ministers from the parish were able to attend the service. We welcome and give thanks for Yvonne in her new ministry as lay minister. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, it was a wonderful celebration of new ministry in the parish, and we thank all who attended to make this such a special day.

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The new vestry installed during  morning  service at St. James’, Gillams, on Sunday the 25th of April 25th.

Also, a beautiful banner was presented to St. James’ in recognition of the World Day of Prayer.

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I often find myself considering that age-old debate between science and faith. It’s one I’ve never really understood. I have never once thought of science as some kind of rejection of God or the Bible. Neither have I considered faith as a refusal to accept the knowledge that science has to offer. Why would I? If God made all there is in this universe, then those things which science uncovers are the tools he chose to use to do it. And faith remains as the pathway to a relationship with something which dwells outside of what scientists call the laws of nature.

To suggest otherwise is to be like a character in a book that either denies the writer or fails to acknowledge the reality of the world that is written. Neither is open to the full experience, and leaves something missing from our lives.

But I do believe that science has something important to teach the faith community, which many traditions have sadly been lacking. In my reading I am frequently drawn to the fact that science, as its most defining virtue, asks questions.

That’s how it works. It is why it exists at all as a field of study. It asks questions. And when it comes up with answers it immediately asks more questions about those answers. Many Biblical literalists, when presented with scientific ideas such as evolution, immediately respond with “it’s just a theory,” suggesting that it is just a flimsy notion with no substance. Here they are misunderstanding the word “theory” as “hypothesis.” A theory is, in fact, an explanation of some aspect of the universe which is supported by measurable evidence. Once a theory is proposed it undergoes constant questioning by the scientific community. As those questions are explored, and answers are determined, the theory is refined; changing in smaller or larger degrees to accept new evidence. A theory may be completely disproven, but this is rare and generally is replaced by another theory which more effectively encompasses the data.

The point is: science not only accepts questions: it depends on them. Nothing is ever certain, but is constantly tested and refined, so that theories are authoritative and useful for understanding the natural world.

But then there is faith. It’s a different kettle of fish, I know. By its very nature, faith precludes the possibility of substantial, measurable evidence to support it. Sooner or later we are called upon to accept something not based on what is provable, but rather on a spiritual understanding.

And that’s okay. It’s more than okay: it’s wonderful. Faith gives us things like love, mercy, and justice: things of which no amount of scientific study will ever find a single particle.

Unfortunately, we historically (and, in some cases, still do) demand that faith be unquestioning. To ask questions is often seen at best childish, and at worst blasphemous. Many times I’ve been in Bible study and have listened as those attending reflect on how, when they were younger, it was unheard of to question the priest, or the Bible. That was a good way to anger your parents and have your neighbours whisper about you behind your back. How refreshing, they tell me, to now be able to ask all the questions that have been on their hearts for years, and maybe even get some answers.

Faith needs to be questioned. It needs to be tested. When we come across a difficult Bible passage, or a confusing part of our liturgies or traditions, we need to feel invited to ask whatever we want. We need to explore our faith and see where that exploration takes us. That’s how it grows. God gave you a brain, an inquiring and discerning heart: for you to use. Jesus sat with his followers and answered their questions. Early Christians gathered together and discussed and debated their faith so that they would grow closer to God.

Sometime in our past we stopped doing that. Then one day the world got much bigger. TV and the internet proclaimed ideas and beliefs far different than our own. Our children turned to us to ask questions and we silenced them, refusing to answer. Maybe we ourselves didn’t know the answers, because the same thing had been done to us in our day. And so they walked away, seeking answers in other places, for good or ill.

If there is one change that needs to happen in the life of the Church it is this: we must ask questions. One of my favourite authors once wrote, “The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it.”

Take my advice. Join a Bible study. Sit with friends (or over Zoom, if you must) and talk. Explore the scripture. Try to answer every question you have, and then question your answers. Be uncertain, and let that uncertainty build you a greater, purer, and more fulfilling faith than you have ever had before. Amen.

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The responses were varied, yet similar and somewhat relevant; but the text that morning and the message it portrayed were all focussed on the adaptation of the word “exciting.”

Normally, the word “exciting” garners connotations of huge physical emotion. Now for Christians to equate excitement with quiet piety did not happen overnight. I still have vivid memories as a young girl of being chastised for walking up the aisle hatless.

Father Greg related to us a moving story relative to the practice of changing attitudes in labelling religious beliefs.

He referenced the life of a young girl who lived in a land where she had never experienced the Christian faith. She harboured illusions of an angry God, which made her very fearful. 

Eventually, fate intervened and she managed to flee that country. After settling into a new environment, she found a Christian church. The congregation was happy and excited. They were singing and dancing to God. She started to read her Bible, and soon discovered that we live by grace and that our relationship with God is secured.

Here at St. John the Evangelist, life in the church has always been an embodiment of the trilogy—prayer, work, and play—as we endeavour to maintain an atmosphere that is relaxed and joyful

Until the pandemic hit us in March 2020, living the Christian life wasn’t just going to church on Sunday morning, albeit, that is a very important first step. 

Activities with the ACW, altar guild, and vestry while planning fundraisers to help in the maintenance of the church and other commitments, were never considered a chore. They were all achieved with excitement and satisfaction, and always laced with humour.

Every red letter day on the church calendar was celebrated in fellowship, not only with the congregation, but often with invited guests from neighbouring parishes. 

While in the middle of writing this article, the April edition of Anglican Life arrived. As I briefly scanned it, an article by the Rev’d James Spencer caught my eye, titled “Did Jesus ever Laugh,” with the reminder that Jesus was fully divine and fully human—our passport to an exciting Christian Life. 

If church life is to be lived at its richest,
humour cannot be confined to what is called
the secular
but must permeate the sacred.
– Rev. Canon George Earle 

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The Choral Scholars are integral to the musical life of the cathedral. As classically trained singers who are members of the cathedral choir, they assist the choir in singing hymns in four parts or adding descants, but also sing solo and ensemble anthems. As young scholars, they are learning both historic and contemporary choral repertoire and liturgical music such as plainsong chant, the Merbecke mass, and hymns, and classical anthems from all eras. 

The scholars range in age from intermediate school to university level, but are already accomplished musicians who have sung regularly in the local Rotary Music Festival, as well as in numerous local and travelling choral ensembles: e.g., the teen-aged female group, The Cantabiles (Maria and Charlotte), The Graham Academy Musical Theatre Troupe (Maria, Charlotte and Matthew), The Atlantic Boy Choir (Matthew and Levi), and the Bay of Islands Musical Arts (BIMA) Chorus and the BIMA Young Men’s Chorus (Matthew and Levi), as well as in local school choirs.  Additionally, all choral scholars play orchestral and band instruments such as flute (Charlotte and Maria), trombone (Matthew), and tenor saxophone (Levi). 

Funding for this programme comes from several sources: a grant from the Bruneau Centre for Choral Excellence at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), donations by the cathedral vestry and parishioners to The Aaron Bradbury Memorial Choral Scholars Fund, and a donation from Western Diocesan Bishop John Organ’s discretionary fund. At the launch, the Bishop also announced a donation for the cathedral to enhance its recording equipment to better capture the quality of music performed at the cathedral for online services.

The Choral Scholars Programme is overseen by founder and vocal coach, Dr. Jennifer Matthews, the cathedral’s Vicar Choral and liturgist, Fr. P. Lynn Braye, and cathedral organist/choirmaster, Dr. Doreen Helen Klassen. The Choral Scholars can be heard at the cathedral on Sunday mornings at 10, and in services on the cathedral’s Facebook page.

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Years ago, I heard a conference speaker give this advice:

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them work, family, health, friends and faith, and you are keeping all of them in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls—family, health, friends and faith—are made of glass. If you drop one, it will be nicked, damaged, or even shattered. It will never be the same.

Think about it. Work is a rubber ball, but the other important things in life—family, health, friends and faith—are made of glass. Do not neglect these concerns in your quest for life.

Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, says that many of us are torn between the compass and the clock – between what’s deeply important to us and the way we spend our time. The clock represents our commitments, appointments, schedules, goals, and activities—how we manage our time based on the demands of our lives. The compass represents our vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction—how we lead our lives based on what we feel is important. Tension arises when we sense a gap between the clock and the compass—when what we do doesn’t contribute what is most important in our lives.

There comes a time in our lives when you reach a certain age and you ask: “What have I done with my life? What kind of legacy do I want to leave on this earth?”

Isn’t it interesting that both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, two of the wealthiest people in the world, have decided to give a vast amount of their fortune to help alleviate human suffering! These men have every material comfort in life, and yet they feel a need to give it away. After all, we only pass through this life once so we might as well make the most of the opportunity.

So, what matters most in our lives? Only you can answer that one!

Have a great summer everyone and hopefully we are a little closer to end of this pandemic.

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This was Bishop Rose’s first visit to St. Augustine’s since his consecration. He was the chief celebrant and preacher while Father Anthony presented the candidate for confirmation. During the service, Bishop Rose told the nearly full house (based on COVID-19 limitations) that this was his first confirmation service as Bishop. For this reason, he asked the congregation to forgive him if he made any mistakes as this was a very special historical moment for him as well as the candidate.

Included is a picture of the Bishop, Tara King, and Father Anthony. While all are masked, we did get to see Bishop Rose’s face during the sermon as COVID rules allowed for removal of masks during sermons and readings. Congratulations to Tara and we wish her well on her faith journey.

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