We honour St Matthew’s Abbotsford today…

My previous congregation was St Matthew’s Abbotsford where I served from 1982 to 1987.  They are a wonderful Christ-centered Spirit-filled congregation that are being evicted today from their premises. I honour their Rector the Rev Mike Stewart, their Bishop the Right Reverend Dr Trevor Walters, and their people for showing the courage of their convictions. They, like our congregation St. Simons’ NV did over six years ago, are putting their faith into action, and showing the world that the Gospel matters more than buildings. Everything has to be laid at the foot of the cross. They are in the words of Hebrews 10:34 ‘joyfully accepting the confiscation of their property’ for the sake of Jesus Christ and his Word.

The people of St Matthew’s will be leaving their old building and process to their new premises at Grace Church where they will be worshipping for the forseeable future.

Grace Church 2087 McMillan Road Abbotsford

Letter from Mike Stewart (July 6, 2011)

My Dear Brothers and Sisters of Saint Matthew’s

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your Name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield (Psalm 5. 11, 12).

Today has been yet another milestone in our life together as a Christian community. Within a few hours, our belongings were moved to our new home at Grace Church! People turned up in their cars, vans and trucks ready and willing to transport our stuff, and within a few hours we were done. It has been a real blessing in the midst of much grief to see us pulling together in so many ways as a family of God’s beloved people. Over the past few weeks we have been packing and loading boxes, drinking coffee and eating cookies together, praying for one another and generally assuring one another that God is with us and that He continues to guide us and will provide for us. God bless you all for the Godly and exemplary way in which you have dealt with this major transition in our life and witness as a Church! Your light shines brightly for all to see.

There are still a few things to highlight as our time of departure draws nearer.

- Our Service of departure, Solemn Procession to Grace Church and Holy Eucharist begins in our current location this Sunday (July 10th) at 12.30pm. We are anticipating a very large number of people from the community and beyond who are coming to support us and walk with us. We have had so many messages of support from Churches in our Diocese and Province, and from local Churches in Abbotsford and the Abbotsford Christian Leaders Network.  Some of these messages will be read out on Sunday.

- Beginning on Sunday July 17th we are holding one Sunday Service only at 8.30am. This Service will be a Holy Eucharist with children’s ministry, using the new liturgy that your Clergy have carefully and prayerfully put together.

Have you ever been stuck?

By The Reverend Ed Hird

 

-an excerpt from my upcoming book ‘Restoring Health: Body, Mind and Spirit’, a sequel to ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’.

 

Have you ever been stuck at a key transition-point in your life?[i] I have. Being stuck sometimes feels very painful. At other times I’m oblivious to it. A key turning point for me was when as National Chair for Anglican Renewal Ministries, I attended the 1998 ARM/SOMA Pre-Lambeth Leadership Conference at Canterbury’s University of Kent. Walking into a seminar, God ‘whispered’ to me that I would be receiving a message. The Rev Freda Meadows, who ministers with the International New Wine Director Rev Bruce Collins, suddenly called me out of the crowd and said:

 

You don’t need to run in keeping up with others. Enter into God’s rest. Keep your eye on the finishing line (which is Him). You will be moving into new things…word of knowledge… You will be gifted in this area…You are in an apprenticeship time at present. You will disciple others. You are a man of God’s Word, things of the Kingdom. You are a person of vision…a visionary…long-range. God is going to put you in a key place and you will find yourself training and discipling others.

 

Ten years later, the Rev Freda gave further insight into the 1998 Canterbury prophecy, saying:

 

…the underlying thrust was to trust God for the outcome of the plans He had in using you and that while you were to do all that was necessary, it was not for you to try and make anything happen but to follow the Lord’s leading using the gifts and skills He gave in the best way you knew and through what you had learned as your experience grew.

 

I had no idea how powerfully God was going to use the 1998 ARM/SOMA Pre-Lambeth Leadership Conference. Most of us as Anglican Westerners were still stuck in the ‘inside strategy’ mindset. Being conflict-avoiders, we were going to ‘fix’ the North American Anglican churches while still inside the old institution. Institutionalism is a mental virus that can slip inside the mind of even the most sincere believer, turning us toxic. We Canadian Anglicans were still quite ‘gung-ho’, but the American Anglicans/Episcopalians at the Canterbury Leadership Conference were unusually quiet. They lacked their usual American ‘get-up-and-go’ attitude. When Americans go quiet, you can tell that something is up.

 

 

At the official Canadian night, Bishop Eddie Marsh of Central Newfoundland invited the Americans to come up and share. I will never forget how Bishop Alex Dickson and Dr. (now Bishop) John Rodgers stood up and repented to our African colleagues for the shame that the USA has brought on the Anglican Church, and for Bishop John Spong’s castigating of African Anglicans as just one step out of animism and witchcraft:[ii] 

 

“(Bishop Spong) has insulted you. We are ashamed for him; we are ashamed for ourselves. We ask your forgiveness and we assure you that he does not speak for us.”[iii]

 

Hundreds of African bishops and clergy spontaneously flocked forward and hugged the Americans, weeping and declaring God’s forgiveness. Todd Wetzel of Anglicans United said that ‘this was one of the American Church’s finest moments in decades.’ This prophetic action of repentance and forgiveness, I believe, was the birth of the Global South Anglican movement.[iv] Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini and Moses Tay were the first Global South Primates to publicly adopt North American Anglicans into their Provinces through the Anglican Mission in the Americas, but many other Anglican Primates have since joined them, resulting in the unforgettable Jerusalem 2008 GAFCON conference and an unprecedented ‘boycott’ of Lambeth 2008 by hundreds of Anglican bishops representing most of the fifty-five million Anglicans worldwide. God used that 1998 pre-Lambeth Leadership conference to help Anglicans to become unstuck.

 

Rev Ed Hird

Rector, St Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca
http://acicanada.ca/

-award-winning author  of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

http://battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

-In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD.  This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99CDN/USD.

-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide :  Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada 

-You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide

 

A Greeting from the five Bishops of BC

 

We greet you, being together as BC Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America.  The context for our meeting is the visit by Rev William Beasley for Renewal Mission 2010.  We are working together on the Anglican 1000 Church Planting Initiative.

 

We give thanks for your congregations in the Anglican Church in North America as you prepare for Easter.  We pass on our blessings to each congregation.

 

With love in the Lord,

 

The Right Reverend Charles Dorrington, Reformed Episcopal Church

The Right Reverend Dr Ron Ferris, Anglican Network in Canada

The Right Reverend Dr Stephen Leung, Anglican Network in Canada

The Right Reverend Silas Ng, Anglican Coalition in Canada/AMiA

The Right Reverend Dr Trevor Walters, Anglican Network in Canada