Christmas is about giving

By Rev Ed Hird

What is it about Christmas time that brings out the best in us? 33% of all charitable giving by Canadians is given during the December Christmas season. One of my favorite Christmas movies is ‘It’s a wonderful life’ where Jimmy Stewart plays the part of a generous but discouraged businessman who discovered that he really was making a positive impact.

Written by Frank Capra in 1946, the movie was initially seen as a box-office flop. It did not win one Academy Award Oscar, but later went on to become one of the one hundred most popular movies of all times. It is now seen as the number one inspirational North American movie ever made. You will remember how the Christmas angel Clarence had to earn his wings by helping out Jimmy Stewart (aka George Bailey). George was so discouraged at Christmas that he was about to jump off a bridge. Clarence the delightful angel showed George what an amazing impact his generosity was making, and how much poorer his town would be without him.

Generosity is never wasted. Love is never wasted. Goodness is never wasted. Sometimes it feels like we are not making a difference, but Christmas reminds us that love wins over despair, love wins over darkness, love wins over emptiness. At the heart of Christmas is a tiny baby, the Christ child, born in a manger. God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Christmas is about giving. God gave. We give. Everyone wins when we are generous at Christmas and year-round.

Rev Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver http://stsimonschurch.ca

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

-an article for the December 2011 Deep Cove Crier

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

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. 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 $9.99 CDN/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

Posted by edhird

The Capetown2010 Videos are well worth watching

Dear friends in Christ,

You are encouraged to pray for our 29th Alpha Course ( and other Alpha Courses around the world) which is currently having its Holy Spirit weekend at a retreat centre. Please pray for our Youth and Young Adult Pastor Jill Cardwell who is giving leadership to the weekend.

Jill Cardwell St Simon’s NV Youth Pastor (click to hear her heart)

Uploaded to http://www.youtube.com

Jill Cardwell who has been with St Simon’s NV for 1 1/2 years, shares her excitement about youth ministry

Blessings, Ed Hird+

b) Deep Cove shoreline (click to view the beautiful scenery)

2)

Daily Devotion On Fire: DAY 430 – God Says No, I Say Yes!

bishopsilas.blogspot.com ( you can still sign up today for another 100 days of prayer with Bishop Silas Ng)

Bishop Silas Ng writes: “There is no better teaching I have heard than what our Chairman bishop, Rt. Rev. Chuck Murphy, teaches about tithing. So you really need to see all the clips now from his talk of Theology of Stewardship last Saturday in our 1st ACiC/AI Regional Conference. That way at least, you will know why you need to tithe, though like many people you might still do what you want to do and not what God wants you to do”:

3a)

Reconciliation – Gospel of Reconciliation – Rwanda | The Lausanne Global Conversation

conversation.lausanne.org

By Antoine Rutayisire: Find and share articles, videos, research and links regarding Cape Town 2010 Congress Video on The Lausanne Global Conversation.

3b)

Ed Hird Dr Os Guinness is always well worth watching and listening to. A most original thinker. Click to watch these Lausanne 3 videos.

i) Truth – Why Truth Matters | The Lausanne Global Conversation

conversation.lausanne.org

ii) Dr Os Guinness video on Globalization, given at the Lausanne 3 Congress.

http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/11428

conversation.lausanne.org

Dr Os Guinness said: “The rarest commodity in the west is attention, not gold, because in the West everyone is speaking, emailing, texting, tweeting, everyone is speaking, but no one is listening.”

3c) Ed Hird Bishop Cyril Okorocha of the Anglican Church of Nigeria shares at the Capetown 2010 Congress about Globalization: Worldliness and Renewal.

Globalization: Worldliness and Renewal | The Lausanne Global Conversation

conversation.lausanne.org

By Cyril Okorocha: Find and share articles, videos, research and links regarding Cape Town 2010 Congress Video on The Lausanne Global Conversation.

3d) Ed Hird an amazing video of Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi, of Jos, Nigeria, discussing life at the intersection of other faiths. He shares how he represented Christ in the midst of racial unrest and violence. “I have a gospel worth living for, and I have a gospel worth dying for.”

i) http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/11459

ii) A Fresh Approach To Witness – Bold Proclamation | The Lausanne Global Conversation

conversation.lausanne.org

By Archbishop Kwashi: Find and share articles, videos, research and links regarding Cape Town 2010 Congress Video on The Lausanne Global Conversation.

3e) Becky Pippert is the author of the best-selling ‘Out of the Salt Shaker’, and spoke at our Anglican Mission Winter Conference. Her books are well worth reading.

i) A Fresh Approach To Witness – Evangelism, Part 1 | The Lausanne Global Conversation

conversation.lausanne.org

By Becky Pippert: Find and share articles, videos, research and links regarding Cape Town 2010 Congress Video on The Lausanne Global Conversation.

ii) A Fresh Approach To Witness – Evangelism, Part 2 | The Lausanne Global Conversation

3f) Ed Hird Very insightful short skit

Bible Exposition: Drama “Letter” (Ephesians 1)

vimeo.com

In this drama, a group of Ephesian Christians await Tychicus’ arrival with Paul’s letter to their church. Fearful that he has been arrested at a Roman checkpoint on his way, they rejoice upon his arrival and begin reading the letter. Join the Conversation…

3g) http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/ (There are many other Lausanne 3 videos available that you can check out for yourself)

Posted by edhird

Thanking God for godly mentors in 2011

By Rev Ed Hird

Happy 2011! The New Year season is a time for both remembering and anticipating. This New Year, I particularly remember one of my mentors Ernie Eldridge who has helped me more effectively spend the last 6,900 days on the North Shore.

Healthy mentors make the world of difference. Ernie Eldridge mentored me when I was just finding my way in the world.

Ernie believed in me when I first came to faith in 1972 and reassured me that I had done the right thing. Ernie gave me sage advice about relationship choices, even assisting at my wedding thirty-one years ago. When I was completing my Social Work degree at UBC, Ernie carefully listened as I shared my dream about becoming an Anglican priest. After thirty years of ordained ministry, I am grateful that Ernie could see potential in a well-meaning, rather naïve young adult.

In the mid 1970s, we started a singing group called Morning Star and a parallel LivingStone Productions which organized contemporary music concerts at Queen Elizabeth Theatre and the PNE Gardens. Thanks to Ernie Eldridge’s mentorship, Morning Star received a national grant that enabled us to sing throughout BC, including an extensive outreach to Vancouver Island. During that period, we sang extensively on the North Shore, including Hillside Baptist, West Vancouver United, and St. Simon’s North Vancouver.

As a social worker, I had the privilege of working for John Braithwaite in 1975-76 at North Shore Neighbourhood House. But I had no idea that God would one day have me spend several decades living on the North Shore. That was never on my radar screen. After four & a half years serving as the assistant priest at St Matthew’s Anglican Church in Abbotsford, I knew in 1986 that it was time to become a Rector/Senior pastor. One of the first people that I asked for advice and prayer was Ernie Eldridge. Ernie agreed that it was time to move on. In ‘casting my bread on the waters’, I applied for two positions: St Thomas Chilliwack and St. Simon’s North Vancouver. When I met with the St Simon’s selection committee on Badger Road in Deep Cove, they asked me a lot of challenging questions. My answers did not always impress myself, but I left that meeting with a deep sense that I would be moving to the North Shore.

Ernie Eldridge always cheered for me when I was facing my next major transition. One time he went to bat for me with my bishop at great personal risk. Two of Ernie’s gifts to me that have been invaluable on the North Shore were his ‘Death & Dying’ and ‘Time Management’ courses. He taught me the need to prepare for one’s death and to grieve the inevitable losses that we will all face. While writing my book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, my wife and I were privileged to visit Ernie and Barb in Beaver Harbour New Brunswick before Barb died from ALS. Recently Ernie produced a thoughtful book ‘Hope, Help, Heaven’ on his last ten years with his dear wife Barb.

Because Ernie uses a time management system, he was able to write his book in which he journals his thoughts and activities on a daily and weekly basis. One of Ernie’s favourite verses was Psalm 90:12: “Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Through Ernie’s influence in 1982, I began using the Seven Star Diary system after my voice was restored through surgery. For the past twenty-eight years, I have regularly recorded my work activities in a journal format. As a result, I know exactly how many hours I have spent on any particular activity. Ernie taught me to ‘redeem the time’ because life is short and easily wasted (Ephesians 5:17, Colossians 4:5).

Through Ernie’s time management system, I am aware that I have now spent 6,900 days serving the North Shore. Time flies when you enjoy your work. It is a great privilege to serve each of you. It has not always been easy. In the past twenty-four years, I have been privileged to be involved in some of your baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Through the Deep Cove Crier and the North Shore News, I have been privileged to communicate with each of you in hundreds of diverse articles. Over the last two decades, St. Simon’s NV has served many of your children, preteens, teens and young adults through our gifted young pastors, the Rev Ken Bell, the Rev Josh Wilton, and Jill Cardwell. In the past 17 years, I have had an opportunity to personally visit over 6,600 of your homes to see what you think and feel.

I am excited in 2011 about the possibilities of having even more impact on the North Shore. St Simon’s NV, which has been in existence for the past 65 years, recently celebrated its 6th anniversary at Maplewood School. We, the St. Simon’s NV family, are here to stay and committed to serving you using our time, talent and treasure. In the same way that Ernie Eldridge has helped me make better use of my time, I pray that each of us reading this article will learn to more effectively redeem our time and become better stewards of this sacred gift of our fleeting days.

The Reverend Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

- previously published in the Deep Cove Crier

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

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. 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 $9.99 CDN/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

Posted by edhird

Homecoming Newsletter now available

Dear friends in Christ,

You will enjoy the Homecoming Newsletter, hot off the press. It is full of vision, energy and great new opportunities. Let us know what you think. Just click to read it.

Homecoming Newsletter

Posted by edhird

Connections: The Christian Ashram Retreat Experience

By Rev Ed Hird, AMiA (Canada) Bishop’s Chaplain

Recently our Bishop Silas Ng and Rev Josh Wilton led us in a four-day retreat called the BC Christian Ashram. Bishop Silas, who has completed his doctoral thesis on micromacrodiscipleship, gave five helpful talks* on how to have a daily quiet time, and the difference which this discipline makes in our Christian walk. A shocking discovery by our Bishop Silas is that less than 10% of Christians have a regular daily quiet time. This serious lack, says Bishop Silas, must be addressed if we are to be effective in church planting and renewal. To assist people in their daily quiet time, Bishop Silas is leading people through the entire bible one chapter a day in his daily prayer blog.

Rev Josh Wilton is the lead pastor of The Table, a new ACiC/AM Church plant in Victoria BC. Before being commissioned to churchplant, Josh+ served for four years as our St. Simon’s NV Newcomer Pastor and (later) as Assistant Priest. Josh+ taught on the relevance of the Ten Commandments for our everyday living, focusing on freedom from the idols in our life, and on the need for regular Sabbath rest in our workaholic North American culture.

There is a strong youth and young adult ministry at the BC Christian Ashram, led by St. Simon’s NV Youth Pastor Jill Cardwell. One of the young adults at the Ashram told me that they “enjoyed the chance to get away, to refocus on God, to reconnect with old friends.” Basically, the Christian Ashram retreat is about connections: connecting with God and the people around you.

The United Christian Ashram movement has many summer retreats throughout North America and around the world, with the largest one drawing over 800 in the Maritimes. It was founded in 1930 by Dr. E. Stanley Jones in India where he served as a missionary for over 50 years. Dr Jones during his life was the world’s most widely read spiritual writer, with twenty-eight books selling millions of copies.

My wife began attending the BC Christian Ashram in 1974 where she was powerfully impacted by the Holy Spirit. Many members of her family have since given their lives to Christ through the Christian Ashram. I began attending 36 years ago, and now serve as the BC Director. You are invited to have a vacation with God throughout North America in 2011.

*The DVDs of Bishop Silas and Josh’s talks are available for purchase through stuart@lightspeed.ca

Rev Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-previously published in the Deep Cove Crier

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

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. 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 $9.99 CDN/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

Posted by edhird