Spring Romance

By Rev. Ed Hird

        April showers bring May flowers.  Spring is a time when many romances begin, including my romance with my wife Janice.  I am so grateful to have been married to Janice for almost thirty-six years.  She is the love of my life and the joy of my heart.

When I was a teenager, I held the unoriginal view that marriage was just a piece of paper, a merely human sociological invention. Since coming to faith in 1972, I have been fascinated by the meaning of marriage.  Reading Matthew 19: 6 (What God has joined together…), I was shocked to discover that God invented marriage.  I remember sharing with my future wife on our first date in 1975 about my fascination with the theology of marriage.  She found me somewhat overwhelming, and told me that she wasn’t ready to commit as she had just broken up with her fiancée.

While completing my Masters, I wrote an essay on the meaning of marriage, with a strong emphasis on the ‘one flesh’ covenant.   I concluded the essay by writing our own marriage ceremony and inviting my professor Bill Adams to our wedding.  Fortunately he liked the wedding and gave me a good mark.  Thirty-six years later, Janice and I are co-leading Strengthening Marriage workshops and Strengthening Relationship groups.  God-willing, I will be graduating on May 26^th this year with a Doctor of Ministry, focusing on ‘Strengthening Marriages.’

Part of my North Shore ministry involves visiting extended care facilities where often one spouse has Alzheimer‘s disease and the other doesn’t.  I have been so impressed by the love of one North Shore wife for her Alzheimer-afflicted husband who was a former university professor.   Her covenantal love and honour for her husband is deeply rooted in his unshakable humanity, being made in God’s image.

A wedding is a celebration of a couple coming to the point where they are truly willing to become one flesh in body, mind and spirit.  Marriage is far more than just a contract or a prenuptial agreement. Marriage is a covenant of faith and trust between a man and woman, a covenant grounded for Christians in their shared commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord.  At the heart of the concept of covenant is unconditional commitment.  The hyper-individualism of our consumer culture is the acid rain of covenant love.  The busyness and stress of our culture tends to swallow our best intentions even in marriage.

James Olthius, author of I Pledge You My Troth, teaches that marriage is troth, as in ‘I pledge you my troth’.  This term, troth, as in betrothal, is an Old English term for truth, faithfulness, loyalty and honesty.  At the heart of marriage troth is our pledge ‘to have and to hold from this day forward, for better,  for worse, for richer , for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part…”

At the heart of spring romance for me is that assurance that my wife will stand with me through thick and thin, through good times and bad.  Janice has my back and I have hers.  My prayer for marriages in the Seymour/Deep Cove area is that God may give us back our first love for each other.  May our covenant commitment be like precious gold.

Rev. Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonchurch.ca

-an article for the April 2013 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

Love Came Down at Christmas

By Rev Ed Hird

Christmas is about love.  It is so easy to be cynical about love, to be hurt by what looks like love, to give up on ever being truly loved.  What is love, sang Tina Turner, but a second hand emotion?  When we are hurt, our heart can shut down. We can grow cold and jaded, singing with Tina: “Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?”  Sometimes in my life, my heart has grown cold.  Sometimes I lose my passion.  That is when God has broken in and renewed my heart with his love.  I remember one time when he literally baptized my heart with love.  It seemed like I was walking in an ocean of God’s love and healing.  I wish that I could live there daily.

 

Love means many different things to many people. For some, love is expressed through gift-giving.  We can thank the three wise men bringing gifts for the flood of presents given every Christmas.  But love is more than just giving people gifts.  Love is also about quality time.  We live in a frantically busy culture, particularly on the North Shore, where it seems like there is never enough time to do all that we want to do.  It is so easy in our task orientation to lose the relational focus.   Love stops to listen.  Love puts down the newspaper and the cell phone to give true face-to-face time.  Love is curious, open and present.  Love is willing to change.  Love is willing to grow.  Love is willing to admit that we are often wrong.

Love chooses to encourage when everyone else is tearing down another person.  Love, in the words of 1 Corinthians 13, never gives up on you, always believes in you, always takes a chance on you.  Love realizes that sticks and stones do break our bones, that words will hurt and crush us.  Love says no to bullying.  Love grieves over the tragic loss of Amanda Todd.  Love never gives up, never lets go, always speaks blessing.  Love adds value.  Love cares.  Love respects.  Love allows you to be yourself.

Love doesn’t just talk the talk.  It walks the walk.  Love is practical, down-to-earth.  Love is a cup of cold water, the gift of a meal, a roof over our head.  Love is the washing of another’s feet, the wiping of their brow.  Love is meeting people’s needs.  Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche Community, said that love doesn’t mean doing extraordinary or heroic things.  It means knowing how to do ordinary things with tenderness.  The Great Physician said that he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.  Love is the way of the cross, the way of suffering, the way of unselfishness.

 

Love is both a verb and a noun.  To say that God is love is true, but it can feel abstract.  What if God put love into action by entering our neighbourhood?  What if God came down at Christmas?  What if Christmas is actually about God embracing us?

 

This Christmas I invite you to look again at the baby in the manger, the Christ child.   Ask yourself if love came down at Christmas.  Ask yourself if this love might touch your heart.  The greatest is love.  May love fill you, your family and your friends to overflowing during this Advent/Christmas season.

 

 

Rev Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

 -an article for the December 2012 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

October Baby a Quiet Hit

By Reverend Ed Hird

How many of you are October babies or have October baby children?  My children’s birthdates are in March, June and November, and I and my wife am born in January and August. So no October babies for us.

                This past month the Deep Cove community was privileged to have the first BC showing of the acclaimed film October Baby.  We were pleasantly surprised by the great interest shown and wide variety of people who turned up for the first viewing.  For those of you who missed the first presentation, we anticipate October Baby being shown again on the North Shore.  It has just been released as well in DVD and Blu-Ray edition.  You can obtain your own copy online .

                October Baby is a surprise hit opening at No. 8 against THE HUNGER GAMES and other big-budget movies, although opening on half as many screens.  October Baby ranked No. 3 in per screen average sales. The film earned more than $5.3 million at the box office, appeared on page A-1 of the New York Times and was named among Entertainment Weekly’s “15 Most Impressive Box Office Performances for 2012.” New York Times called October Baby a ‘quiet hit’.   Film directors and brothers Jon and Andy Erwin have been amazed at the strong response to their film.

                The movie begins with the heroine Hannah hesitantly taking part in her theatrical debut in college. Before her first lines, she collapses. Numerous medical tests all point to one underlying factor: Hannah’s difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to discovering that she was actually adopted  with complications for an early traumatic birth.

Hannah is frustrated and baffled that her medical doctor father never told her that she was adopted.  This cast Hannah into an identity crisis: “My parents are not my parents. I don’t know who I am.  They lied to me. Whom can I trust?”

Hannah goes on a road journey with Jason, her oldest friend.  Her dad was not pleased.  In the midst of her incredible journey to discover her hidden past and find hope for her unknown future, Hannah sees that life can be so much more than what you have planned.  I particularly appreciated the way that Rachel Hendrix played the part of Hannah.  It was engaging, believable and transformative.  My hunch is that Rachel has a great film career ahead of her.

Everytime I have watched October Baby, I found myself weeping.  It is an amazing story of healing, forgiveness and reconciliation.  Hannah was told: “You have the power to forgive, to choose to forgive. Let it go. Hatred is a burden you no longer need to carry. Only in forgiveness can you be free, Hannah…if the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed.”  October Baby is really a love story with a surprising ending. If I tell you any more, I will spoil the story.

My prayer for the those reading this article is that we will all be reminded that life is beautiful.

Reverend Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-an article for the October 2012 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-mailed_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

Strengthening Marriage workshop

Strengthening Marriage: Beyond Emotional Cutoff Workshop

- a complimentary workshop spread over four sessions with married couples who have been separated, divorced or widowed, and either live or have lived on the North Shore.
-This Strengthening Marriage Workshop is part of a Doctor of Ministry Thesis Project, supervised by Dr. Paddy Ducklow of Carey Theological College. The workshop will be held on Wednesday evenings 7pm to 9:30pm (May 16th, 23rd, May 30th & June 6th). The location of the workshop is Cedarbook Village Clubhouse (555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, just north off the #1 Westview exit) . To register, contact Rev Ed and Janice Hird at 604-929-5350 or ed_hird@telus.net

Course Overview for the four sessions
Session 1: Strengthening Your Marriage through rediscovering your mutual strengths
Session 2: Strengthening Your Marriage through Celebrating Your Differences
Session 3: Strengthening Your Marriage through working on your conflicts
Session 4: Strengthening Your Marriage through balancing closeness and personal space

(NO CHARGE)

BJ McHugh: Mother’s Day Marathoner

By Rev. Ed Hird

While working out at a local weight room, I had the privilege of getting to know Betty Jean McHugh, the world’s fastest 83-year old long-distance runner.  Interviewed on TV and newspaper, she has been called the flying granny.  Jack Taunton, Chief Medical Officer for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, called her one of the most remarkable senior runners we have seen.  Betty Jean is so positive and energetic that she inspires the rest of us to not give up on our health goals.  Recently I met her at the Parkgate Village right next to the Bean Around the World coffee shop.  She told me of her tri-generational plans to run in the December 2012 Hawaiian Marathon, along with her son Brent and her grandchild.

After reading her new book My Road to Rome, I knew that I needed to celebrate BJ’s achievements as a Mother’s Day marathoner.  One of her great lifetime highlights which she talked about extensively throughout her book was an all-expense-paid trip to run in the Rome 2009 Marathon.  There are now five million North American women running, compared to less than one million in the 1980s.  Women, many of whom are mothers, now outnumber men at running events.  BJ has run in 14 marathons and over 300 road races.  Running four times a week at 5:45am, BJ has broken a dozen Canadian and world records.  She started running at age 55, a time when many others were hanging up their running shoes.  While BJ has been injured many times over the years, she never gave up, saying that she ‘was not going to accept the ravages of time without a fight.’  Running has become for her as much part of her life as ‘brushing her teeth’.

BJ’s determination is an inspiration to watch. She not only runs and works out at the gym, but also has been an avid North Shore skier since the early 1950s.  BJ even climbs the Grouse Grind with her grandchild.  Such athletic involvement helped condition her to become a leading octogenarian runner.  She acknowledges that there are thousands of times when she felt like not bothering. “Excuses are easy; commitment is hard”, says BJ.  But she just keeps putting one foot in front of the other and goes for it regardless.  Every marathon, says BJ, is a journey into the unknown.  You train and train and train again, and think that you are ready. But you never really know how your body is going to fare over 42 kilometres of running.

One thing that keeps her going are her running partners to whom she is committed. “How can I sleep through an early-morning downpour”, says BJ, “when I know that my friends will be waiting for me at our meeting place in ten minutes?”  Running, says BJ, has given her friendships that are powerful and lasting.  Through her running with her partners, they experience ‘the elation of reaching the top of a hill, the pain when (they) increase the distance on a training run, the slogging through rain and dancing through a sunlit forest.’

In BJ’s book, she talks about being raised in the poverty of the Great Depression in Stanwood Ontario.  The local church was the centre of the community.  BJ comments that ‘as a child she liked everything about church but the Sunday service…The minister droned on about subjects I never understood, and I had to sit in the pew with my hands folded politely.’

Once while running in a Vancouver marathon, she became more and more concerned about finishing well: ‘I feared hitting the dreaded ‘wall’, that point at which the body has used up all its reserves.’  Finishing well is a challenge for all of us, whether in a marathon, in our business, or in our family.  It  is about ultimately facing the question: will my life have made a difference?  BJ is an example of someone who is finishing well, whose life is making a difference.  She has chosen to give her best into what she believes in and is passionate about.  BJ is leaving a legacy that other younger people will be able to tap into.

One of my mentors, Paul, said that he fought the good fight, he finished the race, he kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). Even though Paul was tragically killed, he finished well.  Paul also recognized that physical exercise was of real value, but he pointed us to the even greater significance of spiritual exercise (1 Timothy 4:8).  Part of finishing well is a commitment to being healthy in body, mind and spirit.  If we neglect any of those three, we are the poorer for it.  Life is a marathon. Life is about discipline.  Life is about finishing well.  My Mother’s Day prayer for those reading this article is that BJ McHugh’s example will inspire all of us to discipline ourselves in body, mind and spirit so that we may truly finish well.

 

Rev. Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-an article for the May 2012 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-mailed_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

Mountaintop Renewal

By Rev Ed Hird

 Many people move to the North Shore because of their love of the mountains.  As a teenager, I first began skiing in the North Shore Mountains.  Mountaintop views from Seymour, Grouse, and Cypress are often stunning.

Mountains cause us to realize that the world is so much bigger than our compartmentalized life.  They are a way to get away, to recover perspective, to remember who we are in the frantic busyness of North Shore life.

While I loved skiing the North Shore Mountains as a teenager, I still felt an inner emptiness.  Something was missing that I could not put a finger on.  I had no idea that I was on a spiritual journey.  At age 17, in the final months of Grade 12, I had a mountaintop spiritual experience where I met God and within a week felt called to ordained ministry.  My maternal grandmother and mother, who were more discerning than me, both knew already that I would end up as an Anglican priest.  My plan had been to be an electrical engineer like my father.  Instead I became a social worker before becoming a priest.  As of this May, I will have been ordained now for thirty-two years.

I love the Anglican way, even with its challenges.  I also deeply love the wider Church, with its rich interdenominational flavours.  It is good to appreciate the strengths of one denomination, without being narrow or rigid about it.  Anglicans do not have the corner on biblical truth, but we do have a contribution to make in the wider picture.

In January this year, I had the privilege of having a one-month mountaintop sabbatical.  As I had done eight years ago, I went to a small cabin on top of Mount Sumas where I had the opportunity to spend time in solitude with God.  Many people in the bible went to mountains when they wanted to deepen their walk with the Lord.  Moses is one of the most famous examples.  The Good Book tells us in Exodus 19:20 that “the LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up.”  Moses spent forty days and nights with God face to face, coming down with the Ten Commandments.  Mountaintops were also one of Jesus’ favorite places to pray (Mark 6:46)

While on Mount Sumas,  I journaled on my IPhone4 what I was hearing from the Lord.  While none of these impressions were ‘written in stone’, I sensed God speaking to me many times during that month.  God reminded me many times that I am his adopted son, that I am loved and accepted.  A prayer sabbatical is a wonderful way to slow down and just listen to the still small voice.  God showed me that I don’t need to rush ahead of him, that he is in charge, and I need to surrender afresh to his will and purposes.   While on Mount Sumas, God was renewing and refreshing my heart.  Many times he reminded me of that original mountain top experience that I had with him in Grade 12.

My prayer for those reading this article is that we may be reminded that he is humble and gentle in heart, and that he loves to give rest to our souls when they are weary and burdened (Matthew 11:28-30).

Reverend Ed Hird

Rector, St Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-an article for the March 2012 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

Growing through Intimacy

By Rev Ed Hird

I never imagined that we can grow through conflict, that we can discover greater intimacy through facing the conflicts in our lives.  Many of us are conflict-phobic. Through taking a course with my doctoral advisor Dr Paddy Ducklow, I learned that conflict is not something to be avoided but rather to be celebrated.   Many of us have learned from our families of origin to emotionally cut ourselves off whenever anxious situations emerge.  But avoidance and emotional cutoff just make things worse.

It takes courage to face painful situations in our life, courage to listen, and courage to confront.  Dr Ducklow modeled on this course a non-anxious presence that cared but did not get swallowed by people’s issues.  It takes a lot of inner resilience to be able to stay present and calm when the storms of life blow in. 

Jesus modeled this by how he acted on a Galilean boat during a storm. Rather than panic, he was totally relaxed and challenged his disciples to have more faith and inner peace.  Then he spoke to the wind and storms, saying ‘Peace.  Be still’.  In the midst of our storms, Jesus is still saying ‘Peace. Be still.’

I first met Paddy Ducklow in 1972 during the Jesus Movement when millions of young people came to a personal faith in Jesus Christ. Paddy at that time was leading the youth ministry at West Vancouver Baptist Church which had between 800 to 1,000 young people attending their Sunday evening service Salt Circus. I remember attending Salt Circus. The place was electric.  Paddy later founded the Burnaby Counselling Group before becoming the Senior Pastor of Burnaby Christian Fellowship.  Wherever Paddy has gone, he has had a lasting impact on the lives of many, helping them to know greater intimacy and peace through Jesus Christ.

In more recent years, Paddy became the Senior Pastor of Capilano Christian Community on the North Shore, before stepping down to become the Professor of Marriage and Family at Carey Theological College on the UBC Campus.  Over two years ago, I began to once again feel the call to do a part-time doctorate.  E-mailing Paddy, I asked his advice as to where I might go to do my doctorate.  Paddy responded, saying that he was being inducted at West Vancouver Baptist Church that very night Feb 26^th 2009 as Carey Professor of Marriage and Family.  I attended his induction, during which Paddy gave a hilarious talk on ‘Marriage for Dummies’. God spoke to me that evening, convincing me that I was to ‘step out of the boat’ and move forward on my doctorate.  The exciting thing about the Carey Doctorate is that it is a part-time program designed specifically for full-time pastors.

 In the past two and a half years, I have learned and grown in so many ways at Carey.  Paddy’s own Doctoral Thesis was on how we process conflict.  Paddy is passionate about conflict.  I will be doing my Doctoral project on Strengthening Marriages, particularly looking at couple conflict and family systems theory.  My vision is that many marriages will become more intimate, more life-giving as couples learn to embrace and celebrate the inevitable conflicts in their lives.  I dream of couples who, instead of emotionally cutting off and running, choose to hang in there and learn how to really be present to each other in ways that do not take each out. 

 

Marriages and families are worth fighting for. Marriages and families are building blocks of our very communities.  It is so easy for us to take each other out and then give up on each other.  My prayer for those reading this article is that we will find the strength to be ourselves, to embrace the gift of family and community, to forgive and reconcile at the deepest level.

 

 

The Reverend Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-published in the Nov 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

Returning from Kigeme

By Rev Ed Hird

 

In our last two days in Rwanda, we travelled with Pastor Paul, Dean of Kigeme Cathedral, to visit Bishop Nathan in Butare. He shared about the way that the Holy Spirit touched lives at the recent Christ Awakening/Butare Convention where Rev William Beasley of Chicago and others spoke. Staying again at the Kigeme Cathedral guesthouse, we visited Bishop Louis, Pastor Samuel, and Rev Ron Browning and team with the All Saints AMiA Church in Pensacola, Florida. We also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial site before we flew home from the Kigali International Airport.

Bishop Nathan of the diocese of Butare was very gracious in his welcome to us, even showing us his cows.

Pastor Paul also attended the Butare Diocesan Convention that so deeply touched so many lives. Click to view Bishop Nathan’s account of the Christ Awakening.

It was such a blessing to have my wife Janice with me on the Rwanda trip.

Rwandan hospitality is a great blessing.

We met with three of the Rwandan Anglican bishops during our visit.

Passing the Cathedral on our way to the bus station heading to Kigali.

God is moving powerfully in the Kigali Cathedral, as they recover from many challenges in the past.

It was great to meet with the Rev. Ron Browning and team from All Saints AMiA Church in Pensacola, Florida.  They are in a sister/sister relationship with an Anglican congregation in a very poor part of Kigali where 250 children and others worship in a building that doesn’t have a roof. Rev. Browning is hoping to raise the $10,000 needed to put a roof on that burgeoning work. Click to view the Greeting to Canada from Rev. Ron Browning.

Janice meeting with one of the Anglican Mother’s Union workers.

Visiting the Kigali National Genocide memorial site where over 260,000 victims were buried.

A memorial to the children who were killed in the genocide 17 years ago.

The mass graves from the Rwandan 1994 Genocide

A photo at the Kigali Diocesan office of Archbishop Rowan Williams meeting with the African Primates.

A closer look at the African Primates, including Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini. Click to view the Greeting to Canada from the Kigali Anglican Bishop Louis.

The UN is very visible in Africa.

Stopping but not getting out at the Entebbe Uganda International Airport.

The bright Ugandan colours.

Technically Janice and I have been to Uganda

The Ethiopian Airlines was a great place to be for the exhausting 22-hour flight back to Canada. We met on the airplane the only American Carl Wilkens who stayed in Rwanda during the 100-day Genocide. He just wrote a book about it, “I’m Not Leaving” which he signed for me on the airplane. 

While on the Ethiopian Airlines plane, we were able to read in their inflight magazine about the Royal Honeymoon of Will and Kate which took place in Africa on the Seychelles Islands.  There were unlimited movies on the Ethiopian Airlines to help you deal with the stress of flying so long and far. We both watched again the moving Christian-based movie “Soul Surfer” which tells the story about how Bethany Hamilton lost her arm through a shark attack, but did not let that stop her from becoming a championship surfer.  The film reminded me that our Christian faith makes a practical difference when tragedy happens. Click to watch a short video clip of the movie.

We loved Rwanda and miss it. But it was good to be back home in Deep Cove on the North Shore of Vancouver.

Rev Ed Hird, Rector,

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

 

Pastor Bob Birch on Father’s Day

By the Rev. Ed Hird 

 

Each Father’s Day we remember and give thanks for the fathers that have impacted our lives. Pastor Bob Birch is one of those fathers that has made me a stronger person, a more prayerful person, and a more hopeful person.

 

I still vividly remember Bob Birch in his mid-eighties leading a Good Friday Cross Walk procession down Lonsdale, carrying a huge cross on his shoulders. I had the privilege of interviewing Bob four years ago right before his death.   He passed away just three weeks short of his 100th birthday.  Perhaps his longevity comes in part from his passion for prayer-walking.  Bob loved to prayerfully hike up the North Shore mountains. Fittingly for Pastor Bob’s retirement, he was given a pair of walking boots.

 

As a father of spiritual renewal throughout BC and Canada, Pastor Bob has raised up many spiritual sons and daughters.  In 1966, he went down to hear the Rev Dennis Bennett, an Anglican priest in Seattle, Washington.  Pastor Bob was deeply transformed by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  He described this new experience of praying in the Spirit as ‘this very sacred gift, of intimate spiritual communion with God’. His life story is loving recounted by Bev Carson in the biography ‘Pastor Bob’. 

 

One of the unexpected consequences of the spiritual encounter was that hundreds of hippies began to be attracted to Pastor Bob at St Margaret’s Church near the PNE.  They knew that he could help them in getting off drugs and putting their lives back together. His wife Margaret noted that Bob was ‘kind but firm’ in establishing healthy boundaries.  As a result, said Margaret, there are now ‘outstanding young people all over the world, proclaiming the Lord’.

 

Without healthy father figures, it is easy to default to cynicism and detachment. Bob Birch lived his life in a way that motivated others to strive for excellence.  Bob motivated me to seek first God’s Kingdom in every area of my life.  Bob showed me that prayer is not an optional extra, but rather is at the heart of a healthy, vibrant life. 

 

Bob was someone who deeply cared. He was willing to get involved even when it was messy or awkward.  Healthy fathers are willing to be there in good times and in tough times.  Healthy fathers are willing to go the distance when others disappear. 

 

Fatherhood is costly. Fatherhood is time-consuming. Fatherhood is worth it.  I thank God for all the fathers who sacrificially make a difference in the lives of their families. I thank God for Pastor Bob Birch who was willing to pay the price of being a father for many. Happy Father’s Day!

 

Rev Ed Hird, Rector

St Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca  

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

-previously published in the June 2011 Deep Cove Crier

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 $9.99CDN/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

 

 

The Beautiful Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver

If you ever come to Vancouver BC, be sure to take the seabus across to the Lonsdale Quay on the waterfront of the North Shore. Here are some pictures that may whet your interest:

Looking across the Burrard Inlet to Downtown VancouverLooking from the Lonsdale Quay to the North Shore Mountains

Apartments at Lonsdale Quay

Quay up close

Hotel at the Quay

Quay rotating sign

Lonsdale Market

Lonsdale Quay Shops

Lonsdale Quay waterfront

Tennis Court at the Lonsdale Quay