Epiphany Blessing

The Season of Epiphany is a celebration of God's revelation of Jesus and our experience of Jesus as a revelation in our daily lives.  The ancient story of the Magi being lead to Jesus by a star, put in the sky by God for that purpose, illustrates God's intention to reveal to human consciousness the divine presence.

 

 The Star of Bethlehem by Edward Burnes-Jones

We sometimes say a person has an epiphany when they suddenly "see" something that they had not been aware of before.  The light goes on.  A eureka moment.  The Season of Epiphany is a celebration of our experiences of seeing Jesus in our daily lives in ways and places that are new.  The Epiphany Blessing on the new year is that the Divine Presence will light up in our consciousness over and over again in new ways throught the year and that the year will become a journey of revelation, a journey into new light.

A Blessed and Holy Christmas

May your Christmas be blessed by a sense of God's presence and may that love hold you and yours in light.

From the staff at the Diocesan Office

David+, Henry and Lorea

 Roberto Ferrizzi's, Madonna of the Poor

Thirty Hour Famine

The diocesan youth gathered on October 15th and 16th to go hungry for a good cause. 

This group of youth had lots of fun while raising money for the World Vision 30 Hour Famine and learning about the local and international food crisis'.

To get involved in diocesan youth activities, contact Diocesan Youth Coordinator, Emily Carr.

 For more pictures check out the Youth page on the Navigation side bar.

Stronger Together 2011

Dear Friends in the Diocese of Saskatoon -- From September 13-16, 2011 I had the opportunity to participate in a consultation of people who do regional youth ministry work at the diocesan, synod and national levels in the Canadian Anglican & Lutheran Churches. 

This “Word to the Church” is one of the products of our time together. I hope that it demonstrates the vitality and importance of our ministry amongst youth. 

 I share it with you here, to share it with your congregations, and all those concerned with the present and future of our ministry amongst youth. 

Peace,

Emily Carr

Diocesan Youth Coordinator, Anglican Diocese of Saskatoon

A Statement Reflecting the Visions and Conversations at Stronger Together

Sept 16, 2011 – Stronger Together 2011 was a consultation on regional, national youth ministries. The aim of these ministries is to better facilitate and enable youth ministry at the local level. Leaders from both the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada gathered for this three-day consultation.

Young people are a prophetic voice our church needs desperately to hear and respond to. Are we willing to pay attention?

From September 13-16, 2011, a group of 24 Anglican and Lutheran diocesan, synodical and national youth ministry leaders from across Canada gathered at Camp Columbia on Thetis Island, British Columbia. We were also joined for some of our time by +James Cowan, Bishop of British Columbia and Bishop Probal Kanto Dutta of the Diocese of Durgapur in the Church of North India.

As Lutheran and Anglican leaders passionate about the integral ministry of young people within the church, we gathered for a time of spiritual renewal, to strengthen our relationships with one another, to equip ourselves for our specialized regional ministries, and to continue to vision and dream the future of youth ministry across the expansive geography of our land.

We come away from our time together energized, encouraged and ever more passionate about the ministry amongst youth to which we have been called by God. Youth ministry is our vocation. We are not party planners or Friday night baby sitters. When we get older we don’t graduate to “real ministry.” God has called us to equip the saints for ministry amongst young people, and we are responding to that call.

Ours is a God who calls us into mission for others, and ours is a church marked by mission. Together, Anglicans and Lutherans alike, we must intentionally invite young people to participate fully in God’s mission alongside us. To do so will require no small amount of humility, partnership, resolve and vision.

 

We acknowledge that ours is a world in a time of great flux and rapid change. We need not fear. In such a time it is imperative that our ministry amongst young people not waver in its commitment, even as we experiment with new ways of sharing and living the gospel with the young people in our midst.

Together we shared numerous stories of ways in which youth ministry takes place in deep and meaningful ways without any form of youth group. We must explore a vast array of new ideas and opportunities to minister to youth. Youth Group is not the only model of youth ministry.

We must rediscover what it means to minister in our whole parish. Our ministries must not simply serve the people who enter our buildings, but ripple out into the neighbourhoods and communities within our parish boundaries and beyond. If we fail to do so, we are falling short of God’s call.

As a church we must free ourselves of the worry of self-preservation and free our churches of the fear of closure. It is not our job to preserve the institution for its own sake, or for the sake of young people who we hope will come after us. What we must do first and foremost in this time of rapid change is grow into God’s call to love and serve the people God has put in our path.

We have come to understand, and need the entire church to know that our common ministry amongst youth must be fully integrated into the life of the church. This is not simply the ministry of the specialized few, but of the whole people of God. It is our ministry as the Baptized to all people.

As we took time together to look back over the last three years in youth ministry, we were excited to see how much we have been able to accomplish with such limited financial resources. Events such as the first joint National Youth Gathering (2010), National Youth Ministry Forums (2008 and 2011), Local initiatives, Diocesan and Synod events, vision and action around new staff hires, Justice Camps, Ask & Imagine, and the work of the Youth Initiatives Task Force and Working Group, among many others.

We have found new ways to minister as Anglicans and Lutherans within our individual denominational contexts, and we have found new ways to minister together. We have become stronger, together. We wonder what our ministry might look like with the commitment of long-term sustainable funding to help support our ministry.

Throughout our time at Stronger Together 2011, we believe that we have lived and worked together in the spirit of Full Communion. In the presence of Jesus, we have laughed and cried, inspired and been inspired, shared frustrations, fears, joys and excitements. We have broken bread together and listened deeply to the similarities and differences amongst our churches.

We began this week not knowing what we could learn from one another. We came to this place highly attuned to our individual and denominational contexts. But what we have found through working together is that we have so many experiences, visions, ideas and concerns that we all hold in common. Indeed, Bishop Probal commented as he listened to our discussions and stories that he could easily be in a meeting in his own Province of Northern India – the concerns, experiences and visions are so very similar.

We are convicted and convinced that the spirit of our communion binds our two churches, and binds us in the shared responsibility to respond to God’s urgent call amongst young people, now.

Clergy Day 2011

Parish clergy of the diocese met on September 7 at St. Matthew's Anglican Church, Saskatoon for fellowship, worship and discussion.  The Rev. Shawn Sanford-Beck, who is the Training Coordinator of the Locally Trained Priest (Curate) Program gave a presentation on the LTP program which is just starting in the diocese.  For more information on the LTP Training Program click here or on Ministry Training in the navigation sidebar.  The Rev. Ken Watts and Bishop David gave a presentation on "Fresh Expressions".  Fresh Expressions, a new ministry initiative that started in England, emphasises four features.  Fresh Expressions are -missional (serving people outside church- contextual (listening to people and entering their culture)-educational (making discipleship a priority)-ecclesial (forming church).  The idea of fresh expressions is inviting us to think outside all of our concepts of how ministry and church are done.  The final discussion of the day was lead by Bishop David and explored the theme of parish viability across the entire diocese.  The clergy present discussed widely how parish viability could be measured as well as how parishes can dialogue and explore possible amalgamation relationships.

 

 From left to right: The Rev. Amy Bunce, The Rev. Shawn Sanford-Beck, The Rev. Dianne Mesh, The Rev. Peter Norman, The Ven. Peter Yeung, The Rev. Canon Michael Stonhouse, Mrs. Jessica Latshaw, The Rev. Alex Parsons, The Rt. Rev. David Irving, The Rev. Jim Halmarson, The Rev. John Seib, The Rev. Quenton Little, The Rev. Ken Watts, The Ven. Dan Hughes, The Rev. Dr. Dave Tyler, The Rev. Paula Foster and The Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard (other clergy were present who were not available for the photograph).