Diocese of Montreal

Anglican Church of Canada

ANNUAL VESTRY STATEMENT

For the year ending December 31st 2004

Table of Contents

Agenda | Memorials, Baptisms, First Communions | Officers for 2004 | Rector's Charge | Rector’s Report and Parish Statistics | New Items for Vestry | Warden’s Report  | Lay Delegates Report | Report from the ACW , Altar Guild and the Cemetery Committee | Report from the ‘In Touch’ Committee, the Master of Music and the Pastoral Care Committee | The Stewardship Committee, Sunday School Director and Envelope Secretary’s Report | 

Appendix I: Parliamentary Procedure at a Glance | Appendix II: Parish Schedule Autumn 2004-2005

[Top]

Agenda for the Annual Vestry Meeting 2004

[Top]

[Top]

Conversion of Saint Paul

One of the things that has struck me about living in Quebec is the sectarian nature of the Anglican Church. When you look at the recent history of the English community within our Province this is hardly surprising. Our culture has been denigrated and attacked consistently and huge numbers of Anglophones have left the Province to look for a more peaceful place to live. Although things have settled down in recent years an unfortunate legacy has been left behind. Many of our Anglican Churches have become English chaplaincies. Our churches have become safe places for our culture and our language. There is nothing at all wrong with this. All cultures need a safe place in which to thrive. 

However by seeking refuge within our churches we have started to see them as our churches. We have tended to forget that the church exists not so much for those of us who worship there but for those outside of it. We exist to bring strangers into out midst and to include them in the Christian life of our community.  I have noticed that we are not an overly welcoming church community. We are not unfriendly or hostile or rude but we do not go the extra mile out of our way to make others feel welcome and important. There have been numerous occasions when visitors were not approached by a member of our community and left without having made any significant contact with one of us. When I have asked who they were no one has known. At other times new people have come along for a few weeks and then disappeared without anyone noticing or seeming to care. I have witnessed on more than one occasion members of our parishes sitting at lunch tables at some parish do and not even looking at the visitors sitting at the same table but continuing to speak amongst themselves without including the stranger in the conversation. I am certain that this was not only unintentional but also unconscious. When we become too focused on our enclosed community we simply start to not notice those who are not part of it. We develop a blind spot so to speak. 

When new people come to church often it is because they are in need. They may be going through some change in their life or are in need of guidance. People do not start coming to church for no reason. These people need their space and should not be asked to perform any function for at least a year. What they do need however is to feel warmly welcomed. They need to feel that our church is a place where they could belong. This is why we exist as Christians – to bear witness to those outside of the church. We bear witness the best by being loving. The great Church Father Tertullian when asked about how he knew Christ dwelt in the church replied, “See these Christian, see how they love one another”. 

Many in our church community go out of their way to be welcoming but they can not do it alone. There are numerous ways that we can all be welcoming without being overbearing. The first thing we can do is to make people feel comfortable with our service. Strangers often find the Anglican liturgy with its singing and posture changes confusing at first. If you see that the ushers did not give the visitor a laminated service card so that they do not have to use the green book, get up and get them one. If they have trouble finding the hymns or reading the bulletin quietly help them. Be genuinely warm and go out of your way to give the peace to visitors. After the service make sure that you speak to them and ask them a few simple questions. You do not have to quiz them about where they come or what there connection is to Rawdon but can talk with them about more general matters such as how they are enjoying the area. If the person is from the area try and get them to fill out a visitors card so that they can be contacted by the Rector or Lay Reader. You can invite them to come with you to the next parish social event. If they have someone to go with they will feel less self conscious and therefore more comfortable in attending. If you speak to someone one week make sure to do so the next time you see them as well. If they come for awhile but then disappear try and find out what happened to them and try and contact them to make sure they are all right. Any visitor might like some of our welcoming brochures from the back of the church. 

These are some of the small ways in which we can consciously try and be a friendly community that seeks to witness to Christ by our love for those strangers that arrive in our midst. To put it simply, be conscious of strangers and pay attention to them. If even one person finds a spiritual home with us because of the extra warmth we have shown it will be worth it. 

The Rector’s Warden has proposed the idea of having a special welcoming person on the door each week just to help visitors because the Ushers may be too busy with other duties. This may be a good idea. Genna Stewart suggested having welcome packages ready at the back of the church that would contain  the brochures: ‘Welcome to Christ Church’, ‘Welcome to the Anglican Church of Canada’, ‘A short History of Christ Church’, ‘A short History of Anglicanism’ and “A short History of Christ Church Rawdon’. It would also contain a laminated service guide, a visitors card and the latest issue of ‘In Touch’. This also sounds like a good idea. I would like to hear if others have good ideas about how we can become more welcoming to visitors. 

In the Gospel of St Mathew Jesus reminds us that, 

“When I was a stranger you welcomed me.

What you did to the least of these my brethren you did unto me.”

Yours In Christ, 

Edward OGS

[Top]

Adult Education

The adult education classes began again in the autumn on the first Friday evening of the month at the request of those who participated the first year. There had been a significant drop off when it was held on a Thursday evening. However the Friday evening class has also remained small. This year we have discussed the early church, the definition of religion and the decline of the church in the West. I hope that this group could morph into a young adults group as all of the attendees are young parents. 

Advisory Board

I have reintroduced the Advisory Board as a regular feature of parish life. The Advisory Board, made up of the chairs and heads of the various Committees and Guilds, will meet every autumn and spring. The autumn meeting was sparsely attended to the say the least. Sue Ellen Jones continues as the secretary. 

All Saints De Ramsey

The church is being rented by a French Baptist group that uses the church and hall every Sunday. They maintain the property and have made improvements to both the church and the hall. I have allowed members of this church to have burials in the churchyard and this has increased our revenues significantly. My thanks to Linda Tessier for looking after the church and grounds as well as the finances of De Ramsey. Without her I am not sure how we would maintain our properties there.

Altar Guild 

I produced an Altar Guild book for the members of the Guild earlier this year. This has been the basis for the training of the new members of the Guild. Ann Caster remains as President and oversees the stocking of the sacristy and the scheduling of the duty roster. Lois Morris has retired after many years of active duty and our thanks go to her for her years of dedicated service. The Guild meets regularly throughout the year. The Guild consists of Penny Bertrand, Ann Caster, Clair Dowie, Wendy Gravel, Thelma Ranger, and Shirley Tinkler. They are all doing excellent work. The learning curve is steep at first and the Guild is quickly learning the ropes. My apologies for forgetting to counter balance the Advent wreath when I unhooked it. Heaven knows how the Guild managed to get the hook down from the ceiling!

Banner Committee

The Banner committee has met three times to discuss designs for the two parish banners for the church. I found myself over my head in the first meeting and so the committee is reporting back tome after they have their brainstorming meetings! The first banner will be the parish banner and will feature the Ascension of Christ. The other banner will depict the feast of Pentecost. These two representations will complete the set of teaching windows in Christ Church. The banners will reflect the style and colouring of the stained glass windows and he border will be reminiscent of the ceiling border. My sincere thanks to those giving their time and expertise: Clair Dowie, Iris Irons, Sue Ellen Jones, Lois Morris, Thelma Ranger, and Sharen Tinkler.. The first banner, the parish banner, is expected to be completed towards the end of the year.

Bible Study & Lenten Book Group

The Bible Study group remains faithful. The Bible study finished its introduction to the book s of the Bible in the spring and started a study of Mark’s Gospel this autumn. We will use Archbishop William’s Lost Icons as our Lent book this year. In this book Archbishop Rowan Williams looks at the images of God and Spirituality that have been lost in the modern world. He looks at our discomfort in speaking about community, our unwillingness to look at remorse, and our lack of understanding of growth and nurture throughout life. He also explores the loss of images of childhood, charity, and choice. The Bible study meets the first and third Thursdays of the month and weekly during Lent. Please do come along and join us on Thursday mornings. We now begin at 10:30 instead of 10 to allow Penny Bertrand to attend the choir at the Legion.  I thank the group for the gift of an extra large tea pot to accommodate a large group so that I do not have to keep popping up to make fresh pots of tea. 

Book of Remembrance

Karen Friend has finished with the collection of names for our new Book of Remembrance. She has had to go into the Diocesan Archives in Montreal to do this. The names will soon be compiled into the books by a calligrapher. At the moment the front plates are being engraved. The display case for the books was made and generously donated by Earle Moore. He is currently finishing the velvet lining to go on the bottom of the case. My thanks to him for this generous donation.  The two lovely books were donated by Earle Moore and Shirley Tinkler.  

Chalice Bearers

There have been no changes in chalice bearers. We held a training evening in the autumn.

Church Office and Schedule Reorganization

I spent the month of August and the first couple of weeks of September undertaking a complete overhaul of the church office. This year the historical materials in the filing system were sent to Diocesan Archives to be placed in fireproof containers for safe keeping. Part of this task was the regularizing of church meetings to insure smooth running of the parish. The ACW, the Cemetery Committee, the Family Fair Committee, and the Stewardship Committee all operate under their own chairs and I am not involved in their organization. Everything else is organized by me. All of the committees and guilds I oversee now have regular meeting times. For example, the Pastoral Care Committee meets the first Friday of every other month beginning in October at the Rectory at 10am. I have produced a complete yearly planner for the community that includes all meeting dates, the dates of all special services and the dates of the major feast days of the church, special dates, my commitments and my holidays. The Schedule covers the period from September 2004 until September 2005. This schedule helps me to plan my time more effectively but more importantly it allows the entire community to plan their calendars and agendas more efficiently. This is included in this report as Appendix II. 

Confirmation Class & First Communions

Three youth made their first communion this year: Shane MacDonald, Amanda Kimber and Samuel Stewart. During Lent they went through an Anglican First Communion program. There was a party at the Rectory after there first communion on Ascension Sunday. This went so well I hope to make it an annual event. I hope to baptize my two nephews this spring and to have a garden party at the rectory for the parish to help me celebrate. There are no candidates for first communion this year. 

I have started a Confirmation group with four teenagers preparing for Confirmation in the autumn: Brittany Bertrand, Anne Miller, Michael Ladoucer and Scott Worton. It will be the first time we welcome our new Bishop to the parish. The Confirmation course is a year and a half long. For most teenagers it is the only chance they will have to come to a deep understanding of the Christian faith and develop their own spiritual language. Short Confirmation classes are almost always followed by a mass exodus of the confirmands from the church. The Lutheran Church, which has a two year Confirmation course, seems to keep its youth. The Archbishop and I had numerous conversations about Confirmation preparation which led to the issuing of new clergy guidelines within the Diocese.  We are using This is Our Faith as the basic course book. By pure chance there have been numerous unforeseen disruptions to the scheduling of the class. I believe this has now been regularized. 

Corporation

The Corporation now meets every month. Three times a year we will review in depth the finances of the parish with the Treasurer. The Wardens and I feel we need to understand the finances of the parish better than we do. The first two meetings with the Treasurer have allowed us a much better grasp of what our financial situation is. 

I would like to thank Merle Campbell for her professional work in looking after our finances. The Treasurer spends a great deal of time paying bills and making sure that everything is fiscally in proper order. I would also like to thank Shirley Tinkler, the People’s Warden, for her constant attention to detail and her tireless energy in supervising the running of the parish. I thank my Rector’s Warden, Verna Asbil, for her vision and care for our community and especially for her loyal support of my ministry and her ability to keep me on track and optimistic. I also wish to thank Robert Ranger for the excellent work he has done during his first year as Deputy Warden. He has had a steep learning curve and has adapted quickly and with enthusiasm. He is prompt and efficient and an great asset to the Corporation. 

Ecumenical Relations

I have entertained the Russian Orthodox Priest, the Russian Orthodox Deacon, the United Church Minister, the Torch Bearers Bible College, and the Baptist Pastor from De Ramsey this year. I speak regularly with the delightful new United Church Minister and the Principle of the Bible College. The United Church and the Anglican Church participate in the Family Fair, the heather services, and the softball game. Two of their youth belong to our youth group. The parish has participated in the Week of Christian Unity, the World Day of Prayer (which we hosted this year), the Remembrance Day service at the cenotaph, and the ecumenical Good Friday Walk. 

Flower Guild

Penny Bertrand has been elected head of the Flower guild. Over the next year she will be allotting certain Sundays of the year to those who wish to give flowers. Those who commit to a given Sunday will have the right to continue to give the flowers for that Sunday as long as they wish to. She will also be making limited lists for Christmas and Easter flowers which will operate the same way. If you wish to sign up for a Sunday please contact Penny at 834-7643. She also had a fund raiser by selling spring bulbs. My sincere thanks to her for her dedication. I understand she has plans for another fundraiser.

Heather Hospital, St Anne’s & Sunshine Residence

The Chair of the Pastoral Care Committee and I have regularized the pastoral services in the community. We have organised with the Heather Hospitals to have a service there every month instead of every other month. The service will alternate with the United Church Minister every other month. So there will now be six Anglican Masses and six United Church Communions during the year. There will be an Anglican Mass at the Sunshine home every other month. We have also started a regular Anglican Mass at St Anne’s home every other month.  We produced new hymn sheets and service sheets this year. My thanks to John Clague for his support and organization of this ministry.

Holidays

The annual Rector’s holidays run from May until May. We are entitled to five weeks (including Sundays) every year. As my day off is on a Monday, all civic holidays that fall on a Monday are regulated to a kitty and add up to another week (not including a Sunday). We also get three weeks of Continuing Education every year that do include Sundays. One of the benefits of being a parish priest is that we get good holidays. This year, for the first time in my ministry, I have booked my entire holidays. My Oratory retreats and YLI trips are counted as Continuing Education. My week at Quebec Lodge is part of my Diocesan Youth Chaplaincy. Fr Chis Belle, the other youth Chaplain, takes Senior Crosstalk Camp, while I take Senior Quebec Lodge Camp. 

I would like to thank the Dean of the Cathedral, The Very Rev’d Michael Pitts, for taking the Service in July and to The Rev’d Peel Steven, The Rev’d Canon Dr Daniel Fleming DD, and John Clague for taking the other services whilst I was away. 

CONTINUING EDUCATION: May 25^th-28^th, Oratory Provincial Chapter; June 26^th-July 2^rd, Youth Leaders International World Cultural Experience; November 23^rd-26^th, Oratory Autumn Retreat. TOTAL: 15 Days, 1 Sunday. 

HOLIDAYS: July 4^th-16^th, Italy; October 26^th-30^th, New England; December 28^th-January 10^th, Deep South; March 29^th-April 2^nd; April 26^th-May 2^nd. TOTAL: 44 Days, 5 Sundays. 

Intercessions

John Clague is in charge of parish Intercessions. He collates the abundant material provided by the Diocese, the National Church, the Anglican Communion, and our various prayer partners into a coherent Sunday formula. He also keep track, as chair of the Pastoral Care Committee, of who is in need within the parish and needs to be prayed for. He also follows up with the sick list and reports to me as to the welfare of those who appear on the list.  It is intended that the service sheets be taken away by the members of the congregation and used to help form their intercessory prayer life during the rest of the week. He has also started posting information about those on the sick list on the bulletin board in the Narthex every week. Please be sure to look at the list to get updates about those for whom we pray during the service.

Music

Our organist of the last two and a half years resigned effective September 19^th. We will miss Andre as he was a fine musician. We sung a cappella for most Sundays during the autumn. Ralph Purcell has joined us as our temporary organist. He is a fine musician and a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists.  However he has to drive a good distance to be with us and we are unsure about the long term viability of his travel. I hope he will be us for a good while and will not find the travel too tiring. I would also like to thank Steven Mathews, the Director of Programming at the Diocesan Office and the former Organist of St Mathias Westmount, for kindly playing for our Patronal Festival as well as the four services over the Christmas weekend. He kindly waived his fee and asked the parish to make a donation of the same amount to the Bishop’s Action Appeal. The Master of Music and I meet quarterly to discuss the hymns for the major seasons. We have both worked a great deal this year to become more familiar with the new hymn book, alternate tunes for hymns, and how to use old tunes with new words. As a result our repertoire is growing rapidly. My sincere thanks to John Clague and the choir for their dedication. 

Parish Activities

Within the past year the following events occurred, in no particular order, within the parish: the Family Fair; the YLI trip to France; the annual quilt show; a parish barbeque at St John’s Masonville; the Thanksgiving dinner; the Patronal lunch; the winter barbeque and dance; the Shrove Tuesday card party; the Lenten study group; The 78^th Fraser Highlanders Evening; the Lecture by Fr Dale Lang; the World Vision 30 Hour Famine; the First Communion Party at the Rectory; Brittany Bertrand's Trip to our Companion Diocese of Athabasca with the Diocesan Youth Council; Our Guest Preachers; The Sunday School Sleigh Ride; the Youth Council Overnight in Rawdon; the youth trip to the Old Brewery Mission; the lay readers training day; and the Easter Breakfast.  We also had an informal softball game with the United Church in the summer. We lost.

Parish Counseling 

I have spent a good deal more time this year with pastoral counseling. There has been an increase in counseling youth.  

Pastoral Care Committee

John Clague continues as chair of the committee. The group meets regularly with the Rector. It consists of the chair, Verna Asbil and Lillian Parkinson. This group disseminates information about the parish, keeps track of the ill, and visits the housebound, and keeps records of all parish visitations. This Committee was formed to give a more formal and permanent aspect to parish visitations. It should see the parish through interregnums and acts as a guide to the Rector as to who needs to be visited. It also acts as a link for parish intercessions. 

I would remind people that visitations can be requested from the Rector personally or through the Chair. I would also remind people to inform one or the other in the case of illness. There has been a time delay in some cases between someone becoming ill and the chair and Rector being informed. Some people may wish to be visited but many do not wish to be visited when they are ill. If you are contacted by a member of the committee about a visitation please feel comfortable about either requesting or refusing a pastoral visitation. 

I owe a special thanks to John Clague for his strength and dedication to our parish. He is not only functions as a Diocesan Lay Reader but also as the head intercessor, the Chair of the Pastoral Care Committee, and the Master of Music. He also sits on the Stewardship Committee. I owe him special thanks for his tireless attention to detail and his support to my ministry in a variety of ways both great and small. 

Personnel

This spring I begin my fourth year of Ministry as the Rector of Rawdon. I continue as Priest in Charge of St Margaret’s and Grace Church Mascouche, Regional Dean of the Laurentians, Diocesan Youth Chaplain, Member of Diocesan Council, and Governor of the Montreal Diocesan Theological College. 

The Rev’d Canon Dr Daniel Fleming DD, continues as my Honorary Assistant for Mascouche.  He looks after the church for me and takes services there twice a month. The congregation says Morning Prayer on the other Sundays. 

The community mourns the passing of the Reverend Peel Steven. Fr Peel was the Honorary Assistant of Rawdon for over twenty years. If you add up his time he looked after the parish in between interregnums he was the priest here more than any Rector in the past twenty three years. He will be sorely missed. 

Under Diocesan Canons one day a week is expected of me for wider Diocesan ministry. If I allow for five weeks of holidays and three weeks of continuing education this leaves forty five weeks in the year of which one day is expected (eight hours). So the time commitment expected of me by the Bishop is 360 hours excluding Deanery and Synod responsibilities as both of these are also parish obligations. During the last year I have (roughly) committed 374 hours to all Diocesan ministries. This includes Diocesan Synod, 24 hours; Diocesan Clergy Conference and Diocesan Clergy Retreat, 49; Liturgical Duties for Diocesan and Provincial functions, 17 hours; Mascouche, 30 hours; Deanery Clericus and Chapter and Archdeacon consultations, 58 hours; Diocesan and Episcopal Council, 55 hours; Diocesan and Deanery Youth Chaplain, 130 hours; Montreal Diocesan Theological College, 12.  Taking this time with synod and Deanery time off leaves my overall time commitment to the Diocese this year at 296 hours. There is a good bit of hidden preparation time in this schedule, such as reading and discussion papers before and after Diocesan Council, which is not included. I have managed to cut back on my time commitment to the Diocese significantly in the last year, roughly to the tune of 100 hours. This year I led the West Island Women’s Retreat which added some hours to my Diocesan contribution. I have also started a weekly column entitled Whitterings in the Montreal Anglican. As Regional Dean I also train Deanery Lay Readers and oversee the Deanery Youth Ministry.

I spent 60 hours this year with Youth Leaders International, including a week of my continuing education time. Although this is not an official Diocesan or parish position there is overlap as all of the youth involved are part of the Diocese and two are members of this parish. My week as Chaplain to Quebec Lodge’s Senior Camp is part of my Diocesan Youth Ministry. I was recently asked by the Bishop to submit my credentials to the National Church for consideration as one of the directors of the new National Youth Program. 

My commitment to my Religious Order involves Provincial Chapter and retreat for five days in May and a residential retreat for three days in November. These are taken out of my continuing education time. Every three years I must attend Chapter General in England for ten days.  This year is a General Chapter year.

Within the parish my time breakdown is roughly as follows: Liturgy and services and preparation time, 415 hours; pastoral care, 147 hours; visiting, 50 hours; parish youth group, 134 hours; Bible study, 68 hours; adult education, 10 hours; corporation, 36 hours; parish meetings, 120 hours; ecumenical relations and services, 27 hours; funerals, baptisms and weddings and their preparation, 35 hours; parish events, 62 hours. During the last year I read 15411 pages, slightly less than last year, much of it relating to Christianity and religion. My ordination vows stress the fact that as a priest I must constantly study and devote myself to reading. It is generally expected that one full day a week will be spent in reading and study. The priest is accountable to the Bishop and Archdeacon as well as the parish for their reading and studying. 

Restoration 

Christ Church was expecting a grant from the Quebec Religious Heritage Foundation last year to begin restoration work inside of the church. We hired an architect and were all ready to proceed when changes in the government and the foundation led to the canceling of the project. We were unsure if the money would ever become available. An anonymous donation of a considerable amount was given to the church in August with the proviso that work begin immediately. Within a week we had workmen laying a new oak floor in the chancel of the church. All of you have seen it know what a vast change it has made to the church. At the same time the altar rail was moved back to its original location, the organ was moved back about two feet, the pulpit was removed, the memorial plaques were removed from the sanctuary as well as the heraldry shields, the crucifix, the naugahide covers were removed from the top of the altar rails, two of the plinths were removed from behind the altar, and the book rests were removed from the choir stalls. At the back of the church the two interior flags, the colouring table, and the long table with the pamphlet stand were removed. Another anonymous donation will enable us to put a new rug down the center isle later in the autumn. We also plan to reframe the Rector’s and Bishop’s Boards with a more traditional and appropriate sized framing. A new bell rope has already been donated. New pamphlet racks and a remembrance and memorial book display case will be added to the narthex. 

There are reasons for all of these changes. We have a remarkably beautiful neo-gothic stone church building. Very few country churches have such an architectural jewel. Our stained glass windows are of the finest quality and are truly exceptional. These two treasures are our finest and nothing should interfere or distract from the atmosphere they create. I have ensured that most of the changes I have made can be reversed by my successors with relative ease. However the oak floor is here to stay! My guiding principle is simplicity and lack of clutter. I have tried to avoid anything that distracts the eyes from the majesty of our building. Below I will briefly give the reasons for the changes made. 

OAK FLOORING: It adds dignity and weight to the chancel. Not to mention that it is beautiful. ALTAR RAIL: This has been moved primarily to unblock the central arch of the church and open up the chancel to give it a spacious, open feel. It also removed the extra box foundation. ORGAN: Simply to get an extra couple of feet for the Rector’s stall so it will balance out the choir stalls. PULPIT: I have found the decision to remove the pulpit very difficult. I like pulpits. I feel more comfortable preaching in them. I also think our pulpit is rather nice. However there is no getting around the fact that its absence opens up the front of the church dramatically. It also opens up the sight line of a large number of people to the altar. If it stayed then the lectern would have to go back to the other side to try and balance the chancel and it would once again displace the Rector’s stall. The pulpit is simply too big to balance out on the organ side. It is a case of aesthetics over personal preference. At the moment I can come up with no other solution. PLAQUES: These have not been disposed of! The adding of plaques to the walls of churches is a 19^th century Low Church tradition when churches were often used as personal family museums to the local landowners. They have no place in the chancel or sanctuary of a church which is dedicated solely to the Glory of God and not to men. They are perfectly acceptable in the Nave. Lots of small plaques at the front of the church distract the eye and looks a bit cluttered. I propose creating a replica of the existing memorial board to be placed opposite the existing one in the church as we are running out of names on the old board. The plaques could be placed on the new board. This keeps all of the memorial plaques in the same place. Another option is to place all of the plaques on the back wall. HERADRY SHIELDS: These are nice and interesting and yet are of a substantially different quality than the rest of the church décor. They are painted plywood. They are also recent additions. The sanctuary focus should be solely on the altar and the shields are unnecessary. Perhaps they could live in the church hall or the Sacristy? RAILING COVERING: Naugahide definitely did not past the test of time, like so much of 1970’s fashion sense. PLINTHS: Four plinths were superfluous and created a space problem with the new position of the Altar. BOOK RESTS IN CHOIR STALLS:  This is an experiment to try and get more leg room for the choir. INTERIOR FLAGS: We simply have too many Canadian flags. The two flags next to the War Memorial are sufficient. The two interior flags seemed too distracting and served no apparent purpose. We must also be careful of looking too nationalistic. We also have the flag outside and the Queen’s portrait hangs in the narthex. CRUCIFIX: The crucifix was placed where it was because most Anglican pulpits have a crucifix behind the preacher. However our pulpit had no back at all. The wall behind was the closest place for it. The distance is too great to make the connection, and make it obvious why it was there. COLOURING TABLE: I removed this simply because it did not ever seem to be used. It there was a need for it fine, but lets not keep things around that seem to never be used or needed. PAMPHLET RACK:       It was ugly. It looked out of place. It cluttered up the back wall. It would be simpler to have a couple of narrow pamphlet racks placed on either side of the narthex entry table. Yes, I know I put it there in the first place! NEW FRAMING: The narrow purple frame for the Rector’s and Bishop’s boards does not fir the décor, the church colour scheme, or the size of the boards. BELL-ROPE: A proper bell rope will be far superior to a yellow nylon rope hanging down our back wall. CLOCK: We can certainly do better than a plastic wall clock. Do we even need a clock? Does anyone use it? Perhaps it was put there to remind the Rector of the length of his sermons. 

Servers

We continue to have ten servers. Bryan Rourke has moved to Ontario for his final year of high school and only servers when he is back for Christmas and Easter. Darcey and Corey Parkinson only serve occasionally. Jonathan Tinkler, Alex Campbell, Tracy and Emily Caster, and Nicholas Plante are all still regular servers and readers. Anne Miller and Brittany Bertrand however take the major role in serving as they serve their regular days and often fill in for others. We only have one server for most Sundays and two for major feasts. I hope to have three new junior servers trained this spring. They are Shane MacDonald, Amanda Kimber, and Samuel Stuart. Brittany Bertrand has been chosen by the Servers Guild to be the Head Server. She will help with the overseeing of the Junior Servers. She is also looking after the hemming of cassocks so that everyone has the right size. The servers now keep their cassocks and cottas in the cupboard next to the priest’s cupboard. The second lesson every week is read by the server. Some of the servers went to the Servers Day at the Cathedral again this year. 

Services

The services continue as last year with the addition of a service of Tenebrae and the Harrowing of Hell during Holy Week and the celebration of Candlemass. Other special services included: the Wexford service; the Blessing of Pets; Evensong at St John’s Masonville; the Patronal festival; the Advent Carol service at Masonville; The Dedication of the New Memorial and Benefactors Books; the Christmas Carol service; the World Day of Prayer Hosted by us this year; the Remembrance Day service; the ecumenical Good Friday walk and coffee; and the week of prayer for Christian Unity.

Although our average Sunday attendance is up by one point, because of one less service on Sunday, our actual Sunday attendance is down very slightly, by only 18 people. I made a mistake last year in the average Sunday attendance by including Evensong as a main Sunday service. Our average should have read 58 instead of 55. Our weekday attendance is down by 323. This is entirely due to the few funerals this year and the Christmas Eve services, which fall into this category, being down this year at both services. The normal weekday Eucharist attendance is up by 8%. The actual attendance is 400. The average Sunday Attendance over recent years is as follows: 1999 – 38; 2000 – 37; 2001 – 40; 2002 -50; 2003 – 58; 2004 – 59. Since my arrival the average has increased by 55%. Since last year it is up by 2%. Our Sunday communions have increased by 19% and our weekday communions by 4%. Total communions have increased by 7%. The normal service on a Sunday is from page 230 in the Book of Alternative Services using Merbecke as a setting. 

Sunday School

Jennifer Ariss directs Sunday School this year assisted by Sue Ellen Jones and Verna Asbil. There are also two other youth from the Torch Bearers Bible College in Chertsey that help teach each Sunday. We are using the One Room Sunday School as the curriculum. The committee meets with the Rector regularly. 

The Sunday School seems to have finally stabilized and is running smoothly. Jenn has been with us for two years and will be staying on next year as the Director of Sunday School. My deepest thanks to her for breaking the ‘every year a new teacher’ curse. The kids attend church regularly and are participating weekly in a great Sunday School. There are periodic parties to celebrate the seasons of the church year and they participated in the Christmas Carol service again this year. This year they plan to sing at the Easter morning service as well. 

Sunday Service participation

The number of people that participate on any given Sunday at Christ Church is still impressive. As many as 18 people have joined in the worship in one function or another on a given Sunday Morning. Even on a quiet Sunday at least twelve people take part in the service. Currently there are over fifty individuals that take part to help on a Sunday morning. The sides people remain active. 

Thank Yous

I would like to thank those members of the congregation who do special work for our parish whom I did not mention elsewhere in this report. I would like to specially thank Sharon Tinkler and the ladies of the ACW for their hard work and generous support of the parish. I also thank the Committee heads for their work with specific areas of our parish’s life: Merle Campbell and her committee for the excellent work with preparing and running our huge Family Fair; Robert Friend and his committee for his pioneering work with Stewardship; Derek Morris and his committee for the excellent ‘In Touch’ publications; Brent Parkinson and his committee for their work with the Cemetery. I would also like to thank Lillian Parkinson for her work with organizing funeral receptions and Nellie Dyball for looking after the Parish Hall rentals. I thank Stanley Asbil for his continued dedication as our Crucifer.  

Visiting Preachers 

This year I have arranged to have regular guest preachers. At the moment the Venerable Peter Hannen -Vicar General of the Diocese, The Rev’d Canon John Simons - Principle of the Theological College, The Rev’d Peter Huish – Prisons Chaplain, The Rev’d Charles Morris – the Clerical Secretary of Synod, The Rev’d Dr Richard Cawley – Lately Rector of St James Montreal, Steve Tiesson – Director of the Torch Bearers College, and One of the Members of the Community Chemin Neuf have all agreed to preach for us. I also hope to have the Rev’d Dr Patricia Kirkpatrick – The Professor of Old Testament Studies at McGill University, and the Rev’d Audrey Morrison – the first locally raised priest in the Diocese come to preach. The new Bishop will also preach when he comes for Confirmation. I hope this will provide some variety and stimulation in our Sunday services. 

Web Page

The Web Master, Frank Dyball, Junior has done an outstanding job in re-designing and looking after our parish web page. He has spent many, many hours editing and adding updates to it. He has currently finished an entirely new upgrade that will be online in a couple of weeks. This will include a host of new photographs and all of the recent parish publications. Our first web page encountered a problem as the visitor counter was disabled when it went online. As a result we have had no record of how often it has been used. This has now been rectified and the current counter records 1109 hits. The Parish Web Site is now recorded on Anglicans Online. The Web Master meets with me in the autumn, winter and spring to discuss uploads and new ideas. My sincere thanks to him for the many hours he gives to us to maintain this great communication tool.  

Weekday Services

The midweek services have continued. The major feast of the week is transferred to Wednesday evening and so the parish is now observing most of the feasts of the Church. The service includes a short sermon, sung preface, and a gradual and recessional hymn. These are delightfully sung by the small congregation. Average attendance is 8. Actual attendance is 394, up about 30 from last year, and there were 48 services. There were no weekday Eucharist's held during the month of August. I would like to thank The Rev’d Dr Canon Dan Fleming DD and our Lay Reader, John Clague, for taking services when I was unavailable. 

Youth Bursaries 

There has been no request for a youth bursary this year. 

Youth Ministry

The youth group remained strong until the summer period when we usually have no meetings. This year the youth group suggested having movie and video evenings throughout the summer. I agreed. Out trip to Laval for a movie evening was well attended but the video evenings were attended by between one and five youth. I do not think we will do this next summer. The youth group started again in the autumn and is still very well attended. There are three new members of the youth group this year. Including Bryan and Holly the youth group currently has 17 members. This year we are meeting the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesdays of the month. This gives me more preparation time and also does not overburden the older youth dealing with a full high school load. 

The Deanery youth project produced fruit in the Spring when I was able to set up three new youth groups in the Laurentians and hold a Deanery overnight in St Sauveur. This went extremely well and was well attended. Another two overnights are scheduled for the coming year. The Diocesan paper carried articles about these events.

I spent a week in France with Youth Leaders International at the beginning of June. Alex Campbell and Bryan Rourke both came with me. It was an eventful week as we traversed the entire length of France. Justin Ells, another member, has written an excellent article for the Diocesan newspaper which was just published. It is worth reading. My week at Quebec Lodge was hard but fruitful as always. Brittany Bertrand spent two weeks this summer participating in the Diocese of Montreal and the Diocese of Athabasca’s youth exchange trip. She and several youths from our Diocese went to Athabasca in Alberta and then youth from Athabasca came to Montreal. She has written an article for the ‘In Touch” about her trip. 

The youth group is getting older and as they mature they are also getting organized. They are planning their own away trip, a winter camping trip, and a fundraiser for the group. Their first attempt however was not successful. I would like to thank the Rawdon Golf Course for their generous help in allowing them to use the facilities even if the square dance fell through. This Advent the youth took some of the Sunday School kids for a holiday horse drawn sleigh ride and a hot chocolate party. Youth leaders International also had a fundraising lunch in January that went extremely well. The youth group will be raising money again for World Vision with a Concert and thirty hour famine in March. The Sunday School and the Youth Group also raised enough money for World Vision this year to donate 10 fruit trees, warm clothing for 25 children in Eastern Europe, 2 hens and a rooster, and enough to fully stock a school classroom in the third world.

The youth group this year went to the movies twice, participated in the Diocesan Wake a Thon at St Mathias’s Church in Westmount, had a skiing trip, went to servers day, participated in feeding over 400 people at the Old Brewery Mission, went to a Sunday School picnic in Rosemere, attended the Deanery overnight in St Sauveur, and attended the Youth Synod in April. 

We sent three delegates to Youth Council this year: Brittany Bertrand, Ann Miller, and Jonathan Tinkler. Six hope to attend this spring: Scott Worton, Nicholas Plante, Emily and Tracy Caster, Ann Miller and Cassandra Gilbert. Brittany Bertrand was elected to Diocesan Youth Council at last years Youth Synod. 

Respectfully Submitted, 

Fr Edward Simonton OGS