May 25, 2011

The front entrance to the church is a riot of colour this week. Prayer flags are hanging between two trees. Each string of flags is a different colour:  red, green, purple, yellow, orange and blue. On Sundays during Lent people wrote prayers on coloured fabric and we suspended them on twine in the sanctuary; on Easter we put them all outside. They remind us that prayer goes on beyond our moment of speaking. 

Huge packages of insulation are stacked beside the church steps. The packages are blue. You may be aware that the roof is being replaced right now. The Youth Group coordinated our efforts to insulate the roof and people are making special financial contributions to it.

The insulation makes our church a safe space – a sanctuary – using energy carefully. When you think of it, it’s a metaphor, isn’t it? Your church is a place where people can seek safety for your prayers, your spiritual growth, your souls.

It’s also a reminder that we are stewards of creation: God calls us to look after this earth, our sisters and brothers, and the spaces where we live, grow – and worship.

Here in your church we remember you in prayer. And we know that your prayers, too, move beyond each place and time and bless this wonderful and weary world. 

    

Blessings to you from your church, your spiritual home,

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

May 19, 2011

Sunday the congregation said farewell to Reverend Dirk Jessen and wished him well. Dirk had indicated early last fall that he would be moving beyond St. Paul’s this spring, and Sunday was our opportunity to acknowledge his ministry among us and to bless him on his way. He also spoke of the seven years with our congregation and blessed the church.

From the beginning people here have appreciated Dirk’s way of seeing the world, his intense interest in individuals and their personal stories, and his sharp wit. Early in his time here we were discussing the merits if bittersweet chocolate in worship, and he was quick: “Do you mean dirk chocolate?”

Here are two images from Sunday for you to treasure:

A poignant moment: In worship Jim Stewart stood at the front of the church, a place where Dirk has baptized, celebrated communion, and welcomed newcomers. In that spot Jim presented a candle he had made to Dirk. 

A tender moment: A picnic in Belgravia Park followed worship, complete with a barbeque, speeches, gifts and many, many desserts. The children made kites, something they have enjoyed with Dirk over the years. As we prepared to leave, five year old Jack stood still on a knoll, flying his kite.

Here is the Gaelic Blessing  the choir sang:

Deep peace of the running wave to you,

Deep peace of the flowing air to you,

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,

Deep peace of Christ, the light of the world to you

Your church blesses Dirk, and you, with deep peace.

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

May 2, 2011

Do you periodically wonder how you ended up here?

If someone had told me at age eleven that I would be happily living in Edmonton, I would have been very surprised. Alberta seemed far away to a girl in the Saint John River Valley.

Our lives set us in directions we hadn’t dreamed of. Often that’s a pleasure; sometimes it comes out of grief or loneliness or pain or hurt. The turn in the road onto an alternative journey may come through suffering.

Do you wonder about the suffering in your life? In the lives of your friends, of the world?

Here’s a great truth: Jesus lived a real life. He knew suffering: betrayal, denial, pain, even death. He became one of us and knows what it’s like. God knows what our lives are like.

And what a turn in the road! Resurrection, hope, trust, companionship, fullness of life: he’s been there. Jesus’ alternative journey gives us reason to be joyful rather than bitter, hopeful rather than despairing, compassionate rather than cynical, generous rather than stingy, seeking rather than hiding.

In your church we live into this joy, hope, compassion and generosity. We seek to discover and proclaim Jesus’ leadership on the alternative journey. Whether it’s along the Saskatchewan River or the Saint John, we know God is with us on the road.

How did you end up here?

    

Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

April 26, 2011

Happy Easter!

I trust the pictures on these worship bulletins will help you feel connected to your church. The Easter bulletin displays the painting at the front of our sanctuary, which been inspiring people since it was dedicated a generation ago. The image on the back shows you what we did during Lent. The coloured fabric drew our attention to what was missing, and on Easter morning we saw it: the empty cross.

The Good Friday bulletin features the cross in the Friendship Room, which replicates the image in Elva Frederking’s chancel painting. Hold it next to the Easter bulletin and you’ll see what I mean. Dave McNabb made it a few years ago. As you know, through Lent we have been considering Spiritual Transformation through the Arts, and this cross was one of the images in our very first week, Wood and Sculpture.

The empty cross reminds us that all the fears we have will be defeated, overcome, removed, eradicated by the fulfillment of our Christian hope. The whole inhabited world is transformed. That’s pretty hard to believe when we are in difficult times, but that is the point. God cares enough to be with us, cares enough even to empty the cross and the tomb, and carry on with us beyond our fears. Christ is risen! 

     

Please know that your hopes, fears and concerns are important to your church, and that we pray for you. A blessed Easter season to you.

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

April 20, 2011

Finally Easter is arriving!

Palm Sunday we heard familiar words, and considered how we speak or hear phrases that have the power to change lives: I know. Forgive me.  I understand. I love you. You can trust me. Goodbye. Welcome home. Hosanna. And of course, Jesus is the Word made flesh.

In this most sacred week of the Christian year, here are words to pray:

Thank you, God, because through your holy Easter mystery, 

it is as though we stumble out of a tomb,

as though we come out of the shadow, rubbing our eyes,

as though mystery unveils before us, and takes our breath away:

and we see, right before our very eyes:

All our loss and sorrow is turning back

     Turning back from the edge of death

            Death is not the last word

                 The last word is from the heart

                        From the heart comes pain

                             Pain carried by movement, like waves on the ocean

                                    Waves on the ocean rise and fall

                                        Rising and falling we trip again

                                                Trip again and fall on our face

                                                     Fall flat on your face

                                                            Face the truth

                                                                 Truth comes from the heart

                                                                        Heart of the Word

                                                                             The Word.

                                                                                    Amen.      

We pray for you, and the world.

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

April 13, 2011

Is there a building where your soul finds shelter?

That is a spiritual question for you to ponder. For some of us there is a place where we feel most free, most generous and most blessed. It may be St Paul’s. Have you noticed that when you look up into the rafters, the ceiling looks like an upside-down ship? That is an intentional reference to the biblical metaphor of Jesus with the disciples on the sea, calming the storm. Your church is a shelter in the storms of life.

Perhaps it is a community building like the art gallery pictured on the front of the bulletin. The AGA houses works that are transformational. It is a place to be moved in the depth of your spirit by art that is on view for everyone.

For others it may be a place in memory: a childhood church, a cottage, or a grandparent’s home. The back cover of the enclosed bulletin is a hundred year-old log cabin, with new stained glass windows. It has been a home from which people were nurtured to go into the world and into the generations, and now it speaks both of that heritage and the lively reality of a family at play.

Whether architecture speaks to you in awe or in comfort, I hope you will take a few minutes this week to consider how your soul finds shelter. Sheltered, we become strengthened to venture outside once again and face the storms.

And through the storm, Jesus sits with us in the boat, and keeps us intact.

Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

April 5, 2011

I trust you are enjoying the sunshine this week, and the delightful sounds of running water as the ice melts away from the sidewalks.

This week in worship we celebrated Spiritual Transformation through Cloth and Fabric. Maureen MacMillan weaves colour with texture, and leave us breathless. Lyle Wiebe cross stitches west-coast symbols, and we can see the running salmon. Margo Fiddes pieces fabric and her quilt is so vibrant, is as though spring melt echoes around us.  

It occurs to me that you may have something special near you as you read this letter. It might be an heirloom cross-stitch. Perhaps it is a quilt made from dress scraps by a great-grandmother; created for a function, it becomes a treasure over the generations. 

Faith can be like that. What we need from faith – a function of courage, comfort, companionship – becomes the treasure of a lifetime’s spiritual experience. Those initial deep encounters with the Holy expand into something we trust.

I hope you have routine that you trust in your day, and that you know we hold you in prayer in your church.

May you feel warmth of blessing today.

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean