Dear People of Kootenay Diocese,

Greetings on this twelfth day of the Christmas Season, the Eve of Epiphany. I am always glad that Christmas is a season in our church calendar, not just one day but twelve days to celebrate the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.  We need so much to absorb this good news that the God we worship knows the reality and vulnerability of being human;  God is not a remote disinterested architect of the universe, but a passionately engaged Lover of Creation who is prepared to dwell with humanity.
 

This is such an important foundation for our prayer life, to carry on in-depth honest conversation with God about the reality of our lives, and to leave space for listening to God.  We enter this conversation knowing we are deeply understood in our full humanity, the comforting confidence of being fully known; this is the Good News of Christmas. How does that affect your daily life?

It was a joy to me to have over a hundred people/households join in the Diocesan zoom worship this past Sunday, and to hear the hellos to friends across the Diocese. 

I know the high cost of having only on-line worship during this season, as much of our joy in the season is being with people, singing together, being surrounded with familiar sights, sounds, and smells that we associate with Christmas.  I pray you have been able to deepen your spiritual practices of the season in your own home to add fullness to the on-line worship. As Incarnational people, as we have discovered during the pandemic, it is important to physically partake:  to light a candle, to stand up to sing along, maybe even to dress up for worship, to read along in your own Bible, to participate as much as possible with our bodies and whole selves so we are worshipping, not just passively watching. I invite you to light the Christ candle of your Advent Wreath one last time tomorrow, on Epiphany, to mark the end of the Christmas season. Pray the Epiphany Collect (below).  Leave your lights up for Epiphany season! 

            

With the extremely cold weather and the amount of snow we have had across the Okanagan and the Kootenays, coupled with the Omicron cases rising, many of us have been housebound. We have had disappointing and frustrating limitations to our usual Christmas traditions, family visits and travel plans canceled. This has called us once again to draw on spiritual strength and deep patience, to find inner resources to deal with isolation, loneliness, restlessness, disappointment and uncertainty.  

            

One of the ongoing discoveries of a maturing Christian (sanctification, as it is called, our growing in holiness) is that joy is not tied to outward circumstances but to the faithfulness of God. We have been reminded of that in the past few days as we have reviewed the remarkable life of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In the midst of the trauma of Apartheid, in the difficult work of listening to horror stories during the Truth and Reconciliation hearings, he maintained a sense of joy in God’s presence with humanity.  May we grow in that joy based on God’s love.  

As we enter the season of Epiphany, the growing Light of Christ spreading out to the world, I invite you to memorize and meditate on Tutu’s conviction:

“Goodness is stronger than evil

Life is stronger than death,

Love is stronger than hate

Light is stronger than darkness, 

Life is stronger than death. 

Victory is ours, through God who loves us.”

For Christ Church, Creston, its lay leadership and for the Rev. Leon Rogers and his family.  I have, with deep sadness, accepted the resignation of the Rev. Leon Rogers. He remains a priest in good standing in the Diocese but is inactive at this time.   

For the Boundary Parish (Holy Trinity- Grand Forks; St. Jude’s- Greenwood, and St.Mary’s - Kettle Valley/Rock Creek), lay leaders, and clergy, and for The Rev. Austin Spry and his family. Austin is on medical leave.

For the Very Rev. Jack Greenhalgh, his wife Gail and their family, in the death of their grandson Ian from cancer.  

Also, please pray for the Bishop-Elect Kathy Martin, who will be consecrated on Epiphany as the Bishop of B.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.  I had planned to attend this event in person but will now be attending on-line.  

                                                               *******

Last night at Diocesan Council we said thank you and farewell to Justin Dalton who has been vice-chancellor for the Diocese for the past two years.  Justin is taking a new position in Edmonton as a Crown Prosecutor. We wish him every blessing in this new service to the community. 

Next week we will be reviewing the need for on-line worship. In the meantime, please continue to phone each other, especially any isolated members of your church community. 

Wishing you every blessing for 2022.

Yours in Christ,

+Lynne     

Isaiah 60.1-6; Psalm 72.1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3.1-12; Matthew 2.1-12

1

Almighty and everliving God,

you revealed the incarnation of your Son

by the brilliant shining of a star.

Shine the light of your justice

in our hearts and over all lands,

and accept our lives as the treasure we offer

in your praise and for your service;

through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever. Amen.

2

Creator of the heavens,

who led the Magi by a star

to worship the Christ-child:

guide and sustain us,

so that we may find our journey’s end

in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.