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St. Andrew's Church
An Anglican Church • Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
Preached by
Stuart Pike
Rector
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St. Andrew's Church, Grimsby
Rector's Charge to Vestry
28 January 2007
I would first like to welcome all of you here on this, our vestry Sunday. As is our tradition, in place of the usual Sunday sermon, I am giving you my charge to Vestry which is part one of our Annual Vestry meeting. Part two is our Vestry luncheon which takes place immediately following our 10 o'clock service today, and part three is the business part of our meeting.
I want to thank all of St. Andrew's parishioners and friends who made 2006 a very successful year indeed. I believe that we have grown as a parish in many ways. One of the things which we are celebrating about this year is that we ended the year with a financial surplus. This attests to the terrific leadership and support given by our Finance committee (led by Sean Straughan and our Treasurer, Bert Buckenham) and our Stewardship committee (led by Terry Webster) as well as the members of those committees. But it is also proof of an abiding support by the members and friends of St. Andrew's Church, who believe that it is important that there is a Church here which reaches out to make a difference in people's lives.
That is why St. Andrew's Church is here, and why this congregation has been in existence for over 212 years: to make a difference in people's lives. What a wonderful legacy which our forebears have left to us in this place. They built this church and have left it in our care. The stones which form the walls of this Church building were placed here between 1819 and 1825. When I stand at the top of the escarpment and look over the town of Grimsby I can't help but think about what it must have looked like when our Church was just being built. The stones which made this Church came from this same escarpment. Thinking about our history as a parish makes me feel so strongly that what we have in St. Andrew's is a sacred trust, and that we must add to the legacy to leave it, in turn, to our children and grandchildren and further on down the line.
We must continue to care for this place and to be prepared for the inevitable needs of our buildings. It is a fact that, though we have done very well financially, it is partly due to the fact that our dedicated and hard-working Property committee, chaired by Jim Globe, has had to make do with less. Necessary projects have been put on hold for several years. These include replacing the pitched roof on the old hall and major repairs to the lower flat roof of the new portions of the hall. There are other projects which need to be completed and we know that unforseen repairs will appear from time to time.
For this reason, you will hear an announcement by the corporation of St. Andrews about the creation of a new Capital Improvement Fund which will be enable us to build up the funds to do these projects and to have capital on hand in advance of the inevitable emergencies which will present themselves. We hope that this fund will also provide an easy way for people to make planned gifts to St. Andrew's Church, such as remembering this place in their will and other ways. This Capital Improvement Fund will be an essential part of our strategy to remain faithful to our ancestors who first put these stones together and entrusted this Church to us.
I think that the high quality of the stones which were used to build St. Andrew's Church are a large part of what makes it such a beautiful Church. The stones which form the living Church of St. Andrew today are yourselves. Each one of us is a building block which makes up Jesus' Church here and now in this place.
Having worked among you for eight years, I know that you too are high quality stone. Some of you can trace your ancestry for two hundred years back to this same place. Others, like me, were born and raised further afield. Together we form the Church.
I have spoken about the foundation of our past, and I have spoken about the legacy we must leave to the future, but it is only in the present that we can be the Church. Actions can only happen in the present. And also we can only ever experience God in the present.
In the present, we live in a society which in many respects has forgotten about God and the existence of the holy. At every turn there are signs of people who have lost hope and faith. Examples of violence and discord are presented to us every time we hear a newscast. Likewise, the destruction of our environment for short-term material gain points out just how far many people have wandered from God's sacred way. In my occupation, I frequently meet people who, when faced with the inevitable tragedies of life, are completely unprepared and feel that they have no way forward. They have no hope. They have no idea that God loves them. This is the present in which we live. It is in this present that we must act to model a different way of being. We must model a way of hope and faith. We must show people that, walking in God's way, we can be co-authors of our own future and not simply victims of fate or circumstance.
I thank God that I minister along with such a group of living stones. Many of you give your time and your talent to so many committees and groups of this parish which keep this a place where people experience God. You serve on the Parish Council or one of the standing committees such as Finance, Property, Christian Education, Parish Outreach, Parish Life, Cemetery Board, Stewardship, Advertising or the Newsletter committee. Some of you belong to other groups such as Altar Guild, Servers, Choir or you help in worship by reading or praying or serving the chalice. There are many other ways in which you serve in this community. Put all these stones together and you have a strong and stable St. Andrew's Church.
It is important for us to understand that our worship and the internal workings of our Church are to be a mirror for all the actions of our lives: individual and corporate. I think most of us get this. This is why we reach out as groups or individuals to serve where needed both locally and globally. It is only by reaching out beyond ourselves that we become relevant in our society. Our strong financial position underscores how well we are able to take care of ourselves. But, unlike many businesses, our bottom line as a parish is not a financial figure, but is measured in how much we give of ourselves.
I think we do well in this respect, though I think we need to celebrate all that we do better. We need to tell the story of how we connect outside of ourselves better than we do. And I think that we can do even more to reach out in service and to model God's way here and now amongst the people of Grimsby.
Challenges which I see for us today include how to reach out more to the young people of our town. While many people will say that our youth are the future, it is important to realize that they are also the present, or at least they need to be, if they are to ever become the future. We need more people to step forward and volunteer some of their time and abilities to form a welcoming place where youth many gather and find community. There are so many influences which are vying for the attention of our young people. We, as the Church, need to be there in the mix letting young people experience what a relationship with Christ can mean to them.
I am so grateful for the ministry of Jean Ruttan-Yates who is about three quarters of the way through her first year as our deacon. She does so much to model what we are to be and do. True to her vocation as a deacon, her ministry is primarily done outside the physical wall of our parish. Week by week, she reaches out in ministry to the youth of Grimsby at FORT (the Foundation of Resources for Teens) and also to the poor of our community through the Grimsby Benevolent Fund. Her ministry is a visible example of what all Christians are called to do. I am thankful that her example is echoed through the work of so many others.
I continue to be amazed at the faithfulness of Paul Whitehouse who continues week by week and year by year to give selflessly to this parish and to greatly help in the formation of this community of living stones. His ministry makes a remarkable difference to an ever-growing group within this parish. His spiritual care has nurtured and raised up new lay ministers and has deepened their faith and given them new opportunities to experience God's love.
I am also grateful for the ministry of Elaine Hooker who remains an honorary assistant here even as she begins a new interim ministry elsewhere in the Diocese. We won't see her on Sundays while she is doing this interim, but she will continue to minister behind the scenes as she has been doing such as doing the occasional nursing home service for me.
There are several people who are stepping down from their leadership positions at this vestry. Jim Globe has been the chair person of the Property Committee for eight years and no one has done more than he has to ensure the physical well-being of our buildings. I am very grateful for his work and that of his committee. A new property Committee is forming and one of their first tasks will to be to select their own chair person.
Wendy Mackenzie has been a whirlwind of activity in providing the leadership for our Parish Life. I can not tell you how many times I have seen her in the Parish Hall, before anyone else has arrived and after everyone else has gone, quietly and efficiently preparing for one terrific (and delicious) event after another. I am also thankful for her wisdom and example of Christian service. She has made a great difference to this community. Jean Ruttan-Yates will take the chair of this committee along with a terrific working group of people who will take responsibility for all the tasks of Parish Life.
Pat Barker will stepping down as our Vestry Clerk and I thank her, too, for her efficiency and diligence. More often than not I have the minutes of our Parish Council by the next day.
Gillian Wood has come to the end of her term as People's Warden and it is with great regret that I see her go from this position. We have all been blessed with her wisdom, practicality and the sheer volume of her work in so many ways here. Thankfully, she is taking on the duties of Vestry Clerk, so I will still see her often in that capacity as well as through all the other ways in which she gives to this parish.
I also want to thank my wife, Katherine, for all of the ways in which she supports me in my ministry here. I simply could not do without her help. I know that there are many people in the parish who are aware of some of the ways in which she helps build community here. She is one of the best volunteer-getters that I know. Perhaps she has tapped you on the shoulder already! She does so much more for St. Andrew's that many people do not know about. I also want to thank our daughter, Louisa, who keeps me real and grounded in the present and acting for our future.
I want to close with the reminder that each of us are the living stones of this parish and that, acting together in the present, we can form a beautiful Church which is relevant in our society, modelling God's way and inviting people in to find a living relationship with Christ. Amen.
