I was baptized in St Peter’s Anglican Church in Edmonton in 1958.
Sometime between the lilac blossoms of Alberta and the gravel banks of the Muskwa river in Northern British Columbia, my first cogent memories began to form, and the great legacy of the Anglican tradition became an integral part of my being and my consciousness. From St Mary Magdalene’s Church in Fort Nelson to Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa, I have been deeply aware of my connection to the Anglican Church of Canada.
Although I have always had a belief in God, there have been significant times in my life when I honestly could not see that my faith made any difference at all. Invariably, these are times when, for any number of reasons, I am not conscious of the presence of God, and life seems devoid of meaning — as though all is transient and fickle, easily crumbled by the consequences of human choices and the limits of human finitude.
What always draws me back from these moments is the quiet conviction that in the midst of life there is a powerful strength and a constancy which are quite independent of people, situations, places or things. No amount of sophisticated questioning or nasty events have been able to diminish this conviction.
The witness of the Anglican Church has enabled me to have this life-transforming conviction.
My association with the Church has taught me that God is very real and profoundly benevolent, and that the journey to God is principally an inner one, very much of the heart, and it leads to greater engagement with the world.
At the most fundamental level, I want my Church to continue to be a vehicle and a vector of this grace for all people, in 2019 and beyond.
