THE FIVE MARKS OF MISSION
Vision 2019
“And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, & to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)”
EMPTY NESTER IN THE NEW MILLENIUM
My name is Dianne Des Rosiers. In 2001, I became attracted to worship at Christ Church Cathedral when Reverend Canon Douglas Williams and Dr Hannah Kasiss were invited to St Margaret’s of Scotland Anglican in North Burnaby as guest speakers, on an Introduction to the Old Testament series and the relationship of Islam and Christianity reflected in Holy Scripture. Both gentlemen’s informed scholarship and gentle and gracious teaching style attracted me.
Post 9 / 11 I read in the Contact, in Remarks by Bishop Michael Ingham concerning The Service for the City, National Day of Mourning, September 14th, 2001 – “This tragedy calls us to strengthen our spiritual resolve, to put an end to religiously-motivated violence and build societies of justice, tolerance and mutual respect.”
After 2 years of inquiry I was received into the Anglican Communion, in a Sacrament of Commitment by the Reverend Michael Ingham, Sunday April 27th, 2003 at St Catherine’s, North Vancouver. I completed a Disciple bible study program led by Reverend Rose Hannah Gaskin sponsored at St Andrew’s Wesley,United a few years ago .
I enjoy Tuesday Night Soul Space and practice Contemplation based on the practice of Father Thomas Keating. I enjoy the stimulating fellowship and the rich liturgical programming at CCC and the Thomas Merton Lecture series at the Vancouver Public Library.
In the Anglicanism at CCC I have found the integration of Catholic and Protestant Spirituality that are the roots and foundation of my family heritage balanced with a respect for reason and scholarship and humanitarian values. I continue to be attracted to the progressive social teachings, the inclusive social witness at CCC and the creative blend of traditional and innovative Christian music and liturgy.
I am recovering from a knee replacement operation on my left knee April 27, 2009.
TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM
I think practicing the corporate works of mercy in Matthew 25 proclaims the Good News of the Kingdom. At Christ Church Cathedral – with my widow’s mite / might, I am privileged to support the Sandwich Project, LUMS, 127 Society for Housing, Wish, & the Salvation Army appeal at the Christmas Mass for the City. We call the people we serve at the Sandwich Project our Fifth Congregation. I am also privileged to support GEM which funds The Street Outreach Initiative in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside & The Coming Home Society. I offer some free time on Saturdays to help out at LUMS.
My dream for Vision 2019 is to Make Poverty History with reform towards progressive legislation in government social policy.
A GRAND MARCH FOR HOUSING – SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2009 – The Justice & Peace Unit represented by David Dranchuk, Coordinator for Societal Ministry, Diocese of New Westminster, called upon Anglicans to walk in this march for housing. A contingent of Anglicans gathered at the Peace Flame Park & carried banners reading “Join Anglicans to End Homelessness www.vancouver.anglican.ca” & “Anglicans for Eco Justice”. They walked together across the Burrard Street Bridge with groups from all over the Lower Mainland converging at the Grand Housing Rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery. There were similar marches in communities throughout BC.
TO TEACH, BAPTIZE & NURTURE NEW BELIEVERS
I appreciate the meditative simplicity of the Iona liturgy in Soul Space in the Chancel of Christ Church Cathedral where I worship Tuesday nights after work. The soup & buns … or pizza gatherings after the service are lovely opportunities for fellowship with sojourners passing through or for spiritual seekers looking for a home.
Sometimes there are learning opportunities presented at 7:30 pm tapping into the rich talents, wisdom & knowledge & resources offered by the many parish “theologians” from all walks of life, backgrounds & ages & stages of development. Highlights in the Five Marks for Mission presentations were Archbishop Hambidge; a retired couple making a presentation about their mission work in an Abbeyfield Senior Housing Community; & Eco Theologian Sally McFague making a presentation about the “Inconvenient Truth” of global warming. A panel of adults shared their moving testimonies of conversion to Anglicanism as adults baptized at Christ Church Cathedral.
I appreciate the enrichment of the visual & performing arts at Christ Church Cathedral such as Rupert Lang’s Earth Teach Me, the Good Noise Gospel Choir & the installation of the Tree of Life stained glass windows designed by Musqueam artist Susan Point.
My dream for Vision 2019 … more of the same responding to the changes, opportunities & challenges in the context of a dynamic metropolitan community surrounded by the natural wonders of mountains & oceans in the urban / rural environment of Vancouver, BC.
TO RESPOND TO HUMAN NEED BY LOVING SERVICE
At Tuesday night Soul Space, a retired couple was invited to share their experiences administering to the needs of seniors in the Abbeyfield Community at St Margaret’s in Burnaby. Our 127 Society for Housing inspired & spearheaded by the dedicated service of Hilda Gregory is a response to this growing need for Affordable Supportive Housing for the vulnerable & destitute in the Lower Mainland. I expect this need will only grow with aging baby boomers represented by the growing proportion of seniors. Bishop Michael Ingham refers to a Diocesan response to human need with loving service in his sermon to Synod, May 23, 2009. Christ Church Cathedral parishioners responded generously to appeals for help by the Anglican Hospital in Gaza, appeals from the Primates World Relief & Development Fund, & support towards a Healing Fund to relieve the suffering of First Nations impacted by residential school systems.
My dream for Vision 2019 is increasing fiscal support & resources in partnership with the government and or NGO’s for social housing models & communities such as the Abbeyfield model & the 127 Society for Housing & the continuing support of the PWRDF, Christ Church’s humanitarian response to HIV/ Aids with the Bochabelo Soweto Homecare Project & forging stronger relationships with First Nations in our community.
TO SEEK TO TRANSFORM UNJUST STRUCTURES OF SOCIETY
The HIV & Aids Committee at CCC works in cooperation with the Grandmother’s Campaign, Stephen Lewis Foundation advocating for legislative reform.
Cathedral parishioners participated in the The Walk & Rally for African Grandmothers , September, 2008 at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The walkers demonstrated solidarity with African grandmothers who are raising an estimated 13 million children orphaned by AIDS; raised awareness of the AIDS pandemic in SubSaharan Africa; & encouraged the Canadian government to keep the promise made in 2004 to ease the way for generic medicines to get to Africa.
The Greater Van Gogos (“gogo” means grandmother in Zulu) consisted of 15 grandmothers’ groups in Southwestern BC who support the Canadian Grandmothers for Africa: A National Advocacy Network & the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. www.grandmotherscampaign.org
I am also a member of the Cathedral Justice Group who works in cooperation with Amnesty International on letter writing campaigns to our political representatives on behalf of prisoners of conscience, or the fair & humanitarian treatment of prisoners such as Omar Khadr. In cooperation with the Diocesan Ministry for Society we advocate for legislative reform of social policy supporting End Homelessness, BC Needs Affordable Housing Now, Make Poverty History Campaign, Ten Thousand Villages, Fair Traded Coffee, Lennikov & his Family, Raise the BC MinimumWage to $10, & Friends of Insite.
My dream for Vision 2019 is for strengthened relationships with secular & interfaith organizations working cooperatively to alleviate poverty & reform legislative barriers that either cause poverty or create life sentences of generational poverty. I am sharing some pictures of the walk & rally for African Grandmothers.
TO STRIVE TO SAFEGUARD THE INTEGRITY OF CREATION & SUSTAIN & RENEW THE LIFE OF THE EARTH
One of the ways Christ Church Cathedral supports this mark of mission is through reverent music & liturgy reflecting the sacramental beauty & bounty of Creation. An Anglican priest celebrating Saturday afternoon Eucharist told me while I marked Earth Hour that every liturgy is a Green liturgy. I commend purchasing the CD Earth Teach Me advertised on our website.
Earth Teach Me Music by Rupert Lang
Earth Teach Me is the first CD recording of all Rupert Lang music. The album includes seven new pieces featuring Christ Church Cathedral Choir, guest singers & instrumentalists. CD Tracks: Earth Teach Me, I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, Creator of the Ends of the Earth, Bell Mass, Kontakion, Agneau de Dieu, We Sing a Love, Come Home, Kyrie (Missa Terra Nova), Sanctus (Missa Terra Nova), Lord’s Prayer (Missa Terra Nova), Like a Child, How Like an Angel, Cantate Domino
http://www.cathedral.vancouver.bc.ca/arts_learning/earth_cd.htm
I am also active in the Cathedral Green Team volunteering with a dedicated core of women & men striving to safeguard the integrity of creation & sustain & renew the life of the earth. Our collaborative cooperative maintains a weekly column with submissions from a rota of creative writers for the Chronicle in the Cathedral bulletin called Caring For Creation.
Our Green Team is led by a very enthusiastic Chair supported by a very dedicated, skilled & knowledgeable Diocesan Facilitator. See http://www.greeningspirit.ca/
My dream for Vision 2019 is to increase more active participation of Christ Church Cathedral parishioners in Green Team initiatives striving to safeguard the integrity of creation & sustain & renew the life of the earth.
