Incumbent’s Report, March 26, 2023
This is the first official incumbent’s report I’ve written since November – apologies for the hiatus!
Since then, the installation of the fresh air return has completed our project to improve the ventilation in the building. We nevertheless have continued masking, hoping to go to “masks optional” as of the Sunday after Easter. Thankfully, there was no COVID surge the way there was in the previous two winters.
In Advent, we held a four-week series on prayer, in person on Tuesday evenings and on Zoom on Thursday afternoons. And for the first time since 2019, we were able to have Christmas fully in person, with a pageant, Lessons & Carols, two services on Christmas Eve, and a morning service on Sunday, December 25.
Messy Church has, unfortunately, been decimated by illness throughout the winter, as our young families have dealt with the resurgence of non-COVID germs in the aftermath of the pandemic. We continue to be in touch and support each other on social media, and we look forward to “Palm Saturday” on April 1. On occasions during the winter when someone else was preaching, I have been able to take the children down to the church hall for a children’s time during the sermon.
Margaret Beattie retired as Altar Guild President as of the Annual Vestry Meeting in February; we celebrated her forty years of faithful service with a farewell tea. Carol Smith, Linda Smith, and Joanne Norris have also resigned. I have been working closely with the remaining members of the Altar Guild to recruit new volunteers and ensure smooth coverage.
A small group met in January to revise the Strategic Plan, eventually coming to the conclusion that it needed to become a historic document while we start over with a new take on our mission and vision. Ross Hamilton and I will report on that at the Parish Meeting. In the meantime, our parish conversations have taken a new turn as Dave Robinson, former Canon for Congregational Development in the Diocese of Toronto, has stepped up to lead a congregational development process, assessing our gifts and strengths (and weaknesses), thinking about how to become better connected with our neighbourhood through understanding of its demographics and its needs, and going deeper in thinking about how buildings and ministry impact each other.
We are preparing for Holy Week and Easter, including a community meal for the beginning of the Maundy Thursday service. Brian Redekopp, who has been attending All Saints’ for about a year, will be baptized at the Great Vigil of Easter. And on Pentecost, Noor Egberongbe-Awisat will be baptized. Much as I love baptizing babies, it’s always a particular joy to baptize those who are old enough to answer for themselves!
My sabbath leave is coming up soon; I plan to wrap up on Pentecost Sunday (May 28th) and return to the office four months later on Thursday, September 28 (this works better than going out exactly on May 31 and returning on October 1 – which is a Sunday, so I need those days to write my first post-leave sermon!)
I look forward to a meaningful Holy Week and a joyful Easter!
Peace,
Grace+
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