On December 6th (the Feast of St. Nicholas of Myra), the Bishop ordained the Rev’d Jacob Friesen to the sacred order of Priest. Participating alongside clergy from around the Diocese was the Rt. Rev’d Nigel Shaw, the Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Armed Forces; and Lieutenant-Colonel the Reverend Marc Torchinsky, Canon Recruiter for the Anglican Military Ordinariate, who preached the sermon. In addition to these clergy, chaplains from Canadian Forces Base Shilo were in attendance to support Fr. Jacob, who will, God willing, be military chaplain following his time in the Diocese.

Below are some photos of the occasion. You can find more on the Diocesan Facebook page in due course!

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The simple answer is this: we do not (and can not) fully understand the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Add to that the fact that as Christians, we don’t all agree on the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Some (like Roman Catholics, and some Anglo-Catholics) believe in transubstantiation, the theological concept that the substances of the bread and wine offered at the Eucharist change into the Body and Blood of Christ, while the accidents (or what it looks like) remain as they had previously been. There are others that believe in sacramental union (like Lutherans), where Christ is “truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms of the consecrated bread and wine, so that communicants eat and drink the holy body and blood of Christ Himself as well as the bread and the wine.” Ask an Anglican, and the common thought is something changes in the Eucharist, but how that change occurs is a mystery.

While I believe that the exact mechanics of the presence of Christ in the Eucharist remains a mystery to us mere mortals, I believe that the presence of Christ in the Eucharist is real and very present. The Eucharist is more than a mere memorial to me (although when we do partake in the Eucharist we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes). I believe that that presence of Christ as found in the Eucharist has strengthened me throughout my life. Let me tell you a story about the Eucharist in my own life.

I remember back to my seminary days at Huron College at Western. As any seminary-trained priest can tell you (and will, if you let them), seminary is a time filled with highs and lows. I remember on more than one occasion where I was feeling those lows that come with the seminary experience. As I was going through those lows that happen from time to time, my thoughts turned to the Eucharist, and how I could always count on that to help strengthen me spiritually to be in seminary.

How did it strengthen me as I worked through all the changes that come with being in seminary, though? Well, to be frank, I didn’t really know how the Eucharist strengthened me as I did this work. I just knew that after attending the Eucharist, I felt better and strengthened to do my work in the world. If you had asked me how it all worked, I probably would have said, “it’s a mystery to me”. I knew that Christ is present in the Eucharist, but if you were to press me for more details, I wouldn’t have been able to give them to you.

The presence of Christ in the Eucharist is very much a mystery, and theologians have been spilling ink on it since the early days of the Church. I imagine that they will continue to do so until that day that Christ appears on earth once again. However, until that day where we will meet Jesus Christ face to face, we can and will meet him in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. This presence is a mystery, but in this case, a little mystery isn’t a bad thing. When we lean into the mystery of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, whenever we receive Him in the Bread and the Wine, our relationship with the Holy and Undivided Trinity is strengthened, and we are strengthened to go forth into the world to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbour as we have first been loved by God.

The next time you approach the altar to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, may you be renewed by Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, and may your soul be fed so that you can live a life that reveals the Father’s love to the broken world around us.

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Christ Church, The Pas

as submitted by the Rev’d Jann Brooks

The Rev’d Jann Brooks officiated at the Remembrance Day commemorations for St. Paul’s Care Home in The Pas. The local Legion, air cadet corps (303 The Pas Elks) as well as local bagpiper Don McKay participated in the service. 

They paused for a photo to commemorate the occasion.

St. Mary’s, Virden

as submitted by the Editor

On November 20, the Bishop came to St. Mary’s, Virden to baptize Kyler Clayton, as well as confirm Brooke McIntosh and Mckenzie Robertson. It was an extra special day for Mckenzie’s and Kyler’s family, as Kyler is the nephew of Mckenzie.

I’m told that the day was wonderful (and I was sorry to have missed it in person due to me contracting COVID-19, although I did watch via Zoom). 

Congratulations to Kyler, Brooke, and Mckenzie! 

We couldn’t be more thrilled for you all.

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– Psalm 27:1
(Book of Common Prayer translation)

It is ironic that we dig so deeply, first into Christmas and then into the Epiphany Season in what is the darkest and coldest part of the year. This of course is both a cultural inheritance to us which is the result of the northern hemisphere having its winter in these months. I am reliably assured by friends in the Southern hemisphere that the stories of light triumphing over darkness, of Christmas and the holy family hiding from the evil King Herod on a winter road strike differently in midsummer. 

For us, the triumph of light over darkness, one of the central themes of Epiphany is summed up beautifully by Psalm 27, the psalm which is regularly sung in this season. The Psalm is reminding us of both the faithfulness and power of God to be the very bedrock of our life. That we need not fear any of the slings or arrows that might be sent against us while we celebrate and revel in the light of Jesus Christ which has been a revelation to us. A revelation which is the sovereign act of God for our good.

In the early church, when the teachers and preachers wanted to explain the will of God and the desire of God to love us completely, they used the language of light. Think back to how many prayers you have heard talk about “the light of the world” or ask God to “illumine our hearts”. The scriptures themselves are meant to be “light to our path and a lantern to our feet”. The language of light seems to be a natural one in explaining what it is we are seeking from God, or what God is Christ has been sent to do for us. I want you consider one more way in which light is used in how we think of our Christian life together.

No one gets to “own” light. If you strike a match in a darkened room, the light can be seen by everyone. Depending on where the lamp is placed, the whole room can share in its warmth and power to show the way. Making your way through a darkened place, holding your torch (or cell phone, I suppose) makes the way safer for any who are following.

Share the light! Share the light of God which you have received. Lift it high so that others might find their way to the same peace and serenity you desire in your walk with Jesus. The world is already filled with so much darkness that we need to lift one another up into the light of Christ’s presence, through 

prayer, through fellowship, through our daily life and walk together. We all know the passage “let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven”. We say it at every baptism, and it is meant not only to be an encouragement, but a way of life for daily living that we might lift one another up. This new year of 2023, let us all commit to lifting one another up into the light of Christ and showing the way forward for those who are struggling.

Do not let judgement or jealousy lead us to darken other’s paths. Let us not lay stumbling blocks before those who may be struggling, but rather let us help one another pray, and ask the Lord to illumine the way forward “out of darkness and into his marvelous light!”

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For nearly three years, The Neepawa United-Anglican Shared Ministry (NUASM) has been working on a special project that has captured the interest, efforts, and hopes of Anglican and United parishioners alike, the resurrection of St. James’ Church bell!  When the parish of St. James’ sold their historic church on the corner of The Yellowhead highway and the main drag of Neepawa to facilitate their amalgamation with Neepawa United Church, one item that could not be left behind was their thousand-pound bronze bell.  

The people of NUASM were excited at the prospect of having the bell find a new home in their newly shared space, especially as no one wanted to lose the beautiful tones it had lent to the community sound scape for so many years.  However, no one was sure how or where to install St. James’ bell at the United Church.  The modern United Church building did not have a bell tower, or a bell for that matter, which meant there was no pre-existing structure to house or support the weight of the bell.  Until a plan could be formulated, and funding secured, in good prairie fashion the bell was temporarily stored at a parishioner’s farm in an old barn.

Given the excitement around this project, and relentless requests from the wider community as to when the sounds of the “Anglican bell” would return to Neepawa, it didn’t take long for Father Chad McCharles to sort out a solution.  In consultation with Tridekon, a local metal fabricating company that is famous for their crop-divider attachments for crop sprayers, a design was settled on that would honour the modern architectural design of the Neepawa United Church, as well as elevating the large bell to a height that would allow the clear ringing tones to reach far and wide. On the day of installation, the owner of Tridekon and a local construction company volunteered an entire day’s labour and their heavy equipment to hoist the 48-foot tower and bell into its new location at the main entrance of the Church.  This huge effort brought to fruition many months of hoping and planning through the efforts and generosity of the whole community.  

Father Chad shared “That is what truly warmed my heart in all of this, seeing how the community made this happen and willed it into being. This project truly symbolizes our Ecumenical Shared Ministry in a tangible, steel, concrete, and bronze kind of way! The bell is from the Anglican Church, the new home of the bell is on the United Church property, and the tower is a new creation erected by the shared vision of Christians who feel called to build something new in God’s name and for His glory.”

This project is about so much more than a church bell.  It is a sign of the new life in Christ that is rising up throughout the Diocese, wherever the faithful are willing to set aside their own ambitions for God’s will and way forward.  “That is the message we want to ring out as clear as a bell every time we pull on that rope to call people to worship.” Father Chad concluded.  Bishop William Cliff rang out that same message crystal clear on Sunday, October 16 when he was in Neepawa to rededicate the bell, reaffirming for the folks of NUASM his commitment to supporting their shared ministry as he too gave the bell a good ringing in its new tower!      

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