WCC Assembly - Heading Home

The time has come and I am now en-route to home... I left my hotel at 10am Saturday morning (in Busan) for a 2pm flight. I had a two hour layover in Tokyo and then entered into the 8+ hour flight to Vancouver. It all went smoothly and I think I managed to even get around 5 hours of sleep/rest on the flight to Vancouver.

I arrived in Vancouver and did the lengthly customs, picking-up luggage, checking into next flight, dropping off luggage and going through security for the third time. I've had a six hour layover in Vancouver, I'm at the tail end of it now with two hours to go. I had a lovely and lengthly call with my mom while I had lunch. It was good to hear a familiar voice. I am tired but not as tired as I could be.

At this point I plan on driving out to Sorrento - I'm ready for familiar space. I'm now in the debate of what tomorrow will look like... I am contemplating a trip to town so I can see familiar and friendly faces and connect with some of my family before I take off on Tuesday for my next meeting. We'll see how I feel tomorrow morning.

It's been a long Saturday... I feel like it might never end.

I need to say a huge thank-you to so many of you who have written to me via email or Facebook. Please know that your notes, photos, words, love and prayers have been been so appreciated as I've been on this journey. I'm not sure if it would have gone this smoothly without knowing that you're all out there! I wish I had had time to respond to all of your messages while I was away or even in the next few days - know that I've treasured them nevertheless. I look forward to connecting with you all soon and also sharing more about the Assembly in the weeks to come.

WCC Assembly 2013 - Monday, October 28

Wow.
It has been quite a day. A good day but a very full day. It feels like it has been two days in one. I was up at 6:30am today, left the hotel at 7:30am with the agenda for the day beginning at 8:30am and we kept going agenda item after agenda item until 8pm... and that was with us ending thirty minutes early. I don't think I'm going to be staying up very late for the next thirteen days!

Today was the start of the Youth Pre-Assembly.

Around 400 young people (delegates, observers, community members, stewards) gathered together for the first day of the pre-assembly. And like I said, it was a full day filled with people, presentations, conversations, singing, sharing and learning. We started the morning off with our opening prayer time together, it was a rather lovely and simple liturgy... I really liked it  (beware youth group members... parts of this might be coming back with me to add to our time together!). The singing is the best... and I think I can safely say we're a not bad sounding group! 

We heard from the WCC General Secretary who said a number of things that will stick with me for awhile one being a good reminder, "Everything we do we do as God's beloved and mandated children, asking God to lead us into the life God has created - praying for justice and peace." And at the end of his time talking about the presence of youth at the Assembly he said, "By being with you I realize even more why it is so important that you are here. You not only can ask the questions but you also need to participate in the answers." It's helpful for me to hear from the leadership in our church (which is so much a part of my expereince in Canada) that my role here is not the "youth" role but one of listening and contributing like everyone else. 

We reviewed some stuff around meaningful participation during the Assembly including consensus decision making and how the nominations process works. For lunch today I had my first experience of Korean food since I've arrived... I'll share some more about Korean food another day. Some pieces I really enjoyed and others were a new taste and texture. 

Thematic Family Groups

After lunch we met in our Thematic Family Groups; I am in the Reconciliation Family Group. One of the highlights of our Family Group time together was hearing from Father Michael Lapsley. He is one of those people who I could listen to for hours (or read for hours). He talked about listening and about how as young people we can play an important role in reconciliation and healing if we're willing to listen and he encouraged us to "while at WCC that we listen to the heart of the other". To listen with an "open heart so that we may be open to being changed... as we hear one another's humanity we can be changed. Listen not only with your head but also with the heart and let your heart be changed." There is lots on the web about Father Michael, I encourage you to go read a bit of his story.

The late afternoon and evening was devoted to the Korean Session, Korean Evening Prayer and an Agape ceremony and Korean meal with leaders of the ecumenical movement. Learned Korean history, sang Korean songs, watched Korean dance, prayed a traditional Korean evening prayer service and ate Korean food. You can watch a short video of Korean Culture Presentation here.

Korean Culture Presentation

As Father Michael said in his closing, "Go into the world and be kinder, gentler and more just!" 

WCC Assembly - Sunday, October 27

Arrived at the Tokyo Airport

I arrived safe and sound at my hotel in Busan late on Saturday evening after an incredibly long day of traveling. Never before have I done international travel so this was a very new experience. I am very grateful that airports in Canada are like airports in Tokyo and Busan and I'm even more grateful for English being spoken in the airport and on flights.

The shuttle bus trip from the Busan airport to my hotel was significantly longer then I expected it to be. Although it did provide some time for me to get to know the delegate from the Episcopal church in Hawaii who sat next to me. Jasmine, also a young person (any one under the age of 30 is classified as a "young person" at the WCC Assembly), is also attending her first Assembly and we both were experiencing many of the same feelings of anxiety, fear, nervousness and excitement. It was helpful to connect over these feelings in such a mutual way.

After checking into my hotel room, catching up over tea with my friend Nick (here also as a Canadian Anglican delegate), I unpacked a few items took a long awaited shower (why do long travel days always make you feel like "ick"!?), post on Facebook and message my mom so everyone knew I was alive and well and then I crawled into bed looking forward to a long nights sleep.

Buildings along the oceanside 

I woke up at 1:45 more confused that I've ever been before. I was fully convinced that it was 1:45pm but couldn't understand how that could be, but it couldn't be 1:45am because I felt like I had been asleep for much longer. Checking the time back home just confused me even more! It wasn't until I noticed that it was still dark out that I was relieved to realize that it was indeed 1:45am and I still had hours of sleep time left! And so I slept until 9:30am (after waking up briefly at 6am and 7am).

I spent the morning and early afternoon with Nick and a few of the people he's already met and worked with here at the Assembly. I discovered that I'm really not an adventurous food person (it probably didn't help that I had no idea what time or day it was, where I was or what meal it should be time for!), I'll figure out a way to work around that! We all sat at the beach and enjoyed conversation, the sunshine and shared moments of laughter and stories. My, I love the ocean view and smell!

Rocks and ocean waves!

Mid-afternoon I was ready for bed but determined not to sleep until bedtime... so Jasmine and I met up and did some Busan city wandering. We had lots of fun, us two nervous directionless young females in a large foreign city! The ocean became our direction point... if we could get to the water we could get to our hotel (so we told ourselves). We had three goals: find a grocery store so that fruit and a few other breakfast/snack type stuff could exist in our hotel (really, who has time to find breakfast when you have to be on a shuttle bus between 7:30 and 8:00am in order to get to your meeting?!); find dinner; and see the city without getting too lost! We managed all three... in the midst of accomplishing those goals we saw street-side insect or small ocean creature roasting; walked down market ways filled with fish, eels and more fish for purchase; encountered a massive crab and explored different stores.

Massive crab... yes, it was in a tank!

I think I can say that by the time we got back to the hotel we both felt very empowered in our ability to spend some time in the city without getting too lost or frightened and without knowing the area or the language! And now we even have breakfast food and have enjoyed a very non-Korean-traditional meal (we just wanted to eat something we knew would not be spicy or filled with fish) consisting of pizza and salad at pizza hut.... and the fact that the menu came to us in english was a very welcomed surprise at this point in the evening!

City street market

Tomorrow the Youth Pre-Assembly begins and now that it's coming on 10pm I'm looking forward to a shower and bed!

Ten on Tuesday

 1. Breathing is good.

2. Tea is amazing and beyond important.

3. Watching airplane staff trying to find the missing box of facemasks is not very comforting while sitting on the plane waiting to take off.

4. I need to read, and sleep, and watch movies… this is the task for my traveling day.

5. Okay, I’m partly lying… I will be doing that but I’ve also been dealing with emails and preparing what I’m doing in Montreal. But it's still making me happy and it's nice to have alone time.

6. I like itineraries and agendas. I like them a lot. 

7. My 2.5 days at the Centre were cold and rainy and filled with lots of work. But if felt good to be back there. 

8. I'm not in my beloved bedroom at the Centre yet because the bathroom is being redone. Bathroom renovations = awesome, no bedroom = sad.

9. But the lodge room works. 

10. I started a book!! A book that has nothing to do with school or Milton!! Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult... I love reading!

Seventeen on Saturday

1. I stayed up for 37 hours from 9:30am on Holy Saturday to 10:30pm on Easter Sunday. Was this a good idea, I have no idea. Was it worth it? Totally!

2. I have never been awake for that many hours before. Ever. And I have no yearning to go beyond that many hours of “wakeness”.

3. I would never recommend someone with Easter Sunday morning liturgical commitments to have an Easter “wakover” with youth the night before. Not unless you’re superman/superwoman.

Peaceful water

4. It was wonderful to gather with family on Easter Sunday for dinner. First time I saw my grandparents since February. Even with the 12 grandchildren who were there we still felt the missing presence of the 3 who were unable to make it. And we really missed them. When the “kids” begin to grow up things seem a bit weird!

5. The conversations that my family has with me at these large family gatherings have not changed: marriage plans, boyfriend plans, school plans, career plans, and church. And no – I’m not the one initiating them and no, almost none of those topics have plans!

6. Traveling immediately after Easter when you’ve been awake for too many hours is very silly. That being said, missing the last week of classes is also silly – oops!

7. And yet I’d do it again, exhaustion and all. Being with the Vision 2019 Implementation Team and engaging with the work and the people made it all totally worth it.

8. Actually, I’ve just arrived home and I’m missing Toronto already – the work and especially the people and conversations that took place.

9. My classes are over, my first exam is on the 17^th and I have one more paper to write and handed in one yesterday afternoon. I picked up books that came in through the library this morning… that means that I now have four books to read– my life of reading and writing begins today!

10. I’m really missing Toronto… really missing it. I kinda sorta wish I wasn’t already at home.

11. I went to bed early last night, which I really needed… sleep was wonderful!

12. I’m trying to figure out how much I can get done today and how much will need to wait until tomorrow. I wish that papers would just write themselves.

Easter Gift

13. Anticipating making a cauliflower crust pizza tonight with my roommate and super, super excited!

14. After I tackle a huge chunk of work today I’m headed to see Titanic with some friends… excited!

15. I’ve realized that in just over two weeks I’ll be moving to Sorrento Centre and I’m mixed with excitement and the feeling of not being completely ready.

16. I received this lovely gift from a good friend in the midst of Holy Week… it made me smile and reminded me not to let the small things bring me down.

17. I’m going to go face Milton now… pray for me. :P  

Fall Meeting of CoGS

At a time in the semester when I really should not have been going anywhere I took off to Toronto last weekend for the fall meeting of the Council of General Synod for the Anglican Church of Canada. And of course, I loved it. I loved every moment of it even though the evenings were late and the mornings were early. Our three days of meetings were very full from 8am Bible Study to 9pm Night Prayers.

CoGS 2010-2012 Group. Picture from anglican.ca 

I love the work and I love the people. I always learn tons and with this being our third meeting I was feeling more present and all the material didn't seem new and unknown. The relationships and conversations that take place sustain me, challenge me and support me. People are amazing.

There were many highlights, here are just a few:
- Conversations about Vision 2019 and the Marks of Mission. How do we encourage diocese to live these out so we get it beyond the National Church?
- Our "fireside" chat with the Primate and General Secretary. A lovely open conversation.
- Looking forward to General Synod 2013. This will be the first joint Anglican-Lutheran national meeting for the church and is what the Primate has described will be a "historic" day for the church.
- The Celebration of New Ministry: Welcoming Michael Thompson in as General Secretary. Alongside this was being asked to read the prayers of the people, it was a great honor and an important reminder to me that I love being part of leadership in liturgy! And as for our new General Secretary - well he is one amazing and faith filled and generous man.
- The Sacred Circle with our Aboriginal brothers and sisters. Hearing from Bishop Mark Macdonald that  we need to "build a church that the poor can afford". This is the second time I've heard this from Bishop Mark and I think it's something we all need to listen to. We heard the message that the Anglican Council of Indigenous People are at a point where it is time to stop asking and time to start doing. They are not going to wait any longer for the rest of the church. This was heard with great encouragement by the group but also great sadness that we have not been able to respond to the needs.

And of course so much more took place. On a personal level, I was asked to assist with the administration of Communion at our Sunday morning (early) service. At a time when I still would have been in bed I was reminded how very much I feel called to the sharing of the sacraments... I can't explain it. But I feel something that I don't always feel otherwise when assisting with that part of the service. And I love it.

Again, the people. I have so much appreciation for the conversations, time and encouragement that happens when we gather. It guides me and keeps me going. It also makes it so I don't want to leave.

So yes, I left at a point in the semester when I should have stayed home. But it has also renewed me, empowered me, energized me and encouraged me. It was good, so very good. It was also exhausting and intense requiring a full Tuesday of sleep. But it was worth it.

Summer may be coming...

I have many awesome friends who are so good at blogging regularly, I apologize that I do not fall in that category. So often I think to share with my experiences with my friends via this means but at the end of the day I so often need to choose whether to blog for others to read or write in my journal as a way of reflecting, discerning, and remembering. I suppose you can imagine what I so often choose. And then of course I wonder what the point of blogging even is... like really, is taking this time actually worth it? One will never know. I love the idea that it allows my family and friends to know even a mall bit of what I'm up to... but does it actually serve that point?

Here I am once again at Sorrento Centre well immersed into my fourth summer. I'm excited about this year's Children and Youth program, this years staff team, and all the many adventures and experiences that will take place.

A few of the things I've been up to since completing this past year of school (year four complete!!) and some of my pondering thoughts:

- Sorrento Centre is a place of such deep peace and reflection for me. Yes, it always comes down to me making the decision to take the time to engage in spiritual practices and reflection, but as I learn to do this more faithfully I remember more often how important it really is.

- An undergrad degree is designed to be completed in four years for a reason... planning year five is no longer exciting!

- Amazing things happen when committed folks gather together to make decisions and learn together.

- It's worth it to say "no" to people when asked to take on a commitment/committee appointment as it allows you to say "yes" when the right opportunity that matches your gifts and interests and the world's needs comes along.

- Songs get stuck in my head... for a very long time!

- Gathering with 130 colleagues who share a passion in (youth) ministry is again and ag

ain an amazing experience. Learning, sharing, rest, renewal, conversation. (Common Ground 2011)

- I fell in love with a camp while in Ontario... and the idea of raising a family while directing a camp (at least that is this month's new idea for life!!)

- Lake Huron - stunning!!

- Really good worship makes my day... or week!

- Spending time with my siblings, well I never get tired of it. But yes, a bit sleepy by the end of a full day.

- The Leadership Team I work with at Sorrento Centre is crazy, well we all are! But they keep me laughing and on my toes... and that is good!

So - will you hear from me again before the summer is over and I am preparing to dive into my final year of my BA? Who knows... I can try, but we'll see. I guess first I need to see if summer actually comes, time for the sunshine to come out!

Catching Up - Monday

Monday morning saw a great presentation on Fresh Expressions, which is a response to the changing times that allows parishes to ask themselves “how do we respond to change?” Everything is changing… changing times, changing relationships, and changing cultures… And how do we invite, bring, and make new people feel welcome? With more and more generations knowing less and less about faith how do we share with those who are just starting off the exploration of their spiritual journey? During the presentation I began to feel so excited about church! Just the possibilities, the conversations that can be had, and looking at the experience and “education” we can provide to people in the world just made me feel so excited and hopeful!

We also began our sexuality dialogue in small groups. We each had a chance to respond to the question, “What at this time would you like General Synod to affirm, request, and/or hope for the Anglican Church of Canada on the Blessing of Same Sex Unions?” (The question may not be exactly worded as was presented to us – but that is the just of it!)

The group I was in had an amazing facilitator who kept us to our three minute limit on sharing and helped all to feel comfortable and safe – these are very key components to the conversation at hand. There was also the general sense that we don’t have to agree… at this time especially we just really need to be engaging in the conversation and be open to the Holy Spirit to work through and within us.

I don’t want to go into too much discussion on this, but if you have questions just send me a message! I will share with you that I was super surprised to find out that the church has been in 34 years of conversation on this topic – 34 years! It causes me great pain to know that we are still talking about this, still have not acted either way, and still are keeping individuals and couples not knowing what the church is going to do. Thirty-four years… that is thirteen years more then I have been alive… thirty-four years… wow! We need to continue to commit to walk together and engage in discussion, and I really, really hope that this body gathered can come to some level of a resolution.

After our dialogues I went to my second Port of Call and chose to attend the one on Faith, Worship, Ministry on Theological Education. It was great to hear what is happening in terms of education for ordained ministry, what conversations are being engaged in, what changes might be being made, so on and so forth. There was a lot of talk about equipping our leaders to be ordained and put into a parish because the reality is that we can’t afford curacies any more… the post-graduate life does not end, there is a huge role of spiritual direction and mentorship which is very important.

The church is looking closely at a set of national standards for all persons being ordained – this I feel is very important. Someone made the comment that we are forming individuals to go into a church and we have no idea how the church is going to look… I think this is also reality. It was a great Port of Call - very informative.

The evening consisted of many, many resolutions. We looked at a resolution that had been defeated earlier in the week and was being presented again with some revisions. The conversation and debate that took place blew my mind… I have never experienced this side of the church before. It was fascinating but oh so crazy!

We ended the evening with a lovely service of light, which was the perfect way to end the long day. Relaxing, filled with lovely and soft music, and just relaxed me. It was great and reminded me of Evening Prayer during the summer at Sorrento Centre.

Catching Up - Sunday

Sunday, June 6 started with some direction on how we would be engaging in the sexuality discussions. The format seems like it has a possibility to be quite effective – which is an awesome feeling! We had our first round of “Port of Call” which is where we get to select where to go and learn more about - so I went to learn a bit more about Vision 2019 – have you watched the video yet?

After all this we grabbed our bagged lunches, and I headed over the check in with the Nominating Committee which followed with boarding the busses to go to Exhibition Park to celebrate with the diocese of Nova Scotia and PEI 300 years of continuous Anglican worship. Image that – 300 years, amazing. The Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior (APCI) has been here for ten years, we are just a baby – okay yes, the Diocese of Cariboo did exist for 87 years prior to its closing in 2001.

The 300-year anniversary service with the diocese of Nova Scotia and PEI was huge – it was massive. There were hundreds of people there - it was absolutely amazing! The service was three hours long and I must tell you that the liturgical dancing was top notch and done with much grace. It was wonderful to be alongside the diocese to celebrate in worship with them. Another really cool piece was that one of my friends, who I went to Ask and Imagine with, who is currently the youngest priest in the diocese did the closing blessing – it was great to see him again.

After this wonderful celebration we had the evening off. So, APCI and the diocese of Montreal who we are diocesan partners with, went to Salty’s for dinner. And what a wonderful evening we had together! It was great to get to know the delegation and have conversation with them. We laughed lots, enjoyed great food and wonderful company. And I may have very much enjoyed watching the three people around me eat their lobster - I don’t think I could do it!

I walked home with the youth delegate from Montreal and as I was commenting on how lovely the light rain was because it was actually fog and not “real rain” the clouds opened up and it poured – and I mean like poured!! Not sure what I did to deserve that… it only lasted a minute or so and was lovely!

It's about relationships!

Today we began with some awesome and totally fun interactive community building, get-to-know-you games! Yep - totally my thing!! We did an activity where we had to pass the ball in the same sequence within the group, then another ball was added, and then another! Then we had to use a metal ring with strings coming off it to balance and move a tennis ball to another table and back to our home table... that was a fun challenge! Then it continued use the metal ring, strings, elastic bands, and marker and without touching the marker write a word or short phrase the shares what virtue you want to take into the General Synod proceedings over the next few days. So much fun!

The Bishop from Jerusalem and his wife gave a great presentation. She talked a lot about

women's involvement in the church, the programs that are being initiated, and how that is all going. I was completely fascinated by it all! She said, "we want to erect bridges not walls... there are people behind the walls who are like ourselves" so, let us build some bridges! They

are beginning to engage in conferences and programs and women are being activated to reach their goals! How wonderful!

The youth had a great lunch with the Primate today, we shared a lot about our experiences of General Synod so far, our hopes and dreams, our struggles, and how we are feeling. We asked questions and provided answers. It was really wonderful to have the Primate spend that time with us and commit to us the time and encouragement to respond and speak as we are called to. Oh - and the youth led Johnny Appleseed for the grace this evening...

We heard some more about the Vision 2019 after lunch... watched the movie again!

(Seriously - go watch it... it is amazing! See link in previous post... let me know what you think of it!) The report and project are great... the conversation was once again wonderful.

We tackled a few governance pieces of work... this is a big thing for the Anglican Church of Canada right now. And our discussions around some of the resolutions was pretty deep and engaging at times. We need to begin to chart out new course... and much conversation and some hard decisions will need to be made.

After dinner we heard a great presentation from the Primates World Relief and Development Fund, actually I was part of it. The presentation shared the work that the PWRDF has been doing over the last 50 years - yep - it is the 50th Anniversary of the PWRDF! We saw fifty images from the work that has been doing in Canada and around the world which were so beautiful. My part was nice and simple, just reading a few sentences... by the way, Anglicans across Canada have contributed over $94,420,194... that is almost 94.5 million dollars to the work of the PWRDF! Amazing - yes!

Then directly following that presentation Judy Steers, youth initiatives staff person, gave the youth initiatives presentation. It was absolutely wonderful and reminded me once again why I am doing youth ministry today and also that yes, I am called to youth ministry today, in this place, at this time! Bits of the presentation also brought tears of joy and filled with memories

from my experiences at Generation 2008 and Ask and Imagine 2009. I learned so much at those events and went home so equipped to engage further in ministry and look at the questions before me. I'll quote Judy, "youth ministry is not youth group, it is what you do when you invite a young person to come along side you and work with you." Youth ministry is relationally based - it is all about the relationships!! Thank you Judy for all that you do!!

After those two wonderful presentations we went back to a few pieces of resolutions, governance and philanthropy then into Jazz Vespers and then I called it a night! No social for me today... I decided it would be smart to spend some time along getting a few things done!

General Synod begins!

Well... this is going to be rather brief as I am exhausted! It is a good exhaustion though... today was our first full day of General Synod and what fun it is!

Last night we had our Opening Service at the Cathedral which was just amazing, I love beginning things with worship. It's grounding, it reminds us of who we are and what we are doing and why we are doing it! Worship brings us together as the community gathered and pray, sing, hear scripture, and are fed. And they had these really awesome and amazing sails that each Ecclesiastical Province processed in after... they were lovely (pictures below!) The whole thing was just wonderful.

Today we jumped right in to resolutions and eventually made it to the resolutions from the Governance Working Group - this gave me my first experience of really having no idea how to vote, and observing much debate and conversation taking place. It was interesting and will continue to be.

Oh, wait! We got to do some awesome and amazing icebreakers and get to know you activities... It was great, but of course I think that... I do these things all time time! Handshakes, routines, switching name tags, don't stop talking... and on it went! So much fun...

We also heard the first presentation from the Vision 2019 group... this is the first part of their report. (It's a great report and you can find it at anglican.ca... but it is long!) The group began with an amazing video which you can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JacrWZxAhgE&feature=player_embedded The video introduces the 5 Marks of Mission which is a key component for us as we look forward into the next decade. Take a look at it, let me know what you think!

So yes, General Synod is happening and I'm enjoying it. It is tiring but so very interesting. Lots of laughter, lots of joy, and lots of memories! And the people I am meeting here are amazing... I'm enjoying conversation and meeting people from all over.

If you are interested in General Synod at all check out www.anglican.ca - you can even watch the proceedings live... check it out! (Hint: Look at the agenda and plan to watch the part that might be of great interest to you!!)

I am sure I could share more... but sleep is calling my name!

Sleepy Wednesday

So today, Wednesday, May 2nd, was a very sleepy and lazy day. I don't know if this is from the exhaustion from the last few days of touring Halifax or from the fact that people are beginning to arrive for General Synod and I know what is to come!

So, what does a lazy day look like for Melissa you wonder...? Well, I literally got up, went to breakfast, went back to my room to reply to some emails then went back to bed. Yes, I went back to bed! And I slept... in and out of consciousness, right through lunch! I know, crazy!! Finally at around 2pm I decided to physically get up and do something... a walk sounded great at this point!

I walked to the Atlantic School of Theology (AST) which is just down the street and enjoyed the silence, the birds, the sunshine, and the time outside by myself. AST seems to be quiet small butvery nice.

I investigated their library... but had to leave after thirty minutes as there were so many fascinating books and went into their chapel where I sat for a chunk of time and enjoyed the empty space and took advantage of the silence to pray and do some thinking.

It was great. The really cool thing about AST is that it is right on the ocean... just a small little piece of the ocean but it looks so peaceful

and lovely. Ah, I love nature - especially when it is quiet and I am alone!

After my time at AST I went back to St. Mary's to find that many, many people

had arrived... I found my registration package (that took at least thirty minutes because of the awesome conversations I got to have along the way!) and headed to dinner. The group from APCI had not arrived yet so there were very few familiar faces about and at this point I really just wanted to see a familiar face. Remember that I have been on my own for a few days at this point! Then I saw Bishop John from Diocese of Kootenay... so I had dinner with him and the Bishop of Saskatoon!

I spent the rest of the evening with a few of the youth that I had met before, found most of the APCI group - yahoo... I'm not alone anymore!!

Tomorrow starts my adventure with General Synod... I have nominating committee at 10:00am, orientation in the afternoon, and then at some point we have out opening servic

e! I don't know what else will be happening tomorrow... but I'm sure it will be a different pace then the last few days!

Please pray for us all as we meet together!

(Hey - doesn't that look like a BC train??)

Halifax History...

Yesterday was a very grey day... I started it off by going to visit St. Paul's Anglican Church... it is the oldest Protestant place of worship in Canada and opened in 1950. It was lovely, I'm so glad I got to visit it before the members of General Synod all go there for one of our services. The church is filled with tons of history, actually, Halifax seems to be filled with lots and lots of history!

St. Paul's is also the birthplace of Sunday School in Canada... imagine that! Underneath the floor of the church many early worshipers are buried, including Charles Inglis who was the first Anglican Bishop of Nova Scotia.

One of the windows is said to have the apparent profiled in it of Rev. Jean-Baptiste Moreau who was an assistant at the parish during the time of the Halifax Explosion on December 6, 1917. After the explosion their vestry was used as an emergency hospital.

There is a lot of detail in the church and lots of fascinating things to read and see. There is even a pew reserved for the Queen herself! I spent an hour in the church looking at it all and talking with the lovely Parish Administrator.

After my tour of the church I went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and had a great three hours soaking up all the history. I was most interested in the information on the Halifax Explosion and the Titanic. I have always been interested in the two events but now more then ever I look to learn more. Both sections of the museum brought tears to my eyes as I read and listened to the stories of what people went through.

The pictures to the left is of a deck chair from the Titanic that was picked up by a rescue boat as they picked up dead bodies... the only one. The other Titanic story that caught my attention was that of the unknown body and how the sailors who picked up the child also paid for his burial and service... it was the only child recovered from the water and his burial was also in remembrance of all the children who were lost in that tragedy.

Everything about the Halifax Explosion amazed me... the stories, the pain, the sequence of events, the aftermath, the recovery. I want to know more... I just can't imagine being there. My great, great, great aunt two years ago told me about what it was like being in Halifax during the Explosion, I didn't make a major connection to how amazing it is that she survived. Needless to say, I'm hoping that she still can remember enough to share more stories with me. Has this been recored? I'm not sure... but I do hope to find out!

The other really cool piece of the Museum is their latest crew member... Merlin - a Rainbow Macaw!! He is so cute and colourful! Don't you just love him?

So yes, that was pretty much the events of my Tuesday... the rest of the day was very rainy - actually I don't think it stopped raining!! I even had to taxi back to St. Mary's... that is how rainy it was! But, it was a great day filled with lots of history!

Kilts... bagpipes... Halifax Citadel

Today's main adventure was to the Halifax Citadel. (You can see a picture that I took from google!) The Halifax Citadel was a "principal navel station in the British Empire and was very important to Canada's development and evolution from colony to nation." (Google it if you want more information!) It was a very windy day today up until dinner time but slightly freezing/blowing away was so worth it to spend a chunk of the day at the Citadel!

There was so much history to be explored, lots of men dressed up in the uniform of the day, the changing of the guard, and bagpipes were playing! There were also men engaging in their first day of drill training which was fun to watch!

The group learning the drill routines will actually be part of competitions (if that is the correct terminology!) and even though this is all an "act" or "play" the people working

there actually get ranked according to the training they go through. So when you are at the Citadel it is like really being there in the time (except that it is 2010!).

The guards actually stand on guard for an hour before they get a two hour "break". And for the most part they stand perfectly

still - even as people stand next to them to get their picture taken and whatnot. I got to watch the changing of the guard which was really cool. The picture to the right is of two guards changing positions. The guy in the background is the one shouting orders to them... it is all done very well and is very intriguing.

Are you wondering what they men think of wearing a kilt for their job? Well they actually like it! One guy told us that it is the perfect summer wear... so there you go! And actually even in history when the decision was made that they would start wearing pants a whole pile of the gu

ys at the time protested and left... they liked their kilts! Why did the forces eventually transfer over to wearing pants? Well - all because of the barbed wire fences they had to go over!

There was lots to see and much to do there, everything from a walk through army history, a visit to the old schoolhouse, to walking along the wall. We also saw/heard the canon go off... it still goes off every day at noon... every single day! We went in one of the walls behind the main

wall to discover that it was very dark and quite scary (yep, I didn't walk down it!!) but right by the doorway was a small window that the guards would look out of.. and a bird had taken of the space. No bird was there when I looked through the small window, but just a nest with a single egg... I do hope the mother and/or father come back... can you see the poor little egg there?

Once we were done at the Citadel Matt, Jenn, and I went for lunch (they are the last two here from Youth Council and leave tomorrow) and then we walked around and looked at some of the shops. I've been doing very well with figuring things out with my map... people are very nice in Halifax and the cars always stop for pedestrians... amazing I know!! The one things that messes me up from time to time is that there won't be streets names a

t certain places... I kind of expect them to be there when I reach a four way stop... that can get me turned around and briefly panicked - but it's all good!

One last picture... (why so many pictures? The kids like pictures the best!!) a huge ship coming into the harbour... yes, those seem to be like the boxes that our trains carry in British Columbia... but on a huge ship! (I know - they have many modes of transportation!) But I thought it was pretty cool!

Sunday - New Church Experience

I had full plans to write last night... but ended up taking a nap around 7pm which ended up with me getting up at midnight to put on pajamas then heading back to bed. Yes, I was tired!

So I woke up on Sunday to the view of fog... lots and lots of fog. By the time I got down to the dining room for breakfast the rain was coming down hard and fast. We then got ready for church (three other member of PWRDF Youth Council were still staying in the residence) and headed outside. The rain had slowed down but was still dripping down from the sky. You need to know at this point that I definitely did not pack my rain coat... why you ask? Well, no one told me to - I know, I'm going to a strange city for seventeen days and you think that I am expecting only nice weather... of course I am! Isn't it spring in Halifax? Oh - Spring means rain? Right, I forgot about that. And I should have made the connection between being on the coast and rain? Right, well that was the last think I was thinking about!

Anyway, we made it halfway to church then it started to poor again so we got in a cab!

(Thank goodness!) We ended up early to church, which was fine - we sat and listened to the choir then morning prayer started. The service itself began at 10:30am, it was a great service... my first BCP service so it was new and interesting. I don't think that I would ever decide to always attend a BCP service, but it was a great experience. There were definitely a few things that surprised me, a few times I had no idea what was going on. And the number of children and young families who were there absolutely amazed me! I don't think I have actually ever been to a parish with that many children present at the Eucharist service! The church is also round - I know, cool hey?

We headed back to residence to get changed then Beth and I went down to the water in hopes to go on the pirate tour... but we were informed that because of the rain the tour was not running but the Harbour Hopper still was going. So we took our chances and went on the Harbour Hopper... the exact thing we laughed at all day each time it went by us the day before! The Harbour Hopper is an amphibious vehicle that was built in the early 1960's for military purposes and has now been transformed into a tour bus/boat. Yep, you read that correctly! We got on the Harbour Hopper and it drove us through the downtown streets of Halifax and we got to learn a lot of really cool history then it drove into the ocean, turned into a boat, and we learned about the harbour! It was great... a bit crazy... but great!

After that we had lunch... I said goodbye to Beth who was heading back to Ottawa... and I toured around a bit more, and started on my way home. I wouldn't say I got lost, but I also wouldn't say I totally knew where I was headed. Eventually I looked up, saw the tall residence building I was staying in, and headed in that direction - and eventually recognized a few streets and landmarks (meditation house, odd shaped shrub-like thing!) and got back to St. Mary's!! Then I ended up laying down and sleeping, and sleeping some more!

Ocean!!

Today has felt like two days! We spent from 9am - 2pm in the final stretch of the PWRDF Youth Council Meetings. Once again, productive - but sad to say goodbye to everyone at the end of our closing Eucharist. Our closing Eucharist was at the Cathedral... I love seeing the churches in other places - it was big, nice, some lovely pictures, red chairs... yeah, no pews... and some great detail in some pieces of art.

Oh - and everyone who was in the accident yesterday evening are fine. Once case of whip lash and much soreness due to previous injuries, but otherwise everyone is doing great!

So, we said goodbye to the group and thankfully (for me) three others were not leaving yet, so it means I am not all alone for four days!. So we toured Halifax, and walked around, and around, and around. Literally - and because we had to do that to get to the next piece of our journey not because we were lost. Oh, I am so glad I am will people who have a pretty good sense of direction! It was good - I am so exhausted and I can't believe how much touring we did along with our meetings this morning! (Hence the feeling like two days!)

We saw a lot of the ocean as we walked along the boardwalk a few times - yes, I saw the ocean... even a bit of ocean without land directly across! Yep, I was excited - super excited. Many really cool buildings - a purple house... it was amazing... and a number of neat doors. We

went into a few breweries, ate some great food, saw some more neat sites, and walked and walk

ed and walked.

Really, we walked all about from about 3pm to 11:30pm... it was great. But I am tired, and my feet are even more tired - which is good I think. Plans for the next few days... well tomorrow starts with church at St. George's (a friend of mine goes there), the church is in a circular shape - so that should be neat! And there is much talk about a sailing tour of something to do with pirates - if it happens I shall report more later!

Meeting One Almost Done

Well, I am hoping for an earlier night tonight… slowly transitioning to the new time zone – I really don’t enjoy time change… definitely not my favorite thing… the transition period can be painful at moments! Like this morning, the sun came through my window at 6:00am – but I hadn’t changed my watch yet so when I looked at the time it said 2:00am, oops!

The PWRDF Youth Council had a very productive day today – our goal was to get some concrete work done on our Mission Statement… then we started calling it a Vision… then we called it Statement Work. Yes, we went through many different titles for our work but eventually (and most importantly) the work got done and we now have a fabulous draft!

Most of today has been spent inside the brick walls of St. Mary's... so we all enjoyed our walk to dinner at a restaurant on the ocean. Unfortunately on our way back to St. Mary’s University from dinner part of our group was in a car accident and are still at the hospital getting checked out. So, that is really too bad - but thankfully we have been told that everyone seems to be fine.. you know how the standard visit to the hospital goes after an accident!

Tomorrow is our last day together which amazes me - and it feels like we just gathered together. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I missed the meeting on Thursday evening. We have more work to do together tomorrow and then we will have a closing Eucharist service a the Cathedral (yahoo!!).

The weather is not the best right now... I think the wind may have followed me across the country. But the plants are all very green which is great! I'm hoping for some nice spring weather at some point though!

Another Journey Begins...

I know… one year later and I am finally approaching this blog again. There seems to be a pattern of writing in the spring while I am at church type gatherings. Yep – you guessed it… I am off again! Where? This time Halifax. I left Savona this morning at 4:15am to catch the 6:00am flight from Kamloops and arrived in Halifax by 8:00pm… (4:00pm PST.) Of course I didn’t get to St. Mary’s University until after 9pm…

I was reminded over the last few days how much I really don’t enjoy packing – and this time packing for seventeen whole days added to the lack of enjoyment. Packing – yes it means I get to go away… but it also means that I have to be organized enough to do all that packing… and ironing… and more packing. And it also means that I am extremely far away from my family for quite some time… which when I am packing is never a great thought!

Going away also means preparing to go away – planning for my absence, which is very doable and has been done but I forgot how much work it truly is. But through this process this time around I was reminded about how when you have a huge “to-do” list to tackle before you leave, you sometimes you just need to stop… take a break. Tuesday night in the midst of packing and preparing to leave I paused my work and went out and walked the labyrinth – which was lovely. And yesterday as I sat in the office contemplating not attending worship so I’d have an extra hour of time I realized that was a bad choice… and worship was just what I needed.

So – I remind and encourage you to all find the moments when you need to take an hour or so for yourself! And take that time… it is so worth it – and the rest of the work will go much smoother after you take the time.

So yes, Halifax. Why? Well, I have PWRDF Youth Council Thursday, May 27^th – Saturday, May 29^th; then I have a break from Sunday, May 30^th – Wednesday, June 2^nd (yes, some time to wander around Halifax!); then General Synod from Thursday, June 3^rd – Friday, June 11^th… then I fly home on Saturday, June 12^th – and then I will sleep!!

What is PWRDF? – Primates World Relief and Development Fund – I’m the BC and Yukon Representative for the Youth Council. Check out – www.pwrdf.org

What is General Synod? – The Anglican Church of Canada’s national meeting that takes place every three years with delegates from each diocese across the country. So, I am the youth representative for the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior. More about General Synod at www.anglican.ca/gs2010

I’m super excited to be attending General Synod and also excited to be going to Halifax, and it will be great to gather with the PWRDF group again. I will try to share some of my experiences every day or so… I make no promises other then that I will try!

Now bed… or should be in bed… gotta love time change!

Ask and Imagine - Days 8-10

Our first day back from our Pilgrimage was spent planning our presentations. The presentations were done by each Pilgrimage group, they were forty minutes long, and were about some theme or a lesson (hospitality, community, ect...). They weren't necessarily about our Pilgrimage experience but about what we learned there about one topic.

My groups topic title was: "Becoming Human - Exploring God's Call Through Community." Communities recognize our gifts and help us to learn those gifts and also our limitations. We used a quote from Jean Vanier for some of our discussion, "Deeper down, it's always to find your desire; what do you want to do with your life?" When we explore call through community we need to allow our heart to be touched, not only touching the hearts of others. We look and see others living out their vocation and experience how it affects and touches our life. We explored Matthew 9:9-13 where Jesus, walking along, saw Matthew who was sitting at the tax booth and called to him, "Follow me." Matthew then got up and followed. What might Matthew had been thinking and feeling? His life changed direction; this choice probably surprised many people around him. Sometimes going to that new place, taking that step and chance, being open to changing directions when we are called is us taking our gifts, gifts that we may not had known we had, to that new place. That place where we are called to be. 

A story which helped spark our topic and discussion. Jean Vanier (one of the founders of L'Arche) was at Daybreak for a retreat and each of the core members was given an opportunity to sit with Jean and ask a question. A woman by the name of Thelus asked him, "Why do people (assistants) leave, Jean? We open our homes and our hearts and then they leave. I don't like it when they leave, why can't they just stay?" Jean's answer was, "Thelus, this is your life. It is your mission to teach them and form them. To teach them to love themselves and go into the world and share that love. You touch their hearts. That was Thelus' calling, that is what she was called to do at that time and in that place. And it wouldn't surprise me if she touched and formed many lives. 

Our presentation went well and it was nice to hear and see everyone else's presentations and experiences. Our time at L'Arche really opened us up to many insights. We learned about them and learned about ourselves. After presentations were over I was able to meet up with Jay Koyle who was at Sorrento Centre last summer and who will be back again this summer. It was great to catch up on life (even just for the short bit of time) and share bits of my Ask and Imagine experience. And it is always great to visit people in their "territory"! :o) 

The next day was our Silent Retreat Day. It was nice to sit, think, pray, and reflect. We started with some intentional silent reflection time. Some did creative art and some of us, myself included, did Spiritual Journalling. Starting with the statement "You are here..." I wrote

many pages and just kept writing. It was a very interesting and reflective activity.

We then ventured to a nearby Labyrinth, it was a great way to end our morning of silent reflection (yeah, it wasn't a full day). The Labyrinth is a place for walking, prayer, meditation and relaxation. It is not a maze, there is one entrance and one path to the center and back again. Each step that is taken within the Labyrinth is an intentional step; a step in our journey. I really enjoyed walking the Labyrinth, there was a nice breeze, wonderful silence, and as much time as we needed to take. We each walked the Labyrinth in our own unique way, in our own pace; stopping when we felt the need and continuing on when it was time. When we all got to the center of the Labyrinth we celebrated the Eucharist together then had a picnic lunch. The plan after that was to head back to the university for some small group discussion but we ended up all laying on the grass. Reflecting together, visiting, sharing stories, laughing, listening and wondering. It truly was great, a moment that could not have been planned or organized. We ended up with the rest of our afternoon and evening moved around but it was all worth it! 

I was able to catch just over an hour of time to myself in the Huron Chapel. It was really nice to sit, reflect, journal and pray. It was time that was a benefit to my experience and probably helped prepare me for leaving and getting back into the routine at camp. There is something about taking that time for myself, to allow my thinking and prayers to go where they truly desire to go. And to be in that place of safety and allow for exploration and reflection to take place. 

Our program director prepared a slide show for us, our evening ended with us all sharing tears as we looked at the pictures of everything we had done together over the week. All the challenges and experiences. After packing and a last night of visiting we all went to bed. 

Monday morning we got up and started cleaning up our living spaces. After a closing liturgy (yep, some more tears!) most of us got in the "taxi van" to head to Toronto to catch our planes home. It was hard to leave the group, hard to say goodbye. We all shared ten days of our life together; ten days of lots of learning, conversation, fun and exploration. We contemplated the option of all just not leaving and staying there for the rest of the summer, but life at home and work called us back. I had two and a half hours from the time I got to the airport to when I needed to be at the airport to get through security and board the plane. And in that time I was able to meet up with +Gordon and Barbara who generously took me on a tour of part of Toronto. I was able to see different parts of the city; the church Barbara is at (it's beautiful!), some of the universities, the lake, and lots more. And most importantly I was able to have a great visit, to catch up and share. 

I learned lots at Ask and Imagine, I think I will be processing the experience for a fair bit longer. It was a lot to take in, experience, and reflect on in what was really a short period of time; and it was amazing. I learned things about myself, community, choices, vocation, journey, taking chances, learning, taking time, and just being myself. 

Below is a picture of a quote from Frederick Buechner, this quote was on my way to my room. Every time I ventured to my room I walked by this quote. 

Ask and Imagine Pilgrimage Days 5-7

The Pilgrimage was amazing, absolutely amazing! We left early Wednesday morning for Canterbury Hills where we spent the day doing high ropes. I am not a huge fan of being up in the air or up amongst the trees for that matter, so when I started thinking about not having my feet on the ground (as gravity would like to have it) it was a period of fear and excitement all at the same time. Our first task was learning how to tie the knots, and what a task that was. Primate Fred Hiltz and I seemed to have the same issue, tying that knot correctly seemed not to be as easy as it was supposed to be. After much repeating, much coaching, and re-doing it a few times, it was tied - and mine wasn't coming off until the day was done!!

The courses started with the task of climbing the tree, they had put what looked like large staples into in the trunk of the tree. I climbed up a ladder then started my way up the 

trunk, then I just went higher and higher and higher. The first course I did had three wires, one for my feet and two for my hands. It wasn't terribly difficult and I was able to make it a

cross, and that was when I decided that I really liked being up in the air, up amongst the trees. A new view, a new challenge, a new experience - it was amazing, tons of fun! The hardest part I think was getting down, leaning back and allowing myself to let go, trusting that those below weren't going to let me drop down at an excessive speed. 

The second course I did was much higher and much more difficult then the first one. 

When I got up the tree I got myself on to a wooden plank, which I assumed would

not be slanted, but I soon found that it was slanted and I all of a sudden had to work to keep myself on it. The course consisted of wooden planks that were held up by rope, which I had to walk on to get to the other tree. Getting from the wooden plank on the tree to the "floating" wooden plank involved a bit of a leap. And since the wooden plank was slanted I didn't have a long 

time to prepare myself for the leap. Eventually it was a "just leap" moment, that or I would end up falling. Getting across the course was tons of fun, also very scary and there were moments of wondering whether I would complete the course or if I would end up throwing up from the tops of the trees. The course also required a lot of upper body strength, something that I don't seem to have a lot of. But, there was a huge sense of achievement when I finished the course and slowly began my way down to the dirt of the earth where gravity tried its best to keep me firmly on the ground. 

After High Ropes we had a wonderful dinner together and then took off for our 

Pilgrimage destination. I spent the next two days at the L'Arche Daybreak community and I don't think that words can even explain the experience I had. It truly was amazing, filled with learning, wonder, joy, experience, and so much more. 

L'Arche is an intentional community of people with developmental disabilities and assistants who live and work with them, creating home together. Being part of the community for the short period of time I was there opened my eyes to a way of learning and living that amazed me. I love being part of community and being at L'Arche showed me what community can really be. It was a community where everyone supports one another, where the achievements are celebrated (big and small), and where everyone is always ready to lend a helping hand; it was really touching.  I started my journey to L'Arche totally not knowing what to expect, not knowing what I would be doing, who I would meeting and not prepared for the extent that it would affect me. 

We spent our first day at L'Arche in the woodworking building. The core members we worked with were setting pieces of wood together then I would put an elastic band around them and stacked them up. It was a simple task and because we were in the woodworking shop we had to have earphones on so we couldn't have conversation. But the smiles I received and gave each told a story. They told a story of wonder, enjoyment, thankfulness for the company, and excitement. I have never received so many smiles that were so deeply filled with love and beauty. The work was also very meditative, repeating the same motion so many times allowed, at times, for my thinking to take over. The motions became continuous, and it was wonderful. 

After a full day working in the woodworking building I went to one of the homes for the remainder of the afternoon and for dinner. It was in that home, the "red house" that I began to understand what took place. The assistants and core members all worked together. They shared the work, the joy and the pain. We colored, prayed, ate, enjoyed company, conversed, and learned from each other. When it was time for me to leave one of the older core members said to me, "this is your home - you are welcome here. And you can call me your big brother." He then grabbed my hand, kissed it, and told me never to wash it. It amazed me how quickly trust had been gained, from such a short period of time. It was truly touching and rather overwhelming, being accepted into a home so quickly. 

Our last day at L'Arche was spent cleaning out a garage for one of the houses, it was one of the tasks that the assistants had just not had the time to get to. And we had

a huge amount of fun with it, it was filled with excitement and lots of laughter. Never, has cleaning out a garage been so much fun. We found a bag of pictures which to us symbolized someone's life, and it turned out that it was pictures of our program director's children and different parts of her life. She had spent six years in the L'Arche community. It was great! We then had lunch, where the same guy from the Red House was, he remembered me saying, "I know you!" then calling me Blue Girl for the rest of the day. (I had a blue sweater on.) After lunch we helped clean the craft center out, the work they do there in painting, claymaking and candling amazed me.

Far too soon it was time to leave the L'Arche community and begin our journey back to Huron. It was hard to leave, I felt that I could have stayed there for a few more days, experiencing and being a part of the amazing community. It is a place that I could see myself spending time at for and extended period of time, but also something I don't really see myself doing when it comes to reality at this time. Nevertheless, the short period of time I was there has affected my life greatly.