A Word from the Rector

Dear Beloved People of St.Mary’s,

Some of you will perhaps recognize the figure of the man in civilian dress standing  to the right of centre of a group of uniformed British Army chaplains. It is C.S. Lewis, celebrated author of children’s stories, and most celebrated Anglican lay theologian of the 20th century.

In a lecture he gave to his students at Oxford University during World War II, Lewis said, “The war creates no absolutely new situation, it simply aggravates the permanent human  situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men has postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun. We are mistaken when we compare thewar with “normal life.” Life has never been normal.”

Replace “the war” with “the corona-virus” and you have some sobering words for us to take to heart in the midst of what we regard as an abnormal situation and our longing for and our wondering how long  before things return to normal…As far as our calling as Christians is concerned, nothing has changed. We must go about our business.

                                     “My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” 
                                     Your face, Lord, I will seek. (Psalm 27:9.)

On a practical front, please note the following:

  1. Public services of worship at St. Mary’s have been suspended until further notice.
  2. A phoning committee has been struck and will be contacting you to touch base either today or tomorrow.
  3. I have prepared an order of service for Morning Prayer with Sermon which I will be sending out tomorrow. I encourage you all to  create a beautiful space and read and pray through the service at home, knowing that though “spacially-distanced” from another, we have communion with Christ and with one another through  His Word and Holy Spirit.
  4. Pending the resolution of some technical issues, I may be able “live stream” the service on the St. Mary’s U-Tube channel on Sunday morning.
  5. I will be checking messages on the office answering machine at 306-522-6052 daily. Please call me at home for emergencies.
  6. You may also call Janice K, Churchwarden.

With love and prayer.
Yours faithfully,

Claude +