Church of the Ascension

Archives for September 2021

Resources for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

A Special Story at Home for September 30th
Orange Shirt Day & the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

We Are Still Here
A Responsive Litany

This litany was developed by the Primate’s Commission on the Doctrine of Discovery, Justice and Reconciliation and was affirmed at Walpole Island First Nation in April 2018. It is written to be spoken by two voices, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, and speaks to the pain of our shared history and the hope for a better future together.

Read the litany here.

Learn, Pray, & Commit

Remember Me: A National Day of Remembrance

Join a national gathering to remember Indigenous children & families affected by the Indian Residential Schools and all Indigenous child apprehension programs, presented by the Indigenous Arts Collective of Canada.

10am-12pm – Opening Ceremony on Parliament Hill and live-streamed on YouTube

12pm – Indigenous Women Led Walk to Confederate Park

12-5pm – Ceremony, Music, Presentations at Confederate Park

Details here: http://remember-me-september-30.org

Every Child Matters

Watch (or rewatch) the service of prayers and reflections offered by Anglican Elders: Grace Will Lead Them Home.

Explore the Reconciliation Toolkit

From the Anglican Church of Canada website: For more than three decades, the Anglican Church of Canada has been on a journey of listening, truth-telling, repentance and healing with Indigenous Peoples, both within and outside the church. There is an urgent need for further healing and justice-seeking across the land, and we all have a role to play.

Explore resources for learning, building relationships, and engaging in the work of reconciliation: Reconciliation Toolkit

Rev. Hilary Murray, speaking at the interfaith vigil for the children buried in unmarked graves

The Long Road to Reconciliation

Watch this conversation with Norm Wesley and Rosalyn Kantlaht’ant Elm, Indigenous leaders in our church, as they help show us the way towards a reconciliation that is costly but filled with hope.

S2E4 Pew and Beyond: The Long Road to Reconciliation

Something to Pray

Holy God, we do not always understand your word or your ways. 
Give us wisdom and imagination and courage as we learn and grow. 

The story this week has made me wonder about…
         (what questions are still on your heart?)
Receive my questions and help me hear your answers.

The story this week has filled me with…
         (how are you feeling?)
Accept my praise, heal my hurt, ease my worry.

The story this week has reminded me of…
         (are there situations or people you are thinking of?)
Be with all who are in need of you.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.

Surprised by the Spirit – Oct 7 & 20

Join Anglicans around the country in reflecting on what has surprised us over the past year and a half. Some of those surprises have been cause for grief and some for celebration – all offer an opportunity to listen deeply to the Spirit.

Learn more about the project at spark.anglican.ca

Rhonda is hosting two Surprised by the Spirit conversations in October. Contact her to join one or to learn how to host your own conversation.

  • Thursday, October 7th, 7:30-9pm
  • Wednesday, October 20th, 11:30-1:00pm

Why we’re not live streaming or recording on-site services at Ascension

Over the summer, the Post-Pandemic Planning Committee, Worship Committee, Parish Council and members of the community worked to discern how we might gather as a community as the pandemic eased. We noted our concern for those left behind by Zoom and those who would be left behind without it. While there has been considerable buzz around streamed and recorded services, evidence suggests that such an approach is inconsistent with the needs of our community and our desire to be inclusive. 

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
ZOOM
Relational and Participatory
Photo by Kevin Gonzalez on Unsplash
Recorded/Live Streamed
Can Feel Like Watching Others Worship

Thus starting September 12, 2021 some parishioners continue to worship online via Zoom, and others worship at the church building. If you are curious about what contributed to this design, or have more questions, read on! 

  1. Zoom services fulfill a different pastoral need to to live streamed or recorded services. People, including those identified as likely to be potentially left behind by a return to in-person worship, told us they valued the relational and participatory elements of a Zoom-only service, including the opportunity to offer their own gifts and the number of people included in creating the worship experience. 
  2. Members of our community have raised concerns about how recording or live streaming would affect their meaningful participation on-site, including from parents, and targets of harassment. 
  3. Relatively few youth and young adults participated in Zoom services. Research suggests people this age are often looking for less surveilled spaces. [1-3]
  4. Those familiar with the sound and technology systems identified the need for a new rota of at least four volunteers to live stream or record. Some current audio-visual volunteers have indicated their reluctance to volunteer for streaming or video recording tasks. 
  5. Financial costs to enable live streaming or recording ranged from $3,000-5,000.

Isn’t this a lot of extra work for staff? 

Most Anglican parishes offer two services with parishioners typically attending a given service, but adjusting as scheduling or their needs change. So, this two congregation model is quite common.

What will happen to Zoom? 

In the near future, Zoom and in-person services will remain quite similar, both offering a full service of the Word, music, and coffee hour. As the congregation worshiping on Zoom changes, the service might adapt. If you identify as someone for whom Zoom is likely to be your main service post-pandemic, and would like to help shape that future, the worship committee welcomes your input. 

Isn’t this a lot of fuss when everything in my life is online anyway? 

Both academic research and the lived experience of community members suggest that offering a service which is neither recorded nor streamed is desirable for many. Even if your lived experience means you do not have reason to be more cautious, more privacy-awareness in our community can help create safe spaces for everyone to explore and express their faith, be vulnerable, and grow. 

References: 

[1] V. Steeves and J. Bailey, “Submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on The Right to Privacy Toward a Better Understanding of Privacy: Children’s Right to Privacy and Autonomy,” 2021. Accessed: Aug. 25, 2021. [Online]. Available: http://www.equalityproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Childrens-Right-to-Privacy-UN-Submission.pdf 

[2] J. Bailey, “Online reputation, privacy and young people: Lessons from Canadian research (Invited submission to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics),” Ottawa, Ontario, Sep. 2017. Accessed: Aug. 25, 2021. [Online]. Available: http://www.equalityproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Online-Reputation-Privacy-and-Young-People-Lessons-from-Canadian-Research.pdf

[3] J. Bailey and V. Steeves, “Online Reputation, Privacy and Young People: Lessons from Canadian Research (Paper submitted to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in response to its Consultation and Call for Essays on Online Reputation.),” Apr. 2016. Accessed: Aug. 25, 2021. [Online]. Available: http://www.equalityproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/01-Bailey-Steeves-Online-Reputation-Submission-FINAL-April-27-2016.pdf 

Salt and Collaboration

The Story for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
in the Season of Creation
Sept 26, 2021

Mark 9:38-50

John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” 

Something to Do

Join the Movement

Jesus teaches his disciples that the work is what counts. There is a global movement for climate justice, including people of all different faiths and cultures, led by young people seeking meaningful change and accountability from leaders. Join them this Friday, Sept 24, at 1pm in Confederation Park.

Fridays for Future Canada

Fridays for Future Ottawa (Facebook page)

Enjoy a salty treat

Salt is a precious resource, necessary for life and a valuable preservative and cleansing agent. It is also delicious.

Treat yourself to a salty snack this week – perhaps after participating in Friday’s march!

Something to Wonder

What causes you to stumble?

Things and people external to us can cause us to stumble and lose sight of the call of Jesus to work for (work in) the kingdom of God. Things internal to us – our own hands and feet and eyes – can cause us to stumble.

What makes you stumble? What distracts you from the call of Jesus in your life? How can you “cut it off” so that is no longer comes between you and the presence of God?

The saltiness of salt

Salt, without additives, does not lose its salty flavour. Maybe the salt Jesus had in mind was not pure and so could change flavour or maybe salt’s inability to lose its saltiness is central to Jesus’ point. Maybe Jesus is telling us to embrace our essential nature in order to fully engage in his ministry.

What is your saltiness? What is the saltiness of the people you love? What might be the saltiness of the people you find challenging? Can you be at peace with all that saltiness?

Something to Learn

Interfaith Dialogue

As the Anglican Church of Canada website says:

Canada is an increasingly pluralistic country, and more and more Canadians are living, working, and socializing side by side with people of other religious traditions. For Christians, there is a growing need not just for dialogue with people of other faiths, but for genuine relationships with them. Increased awareness of religious plurality, the potential role of religion in conflict, and the growing place of religion in public life all present urgent challenges that require greater understanding and cooperation among people of diverse faiths.

Explore some of the avenues for this work.

A Common Word – A Canadian resource hub for promoting Christian Muslim dialogue 

Canadian Interfaith Conversation

Canadian Council of Churches: Christian Interfaith Reference Group

Something to Pray

Holy God, we do not always understand your word or your ways. 
Give us wisdom and imagination and courage as we learn and grow. 

The story this week has made me wonder about…
         (what questions are still on your heart?)
Receive my questions and help me hear your answers.

The story this week has filled me with…
         (how are you feeling?)
Accept my praise, heal my hurt, ease my worry.

The story this week has reminded me of…
         (are there situations or people you are thinking of?)
Be with all who are in need of you.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.