Bridgehead Blog Post

This past week has been spent enjoying some time away from the parish, away from Vancouver all the way back in Ottawa. Of course I have taken time away from my work to catch up with family and friends, but in doing so I have found a few interesting things that I will bring back to my ministry with St Philip's. I thought it would be a good idea on my last day here to stop and write a few of them down while enjoying a warm fair trade beverage at my favourite Ottawa coffee shop. It is called Bridgehead and it is lovely. I have not yet found a Dunbar replacement (more due to an over abundance of good coffee options than anything else).
First of all, last Sunday I had the opportunity to lead a discussion with the Ukrainian Catholic junior youth with whom I used to work. We used a resource produced by a Mennonite youth pastor in Winnipeg for the buy nothing Christmas initiative. The idea behind a buy nothing Christmas is to intentionally evaluate whether the consumption and commercialism that have become associated with Christmas are actually the best ways to celebrate what we as people of faith value about this season. The resource takes youth through three sessions on this theme. Each one includes a Bible passage, a written reflection by the author, discussion questions  and suggestions for actions the youth can take in their daily lives that connect to the theme. The resource is intended for high school aged youth which really showed in my discussion with the younger junior youth who needed a bit more help to understand some of the questions. Nonetheless we had a fruitful discussion about what the dominant secular culture values about Christmas and how this intersects with our own values as Christians.
As we question consumerism in the culture around us, I believe it is important not to throw the God-baby out with the plastic manger full of toxic, fake hay made in a sweatshop (so to speak). People in our culture engage in this consumerism out of a desire to express their love and care for family, friends and strangers. This love is an important part of what we celebrate in the incarnation as Christians; it is a divine love for all people that we see in God's choice to become incarnate as a fragile infant born to a young, poor, unwed couple. Whether this consumerism is actually the most appropriate way to celebrate this or not, neither is condemning those around us. As usual it is the challenge of seeing how our culture intersects with the Gospel and how the Gospel calls us to question it. This resource is great at helping youth to do this and I will get to use it again with the youth at St Philip's on December 16th. If you would like to see it, it is available for free on the buy nothing Christmas website at www.buynothingchristmas.org
Another lucky find from this trip is brought to you by the Anglican Church of Canada's liturgy for the Ordination of Priests. Last night I got to attend the priestly ordination of four of my friends and colleagues from the Diocese of Ottawa. While listening dutifully to the Bishop read the examination of the ordinands, I was struck by the following sentence: "You are to love and serve the people among whom you work, caring alike for the young and old, strong and weak, rich and poor." All priests are called to ministry with people of all ages. Way to go liturgy! Isn't it great when our worship says what we believe? I was pretty happy to be a part of this Church just then.
Well, my cocoa chai latte is all gone and I am ready to head back out into the -12 degree cold on my way to my next appointment. I am looking forward to heading back to Vancouver a little more rested and a little more resourced and to trade in my winter coat for my rain coat once again.