A couple of weekends ago, the same weekend as the Spring Fling, I had the pleasure of attending the synod of the Diocese of New Westminster (of which we are a part). The first one in person since Covid. Synod is just another word for “meeting”, and in our diocese, clergy and lay delegates from over 60 parishes and ministries from Hope to Powell River, from Squamish to White Rock, gather every two years to do the business of the Church in this area. 

It was an exciting and inspiring place to be. For two days there was worship, motions, presentations, meals, and fellowship.  St. John’s even made an appearance on the big screen in the form of a short video clip, as I shared about how we used the Climate Emergency Grant through the Diocese to upgrade our toilets. I became the “following Jesus one flush at a time” guy for the rest of Synod!

Some of the highlights of the weekend for me was learning about some of the incredible work and ministry that happens in this diocese: an Anglican chaplain at VGH, the Mission to Seafarers at the Port of Vancouver, Street Outreach on the Downtown East side, food ministries all over the Lower Mainland, and more. I hope that I and Erica Northcott (our lay synod delegate), will be able to share further in the coming weeks of what took place there, to inspire us and to help us remember that we are part of something much, much bigger than just ourselves here in Squamish.  

My ecclesiology (a fancy word for what we say the Church is and for) is a mushroom ecclesiology. Let me explain - when you are walking through a forest and see a little mushroom on the ground, and then another on the other side of the clearing, and another a few kilometres down the path, it is possible that those all might be the same mushroom, connected by a great underground network called a mycelium. 

And so, as I share about what is happening all over this diocese, let us imagine that this is not someone else doing this, that this is not only being done on our behalf, but that this is being done by us. Let us imagine each of our churches, each a little mushroom popping up all over the forest floor, distinct manifestations of the one, connected, rooted in the peace of Christ, the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Thanks be to God!

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