Welcome – and please read on...

With so many questions, and so much information, regular communication with you will be essential as we move forward into this transitional time. To make it easier to access info and answers in a timely we present this NEWSLETTER #1.  Yes, this is the first of what we hope will be regular newsletters with contributions from the Churchwardens, Parish Council and our many activity leaders (click here), and from you the members of our community (click here, password = saints).

Online newsletters will allow us to easily announce and communicate important events and decisions in the life of our parish.  They will allow us to ask questions.   And we will be able to reduce the administrative burden AND reduce environmental and other costs... less paper, fewer stamps and immediate access. 

If you have visited our website recently - click here - you’ll notice that it has been streamlined to make it easier hopefully to access essential information including news of forthcoming events and worship services.  We want to make the website your source for all things All Saints.  Feel free to share it, as so much is going on at the parish that may be of interest to the wider community! There is a subscribe button for anyone who wants to sign on to the Newsletter - but note, if you are receiving this you are already subscribed.  If you do not wish to receive our newsletters, please contact our Parish Administrator Joe Egan or John Metzger our Newsletter editor.

So, with this introduction, please scroll down to see the following contributions:
- Words from the Wardens
- Message from Rev Gyllian
- Pentecost Sunday - May 28th - a very special worship service
- A Labyrinth Walk
- Welcome and Communications - recent and future program initiatives

At the Annual General Meeting of the Vestry on February 19th (click here for the reports and minutes from this meeting) Ruth Pickett Seltner was announced as Incumbent’s Warden and Sally Carr elected as People's Warden.

Brief bios of each are now posted on our website – click here for Ruth and here for Sally.  And they share the following with you now – with updates planned in future newsletters.

Words from the Wardens

While not the job we expected, the wardens are challenged to help move us forward in this liminal time. We are extremely appreciative to all who have reached out to offer, help, tea and coffee, advice and friendship.  This is a loving and giving community with much to offer to our Church community and to Salt Spring Island and beyond.  As a community we are urged to approach these challenges with gratitude for God’s love.

A couple of updates:

- There will soon be news on a new stewardship campaign.  A committee is in the works who will be reaching out to ask for both financial commitment and for sharing of time and talent. We can do so much if we know what we have.

- A roster for the summer worship services is being developed so that all Sundays are covered. We hope that this will allow some stability as we look forward to the fall. Our hope is by fall we will an interim in place. This will depend on finances and housing.

- Following the conclusion of Gyllian’s ministry with us, it is expected that Bishop Anna will appoint Ruth, who is presently the "Incumbent's Warden", to the position of "Bishop’s Warden". We can expect much support from our Bishop and the diocese as we move forward.

Please never hesitate to email us. Very soon we will have an active Warden’s email that will come directly to the two of us. We need input, questions and constructive kind criticism. We need people to actively participate in all areas of parish and community life.

We are full of hope,

Ruth Pickett Seltner, Incumbent's Warden
and
Sally Carr, People's Warden

In this past Sunday’s Gospel - Luke 24:13-35 - we heard how two of the apostles are heading back to Emmaus.  No doubt they are seeking reassurance in the familiar, heading back to the world they knew before they ever met Jesus. There have been just too many unexpected and distressing events in their lives, the future seems an unpredictable and unwelcome proposition – why would they want anything of that?  Actually, they are ripe for the moment of transformation that’s about to happen!

Isn’t it kind of like us here?  In my sermon I pose some big questions – what shall we ask ourselves about the potential future waiting in this moment for us – will we permit God to act among us to shape us as a church?

Want to know more? Follow this button to read the full sermon.

Yours in Christ,
Gyllian +

Dear friends,

On Sunday May 28th, Gyllian will be celebrating her last service with us. It is also Pentecost Sunday.  We want to let Gyllian know that she is honoured, loved and will be missed.

We will be having a potluck lunch after the service... cake and champagne to be provided!  Plan to bring your best sharing dish in true Anglican potluck style. We will also be “passing the purse” for Gyllian.  If you wish to contribute please put donations in an envelope labelled Pentecost Luncheon and leave with the greeters or on the collection plate. If you want to e-transfer you may do so at seltnerhome@gmail.com. Please put “Pentecost Luncheon ” in the memo - as this is a gift it is not eligible for tax receipts. 

Please plan on coming to be part of the celebration whatever your ability to contribute food or money.  All are welcome.

If you have any photos of Gyllian’s time please email them to Joe in the office or to seltnerhome@gmail.com as soon as possible. We want to make a photo book. Lead time is short so this needs to be done soon. 

Finally it is Pentecost so Please Wear Red! 

If you want to help, please or have any questions please do not hesitate to contact contact Debbi Toole (debbitoole@gmail.com) who is spearheading this, or Ruth (seltnerhome@gmail.com) or Sally (sallyonsaltspring@gmail.com). 

Cheers,

Ruth, Sally and Debbi

A labyrinth that one can walk- with feet on the earth and a breeze in one’s hair- will be a new resource for the parish.   A large outdoor labyrinth that welcomes the community, will be a new resource for Salt Spring Island.  It may be that many parish members have walked a labyrinth elsewhere in their lives.  Labyrinths are not something new.  Indeed, they have been around for a very long time- roughly 4000 years!  The Labyrinth of Knossoss, on the isle of Crete, was constructed approximately 2000 BCE.  And ancient labyrinths have been found on every continent but Antarctica.  It seems safe to say that there is something about walking a labyrinth that diverse peoples have found beneficial over many centuries.

The Labyrinth Team, made up of members of the Anglican parish and the broader Salt Spring Island community, have been hosting Labyrinth Walks in All Saints’ upper hall for some months now, so that people may experience the benefits a labyrinth can offer.  At the same time, the Team has been developing a proposal to build a labyrinth in an unused portion of the Purdy Cunningham Cemetery property.  

The outdoor labyrinth to be constructed is intended to serve as a resource for the Anglican Parish and the broader Salt Spring Island community.  Once the labyrinth is available, both individuals and groups will be welcome to walk it.  Connections will be made with community groups—first responders, medical personnel (and other high-stress occupations), as well as faith groups, schools, clubs, etc. It is the intention of the Labyrinth Team, that the labyrinth will become broadly recognized in our community as a ‘special place,’ a ‘sacred space,’ a place where, as one walks round the labyrinth, one may find peace of mind, inspiration and healing.

The labyrinth will be constructed to be welcoming and accessible to people of all ages and abilities.  The brick used to delineate the pathways will be flush with the ground, so there will be no impediment to persons using walking sticks, a cane or a walker.  The labyrinth will also be safe for children who cannot resist running around the circular pathways.

The Labyrinth Team’s Proposal was approved by Parish Council on April 20th.  The Team can now begin fund-raising by seeking the support of generous community organizations, and by hosting fund-raising events at the site of the future labyrinth.  We welcome your questions and your support.

Labyrinth Team Members (alphabetical order by last name):
Sarah Belknap, Jacqueline Byron, Susan Grace, Melanie Hayne, Gloria McEachern,  Rosamund Woolley 

Our Welcome and Communications Program  began in earnest in October 2022, and since then have moved forward with the following initiatives:
- Name Tags - created and used at our Sunday services - and which have been met with great enthsiasm;
- Website - click here - has been streamlined with approval of Parish Council and made much more user friendly, with essential information much easier to find;
- A "Rack Card" advertising our parish is now available at the Welcome Centre in Ganges;
- A tri-fold "Brochure" is now available to be shared with guests and newcomers interested to know more about our church; and
- A "Contact Card" has been placed in the pockets of the chairs in the sanctuary - to help us connect with newcomers.

Ongoing initiatives include the following:
- A new lawn sign:  Don van Akker has joined the committee as a contributing guest. With approval from the Parish Council we are moving ahead with the creation and implementation of a lovely new sign for the front. Look for that in the summer (fingers crossed).
- "Welcome Back Sunday":  Marji Radford has joined the committee to help create this event to be scheduled in September after our summer holidays.

Please feel free to contact me by email, debbitoole@gmail.com with ideas and/or suggestions as to how we can create and maintain a warm, welcoming communication with one another and our guests.

We look forward with confidence, excitement and joy.

Deb Toole, chairperson, with committee members: Lynne Fraser, Sarah Mathieson, Walter Stewart and John Metzger