The Fellowship of St. Alban & St. Sergius and the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine are hosting a gathering to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. at St. John’s convent. The evening begins with Orthodox Vespers sung by members of the choir of Holy Myrrhbearers Orthodox Mission, followed by a light support and talk by Dr. Tiffany Robinson on “The Shape and Architecture of the Sacred.” To attend, register through the Convent guest house at guesthouse@ssjd.ca or 416-226-2201 ext. 305.

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It was previously assumed that of the 41 per cent, about 99 per cent were retirees over the age of 60 or 65, but things are changing. Trends are evolving alongside changing priorities and lifestyles, with youth and young adults now being the majority of volunteers in many capacities, the most popular being volunteering with animals, community projects, sports, hospitals and “green” projects.

It is a trend we have noticed at the Mission to Seafarers. Anyone with teenagers knows that students are required to have logged volunteer hours before they can graduate – a huge and important step forward from when my generation were teenagers. And do they ever take this seriously! The volunteers we have had at our mission stations are engaged. They want to know what seafarers do, they show up on time and stay late. They participate and encourage their friends to help as well. Youth and young adults want to volunteer with an organization that will challenge them, and the mission has provided those challenges.

At one small southern Ontario university, volunteering with an international mission such as ours is a course requirement. This means six months as a volunteer and a written paper on the specific area the volunteer worked in, and lessons learned. The first year of this course requirement was so successful that the university added it as a work/learning component for all of its international studies programs. (This is not a seminary. We can’t seem to get volunteers from seminaries for some reason.)

Volunteers of all ages are the backbone of most charitable organizations, and the Mission to Seafarers is no different. COVID-19 ended the participation of a lot of seniors for obvious reasons – not always the fear of disease, but the fear of the unknown. Only three senior volunteers who were with us prior to the pandemic have remained. It’s been a rough few years, but we are hopeful that as a younger, more resilient and more adventurous group of volunteers has been finding its way to the mission, our volunteer bank will grow once again.

But as I write, this is the time of year when the volunteers come forward after working at home for months: the knitting and sewing volunteers. As I write, it’s the season of Advent, and we are busy collecting up homemade knitwear and quilts, along with boxes of toothpaste and shampoo, body wash and more, all of which will find their way into our Christmas ditty bags, which we begin giving to seafarers on St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 6. Why this day? Because St. Nicholas is the patron saint of seafarers!

It’s a joy to catch up with all the many people who spend hours of their own time throughout the year making beautiful warm things for people they have never met, and we bless each and every one of them for their work and contributions to the lives of the seafarers we serve. As much as the folks who work in our mission centres, these folks are volunteers for the mission. Everything counts.

Our mission services end when the last ship leaves Lake Ontario before the lake freezes, or at least when the Welland Canal closes for maintenance (this year on Jan. 5). Our services begin again at the end of March when the St. Lawrence thaws and the ships can move freely again between Montreal and Thunder Bay on “Highway H20.” During this hiatus, we spend time in training courses, preparing our mission centres for the arrival of the next group of seafarers, and praying that volunteers will answer the call to help us!

If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer with the Mission to Seafarers Southern Ontario and learning how to be a volunteer or ship visitor at our Oshawa mission (the Terry Finlay Seafarers Centre) or as a ship visitor in Toronto, please contact me at glutenfreepriest@gmail.com.

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Inspired by the 2014 Tower of London art installation by artist Paul Cummins, which displayed 888,000 ceramic poppies to honour each Commonwealth soldier who died in the First World War, Ms. Dawson began her project in January 2023. She called on fellow congregants who knit and crochet, and was delighted when 12 to 15 participants turned up to the first Wednesday meeting.

Together, the group set to work crafting poppies, which were later attached to deer netting to create a flowing effect over the church grounds. This display marks the second year of the installation at St. John’s, growing from 3,000 poppies in 2023 to over 5,000 in 2024, thanks in part to contributions from friends and family as far away as the U.K.

Similar displays were also featured at St. John’s churches in Niagara Falls and Elora. Each display received approval from the Royal Canadian Legion in Ottawa.

The Hamilton Spectator

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“I am delighted that God has called Dr. Kristen Deede Johnson to serve as the next principal of Wycliffe College,” said Carol Boettcher, Wycliffe College’s board chair. “She brings a proven track record in academic leadership and demonstrates a genuine passion and commitment to theological education. Dr. Johnson is willing to take bold, purposeful action grounded in careful consideration and prayer.”

Founded in 1877, Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto is a graduate school of theology that prepares students for lives of practical ministry and theological scholarship.

Wycliffe College

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We were sailing along on a river of joy and thanksgiving until we discovered in October that there was an urgent need to replace the guest house’s heating system, which we had planned only to upgrade.

The initial scope of work for the renovations included individual heating, ventilation and air conditioning units that guests could control themselves, as well as individual controls for the perimeter heating (radiators that are fed by the boiler in cold weather). It was determined that the boiler would be workable for several more years.

During the demolition phase, however, it was discovered that the pipes feeding the radiators were too old and rusted to be able to add valves for individual controls, and the radiators themselves were rusted out in many places and no longer efficient.

At the most recent owner-architect-contractor meeting, it was noted that if we are ever going to replace the 68-year-old heating pipes and radiators, it would have to be now before any further work is done in framing. Additional demolition will be necessary, as will additional asbestos abatement. We have received some indication that this is going to be a very expensive project that will likely involve several hundreds of thousands of dollars if we go ahead, but we cannot know the actual cost until architectural plans are drawn up for a new heating system and until the contractor has then priced the work.

At this point, our board of directors has authorized only the expenditure for the architectural plans. Once we have received the actual cost, we will then have to decide whether to go ahead.

However, not to go ahead with the heating system replacement means that the “new” guest house will not meet two of our major goals. One (which our guests bring up repeatedly) is to give our guests individual control over the heat in their rooms. The other is our need for a more efficient, economical and environmentally friendly system.

If we decide to go ahead, it will also mean a two- to three-month delay in opening the guest house (and the additional cost of the contractors for a longer period is part of what drives the cost up).

We will need to make a final decision before the end of the 2024, and we will keep you posted through our website and email news updates.

We thank you for the amazing generosity that has allowed us to get this far. We would love to hear from you if you think you could help with this additional major expense. If you, or others you know, could consider a further donation, please be in touch with me, Sr. Connie, at cj@ssjd.ca.

This article originally appeared in the SSJD’s fall publication.

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The Magi fix their gaze on the star illuminating the night sky and they are led to Jesus. In my heart, that star is an agent of the divine, an active participant urging the Magi forward through the darkness. I can imagine that as they travelled, these men experienced a range of emotions – excitement and anticipation, and perhaps anxiety.

When they arrive in Bethlehem, the Magi pay homage to Jesus, and they are filled with peace and joy and gratitude. They give tribute to an infant whose life and ministry would offer the world an alternative way of life. As an agent of God, the star illuminates the way to new life.

This Epiphany season is the perfect time for us to reflect on the followers of Jesus serving as the star, as agents of God illuminating a different path for the world to follow, an alternative path that the world desperately needs.

We are living in a difficult and challenging time in history. Our communities are facing a complex web of interconnected crises: homelessness, addictions, food insecurity and poor access to healthcare, to name just a few. Layered on top of these crises are decreasing environmental protections, extreme weather and the climate crisis. And add an additional layer of war, increasing hate and the largest refugee crisis and displacement of people the world has ever faced.

In his recent article “Calling a Different World into Being,” Walter Brueggemann describes this moment as a world living in “fear, scarcity, hostility, revenge and violence” that leaves us exhausted and always needing to be on alert and on guard.

Many people are afraid of what the future holds. Many people have lost confidence in the ability and willingness of political and government institutions to enact policies and programs that will make people’s lives better and heal the planet. You may be one of those people. And while Christians are not immune to fear, we are called not to let it control us. As Jesus commands us – be not afraid.

Be not afraid because we know there is an alternative way. Be not afraid so that we can be the star that leads the world to the way – to a culture of care grounded in Christ. A culture in which we care for people who are marginalized, for victims of violence and hatred, and for a planet in peril. A culture in which it is safe to bring one’s worries and lamentations. A culture in which hope, real hope, is the cornerstone.

Real hope, Christian hope, deep and abiding hope, is grounded in our relationship with Jesus. It is hard and gritty and it does not make the hard stuff go away, but it gives us courage, as followers of Jesus, to persevere as we do the work we are called to do – to live in communion with creation, to feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, to welcome the stranger, to give clothing to the naked, to heal the sick and visit those in prison, to love our neighbours and our enemies. This is the alternative way that Jesus commands us to choose.

This is our daily choice – a choice to live in God’s reality in which all of creation is loved and cared for and in which abundant hope is real. It is a choice not to be complicit in a culture of destruction, exploitation, violence and hatred. It is the choice the Magi make after their time with Jesus. Rather than follow the path home offered by Herod, they heed the warning and choose a different path. They choose to not be complicit and used as instruments of Herod’s destruction.

The planet needs the followers of Jesus to be the star. As you place your Christmas tree in a box or at the curb, commit to being a star and an agent of God’s care in the world.

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