Discipleship is about trust

I write this, my last annual vestry report, some three weeks after my official retirement as Rector of St John's. It has been sixteen years of participation in the life of a remarkable community endeavouring to be the presence of Jesus Christ in the world.

As members of the Church, we are all aware of our exciting call to discipleship. We are also aware of how far short of this vocation we fall. But focusing on our shortfall is not the substance of faith. Rather, the substance of faith is remembering that God is faithful when we are not, and that the life of faith is about the journey more than the destination. It is about the journey because that is where radical trust is required. It is on the journey that we have to get along with those who journey with us and those who do not. It is on the journey that the promises of God can rise up off the pages of Scripture and live in our hearts. It is on the journey that we discover the meaning of church - that fragile, powerless community that God has placed in the world for God's own purposes.

I am catching a glimpse of that radical trust right now as I look as those Johnians who are accompanying our lovely Jan Snure, a member of this church over many decades along with her late husband George, as she slips quietly into the Everlasting arms which she has always trusted will hold her in death as they did in life. I look and I see the power of the gospel.

It is because we trust in God's victory that we can do this without fear; the victory that we speak of together when we worship. It is by this trust St John's carries on its ministries of inreach and outreach which bring many to faith .

Over sixteen years I have been privileged to see Johnians give generously of what they have and who they are in order to love one another through this church.

We do this, year in and year out, and I trust that this valuable work will continue to be the hallmark of this church.

Renewing our church plant

For six years we have planned and worked for the renewal of St John's Church plant so that we can do our work better. And finally in August of 2007, Phase Two of our renovations was completed, giving us more education space for both children and adults and a new parish hall for parish and community events. The funding for this work was taken from the proceeds of the sale of the parking lot and the bridge funding provided by the diocese until such time as the full funding from the Hearts and Hands Campaign is received in 2009. We have now occupied this new space for over six months and have already begun to forget our disagreements and the huge amount of work which it required of so many of us.

The Architectural Renewal Committee served the parish with sensitivity and competence, taking time to listen and consult widely. As Phase Two was completed, Gay Richardson stepped down as chairperson, having served in that capacity since the committee's inception in 2002. St John's has been given a great gift in the love and dedication of Gay for this parish.

Gay remains a member of ARC, and her place as chairperson has been assumed by Patricia Bowen, my Rector's warden. ARC will continue its leadership as the parish pursues Phase Three, the renovation of the church itself. This is a task you will engage with your new incumbent and it is a task that will require as much planning and patience, if not more, than Phases One and Two.

The worship space is not like any other. It is the space which holds a century of prayers and memories, it is the abode of St John's angel, that is, the essential spirituality of this community; it is home, and like every home has its own assets and shortcomings in how it serves us. It is normal for us to fear that what we treasure might be lost. Yet, we know that God never wants us to get too attached to the familiar lest we not see the new thing that the Spirit wants us to do. We need to ask ourselves this outreach question, "Does this space and the way we worship truly reflect what we want to say to the world about this community?"

Budget and campaigns

Three years into our five year capital campaign, it is good to be able to speak of the faithfulness of Johnians to their pledges to the Hearts and Hands Campaign. Five years is a long time to sustain pledges in a parish where there is a significant yearly turn-over of members.

We ended 2007 with another deficit in the operating budget. Again, member giving has fallen short of budget while other funding sources have remained constant. This problem may not arise in 2008 since the vacancy of the incumbent's position should save the parish a fair amount over a probable six month period. However, this chronic shortfall has preoccupied the Finance Committee for several years now and calls into question whether we can sustain the present programme.

Planned giving and facilities management

Last year's Vestry meeting approved two motions which have been acted upon with very satisfying results: the creation of Planned Giving Committee and of a Facilities Committee. The Planned Giving Committee prepared a thorough and informative information event in October which I know has encouraged several more members to include St John's in their long term financial plans. The Facilities Committee worked out a very effective system for the rental and general management of our new space. Carl Schriver, a member of the committee, has agreed to take on the position of facilities manager which includes increasing usage (and revenue) from our new space. Harvie Cocks initiated these two motions and agreed to head up both committees. Thank you Harvie for your leadership.

Affordable housing

We now have a ten-story condominium towering beside us. For me it is more than just another big building in a fast growing city. It represents the dreams and hard work of many in this church and city. Already residents are enjoying their new homes. I had the privilege of interviewing all of the residents for the ten units owned by the Multifaith Housing Initiative (rented within various below market rent programs) as well as those who live in units privately owned by several members of St John's. I have a stack of thank-you letters telling me how much this new, safe, and affordable home means to them. Somerset Gardens is now another opportunity for this parish to care for people in our neighbourhood.

It is also a reminder to us of just how effective well-focused mission can be. St John's has achieved great success over the years whenever it has been able to translate gospel values into projects of social engagement and redemption: the Community Shop, the Foot Clinic, Circles of Support and Accountability, AIDS Ministries, Pastoral Care Teams, to mention but a few examples. These ministries work not because they are necessarily new and innovative but mostly because there are people in this church with the passion and will to carry them through.

Leadership on issues

In two events in 2007, St John's Church provided both local and national leadership on two key issues in the church and in the country. On April 13, The Whole Message Conference hosted by St John's Church welcomed well over 100 participants from St John's and across the country for a weekend event designed to keep pushing the Anglican Church of Canada to open its doors more fully to GLBT members and others on the fringes of social acceptance. This conference was extraordinarily well organized with the kind of competence St John's is so able to provide. The conference provided an opportunity for solidarity, networking, and planning for General Synod 2007 held in Winnipeg in June.

The second event was organized by St John's unit of the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund which provided a forum at which the first national Anglican Aboriginal bishop could interact with members of the parish, the public, and Robert Watts, aboriginal head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission implemented by the Federal Government in partnership with aboriginal groups and churches. The fact that both of these events were organized and well supported by St John's members speaks to me of the strength of lay leadership and the capacity of this parish to leverage the sense of common purpose of this parish.

General Synod 2007

General Synod left the Anglican Church of Canada with a governance problem when it decided that same sex unions are not an issue of core doctrine (and therefore church-dividing) but did not go on to provide a process by which such blessings could be authorized. This left open the interpretation that dioceses could proceed on their own. That is the line which Ron Chaplin and I took when we presented a motion at the synod of the Diocese of Ottawa in October in which we asked to the Bishop of this diocese to allow such blessings to occur here. The motion became the template for several other diocesan motions throughout the fall. Bishop Chapman received the synod resolution and has set a timeline for when he will respond to this request.

Crisis in the Anglican Communion

This issue has exacerbated a much broader issue dividing the Canadian church and the Anglican Communion - what might be called the divide between traditionalist and progressives. In Canada, the dissenting group (hostile to the General Synod and diocesan resolutions) is, in fact, very small. No parish in this diocese has seceded and it would appear that only sixteen parishes, out of over 2,000 in Canada, have indicated an interest in doing so.

The fact that I am one person among many in the Communion, responsible for this crisis does not keep me awake at night. Not because I don't care that other church members might be offended by what I have done, but because there comes a time when one has to do what one feels compelled by conscience, knowledge and experience to do - let the chips fall where they may. The judgment that is to be mine I will no doubt receive one day! Conscience is by no means infallible but it certainly is hard to ignore!

My retirement

On All Saints Sunday I announced my intention to retire as Rector of St John's. I have become aware over the past year that I have simply run out of steam, as the expression goes. When you find yourself gritting your teeth before every committee meeting, it is a sure sign that the time has come to move on. Sixteen years is an unusually long incumbency these days, and St John's deserves a Rector offering full energy and attention.

The retirement farewell which you gave me - occurring on one of those impossible Ottawa winter evenings - has left me with a wonderful treasure of memories and a memory book in which to keep this treasure. I have been truly overwhelmed by the cards, gifts, and letters which I have received. I want you to know how deeply grateful I am to you for these farewell gestures but most especially for your support of me during my incumbency. I retire after 38 years of full-time priestly ministry with a profound sense of gratitude for the Anglican Church of Canada, the church that nourished me all my life, and for the wonderful Christians who have accompanied and served with me in all of my various ministries.

I have said it often in the last two months and I say it again for the record, that I cannot think of a single accomplishment during my ministry at St John's that I would have achieved if I had not been in partnership with you. In some ways, our church is burdened with a structure and culture of hierarchy which contradicts the gospel understanding of the priesthood of all believers: and yet, that has not prevented St John's Church from empowering an amazing laity and from enabling its paid staff, both clerical and lay, from giving their best willingly.

As I end this report I want to thank all with whom I have shared leadership in the past year: our wardens Patricia Bowen and Ron Chaplin who will now serve you well in the selection of a new Rector, staffers Gordon Johnston, Wanda Dillabough, and Kathryn Otley with whom working has been both exciting and rewarding, to all of you who hold office in the service of this parish, and all who uphold this church by their prayers and acts of service.

This thought I leave as my parting tribute to you: In years to come when my children and grandchildren ask me what was the most exciting time in my years of ministry, I will most certainly tell them that it was the sixteen years that I served the people of St John's Church, Elgin Street, as their priest.

Grace and peace,

Garth E. Bulmer, rector