Cultivating Justice and Joy

Dear Friends in Valhalla Parish—  

I'm finding it hard to believe that our opportunity to gather again in-person is upon us. On Sunday June 6th in Castlegar and Sunday June 13th in New Denver, we will hold our first gatherings for worship in some time. 

As you look ahead to these occasions, I wonder what you might be feeling. I wonder what hopes you have for our time together. I wonder what might cause you some concern. It has been a long time since we have gathered in this way. I am so looking forward to joining with you in worship in the days ahead.

Thinking ahead to these opportunities to gather, I've been thinking about the way in which we carry the reality of our lives, our experiences, our hopes, our worries, and everything in between with us into worship. I've been thinking about the ways in which we seek to bring our whole selves to worship, as we offer our whole lives in service of Creator who made us, Christ who redeems us, and Holy Spirit who sustains us. 

When we gather together, we do so imperfectly as imperfect creatures, offering our best to God. When we come together in worship, we come as we are, seeking something whole, something holy. We seek these things both as individuals, and as a community. As a body. Christ's body. A body marked with scars that still continues to be given for the life of our neighbours and all of Creation. 

I don't know what you're carrying with you this week. I don't know what you'll be carrying with you when we gather for worship in the weeks ahead. But I want you to know this—whoever you are, and whatever you are carrying—you are welcome. Welcome to be fully yourself. Fully beloved of God. Fully created in love, for the sake of love. When we gather together on the Sundays ahead, we do so for our sake, for the sake of each other, and for the sake of the triune God in whom we live and move and have our being. 

Many of us may come carrying the weight of revelations of the children's bodies discovered at Kamloops Residential School, as well as the anticipation of what further discoveries are to come. 

Some of us may be contending with the reality that the road ahead is still uncertain. Our province's road to recovery from the Coronavirus is going well, but the future is far from secure. And so it always has been. The future is far from secure, and this is where hope comes in.

For hope is not naive optimism. Instead, hope is what we hold onto, what is tested in the midst of adversity. Hope is what sustains us when difficulty comes. 

And, dear friends, we have reason to hope. To have hope for our future, for this world. Even in the midst of adversity and challenge. And so, we place our hope that Christ's very body might sustain us on this journey, as we seek to cultivate justice and joy, compassion and peace. 

Every Blessing, 

Andrew Stephens-Rennie
Valhalla Parish Missioner