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Dear Friends in Valhalla Parish—

This week, as I embark on vacation, I do so with a full heart. Even as I look forward to visiting with my parents, my brother and his family, I find myself reflecting back on the beautiful, difficult, brave conversations we have shared in for the past two weeks at St. Stephen's and St. David's. 

Sometimes in moments like these, we need to be reminded that we are courageous and brave.

You are brave.

I'm proud of you and the work we're embarking on together.

Two weeks ago on Sunday I gathered with the folks at St. Stephen's for worship. We shared in two very important, and at times difficult conversations. We talked both about what it might look like to work together with Kootenay Summits Parish, and also what we need to do to contend with our current ministry and financial realities. The following week, gathering in Castlegar, we talked about the shape of parish ministry, and what we saw as the upsides and challenges of working with other congregations in the area. 

Talking to a longtime parishioner this afternoon, I asked how the experience of that conversation went for them. They told me that while it was sometimes difficult, they knew it needed to happen. We are no longer in a place where we can expect that the church will carry on as it has. While it is and can be uncomfortable this person told me, they were glad we were moving forward and trying our best. 

We are brave. We are courageous. Perhaps not always on our own, of course. And yet when we work side by side, when we work together, we are able to be more brave. We are able to lend strength when another is weak. We are able to receive another's strength when we're not sure what's next. We are able to give and to receive in mutual, self-giving love. This is in no small part because we have practiced, for many years, the way of Jesus. 

This isn't to say, of course, that we do this perfectly. Of course we don't. We stumble. We hurt ourselves. We hurt one another. We seek forgiveness and reconciliation, as we seek to make it right. 

Throughout our conversations these past week, I have been impressed with the bravery that folks have displayed. These can be fraught conversations. And yet, in trusting that God goes with us; in praying and trusting that we are seeking the Holy Spirit's inspiration, we are able to walk forward arm in arm. These past weeks we have named our worries and our fears alongside our hopes. 

In working together with one another and with Kootenay Summits Parish, we hope to be re-energized in our mission and ministry. In working together, we look expectantly to the God who still speaks. In working together, in praying for one another, for this process, for each others' congregations, and for the mission of the church in this place, we are leaning not on our own understanding, but looking to God, the source of all life. 

As I think back on these past weeks and the conversations we have had, I am grateful for the ways in which members of St. Stephen's and St. David's have shown up. With worry. With hope. With honesty. 

As we continue down this road, may we do so with faith, trusting that God will meet us on the road, that God will set our hearts on fire with news so good that our hearts, our minds, our whole lives, are forever changed. And may we remember that God journeys with us, and that God sends us out with seed for the fields and bubbles to be carried on the wind. 

Every Blessing,

Andrew Stephens-Rennie
Valhalla Parish Missioner