Anglicanism | Kittens with Mittens

I know I am a little late posting this, but I wanted it to percolate a little…

What a great event! Saturday March 3,2012 at St. Peter’s Church in Cobourg. (some great pictures) The theme this year was “Come to the Banquet, Taste and See”

I apologize in advance for providing mostly links instead of photos, however an idea is hard to catch on film… I did take pictures of my last workshop it you want a break from reading! Press on, there is a lot to read about, and I encourage you to join us next year!

We arrived to a warm reception of coffee, tea and sweets.

Then everyone moved into the church for the formal welcome and announcements. What a beautiful old church, the organ pipes are stenciled (the pipes are visible in one of the pictures), lovely stain glass, most of the woodwork in the church is stained dark and the walls and the architectural details are mostly white, I think they are called hammer joists… (not sure) they support the roof vaulting where really lovely. There are some lovely memorials on the walls. I found that the stain glass gave a sensation of refreshing cool blue with the whiteness of the walls, I would like to go back for another service sometime, this is such an active congregation. The announcements made we continued to our workshops

There where dozens of workshops throughout the day. I was very fortunate that my first one was with Bishop Linda Nicolls, Area Bishop of Trent Durham. I should tell you that my family has had a long association with Linda, my father was on the selection committee that brought her to Trinity. I grew up at Holy Trinity Anglican Church Thornhill Ontario. I was married there, my son was baptized there, I have Workshop #1 was titled “Jesus – the Reason we are Christian : Who is he? Why is Jesus so critical to our faith? Why can’t we just speak to God? Come for a discussion of the importance of Jesus and the key to our faith… Very fruitful discussion, topics ranged from God & Jesus, how to talk about Jesus, Christology, the god story shared with jews and muslims, scriptural Jesus, Jesus of faith and life-giving, healing, mystic, carpenter. prophet, justice seeker, human and divine. Suggested reading list: Leslie Newbigin “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society” NT Wright “The Meaning of Jesus” Markus Borg “The Heart of Christianity” Animated conversation, insightful, interesting.

Workshop #2 was titled : Lectio Divina by Deb Chapman. This workshop was given in the Chapel in the new wing of the church. I have to admit I am attracted to the new mysticism, a mixture of modern theology and early christian passion. This form of Prayer that we where only really able to touch upon due to the limited time, concentrates on the experiential nature of prayer. Rather than questioning and dicecting scripture, to breathe it in. There are 4 steps: 1) Lectio = Reading and attending 2) Meditatio = Meditation, Pondering and engaging 3) Oratio = responding 4) Comtemplatia = being communion (this doesn’t always happen) for more info look here. Our group didn’t the find hoped for experience probably due to time constraints and the excitement of the day.

We the adjourned to lunch, which was excellent. “The Dutch Oven” supplied lovely boxed lunches. I chose egg salad sandwiches, there was also a little parcel of pickles, cheese, olives, and pickled cauliflower, there was an apple, a large cookie and a big date square. All washed down with coffee. I had a very interesting with Ruth a member of St George’s church Newcastle (my home parish). The ABC Bookstore had a table with a great assortment of topical books. I had a hard time selecting one, after much thought I settled on this,

Common Prayer Pocket Edition: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, I really am enjoying this book, it’s a rather trimmed down version of the original, the radical part is a bit misleading, it is really referring to the roots of the Book of Common Prayer.

Workshop #3 was titled : Anglican Rosary: Offering Payers to God by Debbie Irwin, This workshop taught how to make an Anglican Rosary with notes on how to use it in contemplative prayer. I actually was able to take some pictures of this workshop. I will post additional instructions and links for the crafty and not so crafty, with suggested devotionals.

My favourite sample made by Debbie Irwin (Crystals) Though some people selected wooden beads and crosses

Everyone beavered away each making one to take home. There where lots of samples and very good notes to work from. I am a crafty person by nature so totally enjoyed this workshop.

When the workshop ended everyone met back in the church for the Wrap-up and celebration of Eucharist. I was impressed by the numbers that showed up for this event, families, lots of young people men and women. I think what struck me most was the number of clergy, and the percentage that where female. It was good to see!

All in all, it was a fantastic day of celebration and fellowship. One member of the clergy, a recent arrival in our area, commented she had never seen an Area Day like it, so well attended, and so well-organized!

I congratulate the committee for the fine job they did and the congregation of St. Peter’s Cobourg, for hosting this event and all the busy volunteers that made it run so smoothly! Thanks again!