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Archbishop David Ashdown following the Installation service on Sunday, June 14th at the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in the diocese of Calgary. Archbishop David is holding the metropolitical cross and wearing the metropolitical cope.
December 2009
When I was nine years old my eyesight began to fail. It was a gradual process and I didn’t really know what was happening. I began to adapt and believed that everyone saw things the way I did. Then one day the public health nurse came to our small one-room country school. After school she drove me to my parents’ farm for a conference and told them I was desperately in need of glasses.
This was easier said than done. We lived far out in the country and a visit to any doctor was a major undertaking. Furthermore, glasses were expensive and money was not readily available. Several months went by before I was seen by an optometrist. Glasses were ordered and we were told they would be sent through the mail in due course.
Christmas Eve my family went to church. Before we went into the service, my father went across the road to the post office to pick up the mail. The long awaited package had arrived. We went into the church and took our places. I opened the parcel and put on my new glasses. Wonder of wonders! I could not only see the altar but even what was on it. The lights on the Christmas tree were actual lights and not just indistinct globs of colour. I could actually read my prayer book without smudging it with my nose. That Christmas Eve was a long time ago but the night I began to see again will always be as fresh in my memory as if it was last night.
Just as our physical sight can diminish so gradually that we start to take semi-blindness for granted, so too our spiritual sight can become dulled. Disappointments, betrayals, failures, and just the cares of everyday living can prevent us from seeing the wonder of the world in which God has placed us, the beauty of human relations and the warmth of community.
Christmas is a time to pause, adjust our sight, and as we gaze upon the face of the new born Christ, wonder anew at both the vastness and closeness of God’s love.
With prayers for a truly blessed Christmas
+David
Archbishop of Keewatin
“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them”.
Isaiah 11:6
Pastoral Letter from the Archbishop of Keewatin
Christmas 2009 Pastoral
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Greetings in the name of the Risen Lord.
The shepherds, we are told by Scripture, were “in the fields abiding, keeping watch over their flocks by night”.
In other words, they were busy going about their ordinary tasks. Some were on security detail, watching for wolves and thieves. Others were cleaning up after the evening meal and preparing the camp fire for the night. Others were relaxing after a long day, exchanging stories, both true and untrue.
Suddenly, in the midst of this ordinary business, the heavens lit up, the archangel announced the arrival of the savior, and the angelic chorus sang out “Glory to God and peace to all”
Once the shepherds had recovered from their shock, they decided to go and see for themselves. This was no simple matter. There would have been much discussion. Some would have worried about leaving the sheep unprotected. Others would wonder if they had really seen angels or was it an illusion. And some would simply not want to disturb their established routine. But in the end, they went. They met the savior and then “they made known abroad the saying which was told to them concerning this child”. That is to say, they met Jesus, their lives were changed, and they told others.
Today, as we go about the normal business of our lives, like the shepherds, the angels’ message still breaks in upon us in unexpected ways. It might be in a chance encounter, or in an act of generosity, in the experience of an art form. Like the shepherds, we have the choice as to whether or not we pause in the midst of our business and take the risk of meeting the savior. Because if we do, our lives will be changed and we will find ourselves compelled to tell others.
My prayer for each of us this Christmastide is that we may encounter anew the transforming presence of the Christ Child and the New Year may be a time in which we “make known abroad’ the goodness of God and the love of Jesus.
Penny and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Pastoral from Archbishop re: H1N1 Pandemic (pdf)
Bishop of Keewatin Pastoral
April 15, 2008
Greetings in the name of the Risen Christ
It is my joy and privilege to announce that I have appointed the Right Reverend Gordon Beardy as Assistant Bishop of Keewatin effective April 15, 2008. Bishop Beardy will share with me in the pastoral oversight of the Diocese of Keewatin, specifically this means that he will
• Perform episcopal duties such as confirmation and ordination when approved by the diocesan bishop
• Provide pastoral counsel and direction to the clergy of the diocese in conjunction with the diocesan bishop
• Provide ongoing counsel and advice to the diocesan bishop
• Participate in the wider church through the national and provincial Houses of Bishops and other appropriate avenues and representing the diocesan bishops when requested to do so by the diocesan bishop
• Undertake other responsibilities from time to time as may be mutually agreed.
I make this appointment, which is non-stipendiary, in accordance with the canons of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert’s Land which state that a diocesan bishop may appoint an assistant bishop for a period of six months after which time the consent of the diocese and the metropolitan are required. Therefore this appointment is for an initial period of six months, ending October 15, 2008, at which time it may be extended pending the consent of both diocese and metropolitan.
I know that this appointment will bring great joy to many throughout our diocese and beyond and I invite you to join with me in extending to Bishop Beardy the warmest welcome and assurance of our prayers as he undertakes this new phase of his ministry and the next step on our journey together.
Christ is risen Alleluia!
Summer 2007 Pastoral (pdf)
Christmas 2007 Pastoral (pdf)
Easter 2008 Pastoral (pdf)
April 2008 Pastoral (pdf)
Joint Pastoral from Bishops of Diocese of Keewatin, Diocese of Brandon and the National Indigenous Anglican Bishop
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord:
Greetings in the name of the Risen Christ!
As we have noted before the Diocesan Council of Keewatin and the Executive Council of Brandon had both unanimously passed the following resolution:
THAT this Council endorse in principle the proposal to create an Episcopal District in Northern Manitoba and authorize the Bishop of Keewatin, in co-operation with the Bishop of Brandon, to implement a consultation process in the communities affected to determine the feasibility of this project.
Pursuing that goal, there was a gathering at Church of the Redeemer, Opaskweyak Cree Nation October 5-6, 2007 and a follow up meeting in Winnipeg on December 15, 2007. These continued the work and process that many of you have been involved in the recent past. In Winnipeg the group reviewed a further edition of a concept paper that was presented at Redeemer. We attach that paper with this mailing for your review. It includes, additions from both the Redeemer and Winnipeg consultations. This will help prepare us for our next meeting, detailed below, as well as give members of our communities a better feel for what is ahead.
We are in agreement with the direction the consultations are taking. We believe that we are all ready to come together, as was proposed in October, for a two-day meeting to make a more concrete draft proposal available for the Keewatin Synod in February. We will be able to further review and refine the proposal at another meeting later this spring, looking towards the Brandon Synod in October of 2008 and Rupert's Land Synod in 2009. We are hopeful that funding will be available to help this through the Healing Fund.
We hereby invite every community with an Anglican presence to send two delegates to a gathering at St. James' Church, Thompson from 5:00 p.m. Friday, January 25, 2008 until 3:00p.m. Sunday, January 27, 2008. We will share Eucharist with St. James' on Sunday morning. We have some travel funding available through the office of Indigenous Ministries and information will be available for that at the meeting.
As your Bishops, we are fully supporting this process and we strongly urge you to fully participate in this exciting new step on our journey in the Lord.
+David:Keewatin +James:Brandon
+Mark:NIAB
Joint Pastoral in pdf format
Pastoral from the Primate and the Metropolitans for Advent Sunday 2007 (pdf)
Archbishop's Calendar
December
December 1 Office
December 2 Personal Day
December 3 Office
December 4 Travel Day
December 6 Church of the Good Shepherd, Atikokan
December 7-11 Office
December 12 Diocesan Council, St. James, Keewatin
December 14-15 Metropolitans' Meeting, Toronto, ON
December 16 Travel Day
December 17-18 Office
December 19 Diocesan Staff Party
December 21-31 Synod Office Closed
December 24 St. James, Keewatin
St. Alban's, Kenora
Do you have a question for the bishop? Are you concerned about a particular issue in the church? Do you ever wonder why bishops wear those funny looking clothes? What is the difference between a priest and a deacon? Here is your opportunity to get your answers. Please contact Archbishop David Ashdown at keewatinbishop@shaw.ca and he will get your answers. If we get some interesting questions we will get the answers up here on the website.
