"Will you come and follow me, if I but call your name?"

It may happen sometime this summer.  Visiting family or friends.  Seeing folks you haven't seen in a while.  A family gathering or a reunion or friends stopping in.  And someone may ask you, "What have you been up to lately?"

Will you include your faith in this discussion?  Will you acknowledge God?  Will you talk about your service to Him or your church activity or the ministry you are carrying out?  Will you stand up for your beliefs?

"Will you let my love be shown?  Will you let my name be known?"

This hymn, entitled The Summons by John Bell, sums up these questions perfectly.

When we live out our faith each day and truly dedicate our lives to God, we will be able to share that faith with others.  It may be scary to talk about this with friends or family, but we are called to this.  We are summoned to this.  And we are not alone in this; the Holy Spirit is ever present and ready to help us share our faith.

"In your company I'll go, where your love and footsteps show.  Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me."

Retirements:

The Rev. Howard Thornton will be retiring as Incumbent of the two parishes of St. George-in-the-Pines, Banff and St. Michael, Canmore as of August 31.  He has been priest to the Bow Valley Ministry since 2014, as well as serving the Diocese on Council.  We ask God to be with him in his retirement  and are thankful for his ministry.  Thank you, Howard!

The Right Rev. Derek Hoskin has retired from ministry this past June.  Since 2014, he was an Honorary Assistant with the parishes of Holy Cross and St. George, Calgary.  We thank Bishop Derek for his service to this Diocese and we wish him well in his future endeavours.

The Rev. Faith Mary Brace will be retiring from ministry in our Diocese as of July 31.  Since 2014, she has been an Honorary Assistant with the parish of All Saints, Cochrane.  We are grateful for her service, and pray for her and her husband in their move to BC.

Parish Changes:

Archbishop Greg is pleased to announce that, God willing,:

- The Rev. Simba Mutandwa will be Holy Cross' new Interim Priest beginning August 1.  

- The Rev. Rafiq Masih will be Interim Priest at All Saints, Cochrane beginning August 1.  This will allow The Rev. Fariborz Khandani to take time to fully mend following cancer treatments.  

- The Rev. Seth Enriquez will be stepping down as Assistant Priest to the Bow Valley Ministry as of August 31, and has been appointed as Incumbent of St. George-in-the-Pines, Banff as of September 1.

We ask for your prayers for these clergy as they transition to their new roles, and ask God to bless the parishes as they journey together.

Sunday, July 9: Bishop's Visit to St. Peter, Calgary

July 15 to 30: Holidays

On Wednesday, June 21, Archbishop Greg ordained The Rev. Daniel Joseph as priest and The Rev. Deacon Dr. Megan Roberts as Deacon, at The Cathedral Church of the Redeemer, Calgary.

We celebrate and ask God to bless these new ministries for Rev. Daniel and Rev. Megan.

The Anglican Diocese of Calgary hosted the ACC and ELCIC General Assembly from Tuesday, June 27 to Sunday, July 2.

A huge thank you goes out to all the volunteers and staff for their efforts to welcome, organize and assist the Clergy, Delegates and Youth who attended.

Details of the proceedings of the Synod can be found on the Anglican Church of Canada's website.

Everyone is invited to a family-friendly, FREE breakfast with entertainment provided by The Calgary Fiddlers.  There will be games and activities for children and youth.  An outdoor Eucharist will follow.

For more information, please contact St. Martin's Church or call (403) 249-3014

Looking for a way to deepen your understanding of the Christian faith and enhance the connection between what you believe and how you live your daily life?  The Education for Ministry (EfM) program combines independent study and weekly small group discussions to provide a basic grounding in theology to Christian laypeople. The EfM curriculum explores the content and origins of Scripture, follows Church history from its earliest days, and examines issues in Christian theology. Group members engage in individual and group theological reflection throughout their studies to bring our different life experiences and perspectives into conversation with our faith, helping to discern God’s call to each of us. EfM is an extension program of an Episcopal theological school; there is a lot to read (including the whole Bible) but there are no exams. Students commit to one year at a time and those completing all four years of the program receive a certificate of completion.   

For more information on registration or this program, please contact Jennifer Solem at efmststephens@shaw.ca.  

Love catchy songs, creating boatloads of crafts and playing fin-tastic games? Want to tuna into a weeklong networking session on Jesus? Then, Holy Cross Anglican Church’s Vacation Bible School is the place to be! Running from July 24-28, 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, the Jesus is My Lighthouse VBS is the perfect opportunity for children in kindergarten to Grade 6 to learn how Jesus is fishing for us, calms our storms, casts our fears aside, performs impossible feats so we don’t flounder, and is always ready to shine the way forward.

With different Bible-themed messages, crafts, games and snacks each day, children will be in for a weeklong Jesus adventure! Register by July 19 using the link below, and hop aboard the VBS boat! Best of all, it’s FREE!

Holy Cross is located at 2828 - 19th Street NW, Calgary

In 1997, the two Anglican parishes of St. Michael's and All Angels (established in 1909) and St. Cyprian (established in 1925) amalgamated and were renamed the Anglican Parish of Holy Cross. Join archivist David Peyto on a tour of the church, view the new parish garden, and hear the details of our shared history. 

Are there kids in your house who need some fun this summer?  St. Barnabas, Calgary is hosting a Summer Drama Camp from Monday, August 14 to Friday, August 18.  Taught by theatre professionals from Fire Exit Theatre, this all-day camp for 8-12 year olds will give an overview of theatre arts through instruction, crafts and games, and together campers will write and perform a play for the final day of camp.  Lunch and snacks are provided.  The camp is fully subsidized; there is a $20 registration fee.  Click here to register.

Online registration is now open for Canadian Lutheran Anglican Youth CLAY 2023: Ashes & Embers, to be held August 10-13 in Waterloo, Ontario. Please spread the word to youth and leaders in your parishes!

Although Worldwide Knit in Public is held on the second Saturday of June each year, two parishes held their events on June 17 and June 24.  Both Saturdays had lovely weather, and ladies came together to work on prayer shawls and personal projects.  It was much fun, and a great opportunity to let more members of our congregations know more about our Prayer Shawl Ministries.

Thank you to Barbara Robinson for providing the photo of some of the Christ Church knitters.

Join Bishop Anna Greenwood-Lee and The Rev. Christine Conkin at the Sorrento Centre for a week of theological exploration towards a Christianity to Call Home. We’ll revisit some of the progressive theological texts of the 20th century (Religionless Christianity, Secular City, Honest to God, Comfortable Pew) to see what they have to say to us 60 years later. We’ll also tune into some of the theological voices of our own age (Richard Rohr, Ilia Delio, James Smith, Christina Cleveland, Kate Bowler and others) to see what new life-giving theology is emerging in these turbulent 2020s. 

To register, click here.

Please remember in your prayers:

- for peace within our country, and in the world, for victims of violence and natural disasters, and for areas of unrest and riots.  We ask for wise discernment in our leaders;

- for those who are sick, suffering, isolated or in need.  We ask for prayers for Barbara and Elizabeth, and Kathy;

- for those who have died and those who mourn, remembering Jim and Cam;

- for the poor, the homeless, and the needy in our communities;

- our Indigenous brothers and sisters, and their leaders in our diocese and country; 

- for those experiencing loss from the tornado on Saturday in the Didsbury/Carstairs area;

- for the parish of St. Andrew, Lac La Biche, cleaning up after the fire in their church building;

- refugees, remembering those fleeing regimes around the world, and those fleeing war in the Ukraine.

Request a prayer:

Send prayer requests to ctubman@calgary.anglican.ca to let us know how we can pray for you.  We will only use first names which will be removed after two or three weeks.  We will also pray for you during our regular Chapel services each week.  Please ensure that you have permission from those whose names you are submitting for prayer, and that they understand their name will be made public to all who subscribe to the Newsletter.

We are interested in what is happening in your parish and would love to highlight those events and news in our newsfeed.

We look forward to your contributions - feel free to forward your event announcements, your parish news, your stories.  Send in your details and pictures to ctubman@calgary.anglican.ca.