The Saskatchewan Anglican, June 2008 - 7
Photo Peter R. Coolen Photo Peter R. Coolen
The painting “Tree of Life” by Alan Morrow and a beaded picture by Laurie Smith are presented to the synod office and the cathedral by John Spyglass; the pictures were accepted by Mary Ann Assaily in the presence of Bishop Andrews and the Primate.
Izzy Dolls - From Fort Qu’Appelle to Africa
Photo Peter R. Coolen
Mr. Klaus Gruber cuts the cake in celebration of his being invested in the Anglican Order of Merit by the Primate at the reception after the cathedral service.
by Sue Boxall FORT QU'APPELLE (QuA) On their way to International Community for the Relief of Suffering and Starvation, Canada (ICROSS) are 86 Izzy African Comfort dolls. A letter in the Anglican Journal a few months ago caught the eye of one in the congregation at St. John, Fort Qu'Appelle. who did some investigating and discovered ICROSS, a charitable organization that sends medical supplies to Africa and other countries. The supplies were largely made of glass and required lots of packing material for a safe journey. Izzy dolls were being used for packing. So a few people in the congregation were asked to knit dolls which would then be given to AIDS orphans in the African countries where the supplies were shipped. With a good result a campaign was begun to collect more comfort dolls and the Izzy was started. On Sunday, April 5, people brought their efforts to church and Rev. Beverley McLean, who was taking the service that day, gave a blessing over the dolls and asked God to bless all the children who would be receiving them. It is hoped that this will become an ongoing outreach program for the parish of Touchwood Trail. For more information visit <www.icross.ca> or contact <touchtrail@sasktel.net>.
(L to R) Lauren Jardine, President, Diocesan ACW;Mrs. Barbara Thomas, the current Link Secretary for the Mothers' Union, Ghiana; Vera Parkes, St. George's ACW; Mrs. Zandra Hafeez, the past Link Secretary of the Mothers' Union and Supervisor-in-Charge of the Queenstown Day Care Centre; Elaine Hyrcenko, Convener of Mission Projects and Social Action for the Diocesan ACW; the Right Reverend Rodney Andrews, Bishop of Saskatoon.
Prayer Shawl Ministry at Work in St. Mary, Regina by Joanne Shurvin-Martin
photo Ron Cox
Members of the ICROSS Canada group from St. John Fort Qu'Appelle who are knitting Izzy African comfort dolls are from the left Doreen Harman, Jean Robstad, Thelma Jones, Agnes Robertson, Jean McKenna and Sue Boxall.
Leap year
by Ivan Millard ST. PHILIP, REGINA -Why do we have a “Leap Year”? Why, at the end of each 365-day year, do we have six more hours left dangling? The earth spins as it rotates around the sun, like a wheel within a wheel. Each spin takes 24 hours and if that works out why did the 365-day cycle not come out even? Did God make a mistake? God's creation is perfect. We are provided with gravity to hold us to the earth as we do the daily spin and yet there is enough flexibility that things can be raised off the earth but “all that goes up must come down,” with a few more recent exceptions. We are at the precise distance from the sun for our survival here. If we were a little farther away we would freeze and if we were a little closer we would burn. God did, of course, encircle the earth with a filter that we call the “0-zone.” Man too, has devised an “owe zone” that occurs twelve times a year. At the end of each month everyone “owes” someone. All nature is intended to work as one. We have rain and sun such that vegetation can grow, although there are periods of floods and drought. A horse, a cow and a sheep, for example, all eat different grasses and eat them down to different lengths showing that animals can co-exist, except if one is a carnivore. On the other hand, man's design of the 12 months is imperfect because they have varying numbers of days, which makes it confusing. Then man wrote a short verse to help us get it right but that verse got shortened and now it doesn't help at all. It reads, ” Thirty days has September, all the rest I can't remember.” We could blame that inconsistency on the moon or we could arbitrarily change it to 13 months: twelve months of 28 days and one of 29 days each year. Still, we would have those six hours left over at the end of the year. But God's creation is perfect. That means that these flaws had to be intentionally designed. Maybe God is a woman.
REGINA - St. Mary's Church prayer shawl ministry began in Lent. Then 10 weeks later eight shawls had been blessed and several had been presented to members in and outside the congregation. Shawls are given to people on sad and glad occasions such as those who are ill, bereaved or experiencing a personal crisis; new parents or people moving away from home for university or a new job. Hilary Schroeder, who started the program, says that the shawls are "tangible evidence of the loving support and prayers of the congregation. Every inch of yarn in a shawl has passed through the fingers of a caring person in the congregation." She explains how the prayer shawl ministry developed. "Just before Lent began I was reflecting on a person who had just been diagnosed with cancer. The Holy Spirit jolted me and I remembered visiting in Lethbridge about two years ago when that parish was launching a prayer shawl ministry. I still had the knitting instructions and decided to knit a shawl for that person." When Hilary's husband, Claude, who is rector of St. Mary, mentioned the idea at a meeting, one of the other members said that she had been given a book about prayer shawls from her Secret Sister. "The Holy Spirit was bringing it all together," says Hilary. About 10 women are involved in the ongoing program. They pray for the recipient while knitting or crocheting. A table is reserved for the group at coffee hour each Sunday with a sign reading "Colossians 3:12." (Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.) Some suggested resources are The Prayer Shawl MinistryReaching Those in Need, Leisure Arts, Little Rock, Arkansas, Web site www.leisurearts.com and Quick-to-Stitch Prayer Shawls, Web site AnniesAttic.com.
photo Nicholas Schroeder
Why do you have to "put your two cents in"...but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?
Every inch of yarn in a shawl has passed through the fingers of a caring person in the congregation. Prayer shawls are not just cozy wraps. Prayer shawls are tangible evidence of loving support and prayers.