2009 WARDEN’S REPORT

One of the measures of the Ministry Assessment Process (MAP) relates to establishing whether a parish is vibrant and sustainable and as we reflect back on the events of 2009, Church of the Holy Trinity, White Rock is indeed a vibrant and sustainable community.

One of the first places one’s mind goes to when thinking of “sustainable” is how financially sound a parish is. We are a generous parish and while the year end financial report will speak for itself, we can’t express enough how fortunate we are to have Helen Davison’s commitment and dedication as Treasurer. Helen, thank you very much for all of your hard work and your guidance through the many financial decisions that we make throughout the year.

But we can’t stop there as the numbers don’t tell the whole story; there is so much more. We must also tell the story of the many ministries that go on here: our Altar Guild, Anglican Church Women, Green Team, Caring Connection, Prayer Chain, Prayer Shawl, Flower Delivery, Sunday School, Memorial Garden and Christian Education Study series, to name a few. These ministries do not just happen; there are many lay parishioners who give of their time and talent in quiet service to the ministry in which they serve and we are very grateful to each of them. We must also mention the welcoming and caring presence of our Parish Secretary, Barb Cederlund, whose ability to multitask is simply first class. Thank you Barb - especially for all the little things that you do so quietly without fanfare and notice; believe me, we notice! Our ministry story is not complete without mention of our Music and Choir ministry lead by our very talented Organist and Choir Director, Ulo Valdma. Ulo, thank you for sharing your gift of music with us.

2009 began with the honour of welcoming our Bishop, the Right Reverend Michael Ingham, to Holy Trinity at the beginning of Lent, and who could forget our Lenten Study Series “Too Many Cooks?” as we learned about the gospels through the lens of our gourmet chef, Father Neil. Following Lent, came the beauty of Easter as we honoured the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us. During the summer, we achieved our Diocesan accreditation as a Green Parish through the hard work and leadership of Helen McFadden and her team. We shared in the worship of Evensong with the Reverend Scott Gould and our brothers and sisters from St. Andrew’s, Langley. We celebrated the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi with our Sunday School children in October, had an amazing turn out for the Christmas Tea and Bazaar in November and topped it all off with another brilliant Advent Study Course “Good Tidings of Great Joy” and a visit from Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the Christmas Pageant in December.

Another identifier of a vibrant and sustainable parish is our buildings. Are they cared for and in good physical repair? Holy Trinity is a parish that takes the care of the buildings entrusted to us, very seriously. In 2009, we undertook several recommendations identified in the building study commissioned through MAP and had repairs made to the roof over the flower and furnace rooms, repairs to the water drainage system, replaced the urinal in the men’s washroom and upgraded the lighting throughout the church to be more “green”. We also identified and made repairs to several areas at the Rectory, replacing two toilets, repairing a section of siding and the fascia near the front door, repairing the garage door and the general upkeep of the beautiful gardens that Tom and Neil have so lovingly created and maintain for us. We should not go any further without expressing our deep gratitude to Tom Broughton for his stewardship and care of the Rectory and to our Caretaker, Joan MacLeod, for her stewardship and care of the church. Thank you both!

Our parish continued to support a number of special Outreach projects in 2009: the Inter-Church Refugee Fund, Operation Christmas Child, Primates World Relief and Development Fund and Auxiliary to the Vancouver School of Theology. We also responded very generously to the Bishop’s appeal for GAZA, contributing over $2,300 to this special appeal. One project of special note in 2009 was our support of the local Food Bank. Our participation in this aspect of outreach increased exponentially during 2009 as we made this part of our Sunday worship on a number of occasions throughout the year.

No parish can be vital and sustainable without the leadership and support of our clergy and Holy Trinity is truly blessed to have one of the finest clergy teams in the Diocese. We are so fortunate to be able to share in the warm and caring ministry of our Curate, the Reverend Janice Lowell; Janice, thank you for your gifts of warmth, care, energy and laughter. We are indeed blessed to have The Reverend Neil Gray as our Rector. Neil, your gifts of leadership, knowledge, creativity, energy and humour are the cornerstone of this parish and it is an honour to share in the leadership of this parish alongside you. Thank you both for all of your hard work this year.

And finally, Holy Trinity cannot be a vital and sustainable parish without you. Thank you for being part of and supporting this community as we share in the breaking of the bread together.

Respectfully submitted,
Janet Scott, Peter Johnson and Kathy Irwin

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