Rector's Message
Released December, 2024
Dear fellow pilgrims:
One impressive aspect of Advent is the fact that so many Scriptural characters are not that impressive: normal folks, going about daily chores, activities, duties, business, and work. They would not be noticed by the important people of their day. Yet God dramatically intervenes in their lives, such that world history itself is affected.
You and I still benefit from the choices made by those regular folks – Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph and John the Baptizer. While Zechariah met God’s messenger as he went about religious duties, as far as we can tell Mary, Joseph, and Elizabeth encountered God’s messengers during their routine activities. John the Baptizer, of course, led a dramatic and exceptional life, but did not call others to be like him; he asked people to live faithfully where they were already located.
Christians believe that life is not divided into sacred (religious duties) and ordinary (daily life). As L. Colin Owens says: “today is the only place we can encounter Christ” (Abba, Give me a word, Paraclete 2012, p. 129)
God can meet us always and everywhere. Advent is about waiting for God to take on human flesh (“incarnation”) and joining in our routine realities – inside and beyond the home.
The end of the calendar year approaches and we have beautiful Advent and Christmas observances planned. So much going on right now at church. Our Sunday attendance is not only holding steady but inching upward. We have an amazing roster of young people lined up for Confirmation. With that group, I look forward to learning, laughing, doing service, hearing the amazing group Sweet Honey in the Rock, and celebrating when Bishop Peter Fenty comes to celebrate Holy Confirmation on 27 April.
Other church plans are also in the works.
We’re ordinary people, you and I, and God can use us – through our households all the households of the earth can be blessed, especially when we join our efforts together. As the calendar year end approaches and as we show gratitude for all that God has generously done for us, I invite you and your household to contribute to the ministry and life of Christ Church Brampton.
Pax,
Arthur +
Arthur Boers
Interim Priest-in-Charge
