Dean's Corner - Advent 2005

Dear Friends,

By now most of you will have heard that I will be leaving All Saints’ to serve in the Diocese of Qu’Appelle as their bishop.  As the initial flurry of activity begins to fade I realize that in a few months we will be entering a time of transition.  For me it will be a double time of both anticipation at a new call to ministry and the challenges it brings, and a time of sadness in bringing to an end what has been a wonderful time of life and ministry here at the Cathedral.   There is anticipation in meeting new people and building relationships with them, and sadness at the thought of saying goodbyes and bringing this time in ministry to a close. 
          As I look back over the past 7+ years I am grateful for the blessings that have come with being Dean of All Saints’ Cathedral and the way that God has been present to uphold and strengthen throughout it all.  It gives me a sense of peace and confidence, and in fact, hope for the coming years in Qu’Appelle.  What God has done builds my faith in what God will do.  In the meantime however, there are a number of months with much work to do – for myself, but also for All Saints.  The time of transition is not simply a waiting, but a moving forward, a continuing and extending of the work of ministry in this cathedral until we see clearly what the future is bringing. 
          Really it is something of an Advent theme.  Advent is an in-between time – looking back and looking forward.  We look back to what God did, through the calling of Abraham, to Moses, the prophets, and then ultimately in the coming of the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ.  We look back at God’s promises fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah, and in remembering, we are filled with anticipation and hope for what God is doing and will ultimately do in fulfilling the promise of the coming of the Kingdom of God.  What we have been given, what has been accomplished for us, builds our faith so that we can move forward into new paths and directions by which the work of Christ will be done. 
          Advent is often called both a season of hope and a season of waiting.  The waiting is not a passive waiting, but an active, prayerful engagement – a time of preparing and seeking to live the reality we hope for – a world transformed by the power and presence of Christ.  May the Holy Spirit, moving in us this Advent season, make us glow with the light of Jesus and make All Saints’ Cathedral more fully an outpost of God’s Kingdom.