Urgent prayer requests – 29 February 2008
Please pray for the court hearing TODAY in Hamilton at 10am EST. At issue is whether St George’s and St Hilda’s will have to leave or share their buildings with the diocese on Sundays until the larger matters related to building ownership are resolved.
Please lift up St Chad’s, the wardens, parishioners and the Rev Barbara Richardson. The Diocese of Toronto, with the help of police, changed the locks on the church doors this morning. Please pray also for those who are trying to provide legal and moral support to this small but faithful parish. Pray for God’s peace in the midst of the storm, for courage and confidence in His goodness and sovereignty. The parish may need to find alternative facilities for this Sunday. God has worked miracles in the past for St Chad’s and is most capable of doing the same now.
If you live in the Toronto area, please consider showing your support for St Chad’s by worshiping with them this Sunday. Services are normally held at 11am. A BCP Morning Prayer service is planned for this Sunday. (St Chad’s is located just north of the corner of Dufferin and St. Clair. An alternate facility for this Sunday would likely be nearby.) We’ll keep you posted.
Psalm 1,2,10,11 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness… The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!
Hello there,
I read somewhere that the vote at St. Chad’s was 12 for leaving the ACC, 10 against and 2 abstentions. Can someone verify if this is correct? If so, even more prayers are desired, since fully half of the big handful of people in the room at the time the vote was taken DID NOT vote to leave the ACC. Perhaps they too are still part of the “small but faithful” parish you describe above? It almost sounds above as though you’ve concluded that the parish was of one mind about leaving. A pretty small majority voted to do so; would this not be quite divisive in what sounds to be a tiny congregation? Would love to hear comments about this.
The decission at St Chad’s was very close and I do question their actions when they do not have a clear majority. According to the diocisan web site the wardens were locked out of the church. With the aid of the the police the locks were changed and copies of the keys given to the wardens.
Just please pray for those who are being loyal and faithful to the decision made by the Vestry majority. Yes, this was a tight vote and perhaps should not have been moved on, but then aren’t Christians used to being persecuted both from within the church and without the church.
It does seem a bit odd, but I’m not in Toronto, and don’t have the whole story.