Behold: All Things Have Become New!

“The Old Things Have Passed Away; Behold, All Things have Become New!”  [2 Corinthians 5:17]  

Friends, this week in your mailboxes, you will receive an important mailing from the Church.  It is an invitation to a very special service which will happen at St. George’s on the Feast of Pentecost, Sunday May 20.  Over the past year, we have been walking our journey of healing from our past hurts.  Now together we are ready, as a community, to sacramentally receive the new life Christ offers to St. George’s.  I know that is the long weekend - but trust me when I say: this is going to be a very moving service.  I do hope you can join us.  And if you know of any former members of St. George’s, feel free to invite them as well.  

While this service celebrates the end of this particular healing journey, it is important to say two things.  First: these hurts will always be in our past.  We are not now going to pretend that it never happened - but we will not be bound by our hurts anymore.  They will not hold us back from growing in strength and health; they will not damage our relationships with one another and with God.  We have reclaimed our power to make healthy, strong choices for our future.  So while the hurts of the past cannot be erased, they will not hurt us any longer.         

The second point is this: there may well be other hurts in the congregation’s past which have not been raised as part of this process.  In fact, people with experience have told me it is highly unlikely we’ve surfaced every hurt and addressed every experience of abuse.  More may come to light.  This is okay.  We must not feel ashamed about speaking the truth and pursuing healing.  We have proven to ourselves that we can experience the transforming light of Christ when we allow that light to shine in dark places.  Therefore, let us have confidence that if there are other hurts, our future will only be better if we bring them to light.  If you need to talk to someone about abuse that you experienced at St. George’s or anywhere else in your life, I am always open to listen to you without judgement.  Brian Way would also be very open to receiving a call or an email: brian@relatewellcounselling.ca; 403-648-0682  

But now we celebrate how far we’ve come.  On May 20 we celebrate the new light and health and strength that Christ is bringing to birth in our midst.  Join us as we turn the corner and face our future, renewed by the power of God’s healing work in our midst, and ready to be a light shining brightly in the North East.  

God bless,

Clara+