“Thank you!” from Brian Pearson … What an overwhelming outpouring of affection Jean and I experienced through you all last Sunday! We will be forever grateful. Your gifts were both exceedingly generous and genuinely moving: the Youth Group’s voice-activated home controllers (“Alexa, turn on the lights.” “Alexa, make me a peanut butter sandwich.”); the truly […]
A few last words from our Rector, the Reverend Brian E Pearson: As St. Stephen’s continues on its faithful journey, but without me as your priest, what happens to us? What will our relationship look like now, after almost twenty years together? For the next year, I am taking a sabbatical from church life. I […]
What happens the Sunday after the Rector retires? Understandably, people are anxious to know. Brian Pearson has been our priest for over nineteen years, meaning we have grown used to the weekly practices, customs, and peculiarities of our Sunday worship. But protocols are in place to ensure that things continue more or less unchanged until […]
Lynn McKeown, our Parish Administrator, oversees the complex comings and goings of daily life around the church, including the management of our rental groups, the collection of rents from our tenants, and the many details that require constant attention, such as caretaking, grounds keeping, insurance, and financial accounts. She also provides administrative support to the […]
The legal corporation of St. Stephen’s Church comprises two churchwardens and the incumbent priest. Together with one or two deputy wardens, these church “officers” are authorized to sign legal documents on behalf of the parish, including cheques, leases, and employment contracts. Each churchwarden has a “portfolio”, or area of responsibility, including buildings and property, finances, […]
Music is critical to our life here at St. Stephen’s. So we were not only saddened by the departure of our former music director, Jeff Jones, we were devastated. But it appears God likes us making music, so we have been sent a dynamic duo as our new music team: Ondrea Mann and Liz Tremblay. […]
This week we say farewell to a good friend and supporter of St. Stephen’s. The Venerable Barry Foster, one of our honorary clergy and, until recently, the executive officer of the Diocese of Calgary, has accepted a three-year contract as the executive officer of the Diocese of British Columbia, which comprises Vancouver Island and the […]
This week, at both our Sunday services, we welcome as our preacher and presider our diocesan bishop and metropolitan archbishop, the Most Reverend Greg Kerr-Wilson. Following several years of disagreement and conflict, we are seeking to heal our relationship with the bishop and move forward together in the appointment of a new priest. One of […]
Live animals are just so wrong in church. Remember the Christmas pageant a few years ago when Clip Clop the pony lost his load on our brand-new flooring? Is this the real reason they filled in the main entranceway of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem—(as one story goes) to keep the Crusaders from […]
The Christmas story is carried as much by the music as by the words. Without the carols we would have a curious folk tale about a young family facing enormous obstacles, yet getting through them with divine assistance. It would be a lovely story, but would it live in our hearts? Put itto music, sing […]