Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23)

The Funeral Service for Ray Bailey, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend to many, teacher, and disciple of Christ, will be held at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral, 135 Anderson, Winnipeg, this coming Thursday, July 30th, 2 p.m. All are welcome at this worship service to the glory of God, as we give thanks for Ray’s long and full life.

Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord.
And let light perpetual shine upon him.

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Raymond Bailey, our dear brother in the Lord and good friend, died today, Thursday, 23 July, at 12:05 p.m. at the Riverview Health Centre in Winnipeg.  He was surrounded by loving family.  Please keep them all in your prayers, his beloved wife Barbara, his children and their partners, and all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, in this time of sorrow.

Further details on funeral date and time will be forthcoming as soon as they are available.  The service will be held here at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral, a church he loved and served well through many, many years.  We will miss you, Ray, but, even as we grieve your dying, we rejoice with you in your life forever safe in Christ.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory. 

We rang the Cathedral bells today 1181 times for 1181 MMIW.  We rang in memory, in honour, in hope.

CBC News was here and filmed a piece around #22Days and the bell ringing and the commitment of the Anglican Church of Canada to continuing the journey of healing and reconciliation, even if the official work of the TRC is now done. We are told it will feature on The National tonight, maybe even be part of the lead story. Tune in and find out. And remember, this ending is only the beginning.

A Prayer Service at this Cathedral as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins its final meeting in Ottawa. Please join us if you can; all are welcome.  Our worship is Anglican but there will be some Traditional elements.

Please come and join us, whether you are Anglican, or other Christian, or Traditional Indigenous, or something else. As Anglicans we commit to the road ahead, and we understand that this ending is only the beginning.  Please come and join us, come and bear witness, help us to keep our promise.

The Seventh Sunday of Easter is Jerusalem Sunday in the Anglican Church of Canada. We remember our partners, our sisters and brothers, in the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem, with Archbishop Suheil Dawanni and Dean Hosam Naoum, and all their people in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. There will be opportunity on Sunday to give a special offering which will go to support the Diocese, especially its health-care institutions. Look for the envelope in your bulletin and give as generously as you are able. Thanks very much! Shukran iqtir.

Preaching and presiding at the Cathedral will be the Rev. Julie Collings, with deep gratitude from the Dean, who is home sick, but expects to be back soon after a couple days of good rest.  Thank you, Julie!   THERE IS NO DEAN’S FORUM ON SUNDAY, MAY 17.  SUNG EUCHARIST AS USUAL AT 10:30 A.M.

Jerusalem Sunday on May 17, 2015, is the second annual church observance to celebrate companionship in God’s mission between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem in Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.  The Diocese is a historic and active member of the Christian, ecumenical and interfaith community of the Middle East.  It is home to several thousand Arab Anglicans in thirty parishes and situated in one of the world’s holiest destinations for Christian, Jewish and Muslim pilgrims.

Regrettably, few religious tourists to the Holy Land today encounter Palestinian and other Arab Christians, or visit a parish church, school or hospital.  Jerusalem Sunday introduces us to the ‘living stones’ of the local Anglican church, to the descendants of the first Christian communities indigenous to the region.  Jerusalem Sunday is an opportunity to meet Arab sisters and brothers in Christ in the Anglican Communion, and hear them talk about discipleship in the 21st century.

The ministries of the Diocese of Jerusalem bring hope, skills, health, a peaceful future to those they serve.  Jerusalem Sunday is also an opportunity for Anglicans in Canada to send a measure of financial support to these ministries, especially the Penman Medical Clinic, Zababdeh, in the northern area of the West Bank.  The Penman Clinic, housed in the parish of St. Mathew, is a busy gathering place for townspeople, villagers and farmers seeking diagnostic tests, examinations and medical consultation.  It is the only clinic for many miles around, serving thousands of families per year.  Many who receive treatment in this and other diocesan institutions haven’t the money to pay for tests and prescriptions. The Directors of the Diocese’s medical ministries plan to relocate the Penman Clinic into its own building, refurbished with additional consultation rooms, diagnostic equipment and health care workers.  This will become a reality through the generous support of local, regional and international companions.

We can support the work of the Penman Clinic in Zababdeh on Sunday May 17 through a special Parish offering or Gifts for Mission.

Please write in the cheque memo:  Jerusalem Sunday 2015.  A tax receipt will be issued for all gifts over $10.  Again, thanks!  And God bless you with peace.  Salaam aleikum.

“Without the clear witness of God’s own Word, Jesus Christ, we would be left only with an awesome and distant God, all powerful and forever and only mysterious, the dread deity, not of sunny golf courses, but of tsunami, tornado and earthquake.”  From today’s sermon, by Dean Paul N. Johnson

NO DEAN’S FORUM TODAY (Resumes next Sunday, 19 April)

Sung Eucharist for Easter 2, 10:30 a.m.

Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

TENEBRAE – INTO THE DARKNESS OF DEATH

Worship for Good Friday this morning at 10:30 a.m.
135 Anderson Avenue, Winnipeg

“That is why we preach this way. We wish to shake our baptized people out of habits that threaten to make them practically baptized pagans, idolaters of their money and power. What sort of baptized persons are these? Those who want to bear the mark of the Spirit and the fire that Christ baptizes with must take the risk of renouncing everything and seeking only God’s reign and justice.”

Oscar Arnulfo Romero, El Salvador, Martyr – 1980