ESTEVAN & WEYBURN (Qu’A) — It was a bright, sunny day when Rev. Leonard Botchway and Rev. Christine Burton were installed in St. Giles, Estevan, and All Saints, Weyburn, respectively.
While an installation may sound like something you’d do to a lightbulb, it’s apt, as Botchway and Burton have been charged with bringing the light of God to their new parishes and communities.
Bishop Helen Kennedy travelled to Estevan on Sept. 22, for a service of thanksgiving for the new ministry of Rev. Dr. Leonard Botchway. Botchway has been appointed priest-in-charge at St. Giles following the retirement of Archdeacon Wilma Woods.
Bishop Kennedy presided over the service, and following her sermon, the St. Giles Sunday school performed a song called Who Did?
At the end of the service Botchway expressed his thanks for everyone who came to the service, including Rev. David Holmes, who was the parish priest in Estevan for 17 years.
Following the service, a potluck lunch was enjoyed by all.
Later that afternoon, Bishop Kennedy arrived in Weyburn and made her way to All Saints Parish.
There, she was greeted by Rev. Christine Burton and Rev. Brian Buydens, assistant priest, and a small but enthusiastic crowd of believers, including Botchway, who travelled from Estevan for the service, and members of the Weyburn ministerial.
The celebratory service was relatively straightforward, although Burton was so keen for all to share in the peace of Christ that she invited the community to share the peace before the articles of covenant had been affirmed.
The service was followed by a bounteous potluck that had just about enough leftovers to fill the biblical 12 baskets, but instead were sent home with participants in the service.
As day turned to night, all returned homeward, where God granted all a peaceful night and a perfect end.
May we too all share in these new ministries of God’s light, and rest in God’s grace.
