REGINA — The fourth Sunday of Easter is called “Vocations Sunday,” when there is often a special emphasis on vocations — the roles that God calls His people to do. The Diocese of Qu’Appelle held a “Vocations Afternoon” at Immanuel Anglican Church, and two dozen people responded.
Bishop Helen Kennedy, who was in Britain at the time, wrote a message for all the attendees.
She said, in part, “Vocation is not first about roles or titles, but about relationship — God calling us, and our response in love and faithfulness. Each of us, in different ways, is invited to share in the life and ministry of the Church: to offer our gifts, to grow in discipleship, and to serve Christ in the world.”
Executive Archdeacon Jonathan Bauer organized the event, and gave a brief overview, mentioning the diocese’s five-year strategy, A New Way for a New Future, which is still in draft form, but will focus on three actions: worship, serve and grow. He told the attendees, “Look around — you’re seeing the future of the church.”
Bauer introduced three members of the Committee on Ordained Ministry: Deacon Susan Page, Rev. Leonard Botchway, and Susan Gorges.
Carla Hoffmann of St. Aidan, Moose Jaw, spoke about her experience as a Licensed Lay Reader. She described what she does in aspects of worship, parish administration and teaching, and said, “I’m able to serve God in this way.”
Deacon Susan Page described the role of a deacon in the church, specifically in the area of pastoral care. She said deacons look after spiritual needs, combatting loneliness, providing guidance and supporting people during bereavement. She emphasized the need for confidentiality and spoke about diversity in the population.
Page is also a member of the council of the College of Emmanuel and St. Chad, and recommended ethics courses offered by the college for anyone doing pastoral work.
Deacon Arleen Champion also spoke about the role and work of deacons. She described the two different types of deacons: transitional, who serve a short time as a deacon before being ordained to the priesthood, and permanent, who do not intend to become priests.
Champion described what a deacon does during worship, and said one of her favourite things is “sending out” at the very end of the service, commenting that she doesn’t use the term “dismissal.” She said that the deacon goes out with the people, together, to serve God and His people in the world.
She also said that it is very important to involve your spouse and family when considering your vocation, as the work done for the church and the community will have an effect on family life.
Susan Haacke described how she came to be ordained a deacon, after serving roles in secular employment, in her family and as a layperson in the church. “The timing was on God’s schedule, not my own,” she said.
Lay Canon Trevor Powell spoke about lay people assisting at the altar and preparing intercessions (also called Prayers of the People).
He said that modern liturgies allow for more lay participation than earlier liturgies, and that he was pleased to become part of the liturgical team at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Powell said it is both a privilege and a responsibility to prepare intercessions for worship services.
“I’m serving as an intermediary between God and His people.”
The final speaker was Rev. Eimsook Joung, incumbent of Immanuel. She described her faith journey, which took her from her Roman Catholic family in South Korea, to the U.S.A., China, Britain, and eventually the Canadian Arctic and now Regina.
She went from serving in an English mega-church with 2,500 members to Rankin Inlet with a community population of 3,000. She described how she arrived at the beginning of a four-day blizzard. The church there was bankrupt and had no church records.
Many of the residents welcomed her, but some were aggressive toward her because of what they experienced in residential schools.
Joung became overwhelmed and was given two months’ leave to go to Korea to pray and regroup. She says she was tempted not to return to the Arctic, because life was so difficult there, but then she heard God’s voice say, “My beloved daughter, search for where my heart is.” Joung knew that God’s heart is with the lost, the poor, the powerless, the widows and the orphans.
“I knew I had to go back to the Arctic … . As God’s servant, I had to follow God and go where God wanted me to go.”
After eight years in the Arctic, she has been at Immanuel in Regina for more than two years, and because of her experience in the Arctic, she knows how much people in Regina are blessed.
The Vocations Afternoon ended with Eucharist, celebrated by Archdeacon Bauer. The readings featured examples of how God calls His people and gives them different gifts.
Bauer also preached the homily and spoke of how God called Moses by name, and calls us now; how the disciples went, although they had doubts; and how when Jesus said, “… make disciples of all nations,” he added, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
