The first of three early September inductions in the Diocese of New Westminster took place, Wednesday, September 3rd at St. Helen’s, Surrey.
The Reverend Stephen and Jos Laskey travelled a long way from their last posting at Christ Church in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, arriving at the Surrey Gateway neighbourhood parish in time to begin their new ministry July 15th, 2014.
Stephen and Jos were in the community for more than 6 weeks before the Induction Eucharist, and were able to establish themselves. The buzz around the parish about the new rector and his partner has been extremely positive.This kind of atmosphere is certainly conducive to a prayerful and profound Celebration of New Ministry.
Considering that the liturgy was taking place on the Wednesday evening following the Labour Day long weekend, the turnout was excellent, with most of the rows of the beautiful Surrey church occupied.
The procession began right on time at 7pm with the singing of The Earth Belongs to God to the tune: Trumpet Voluntary. The choir under the leadership of People’s Warden, Lynn Turner sang enthusiastically as they made their way through the nave and up the steps through the rood screen to the chancel.
As this Celebration took place on a feast day of the church, the Feast of St. Gregory the Great, the clergy were robed in white and gold and there were three readings and a psalm: Micah 6: 608; Psalm 57: 6-11; 2 Corinthians 4: 5-12; and the Gospel, Matthew 25: 1-13.
The preacher for the liturgy was the Archdeacon of Fraser and Rector of the Anglican Parish Church of the Epiphany, Surrey, the Venerable Stephen Rowe. He welcomed Stephen and Jos and added that it was a privilege to be asked to preach. He revealed that he had missed a typo in his church’s Sunday pew bulletin, August 31st, 2014, promoting the Celebration of New Ministry at St. Helen’s missing out the crucial letter ‘t’ in induction. Stephen Laskey was to be induced rather than inducted.He then continued by making reference to the close regional bonds shared by his parish and by St. Helen’s, Surrey,
“...as Ministry Assessment Process (MAP) partners Epiphany is enjoying and developing a closer bond with St Michael’s and St Helen’s. So it is appropriate to have the rector of Epiphany as preacher tonight as it is to have Connie Wilks (also from Epiphany) acting as deacon and Bishop’s Chaplain.
When I looked up Gregory the Great I was dismayed to read that he led his people through 14 crisis-filled years and pray Stephen that it will not be so for you.
Yet Gregory also used his gifts as a pastor and teacher to strengthen the faith of his community; this is something that we do hope and pray will happen during Stephen’s ministry at St Helen’s.”
Archdeacon Stephen continued to examine the readings for the evening in the context of Reverend Stephen Laskey’s new ministry. But his focus was on the congregational development of the Surrey parishes and how that relates to their location, the busy and flourishing city of Surrey.
“Stephen as you already know this parish has made great strides in recent years as it has seen the congregation grow and become more diverse. As a community you have demonstrated that congregational growth is possible and, St Helen’s for that, you are a credit to our Diocese. As you move forward you will want to continue that growth while at the same time ensuring you have in place the structure and leadership to sustain and support that expansion.
St Helen’s: in common with all the Surrey parishes you will want to continue to meet the challenge of this ever-expanding city and the huge growth and development we have all witnessed in the last ten years. This is an exciting and fascinating place to be and we have a particular call to respond to God in this place (Surrey) at this time. There will be no easy answers to how we seek to be Church and not all the traditional ways will be workable. But by prayer, good preparation, and hard work there will be nothing to prevent us from doing the doing God’s work here.”
(Please click the link to download a copy of Archdeacon Stephen Rowe’s sermon notes.)
And following the sermon the induction continued with the Covenant in Ministry beginning with the Administration of the Oaths and Subscriptions by the Executive Archdeacon, the reading and signing of the Oath and the reading of the License of Institution. This was followed by the presentation to the new rector by members of the parish of the Symbols of Ministry, the Peace and then the Eucharist, the focus of our worship.
After worship there was a reception with sweets, savouries, punch and hot drinks in St. Helen’s large and well-appointed Parish Hall. The reception was bright and lively and the new rector and his wife were beaming. It was a great start to another chapter in the 100 plus year history of St. Helen’s, Surrey, may it be a long and happy one for Stephen and Jos and their new community of faith.
Images: Top, The Bishop and the new rector at the Altar for the Eucharistic Prayer. Upper right,the Acolytes Ashna and Amarindhya are ready to process. Middle left, the preacher, the Venerable Stephen Rowe. Lower right and homepage, the Bishop presents the new rector. Below, Jos and Stephen Laskey at the reception. PHOTOS: Randy Murray