Over the past year the Anglican Parish of the Church of the Epiphany, Surrey has entered into a very exciting partnership with a group of Chaldean Christians some of whom are recent immigrants to Canada from Iraq, many of them coming to North America via Syria and elsewhere. The Chaldeans under the ordained leadership of Father Ayoob Adwar and deacon, the Reverend Shawkat Shammas have been sharing the space with the Epiphany congregation, worshipping together and also celebrating their own liturgies in the Epiphany space. On January 4th, the Patronal Feast Day of the Church more than 180 from both communities gathered at Epiphany for a Chaldean Rite of Baptism (in Assyrian) in the context of an Anglican Church of Canada Eucharist. Three infants were baptized by Father Ayoob with the Venerable Stephen Rowe taking a role in the administration of the sacrament.
In the photos:Thomas, Emiliana and Maria with their sponsors; the clergy, the Reverend Shawkat Shammas, the Reverend Father Ayoob Adwar, the Venerable Stephen Rowe, the Reverend Connie Wilks; Father Ayoob baptizes Maria.
More coverage of this developing partnership will be available in upcoming web news articles and issues of Topic.