It is no accident that the Investiture of new members to The Order of the Diocese of New Westminster takes place on the Sunday closest to All Saints Day.
A common interpretation of All Saints Day is that we remember the Saints, the early Christians, the early adapters who were the first to follow Jesus' message of hope for the world. We also reflect on the fact that an early designation or label for followers of Christ was the word "saint," so it follows that through our baptism we are All Saints. We remember and revere the Saints who have gone before and we give thanks for our sainthood and here in the Diocese of New Westminster on this day we recognize the Senior Saints among us.
 
(In the image, Dean Peter Elliott welcomes the congregation to the Cathedral)
 
The Celebration of the Eucharist that took place on Sunday, November 7th at 4pm that included the Investiture of New Members to the Order of the Diocese of New Westminster was indeed a true celebration.
The music was glorious, the Cathedral was filled to capacity and the joy that was felt by each person in the sanctuary as each one of the 49 new members of the ODNW stepped forward to receive the medal from the Venerable Ronald Harrison, Executive Archdeacon of the Diocese and shake the hands of the Dean of the Diocese, the Very Reverend Peter Elliott and the Bishop of the Diocese the Right Reverend Michael Ingham was electric.
The guest preacher, the Most Reverend John Privett, Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of BC and Yukon captured the emotions in the sanctuary when he said, "we look to Jesus, the Sainted Disciples, and now, where we are today, we look to the nominees to the Order gathered in the chancel, they are representative of what a faithful Christian life looks like." He went on to say that it is basic to our human learning to model our lives on the lives of others.
At the conclusion of the service there was suddenly a huge swell of family and friends taking pictures of the "Class of 2010" as they prepared to pose for official photographer Wayne Chose.
The official photograph will be available soon. Stay tuned!