Rejoicing Always

(from Graham Cooke's October Newsletter)

Living in Christ makes us vulnerable to laughter. Laughter is more than a choice; it’s a requirement for us that we be happy. God’s highest plan for our lives includes a desire for us to find, live in, and love the joy that is in Christ. God is good news! His love and presence is an absolute tonic for us. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full,” Jesus said in John 15:11.

Every time God speaks to us, or reveals more of His nature to us, joy is part of that equation. Beholding Him and becoming like Him is an invitation to party and celebrate with Him. Everything God says to us is designed to bring us into joy. Everything in the Kingdom of Heaven is about gladness, joy, happiness, and laughter. God wants to bring a smile to our faces.

God is joyful because He knows what’s coming next. He knows the final score. When you know the end from the beginning, you can’t help but laugh at all of evil’s schemes and tricks. They become irrelevant when you know that you win. There is a continuous joy in Christ that runs so deep that no one else can even touch it. But to access it, we need to learn how to rejoice in all things.

For me, joy is a safeguard. It’s a shield against the enemy. When the enemy comes, we can laugh in his face—because God laughs at him first.

I once had a dream where I was on a battlefield. We had just fought off the enemy, but we had lost a lot of good people. There weren’t many of us left; we were small and pitiful, to be honest. Every one of us was wounded. I myself had at least a dozen sword gashes on my arms. I was bleeding badly, and was absolutely exhausted.

Suddenly, a trumpet blew, and I saw another enemy army take the field in front of us. I looked around but saw no reinforcements for our battered side. The enemy was powering up. Their ranks were swelling with every passing moment. It was a hopeless fight, but our ragtag band of survivors gathered close together and got ready.

As I set my feet and gritted my teeth in preparation for the enemy’s charge, I noticed a man next to me was dressed as a restaurant waiter. Perfectly-pressed black trousers, a bowtie, a crisp, white shirt, and a white towel slung over his arm.

“What are you doing?” I asked incredulously.

“Would you like the melon or the soup?” he replied.

“What?” I asked.

“Melon or soup?” he said.

“How can you talk about food at a time like this?” I demanded.

The waiter ignored me and went from person to person, asking, “Melon or soup?”

“Are you mad?” I said. “Don’t you see what’s happening? Don’t you see the blood all over the ground? Don’t you see the enemy over there? How can you talk about lunch at a time like this?”

“Mmm-hmm,” he answered. “Melon or soup?”

I lost my temper completely. “Are you stupid or something?” I screamed. “You want to talk about food at a time like this?”

Suddenly, I woke up to find myself shouting, “Talk about food!” in my bedroom. In that instant, I received a powerful revelation, found in Psalm 23:5—“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

When we’re on the battlefield just trying to survive the next wave of the enemy, God is thinking about menus. He looks around and says, “What a great place for a picnic! We can have sausage rolls, meat pies, cheese sandwiches. This will be perfect.” He is so secure in who He is and in His power to defeat any enemy that He can feed us in the middle of the worst battle of our lives. And that confidence should be a source of pure joy in our lives.

Making Cleanliness next to Godliness

As flu season sneaks up on us again, people seem more panicked than usual at additional threats from the H1N1 virus (aka ‘Swine Flu’).

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness” your mother or grandmother may have reminded you way back when. In this little reflection, we’ll see how to make it begin to come true!

Obviously among your best defenses against flu are good sanitary practices: washing hands frequently, sneezing into your sleeve, not re-using tissues, keeping fingers away from your face (especially eyes and mouth).

Another obvious help we receive free thanks to our government: flu shots. Get yours. You’re protecting yourself as well as all those you come in contact with.

Hand-sanitizers―now appearing in churches, hospitals, supermarkets, washrooms, wherevers—offer another small step not only in staying healthy ourselves, but also in helping us avoid a flu pandemic.

Here however is a new way to think/react each time you use one of those hand-sanitizers. Just as that disinfectant helps purify our hands and helps us stay healthy and considerate of others, so our ‘being the church’ should help us remain close to God, and, simultaneously, help us prevent an epidemic of wandering from God.

So pause for a second next time you're rubbing some of that stuff into your hands! While your hands are together, join them as if in prayer:

“That my hands may be the hands of Christ, bringing the healing touch of prayer, praise and perseverance into the world.” Selah.

(Idea originated in an article by the Rev. John Ohmer, rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Leesburg, Virginia, & published in their Nov. 2/09 St. James’ Episcopal Church e-Pistle. Thanks to Lynne Johnston for passing it along.)

Healing Choices: Controlled by Circumstances or Character?

(adapted from a Rick Warren daily devotional)

When we say things such as, 'That makes me so mad . . . so sad . . . feel so bad,' we’re actually admitting that circumstances control the way we feel. Yet, we do have a choice. We have the ability to make healing choices. We can choose to remain positive; we can choose to not let some circumstance 'make' us mad.

The ability to control our reactions, to handle hurt without retaliating is called meekness. Jesus promised, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5 NIV). Meek people control their reactions toward life, and this gives them far more control over a situation than if they simply react.

If you are a meek person, you are no longer a victim. You control your choices. The best definition of meekness in the Bible is Proverbs 16:32: "It is better to win control over yourself than over whole cities" (TEV).

During World War II, the noted psychiatrist Victor Frankl was a prisoner in the concentration camp at Auschwitz. He said, "They took my clothes, my wife, my kids, my wedding ring. I stood naked before the SS and I realized they can take everything in my life, but they cannot take my freedom to choose how I will respond to them."

That is a freedom you will always have. How do I react? How do I choose to react to those people who hurt me?

Jesus says we will be blessed when we show self-control. You might be thinking, 'That leaves me out! I can't control my reactions! I can't get them under control!' The secret of controlling your reaction is letting God's Spirit fill your life moment-by-moment. He'll break all those bad habits, all those patterns of reacting, all those old ways of being negative, defensive―reacting in fear, in anger, in sarcasm. He can break all those old patterns in your life and fill your life with power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).

Some of us are stressed out by life, by circumstances, by relationships. What do we need more than anything else? We need to develop the quality of meekness; the quality of controlling our reactions by the Spirit God has placed in us.

What God Seeks

More than anything, God seeks our love.

God's great commandment is that we love Him, ultimately, with all our mind, heart, soul and strength. As we do, we fulfill all He requires of us (see John 14:15). And it is as we love Him that He orchestrates all things to work together for our good (see Rom. 8:28).

Beloved, loving God is not hard. We can fulfill any assignment – auto mechanic or housewife, doctor or college student – and still give great pleasure to our heavenly Father. We do not need ministry titles to love the Lord. Indeed, God measures the value of our lives by the depth of our love. This is what He requires of every true God seeker: to love Him where we're at.

Excerpted & adapted from Francis Frangipane's newest book on seeking God (currently untitled), due out in November

God’s Goodness Will Pursue You!

“Surely your goodness . . . will pursue me all the days of my life”

— King David in Psalm 23:6 (NLT)

Even in the middle of your hurts, habits, and hang-up, God is watching over you. King David is not saying, "Surely only good things are going to happen to me!" He knew as well as anyone that bad things happen to good people.

David’s point is only that God’s goodness will follow after or pursue him. No matter how bad, evil, or difficult something seems, God will work it out for good.

It’s one of God’s great promises that He has given to believers: We know all that happens to us is working for our good—if we love God and are fitting into his plans (Romans 8:28). If you're a believer, the Bible says all things are working together for good—not that all things are good—but working together for good.

There is no difficulty, dilemma, defeat, or disaster in the life of a believer that God can’t ultimately turn toward His purpose

(Adapted from a Rick Warren devotional)

Jesus Cleanses and Calls

By Jon Walker

One of the most effective tools the enemy will use to keep you from serving God is convincing you that you’ve either messed up too much to serve God, or that you must clean up your life before you can get God’s attention. When these thoughts pop into your head, sniff the air for the scent of sulfur, because they are lies straight from the fires of hell!

God’s intention when He convicts us of our sins is not to condemn us; rather His breath of life disperses the “fog of war”—that satanic smoke the father of lies uses to keep us on the run from God.

If you follow the sequence of Isaiah 6 (see below), you’ll see how God initiates the process that brings you into His holy presence and purifies you to remain there. Your new guilt-free, sin-atoned status will compel you and prepare you for the unique mission God sets before you.

Isaiah reports that God’s fire is a cleansing fire that burns your guilt away and purifies you from sin, sealing within you the work of Jesus Christ. The prophet also suggests God’s ultimate purpose for cleansing us is to prepare us for mission: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8).

Prior to God taking the initiative to cleanse Isaiah, the prophet felt overwhelmed and unprepared for any mission on God’s behalf. After the cleansing, Isaiah is energized with a desire to serve God.

'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips . . . and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.' Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal . . . which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.' Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'

—Isaiah 6:5-8 (NIV)

Adapted from Growing with Purpose: Connecting with God Every Day, by Jon Walker

A Pretty Good Religion?

In a recent book, An Atheist Defends Religion: Why Humanity Is Better Off With Religion Than Without It, author Bruce Sheiman reminds readers of what many sociologists of religion have proven time and again: that religion helps people live happier and healthier lives by giving them meaning and purpose.

'Religion' benefits society enormously, Sheiman and sociologists note, by establishing food cupboards, hospitals, schools, rescue missions, water wells and what not. As the subtitle says, humanity is better off, on the whole, as a result of religion.

But Christianity Today senior managing editor Mark Galli takes issue with that viewpoint and its consequences.

“Christianity can't help but be a religion. It is composed of human institutions that of necessity use moral and social techniques to make a go of it. There's no getting around that.

“But if people look at us and see only religion, and worse, pat us on the back because humanity is better off because of us—well, that's about the most damning thing they could say.

“.... The gospel isn't primarily about helping individuals to live the life they've always wanted; it tells people to die to their yearning for self-fulfillment. It is not about helping people feel good about themselves, but telling them that they are dying. It's not about improving people, but killing the old self and creating them anew. It's not about helping people make space for spirituality in their busy lives, but about a God who would obliterate all our private space.

"The gospel is not about getting people to cooperate with God in making the world a better place—to give it a fresh coat of paint, to remodel it; instead it announces God's plan to raze the present world order and build something utterly new.

"The gospel is about the Cross, which puts a nail in the coffin of religion as such. And the gospel is about resurrection—not an improvement nor an adjustment, but the breaking in of a completely new life because the old life has been obliterated.”

You’ve got to read the entire article (don't worry, it's short) to get the full gist!

"The Furious Longing of God"

"The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that he lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creations. Not to make people with better morals, but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love.

"This, my friends, is what it really means to be a Christian. Our religion never begins with what we do for God. It always starts with what God has done for us, the great and wondrous things that God dreamed of and achieved for us in Christ Jesus."

―Brennan Manning, in The Furious Longing of God

Hallelujah Haliburton! Sizzlin' Summer Service 2

Proving the power of concerted prayer, legwork, handiwork, talent and faith, Haliburton and area Christians gathered for a celebration of song, music and unity on the holiday weekend Sunday. Despite dire weather predictions all week, prayer and wind parted the clouds for what felt like our first sunny Sunday of the summer. Head Lake Park filled with singing, attentive Baptist, Anglican, United Church, Pentecostal and Northland Faith congregations.

After Lakeside Baptist’s Brian Plouffe’s warm welcome, Pastor Daniel Smith of Lighthouse Pentecostal opened with prayer and a few blasts on the shofar (a trumpet made of a ram's horn, blown by the ancient Hebrews during religious ceremonies). Anne Moore of St. George’s and St. Margaret’s gave the message—appropriately on the difference between unity and uniformity.

Harry Morgan (United Church pastor), Christopher Greaves (former rector of St. George’s/St. Margaret’s), Joy Nickell, Glenda Burk, Dan Goodwin and many others of various denominational stripes all helped lead in song, instrumentals, reading scripture, or prayer.

Clockwise from top: Anglican Pastor Anne Moore addresses crowd; Crystal & Casey Jeffs; United Church Pastor Harry Morgan leads in song; Chris Postlethwaite w. daughter Emma; Eleanor & Earl Cooper; Dakota MacDonald & Alyssa Bogardis

News Flash: You are not your feelings!

(Adapted from a devotional by Rick Warren)

Everything on earth has its own time and its own season.”
– Ecclesiastes 3:1, CEV

God’s omnipresence and the manifestation of His presence are two different things. One is a fact; the other is often a feeling. God is always present, even when you are unaware of Him, and His presence is too profound to be measured by mere emotion.

Yes, He wants you to sense His presence, but He’s more concerned that you trust Him than that you feel Him. Faith, not feelings, pleases God.

The situations that will stretch your faith most will be those times when life falls apart and God is nowhere to be found. This happened to Job. On a single day he lost everything: his family, his business, his health, and everything he owned. Most discouraging—for what is recorded in the next 37 chapters, God said nothing!

How do you praise God when you don’t understand what’s happening in your life and God seems silent? How do you stay connected in a crisis without communication? How do you keep your eyes on Jesus when they’re full of tears? You do what Job did: “Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised’” (Job 1:20–21 NIV).

Tell God exactly how you feel. Pour out your heart. Unload every emotion. Job did this when he said, “I can’t be quiet! I am angry and bitter. I have to speak!” (Job 7:11 TEV)

He cried out when God seemed distant: “Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house” (Job 29:4 NIV).

God can handle your doubt, anger, fear, grief, confusion, and questions. As huge as they may feel or even be, our God would not be God were He not bigger and Beyond all of it, all of them, ALL.

How great are your expectations?

People tend to become what they think we expect them to be. If you communicate to the people around you that you expect them to be lazy, uncreative, and negative, that’s probably how they will respond to you. On the other hand, if you treat people like winners, they’re likely to become winners. Psychologists call it “The Pygmalion Effect.”

Purpose-Driven Life Pastor Rick Warren tells the following story, which vividly illustrates this principle:

“A friend of mine, Bruce, taught college in Oregon for awhile. When he began his first semester teaching there, he was told that the college placed students in English classes by their level of ability. Bruce was assigned to teach two “average ability” classes and one “advanced ability.” He really enjoyed teaching the advanced class: they seemed more alert, more fun, asked better questions, and, as expected, had a higher grade average than the other classes.

“On the final day of the semester, Bruce commented on these differences to the other professors in the faculty lounge. He said he hoped to get more of the advanced classes next semester. But to his surprise, his department director said, “Bruce, I don’t know where you got your information but we phased out the average/advanced distinction a year ago. You’ve been teaching mixed classes all semester like the rest of us!”

“Bruce couldn’t believe it! He checked his records, and sure enough, there were far more A’s and B’s in the class that he thought was full of smart kids. And he really had enjoyed teaching that class more. But the only real difference between the classes had been Bruce’s expectations of them."

Would you like to bring out the best in those around you? Here's the key: Treat them the way they could be! Don’t just “tell it like it is.” Tell it like it could be.

Jesus said, “According to your faith it will be done to you” (Matthew 9:29 NIV). What are you expecting from yourself . . . from others . . . from God?

(Adapted from What Do You Expect?)

Life is like a rainbow: You need both the sun and the rain to make its colours appear

Okay, so maybe we've had quite enough rain in these Highlands of late. But the scene below greeted and cheered me a few evenings ago.


Those overarching colours of the spectrum always signify promise: the rain does end, the clouds do break up, the sun remains even if partially hidden and will soon burst forth. Its peeking through even while the clouds and rain remain produces such an unlikely arc of brilliance and colour even the most unbelieving heart has to smile at the show.

Biblically, the rainbow was to be a sign of God’s covenant of love between Himself and all living creatures on earth. No more village-sized wooden arks would be needed for flood protection.

More rainbow quotes:

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.”
―G.K. Chesterton

“No vision and you perish;
No ideal, and you're lost;
Your heart must ever cherish
Some faith at any cost.
Some hope, some dream to cling to,
Some rainbow in the sky,
Some melody to sing to,
Some service that is high.”
―Harriet Du Autermont

“Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them.”
―John Shirley

And finally:

“Don't miss all the beautiful colours of the rainbow looking for that pot of gold!”

It is not all about you

In her sermon this past Sunday, Pastor Anne echoed the famous words that open and set the tone for Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life: “It’s not all about you.”

In this me-first, I’m-number-one, it’s-my-right society, those can be hard words to swallow, let alone digest. Even supposedly other-focused Christians can get it wrong. Last week we were encouraged to go forward for healing prayer in the service. Even there, in an atmosphere of seeking prayer, we have to check our motives, Anne reminded us this week.

Do we believe in and love God because of what He can do for us, rather than for Who He is? Yes, He wants us well; yes, He wants us healthy. But if we think we need our head-ache or sore back healed and He knows we need our heart healed first—or our memories, or our attitudes—well, it may seem like the prayer ‘didn’t work’.

"God answers prayers in four ways," Anne explained. "Yes, no, wait, or yes, but. And that last one we may not understand as a 'yes' since the answer wasn't what we asked for."

A big day in Christian History

June 13, 1525
German reformer Martin Luther marries Katherine von Bora, 16 years his younger, having sneaked her and several other nuns out of their Cistercian convent in empty herring barrels two years earlier. Many viewed the marriage, which lasted 21 happy years, as a scandal.

June 13, 1893
Dorothy Sayers, English mystery writer and apologist, is born in Oxford, England.
"Man is never truly himself except when he is actively creating something," she once said. [Methinks she'd include women in that quote were she speaking today!]

(thanks to ChristianHistory.net for the info)

The Width of God's Love for You

And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

[Ephesians 3:18-19, NLT]

The width of God's love extends across the entire world and includes every person and thing in creation: "The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made" (Psalm 145:17, NIV). God loves the whole world (John 3:16).

God never made a person He didn't love. He made you; He loves you; and God doesn't make junk! He loves you unconditionally. He loves you very, very, very, very, very much.

Everyone matters to God; in fact, we see in the life of Jesus that He even loves the unlovely, and those who may feel unlovable. Do you want to know the secret of self-esteem? Here it is: If you want confidence, then understand how much you matter to God. If God loves you, who cares what anyone else thinks. [Selah: think on that]

Because God loves you, there's no need to prove your self-worth. We don't need props anymore to make us feel good about ourselves. We don't have to wear certain kinds of clothes to make us feel we're okay, or drive a certain kind of car to prop up our faltering egos. We don't need status symbols anymore. [Trappings can be deadly mind traps]

It is an act of worship when you accept that God's love is wide enough to include everyone, including you!

(Adapted from a recent Rick Warren daily devotional)

Woman enjoys perfect week

Sandra Keyes didn't yell at the kids, didn't snap at her husband, didn't even wish them ill in her heart. She quit moping and shunned gossip. For one week she was perfect — outlasting her husband and winning a marital grudge match.

"I win!" she exclaimed, doing a little jig in the front yard after husband Dan slipped up and cursed the garden hose for malfunctioning. "I beat you, I beat you! A week without sinning. Whoo, whoo!"

Dan threw the hose down and stomped into the house. A week earlier, during a heated argument, he and Sandra had challenged each other to their first-ever "no-sin" competition. Thus commenced a week-long Chip-and-Dale routine.

Having won, Sandra was jubilant. "It's like pitching a perfect game," she said. "Nobody can take it from you. It's in the record books."

(lifted from LarkNews.com)

Is it Time to Take a Nap?

A Purpose Driven Community devotional by Rick Warren

Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is just go take a nap. That's because when you're physically down, it's hard to be emotionally and spiritually up. The legendary football (U.S.) coach Vince Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." That's true. It's amazing how much better things look when you're rested.

If you're discouraged right now, it might not mean you have to make a change; it may simply be that you need some rest.

Farmers know that soil needs rest, so they rotate their crops and systematically leave a portion of their land fallow. They do this because land that has rested produces a greater harvest.

About 100 years ago, a businessman named Frederick W. Taylor did a scientific study on the workplace and productivity. Do you know what his study proved? That people will produce more if they have periodic breaks; and from that, he introduced the coffee break.

Resting is spiritual. The Bible says God "enjoys giving rest to those He loves" (Psalm 127:2 MSG). You may need to put that verse on your refrigerator. The Bible says it's vain for you to rise up early and stay up late.

The Bible also says, "You made my body, Lord; now give me sense to heed Your laws" (Psalm 119:73 LB). What are His laws for the body? Eat right, get your sleep, exercise, and relax.

Rest is so important, in fact, that God put it in the Ten Commandments. In essence, He said, "Every seventh day you are to rest."

Don't ignore what God established. A good night's sleep makes a big difference. And even a quick nap can help you see things clearly.

(you can find this at the Purpose Driven Connection site by clicking here)

Fruit from Frustrations

• RULE #1: Don't sweat the small stuff.
• RULE #2: Realize it's all small stuff!

The Bible says, "A person's wisdom yields patience..." (Proverbs 19:11). The only way we can see all stuff as small stuff is to view it from God's perspective. When I am in tune with God, I remember He has everything under control even though I don't! So I don't have to sweat it: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).

Pray this prayer: "Lord, help me to be filled with your love, joy, and peace, so that when I'm squeezed and pressured it is your love, joy, and peace that spill out of me."

(Adapted from a recent Rick Warren daily devotional, The Secret to Managing Frustrations)

Walking with Jesus

"God is not interested in simply helping people to a destination. He is acutely concerned with how we get there, and wants to be with us on that journey. In Luke 24, Jesus wasn’t walking with his disciples in order to get to Emmaus; he was walking with them because he enjoyed their company and wanted to share the Good News of his resurrection. When we ask God to do something quick, He usually says no. Most of us want our problems resolved overnight so that life can go back to normal. God simply does not work that way. He wants to walk the trail with us, giving us wisdom, revelation and His presence."

—Graham Cooke

Welcome to Anne Moore!

For her first Sunday in the parish, the Rev. Anne Moore let it be known she didn’t like the term “Reverend” used with respect to her office! Just call her “Anne”. For those who think they should show more respect in addressing her (parents of young children, for example), it’s to be Pastor Anne.

With that cleared up, rather than delivering a sermon for her first day, she launched into her testimony. She grew up on a farm on the shores of Hay Bay near Napanee. Before attending Queen’s University in Kingston, Anne began a career with the Canadian Armed Forces. Some of her postings included the '76 Olympics in Montreal, and later, four months as a member of the Canadian contingent of the United Nations Peacekeepers in Egypt, helping keep the peace between Israel and Egypt.

While her upbringing also included attending Anglican church services, that wasn’t enough to answer her growing questions and longings for ‘more’. At this point her sister-in-law stepped in, giving her a book that would change her life. Nine O’Clock in the Morning recounts the story of Episcopal (read Anglican, in Canada) priest Dennis Bennett’s own life-changing encounter with Holy Spirit (see link below for more info on Bennett).

As a student at Queen's, Anne started hearing a call to the ministry. Although she finds it difficult to describe, an inner voice kept asking her about the ministry. Finally, after much resistance, she began to investigate that call. This led to Wycliffe College (part of the University of Toronto) for her theological studies, and many affirmations from others that she was hearing clearly.

Ordained in 1990, her various postings before moving to Haliburton have included: assistant curate at the Parish of St. Hilary's, Mississauga; Incumbent of the Parish of Perrytown (on Rice Lake, north of Cobourg and Port Hope); Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of St. Gabriel's, Richmond Hill; interim director of Flemingdon Park Ministries in Toronto; Interim Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of St. Martin and Calvary in Toronto; chaplain of the Anglican Church Women; member of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer Committee for both Toronto and Canada; and, most recently, interim priest at Church of the Holy Family in Brampton, Ontario.

“My greatest desire in the world is to help people become more like Jesus,” she says, “and to have others help me do the same.”

“And yes, I am an introvert,” she confesses. “If I seem cold or unfriendly at any time, well, that’s my problem, not yours. Help me through it.”

Rural upbringing, military training, prayer warrior: looks like we’ve found the leader to help us process our current situation, lead us beyond, and help us grow throughout.


Master’s Book Store in Haliburton will likely be able to supply you with a copy of Nine O’Clock in the Morning. You can also find it through this link at Amazon.ca. For a brief biography of Dennis Bennett, please click here.