Members of the PALS community gathered at Redeemer, Biggar, in person and on Facebook Live, Dec. 12, 2021, to celebrate the induction/installation of the Rev. Daphne Bender as our pastor. Bishop Chris Harper of the Anglican Saskatoon Diocese presided and Bishop Sid Haugen preached.
The Advent gospel text for the day, read by Rev. Daphne Bender, was a tough “brood of vipers” piece from Luke. Bishop Sid chose to focus on Paul’s letter to the Philippians as more fitting for our theme of beginning ministry together.
In his message, Bishop Sid encouraged us to recognize where we are as a church. We have many models for building the church; not so many for scaling it back, which is where we find ourselves these days. Our membership has not been in a growing phase since the 1970s.
We find ourselves as an aging church which experiences more goodbyes than new beginnings. But beginnings are still important and we look forward to baptisms as well as confirmation and other youth offerings.
We have pledged to be a blessing to our community for another five years and we are so pleased to have Pastor Daphne join us on this journey. She has 28 years of experience in ministry. Her first degree was in nursing, which also informs the gifts she brings into the ministry.
This half time ministry will focus on two in-person worship services a month, alternating between St. Paul’s Anglican and Redeemer Lutheran. We look forward to our work together in the community.—Cindy Hoppe
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