On Saturday, July 20th, 2024, 235 people came out to enjoy a bowl of delicious Coaticook ice cream at the second annual ice cream social, held in the church hall of St. James the Apostle in Stanbridge East.
The event was organised by the parish’s Youth Council, a dedicated group of young people who are committed to bringing about positive social change in our region, with a particular focus on supporting initiatives that help young people and families.
The Youth Council meets to learn together and share skills (including fundraising techniques, event planning, marketing and publicity, and financial management), all while giving back to the community — and having fun too. As a priest, it is so rewarding to be able to empower and equip the younger generation for leadership in the Church and in the world!
Since its inception in 2023, the Youth Council has raised over $6,000 to give back to the community. That is tremendous generosity on behalf of the parish!
Maddison Ingalls, a member of the Youth Council who recently completed CEGEP at John Abbott College and who will begin studying psychology at Concordia this fall, said “Events like the ice cream social are so important to me because my grandmother used to be heavily involved in the community, and this way I feel I can follow in her footsteps and help out the community that raised me. I am so proud to be part of the St. James the Apostle Youth Council!”
Similarly, Gennevieve Baker, the organising chair for this year’s ice cream social and a mother of two young children, reflects that, “I grew up in the Church, but it was only after I had my own kids that I realized how important it was for me, and I wanted to get more involved. As a church it is important for us to be involved in the life of the community; the work of the Youth Council is one way of fulfilling that.”
Bedford Pizzeria (a local restaurant whose unfailing support for the community is outstanding), the well-known Laiterie de Coaticook, and Maison de la Pomme (a local apple processing company) all made donations for the event, and sheet cakes were baked by a team of eager volunteers. All of this helped to ensure that the event had zero organising costs, maximising the event’s fundraising potential.
St. James the Apostle hosted the ice cream social, but several other organisations helped with ticket sales and publicity, including; the Order of the Eastern Star, the Stanbridge East firefighters, the Missisquoi Historical Society, the Royal Canadian Legion, the Town Hall of Stanbridge East, and the United Church in Stanbridge East. The ice cream social is a real community event! It is gratifying to see the wider community getting so involved in the life and outreach of the parish.
The doors of the church were open during the event, allowing the public to take in the beauty of the church’s religious architecture. The red brick building is a unique architectural gem amongst Anglican churches in the Eastern Townships — and, indeed, the rest of Quebec. It is built in the carpenter gothic style: identifying features of this style include steeply pitched roofs and gables, gingerbread ornamentation, and strong vertical design elements.
Fundraising from the Youth Council has benefited several local elementary school breakfast programs; Girl Guides of Canada; the Graham Neil Winter Classic, which provides winter sports equipment to children whose families cannot afford it; le Tremplin, a home for at-risk youth; and Reilly House, a not-for-profit organisation that supports families throughout the Eastern Townships.
There is an old expression attributed to Theodore Roosevelt: People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. The Church cannot simply talk about loving our neighbour, it has to manifest that love to the world. As a priest, I am proud to be connected to a church that has such a big heart for the community around us!

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Our most recent Regional Ministry joint services was held at St. James the Apostle Church in Stanbridge East on Sunday, June 30th. It was great to have Bishop Mary with us.
One of the hardest things about rural ministry across such a vast geography is building a feeling of unity between the many rural points.
As such, we designate fifth Sundays as special times of worshipping together from across our entire region. There are no other services sceduled in the region on those Sundays. These are important opportunities for fostering community, fellowship, and teamwork as our Regional Ministry continues to develop.
Regional services are always followed by a potluck lunch.
For small, rural congregations that normally get less than a dozen people on a Sunday morning, these regional services have explosive energy and provide a tremendous sense of hope for the future.
God is not done with rural ministry!

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What do you think is the benefit of diocesan partnerships?
Diocesan partnerships provide important opportunities for building up the body of Christ across cultural backgrounds: we pray together, we pray for each other, we share our experiences, we learn from one another.

What is your favourite thing about studying in Montreal?
I have really enjoyed having access to libraries. Studying in Tanzania, education is heavily dependent upon what knowledge the teacher can provide. Studying here in Canada, I have loved reading so many books, and being able to use the McGill Birks Reading Room and the library at Presbyterian College. I love to read, and the experience of studying here makes me want to write my own book!
What was the biggest challenge you faced studying in Montreal?
The biggest challenge I faced was being so far away from my family — especially my children. I am thankful for the communication technology that has kept us together across such big distances.

What do you think is the single most important thing you have learnt from your studies in Montreal?
Many priests in my country have not had the opportunity to study theology at a higher level; schooling is expensive, and not everyone can afford it. Studying at McGill, I have learnt the importance of investing in the theological education of the Church’s leaders (both lay and ordained) so that they can better perform in their ministry. Education is important. I hope that my studies will strengthen the quality of education that we can provide to our own students at St. Cyprian’s College.

Is there anything you’d like the churches of the Diocese of Montreal to know?
I want to thank the Diocese of Montreal for giving me the opportunity to fulfil my dream of studying at McGill, one of the major universities that the world has to offer. I am extremely thankful for this opportunity, which was only made possible because of your generosity.

The post Crossing Cultural Backgrounds: A Partnership Interview with Fr. Linus Buriani appeared first on Montreal Anglican.

The Diocese of Montreal has had a partnership with the Territory of the People (formerly known as the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior) since 2008. The Territory of the People is located in south central British Columbia, and spans some 166,500 square kilometres; roughly eight times the size of our own diocese.

This past January, the Vicar General, the Ven. Robert Camara, and myself had the honour of traveling to the Territory for the consecration of their new bishop, the Rt. Rev. Clara Plamondon. The consecration took place at St. Pauls Cathedral in Kamloops: Robert and I were welcomed as esteemed visitors from “the far east”!

Diocesan partners benefit from sharing their own experiences and by learning from each other. One of the invaluable things that we can learn from our relationship with the Territory is a greater awareness of the Residential School experience by Indigenous peoples; a dark chapter in the Church’s history.

The Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior was formed in 2002 after the Diocese of the Cariboo (founded in 1914) was forced into bankruptcy, resulting from litigation settlements to survivors of abuse in the Residential School system. As part of our time in Kamloops, Robert and I visited the former St. Louis Residential School.

The school opened in 1890. It soon became the largest Residential School in Canada, with enrolment peaking at 500 children in the 1950’s. The school closed in 1978, and is now owned by the Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. The building houses a museum dedicated to the school’s past. A monument stands at the entrance of the building, honouring “all the survivors” who attended the school. In 2021, ground-penetrating radar discovered over 200 potential unmarked graves around the school site.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada determined that Residential Schools were nothing short of “cultural genocide,” intended to destroy Indigenous communities and their ways of life. Indeed, the renaming of the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior as “the Territory of the People” in 2015 was a deliberate attempt to move away from the trauma still associated with words like “Church” or “Anglican.” Standing in front of that red brick building, the awareness of the Residential School system became much more real.

Another learning that can be gained from our partnership with the Territory is the ability to do more with less. The Territory is considerably larger than our diocese, and its parishes are much more geographically isolated, often separated by hundreds of kilometres. Despite this, they function with fewer financial resources, very few clergy, and a streamlined administrative staff. They have a history of being creative and resilient about the ways in which they do ministry. The Territory also has a strong commitment to lay leadership.

Pastoral Elders provide important lay leadership within the Indigenous communities of the Territory, such as providing prayer at funerals and feasts, and leading Sunday worship. They care for their communities. They hold the language and customs of their people in balance with the language and customs of the Christian faith. The consecration service included a drumming procession, and a traditional welcome to the Territory by some of these elders.

Partnership dioceses walk together and share their experiences. They support each other, and rejoice in all that God has created. We met new friends in Kamloops, rekindled old relationships, shared our stories, and prayed together. We hope that Bishop Clara will be able to join us at our own synod this summer. The Diocese of Montreal is deeply enriched because of this ongoing partnership with the Territory of the People.

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One of the biggest challenges facing ministry in our rural corner of the Diocese is building a sense of unity and teamwork across the twelve churches of the Eastern Townships Regional Ministry. The geography of our region is vast. It is not unusual for clergy to cover 100 or more kilometres between churches on any given Sunday: it often feels like swinging from tree to tree or flying and never quite getting the landing gear down!

Moreover, most of the church communities in this area have a strong historic sense of identity, one which is linked to a particular location and building, and not so easily expanded to a broader notion of the Christian family. Yet, without deep and genuine Christian collaboration, a regional ministry is nothing more than a financial agreement. Instead, the hope is that we are truly building something stronger together, leaning into the vocation that God has for this place.

Ironically, COVID19 provided the initial momentum towards a team ministry here, as we all gathered online for a single Zoom service from across the whole region — and beyond. We regularly had over 100 participants on our Zoom services, and while no one wishes the pandemic lockdowns to return, many reminisce on the creativity and fun that we shared online. We even had a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper online!

More still, these Zoom services provided an environment for fostering new relationships and friendships from across the region. Those who now travel around to different churches for Sunday worship often remark how they already know so many friendly faces because they met online.

To strengthen this sense of unity, our Regional Ministry now hosts special joint worship services on months with a fifth Sunday, during which we all worship together in a single service and share a potluck meal afterwards. There are no other services scheduled in the region on those Sundays.

There is a tremendous feeling of fellowship at these joint services, and it is a real joy for everyone to see their churches so full.

We had an explosive attendance of 147 people for our fifth Sunday service hosted in Bishop Stewart Memorial Church in Frelighsburg in April. In July we always gather outdoors for a picnic service in Stanbridge East under the big, old maple tree at the centre of the church yard. We experimented with outdoor services during the pandemic, and “under the big, old maple tree” has become something of a slogan for our joint ministries together, hinting at the all-encompassing nature of it.

For small, rural congregations that normally get less than a dozen people on a Sunday morning, these big regional services also provide a tremendous sense of life and hope for the future! Alone, the churches of this region have limited futures; together, we have an opportunity for greater longevity. God is not finished with the Townships! God is now calling us to try something new: “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness” (Isaiah 43:19).

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In addition to these eleven, there are a number of mission communities (marked in blue), where we no longer own a physical church building, but where we are still regularly called to provide pastoral care in baptisms, marriages, and funerals.  Moreover, a committed cohort of volunteers from across the region, and as far away as Montreal, also meet routinely at the Cowansville Federal Penitentiary (marked in green) to lead chapel services, Bible study, and a monthly book club. All of this makes up the landscape of the Eastern Townships Regional Ministry.

Each of the eleven churches in the Regional Ministry contribute to having two full-time priests living and serving in the area: Archdeacon Tim Smart, as Team Leader, and myself as Associate Priest. On any given Sunday, Tim and I each cover services in one to two (and occasionally three) different churches. Rural ministry requires a lot of driving. Regularly 100km per Sunday— even more at Christmas and Easter!

Archdeacon Linda Borden Taylor is a welcome addition to the ministry team as an Honorary Associate. The region is also served by Deacons Randy Gates and Judy Ball, and a dedicated group of Lay Readers. Together we tirelessly provide services across the Townships based on a regional schedule.

Some churches have a Eucharist every Sunday, while others have a priest once or twice a month, or only a few times a year. Churches without a priest on a Sunday may have services of Morning Prayer, or are encouraged to commute to another parish with a Sunday Eucharist. Anyone can also tune into the live-stream broadcast from Grace Church in Sutton, the “digital hub” of the Regional Ministry.

Certainly, it is daunting to juggle so many different churches across such a large geography. Yet, ironically, COVID19 provided the initial momentum towards a team ministry, as we all gathered online for a single Zoom service from across the whole region — and beyond. These Zoom services provided an environment for fostering new relationships, new friendships, and unity. Those who now travel around to different churches for Sunday worship often remark how they already know so many friendly faces because they’ve met online.

To continue to build momentum, the Regional Ministry hosts special joint worship services on months with a fifth Sunday, during which we all worship together in a single service and share a potluck meal afterwards. Upwards of seventy to eighty people attend these regional services, and they are important opportunities for building a strong team spirit; there is a tremendous sense of fellowship at these services, and it is a real joy to see churches so full.

Crucially, these big services also provide a sense of hope to rural churches whose congregations are otherwise very small (often with less than a dozen in attendance), and who face decreasing financial resources. Alone, many of the churches in this region have limited futures; together, we have an opportunity for greater longevity. The team ministry exploration here in the Eastern Townships may even provide a much-needed model for other areas of the Diocese!

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While tolling the bell here at St. James the Apostle in Stanbridge East – one of the eleven churches in the fledgling Eastern Townships Regional Ministry – it quickly became apparent that the rope which pulls the bell’s funeral hammer (resulting in a single tolling of the bell, as opposed to the joyful CLANG CLANG CLANG of a Sunday morning) was dislodged somewhere up in the tower. On the next sunny day, the local village stonemason and I went up to investigate.

It should be noted that while I am utterly terrified of heights, I am a firm believer that one needs to grapple with one’s fears if one is ever to overcome them — besides that, the stonemason’s riotous shouts upon reaching the top of the tower made me reluctant to miss this unique opportunity. “Father Tyson,” he shouted in his northern England accent, “you’ve got to come up and see this!  The view is amazing!”

So, I strapped myself into a safety harness and began my ascent up the outside of the tower, muttering the Hail Mary and various other less-than-Christian prayers under my breath.

Indeed, the bird’s eye view of the village from high above the trees was stunning.  But, even more amazing was the interior of the bell tower walls, which were carved with the names of the many brave (and foolish?) men and women from the area who had climbed the tower over the decades.

The earliest name we found was from 1905. There were the names of several people whom I knew from around the village, and others whom I had recently buried. Then, I found a familiar name carved in neat capital letters by one of the windows: “FR. PETER HANNEN, 14TH RECTOR OF THIS CHURCH, 1966.”

Archdeacon Hannen had led my diaconal pre-ordination retreat in this very church back in 2019, and had been rector of the parish and, back in the 60’s, lived in the very rectory that I now call home. I found a nail and carved my own name underneath his: “FR. TYSON ROSBERG, ASSOCIATE PRIEST, 2022.”

I felt a surprising connection with this region that God has called me into — a sort of holy communion with the past faithful of this place, infused not upon the bread and wine of the altar, but carved into the walls of the tower.   

Much has changed in the life of our rural churches since the 1960’s. Yet, much remains the same. We continue to gather in faithful discipleship and prayer, growing together, in communion with that “great a cloud of witnesses” who have gone before us (Hebrews 12:1)!

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Prior to the pandemic, our region was comprised of 16 small rural churches spread out across over 80km, most of which rarely received more than a dozen people on any Sunday.  In response to COVID19, many of our parishes opted to worship together online, as a single, united regional service using Zoom — even now, only a few of our church buildings have decided to re-open for “in person” worship.  

Despite being closed, Zoom truly flung open the doors of what it means to be a Christian community in a rural context.  At the height of the pandemic we were hosting over 80 people each Sunday, with regulars joining in from as far away as Ottawa, the Laurentians, British Columbia, Vermont, and Europe.

 Worshipping online allowed for the birth of a genuine regional spirit in this area: we got to know one another from across a large geography, made new friends, shared our stories, laughed and prayed together.  

This past summer, we also held two outdoor regional services, which allowed people to come together in person for worship and a COVID-style bring-your-own-socially-distanced picnic — another opportunity for building community.  

People who attended the services really appreciated being part of “something larger” than their usual little neighbourhood churches. During these gatherings, there is a sense of life, joy, and vitality, in spite of all the uncertainty and fear of living through a global pandemic.  

Now the task at hand is to further this sense of community and vitality, as we strive to create a new model of shared, regional ministry in the Eastern Townships.  And, the importance of building community here cannot be over stated — otherwise a regional ministry is nothing more than a business agreement.

Encompassing 13 parishes, the Regional Ministry aims to provide its member congregations with worship, pastoral care, discipleship, and other ministry resources; through the sharing of leadership support (priests, deacons, lay readers, worship leaders, and retired honorary clergy) and financial stewardship.  

The Regional Ministry offers Eucharistic services throughout the region, based on a regional schedule; in addition to a regular midweek online service via Zoom.  We are equipped to provide services in English, French, and Spanish (with the new curate to the area Fresia Saborio working towards launching a Hispanic church-plant at St. George’s/San-Jorge’s Church in Granby).

Each parish in the Regional Ministry exists independently (with its own parish structure), but also as a part of the larger shared ministries. All of the member congregations contribute toward the costs of ministry through a central fund: each parish contracts according to its needs and financial abilities.  Stephen Tam (the Financial Controller for the Diocese) will act as central treasurer for the new Regional Ministry.

Grace Church (located in Sutton) has recently invested in high-end video and microphone equipment, and installed it into the very infrastructure of the church, including the necessary electrical upgrades for bringing this new technology into an old building; the parish will act as the “digital hub” of the Regional Ministry, live-streaming its services over Zoom.  Moreover, a dedicated and tech-savvy team of Zoom volunteers (namely André Gagné, Wendy Gardner, and Terry O’Regan) make this ministry possible!  

Parishes in the Regional Ministry without a priest on any given Sunday have choices. They can hold Morning Prayer worship (with a deacon, lay reader, or worship leader) on their own, they can commute to another parish with a Sunday Eucharist, or they can tune into the live-stream from Sutton.

Grace Church also recently installed a new, digital Ecclesia T-170 organ by Johannus in the Netherlands, paid for entirely by generous parish and community contributions: this instrument ushers in a new era of music possibilities for Grace Church, and will add support to the streaming of services for the region at large.

While the financial relationship of the Regional Ministry is still being discerned, it is clear that alone, each of our small, rural parishes has a very tenuous and uncertain future; yet working and praying together, this region is more securely equipped to face the future and lean into the calling that God has for this place.  Something like this new ministry has never been tried here, and it is full of exciting possibilities.  The Eastern Townships is home to a Christian community that is very much alive and moving forward with God.

A Prayer for Regional Ministry: 

O God, you have called us together in this Regional Ministry to bear witness to your loving presence here in the Eastern Townships.  Scripture teaches us that while we are many, we all make up one body — the Body of Christ. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we may fulfil the work you have given us to do in this place; for the sake of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom.  

Amen.

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