Land of Living Skies

Religious number plates are not allowed but Rob Hardwick, Executive Archdeacon, managed to sneak Joshua 1:9 in. Saskatchewan is well named 'Land of the Living Skies'. Skyscapes was term I came across as a student; and very beautiful and inspiring they are too.
I'm back from Diocesan Council which had a positive and well natured feel to it. It's good beginning to get to know people in the Diocese - like Vicki and Patty from Gordon's First Nation reserve. We remember a former chief who has just died suddenly at the age of 52. His wake and service is on Monday. Meanwhile all is very quiet in Regina as their beloved 'Roughriders' have a game (not match, I'm told) this afternoon. After 3 consecutive wins this game is critical if they are to make it to the play-offs. Bishop Greg started the Council with his rewording of the Riders theme song where the colour was purple instead of green and so it went on. Got us off to a good start.

Back to Church Sunday at Swift Current

The day began at 6:30am at the Cathedral with the first serving of porridge, freshly made pancakes, sausages and maple syrup at the weekly breakfast for the homeless and those in need in the city centre. Most of the takers are First Nation people which is a sign of the economic and social pressures they face.
Then after about 100 had been fed - the numbers are greater in the winter - we head off for Swift Current. The service sheet mentions the Companion Links with Lichfield, Muyinga and West Malaysia. Plans are in place for this coming Sunday's 'Back to Church' service, including lunch for all afterwards in the typically useful hall and kitchen attached to the church. The two hours and fifteen minute drive each way passed quickly thanks to wonderful conversation with Rob Hardwick, the Executive Archdeacon for the Diocese. Rob shared how he came to be called initially to serve at Swift Current and the moving welcome he and Lorraine received. The Deanery Chapter meeting gave an opportunity to meet the new incumbent Jonathan Hoskin who may come to visit Lichfield next year, as well as meeting Peter, a retired Archdeacon, who has visited Lichfield several times and also Eleanor who visited West Malaysia for 5 weeks with a combined group from Qu'Appelle and Lichfield.
Rob tells me of how positive a placement had been for a Reader from Lichfield who had had spent 4 months with him at Swift Current. Perhaps we can look more actively for future placements and exchanges. I have encountered a strong sense of hospitality and generosity amongst the people I have met. Furthermore I sense that there are similarities in many of the challenges and opportunities we face in mission and ministry. The wheat comes from a recently made stained glass window at Swift Current which connects us with the Prairies. Rob tells me there are 5 shades of blue in the Prairie skies but only 3 in England.

Gifts in use at Weyburn

The congregation of Weyburn are used to discovering their gifts. In the group of ten people who shared the meal in a local restaurant, four were local preachers and others led and prayed in the services. They are without a priest at present and seem to be getting on pretty well. Debbie and Kim were there also; they had been to Lichfield and wondered why groups from Lichfield hadn't come to stay with them. We discussed how we might make that happen. The topic came up as it often does about how Canadian history is very recent compared to British history. 'But you are overlooking the First Nation people' said Debbie. 'They have an ancient history but we don't appreciate it because theirs is an oral tradition'.

Canon Missioners

Kim and Susan Salo have been appointed 'Canon Missioners' to the Pelly Deanery. They oversee, enable and resource four parishes made up of seven congregations. This is one of many ways in which Bishop Greg is seeking to move the Diocese on from the 19th century Chaplaincy model to patterns more fitting for the 21st Century. Kim has made a small studio in his garage where he paints - these three inspired by the horizontal lines and layers which make up the Prairie landscape.

Pot Luck Supper at Saltcoats

Edith, Lorraine and Melissa all came over to Lichfield in 2008 and speak warmly of their memories. As I speak to Edith I recall how we have prayed for someone who has been very ill who turns out to be her husband. So good when the link enables us to pray in an informed and caring way. Melissa had been at the Dovedale House event for the younger people. She found the house very enclosed. 'Goodness!', I said, 'But it's in the open countryside'. 'Ah', said one of her friends, 'Melissa is a true prairie girl'.

PowWow!

This child entered the 'Tiny Tots' section at the Fort Qu'Appelle PowWow commemorating Treaty 4. That treaty was established between Queen Victoria and the Cree and Saulteaux First Nations and covered the area which is most of current day Southern Sakatchewan. A PowWow is a gathering of North American Native people and as well as connecting with tradition provides opportunities for awards to be given. People of all ages participate in the dancing accompanied by drumming and a particular rhythmic singing. Oh to understand a bit more of what it all signifies. My host Vicki Young has lived in this area for so long and has taught for over 20 years before being ordained she is well known and many people want to talk with her and say hello.

On the road

You can just about make out the words 'Saskatchewan' and 'Southey' on this archetypal grain elevator, now being replaced by metal storage silos. Vast open areas of Priairie. Long straight roads going as far as the eye can see. Journeys can be timed quite precisely as there are unlikely to be any significant traffic delays and the speed limits are quite rigidly enforced. Vicki, vicar of churches at Gordon's and Day Star First Nation Reserves drives me 450 kms on the Saturday we meet and seems to think little of it.

A Declaration of the First Nations

'We, the Original People of this land, know the Creator put us here. The Creator gave us our spiritual beliefs, our languages, our culture, and a place on Mother Earth which provided us with all our needs. We have maintained our freedom, our languages and our traditions from time immemorial'....from 'The Assembly of First Nations; A Declaration of the First Nations'. And so perhaps with this in mind, and full of conversations I had had with people on Gordon's First Nation Reserve it was not surprising that as I reflected in the early morning hours on the parable of the workers in the vineyard which I was to preach on that morning, that I came up with a rather different take........ Those who began work at the earliest hour were the Native First Nation People. Then those who came late in the day were the settlers who took the land and claimed it for themselves. And those who came last were not content to receive the same payment, but in fact insisted that those who had been there from the beginning should receive nothing.

Inflight Listening

Unites Airlines seems decidedly downmarket compared with say Arab Emirates - perhaps a sign of the shift of global economic power. It was difficult to actually use the inflight film facility though I did manage to peer at the tiny angled screen and see enough of 'The Tree of Life' to see that this is an unusual and ambitious film seeking to engage creatively with the origins and meaning of life. I suppose it couldn't avoid sounding a bit twee at times but then since I was clasping the earphones to my ears to drown out the engine noise I wasn't really in a very good position to assess what I was hearing or indeed seeing. Afterwards I listened to talks I'd recorded given by Bishop Mark MacDonald at the 75th Qu'Appelle synod. He spoke of how native people perceive God's revelation in ways which are indirect, dreamlike, fragmentary and which unveil the reality which is there all the time. He showed how for indigenous peoples cosmology, theology, geography and spirituality are one and the same. Exciting times ahead.........

The SWAN flies to Qu'Appelle Diocese, Saskatchewan, Canada

Back to the Blog as I prepare to depart for Qu'Appelle Diocese, Canada. A fascinating contrast to the three other Companion Links: Mecklenburg, Matlosane and South East Asia. I am looking forward to encountering First Nation Spirituality, to experiencing the vast expanses of Prairie Space, to seeing what mission means in this context, to seeing where conversations about sexuality are heading, to meeting the Bishop who looks like Jesus, to the Diocesan HQ named after Cuthbert, to following the Bishop of Lichfield who was the first Bishop of Qu'Appelle.... now that is one of many stories I am going to have to get wised up on.......