Joy In Faith: A Homily For Welcome Back Sunday

 A Homily for Welcome Back Sunday.  Preached at All Saints, Collingwood, Anglican Diocese of Toronto, 20 September, 2026, the Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost (A).

Readings for Today:  Ex 16:2-15; Ps 105:1-6, 37-45; Phil 1:21-30; Mt 20:1-16

We call this welcome back to church Sunday, and so if you are new here, or if you haven’t been here in a long while, welcome back!  It’s good to see you.   And of course for you, the faithful regulars, we welcome you and are happy to see you every Sunday.

So when we say welcome back, what are we welcoming you to?

To be sure, we’re welcoming you back to a place with a specific address, a building and its grounds on Elgin Street.

If you’ve been away for a while, you’ll notice that we’ve made some changes to the building.  Our tireless Building Manager, Robert, has been busy.  The half of our parking lot that used to be a lake when snow melted and when it rains has been levelled and gravel applied, so it’s drier.  And there’s more spaces to park in.

Robert is also installing new railings on ramp from the parking lot, which is now more attractive and safer!  We have a project ongoing to bring sound and video into the parish hall, which will be useful for rental purposes and for overflow from big church services.  

So we’re welcoming you to a physical space, and we are also welcoming you back to ministry, because this place exists to serve the community as part of our Christian witness  In a few minutes  Barry and the choir will speak musically to that ministry.  The offerings on our altar today speak to our food ministry, as we obey Christ’s command to feed and clothe those in need.  And of course our ministry serves the community in times of sorrow, as with the funeral we held here on Friday, and in times of joy, as with the wedding here yesterday.

And, as with our building, you will noticer some new things about our ministry.  We welcome Rev Amy Pauley to an expanded role as a full time Associate Priest serving the four churches of our region.   Amy brings prayerfulness and a deep faith, as well as humour and vitality, to our clergy team.  Taking her on full time is a significant financial commitment, shared by All Saints  and by our friends at Prince of Peace, and helped by a generous five year diocesan grant.  Another change is that our beloved Rev Sharon and her husband Bryce are now honourary members of our clergy team.  And of course all of our paid staff help make our ministries possible.

So we’re welcoming you back to a building and to the ministries that the building and its staff enable, but most importantly, I would say, we are welcoming you back to a community that is centred around Jesus.   We have our differences of course - age, wealth, education, place of birth, etc - but they shouldn’t be important.  Today’s gospel reminds us that, like the workers in the vineyard, we are equal in the sight of God, all loved equally, and asked in return only that we do our best to love God and love our neighbour.

In our second reading today, we heard Paul speaking to a Christian church and praising their “progress and joy in faith” (Phil 1.25).  I see this joy in faith when we gather, on Sundays, especially when we share the peace.   All Saints has a particular, joyful identity.   We enjoy one another’s company, our worship is reverential but also uplifting, and we are hopeful because the risen, loving Jesus is in our midst.   Each of our four regional churches has its own identity, but I think what characterizes All Saints is a sense of joyfulness.

Over the next few months, our Stewardship Group will lead us through a campaign that we call Joyful Giving.  Giving can be time and talent as a volunteer, but it is also treasure, giving back from the resources we are given    All of the things I’ve mentioned - our building and grounds, our clergy and staff, our ministries and services - come with a cost and need to be paid for.   Yes, we have the cemetery land, but it isn’t sold yet. When we do sell it, the proceeds will help us with our needs, but our needs won’t go way.

So today, my friends, I’m inviting you to think what coming back to church means to you.   What do you find here at All Saints that gives you joy?   What is it about your faith that makes you grateful?    What would make you glad that you’ve helped All Saints and its ministry continue well into the future?

Guest Homily: Grassy Narrows, A Case Study In Creation And Reconciliation

A Sermon Preached by Our Deacon, The Rev. Lorna May, at Prince of Peace, Wasaga Beach, abd St Luke's, Creemore, on Sunday, Sept 13th, the Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost.

The world we know it is  changing irreversibly with unbearable heat, flash floods and forest fires.   For many this has developed into deep grief and  anxiety as we are concerned for our future. Our Diocese is acknowledging the season of creation, where we are  asked to consider the the Living Water.  We are reminded that water binds all things. 

I am going to share with you what I have learned,  through reading,  and speaking with  Elders about  their home in Grassy Narrows. 

First the mink and the otters started to disappear.  Then the local people began noticing the odd way the vultures and eagles were flying.  One man watched his kitten salivating and walking in circles and convulsing.  These were early warning signs around 1970 that something  sinister was happening in Grassy Narrows along side the English-Wabagoon rivers in norther western Ontario.  

Grassy Narrows is  a small Anishanaabe  First Nation band 80 km north of Kenora with traditional roots in Northwestern Ontario who continue celebrating  and preserving traditions in Indigenous culture and  living.   Their land is part of the boreal forest  where the land sustains them both physically and spiritually and they  are committed to protecting it  guided by the wisdom of their elders, the strength of their youth, and  the teaching of their culture as  they work together to build  a healthier , stronger future for all.  They continue to support  each other in healing,  growth and cultural pride.  Situated on the English-Wabagoon River system, there are over 1600 registered  members, with about 1000  living on the reserve.   

For decades the people of Grassy Narrows have lived with mercury  contamination  in their river system.  Between 1962 and 1970 The Dryden paper mill released 9 thousand kilograms of mercury used in the bleaching process  into their river system.  Through the 70’s,  they  continued generating airborne mercury  emissions until  late into the 80’s.   In 1986 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment  released an assessment that advised against dredging the water system thus relying on the natural  process of the  river cleaning itself over the next decades.

This community  depended on the fish for food and their thriving commercial fishing industry.  The people of Grassy Narrows relied on that river for generations, consumed the fish and suffered the consequences.   So what  happened?  Not surprising  livelihoods disappeared, and the community entered a cycle of  harm that has never been resolved. 

I was recently part of a webinar that heard from Sandra, a young woman from Grassy.    She spoke about the ongoing efforts to seek accountability and justice.  She described the familiar pattern:   land contamination, poisoned water and the slow generational harm that follows.   Growing up Sandra recalls her mother going to the river to haul water, and melting snow in the water because clean drinking  water was not always  available.  At the time she did not fully understand.  Today some can afford bottled or filtration systems but many cannot.  Later, she learned that mercury  had entered her own body through the land and food systems.   Moose, fish and other animals were all affected by the industrial contamination .  She says “ no one ever talks about disabilities  being connected to the land”.  Environmental harm is often described  vaguely, as if it is only in the air, disconnected from peoples bodies.   But for Indigenous communities, the land, water  and body are inseparable.   When the land is poisoned, people are poisoned.   Elders in the community remember  when the water was safe, when people could fish and swim and live according to the teachings passed down from generations.   They have also witnessed what happens when those ways of life are  disrupted.  Loss of livelihood , declining health, increased mental health issues  are not isolated circumstances, but have rippled through the community.  It  has been confirmed that 90 per cent of the people in Grassy have mental health, addictions, or physical limitations such as tremors,  numbness, impaired vision, neurological  damage and chronic pain, ADHD, anxiety, and shorter life spans all  due to the  mercury in their systems.  The entire community is sick.   Can we even imagine what that would be like to live in day in and day out?  

When children started having difficulties as infants they were taken to the hospital where doctors told them it could not possibly be mercury poisoning.  They blamed it on   it was their life choices,  intergenerational marriages,  neurologists told parents that there children simply had birth defects.  It wasn’t until  1975 when a Dr. From Japan  diagnosed  Minamata disease which is severe methyl mercury poisoning.  Scientists have continued their research with follow up visits.  What is shocking is the fact that Canadian scientists have not investigated the human health effects of the poisoning.   There has not been any long term tracking  are what now understood to be life long effects of ingested mercury. In 2010 Canadian science did disclose  that “ there should have been extensive examinations and followups”.  Should have.  ..   Of course  if we think about it , nursing students  were taught never to touch a thermometer if it had been dropped and broken during to contact with mercury due to the serious health risks.     Doctors now understand that methyl mercury passes through the placenta to the fetus, causing irreversible central nervous system damage, and severe cognitive defects, even if the mother showed now symptoms herself. 

It’s important to understand that the impacts of the poisoning go far beyond the physical illness.  When land and water are no longer safe entire social systems unravel.  Families struggle to care for their children.  Substance use, violence and  suicide increase.  Child welfare systems intervenes. Employment opportunities  disappear,, and all of this from environmental  harm.  

When I was speaking with Judy this week she told me that  in the early 80’s  some  youth from Grassy Narrows  moved to Kenora  to try and find work.  They were not welcomed.   The word on the street was “ let those Indians stay numb, we don’t want immigrants here”.  Shameful.   For some families whose youth ventured away this brought  up the pain and horror of residential schools which then ,  increased the use of drugs and alcohol for the families trying to cope.   Judy herself went to a residential school, and it was very difficult for  her to speak to me about this last week. 

Through all this the Elders  see hope in how people have refused to remain silent  about Grassy Narrows.   The community has spent years challenging  governments and industries , asserting treaty rights and demanding accountability .  They are passionate about forcing  systems to recognize  and admit formally,  that economic gain cannot come and the cost of human life.   Every human has the right to  dignified living conditions.   It means acknowledging wrong doing, compensating communities that  have been harmed, and ensuring that future generations are protected.   

 Water is sacred, and it is what keeps our planet sustainable.   The people of Grassy Narrows challenge faith groups to see environmental justice as a responsibility and to listen  to Indigenous voices , especially Elders  and people living with disabilities  caused by environmental disruption. 

What kind of world will be left four or five generations from now if these harms continue unchecked?   Justice continues  with listening and acting before it is too late. 

 So how are things today in Grassy NarrowS?  Well, the heavy metal continues to contaminate the water. Every day mining, logging  and the combustion of fossil fuels release more waste into the river  to continue the dangerous  ascent into the food chain.  The interest for scientists has faded.  Government monitoring has tapered off and  the hand bound research reports now gather dust in libraries.  

Have you noticed that there are certain natural  disasters, situations that headline the news each day.  There are positive things happening all around us for  sure.  As Christians we gather week by week  to give thanks for this land we call home,  to encourage either other,  and to continue our calling to go into the world that God loves.  We do it in small ways, any way we can to make our part of the world  a better place.   It may not make the news but its often what matters the most.  

On Wednesday September 23rd I will be  participating in the River Run: Walk with Grassy Narrows for Justice.  The people of Grassy have the longest running blockade in Canadian history which has helped foster Indigenous  resistance across Turtle Island  and has saved 15 million trees from being cut.  They will speak out and ask why the Care Home originally promised by the Government for 2017 is being completed by 2027.   They will ask that community members be compensated fairly for the mercury crisis.  They will ask that the Dryden mill be stopped to end the nuclear waste that threatens Grassy.  They will ask for support  to restore their community  and way of life from the damage that mercury has done while proposals for new mines and  a nuclear waste disposal  site threaten to make things worse. 

My hope is that we can all in our own lives be aware of how we can respect the clean water that we have.  Research if you don’t know how to properly dispose of hazardous materials, reduce chemical use, minimize the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides  and clean up pet waste so that bacteria does not wash into lakes and streams during storms. Learn more about the   Government of Canada Clean Water Plan.  Because we are privileged. 

The people of Grassy Narrow have for over 50 years struggled with basic human rights over the poisoning of the English-Wabagoon rivers. 

I pray that as members of this Diocese that we  will stand  with Grassy Narrows until the water runs clean and the people are heard. I speak in the name of the living and loving God. 

Amen . 

Maker Of Heaven and Earth: A Homily for the Season of Creation

 

Every Sunday it’s our habit to say the Nicene Creed, which begins with the declaration that we believe in “one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen”.  The Creed says a lot of things about God as Trinity, but it begins by describing God as creator of, well, everything, both the knowable, visible world of matter and physics and science, but also the mystical, invisible world of spirit, angels and heavenly realms.  And, between those two worlds, is us, humans, the beneficiaries of God’s creative acts.   So today we’re going on a little diversion and try to think through what it means for us to live in God’s creation.

I’ve chosen today because we’re at the start of what the Anglican Church of Canada calls the Season of Creation.  The inspiration for this idea comes from the Orthodox Church custom of observing September 1 as the Feast of Creation.   In 2019 our Anglican Church fixed Sept. 1 as the start of this season and extended it to October 4th, the Feast of St. Francis.  Our national church website explains that the Season of Creation is meant to be “an annual season of prayer, education and action to protect the gift of God’s creation.”   I’ll come back to the action and protection parts in a minute.

First, I think it’s fair to say that at some basic level, even if we aren’t theologians, we all know something about the Christian idea of Creation.   I’ll prove it to you with a snap quiz.

I’m going to quote part of a line from four well known hymns and I want you to finish the line.  Here goes.

1. “This is my Father’s world, and to my list’ning ears ____________________________________

(all nature sings).

2) “All things wise and wonderful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, _____________________. 

(the Lord God made them all)

3) “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder ______________________.

 (consider all the works thy hand have made).

4) “We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered ________________.  (by God’s almighty hand)

Well done!  Many of you I’m sure have been singing these hymns since you were children,  and along the way these and other hymns have taught us about our faith.  They’ve taught us something that theologians call the Doctrine of Creation, and even though the word Doctrine sounds dry and scary, it’s pretty simple.

As children, and indeed as seminarians, one of the first things we are taught is that our lives and indeed the world around us are part of a gift from God that we call creation.

We need to note right of the top that creation is a theological word.   We might think it’s synonymous with nature or even the environment, but those words have a neutrality about them, whereas creation points to our belief that God’s first business is creation.

It’s also important to state that we as Christians can talk about creation without being anti-science.  The debate between evolution and religion is an old debate and a false dichotomy.   The creeds don’t require us to believe that the world was created in seven days vs seven billion years.  I once heard a professor say that science can date the Big Bang to somewhere around 13 billion years ago, but what happened before that is a matter for theologians.  That seems right to me.  I think it’s possible to speak of the entire universe as being created.

One of the gifts of indigenous spirituality is that it has helped us see God first and foremost as Creator.   The idea of creation being entrusted to us as stewards is there in scripture, but the indigenous world view of living in gratitude for the created world and in balance with the created world is a great gift.

I often hear your appreciation of creation as a gift thanks to our very talented and faithful intercessors.   Our Prayers of the People often expresses gratitude for this beautiful part of the world that we live in, and we also pray for those parts of the world and its people that are suffering.  We say these prayers because the church exists in the world, and we trust that God loves the world that God made and gifted to us.  

You might even say that the world depends on God for its existence.  Thomas Aquinas once said that the world  "is less like a house that outlasts its builder, and more like a sunbeam, which would vanish the instant the sun withdrew”. So we believe that God is the creator and the sustainer, and that should give us hope when we are tempted to despair by the state of the creation.

I don’t need to go into detail about the source of that despair.  We’ve all lived through days where the air was bitter with wildfire smoke.  We saw the summer heat in Europe rise to the mid forties, temperatures that kill the poor and elderly.  We saw the videos of the floods in Nepal caused by the collapse of a glacier.  Can we prove that the Nepal disaster caused by climate change?  Whatever the answer, it seems harder and harder to deny that human activity and fossil fuel has changed the world we live in.

Most of us here today won’t live to see how bad things could get, but our grandchildren will.   Last week our federal government released a report which said that since 1947, Canada has warmed two degrees and Northern Canada about 2.6 degrees.  If we do nothing, by the end of the century Canada will be 6.9 degrees warmer that it was before the Industrial Revolution.  That means more drought, more wildfires, and the end of Western Canada’s glaciers.  If we can reach the goal of Net Zero emissions by 2050, we can limit the damage, but that doesn’t look likely.  This June the Carney government admitted that Canada will not meet its 2030 greenhouse gas climates.

So what can we do?  I would say that the most important thing is not to lose hope.  Politically, you’ve got voices and votes.  Use them to show candidates that you care about renewable energy, green policies, and the future of the planet.

As Christians, I think we all need to be intentional about talking about the created world as a precious gift for all.  Maybe that starts with a stronger appreciation for where we live. The late poet Wendell Berry put it well when he challenged words like “the environment”, a word which he said “refers to no place in particular”.  Berry said that “The environment,” as we call it, is intimately with us. We’re in it. It’s in us. But also we are it, and it is us.” 

As Christians, that means that we all depend on a particular place, a part of the world, to give us life, to share with others, and to pass on to those who come after us.   One way to deepen that awareness might be to check out Creation Church, the initiative of our associate priest Amy as described in this month’s All Saints Alive.  Praying and worshipping in nature reminds us that our connection with God exists extends outside of this church building.  To quote Wendell Berry again, he said that he had to carry the gospels into the woods to see his need for them.   You may find that to be true for you as well.

Caring for creation also means caring for our neighbour.   We are somewhat protected from the climate crisis here in Canada, but other parts of the world feel it much worse, especially as first world countries cut their foreign aid budgets.    One initiative that we our national church has launched through our Alongside Hope agency is the Solar Suitcase project for Mozambique.  This project will provide small health clinics with a solar panel, lighting, and fetal imaging equipment to help women who give birth at night.   Each suitcase costs $6500 Canadian.   Wouldn’t it be wonderful if All Saints could raise the money for one of these suitcases by next Pentecost.   Do you want to embrace that challenge?

Finally, I would say that it all comes back to our faith in Jesus.   I changed our gospel reading for today to remind us that when we speak of God as Creator, we are speaking of the Holy Trinity.   St Paul wrote in Colossians that “all things have been created through him and for him . and in him all things hold together” (Col 1:16).  The hands that created the stars are the same hands that Jesus offers to us as our friend and guide in life.   He has, as they say, the whole world in his hands.  He always has held it.  Which means that our faith and trust in the promise of the resurrection should give us faith and trust for the future of the created world that is our gift and our privilege to share. 

That understanding of creation is part of the gospel. So is the idea that God is as present to creation now he was as at its beginning. The world is held in being at this moment as freshly as it was at the first moment of its existence. The cosmos is less like a house — as Aquinas put it — that outlasts its builder, and more like a sunbeam, which would vanish the instant the sun withdrew. God is not only maker, but sustainer. Another part of the good news of the doctrine of creation is, therefore, the good news of God’s presence.