It’s hard to believe it has been two years already, and our beloved Assistant Curate, the Rev. Molly Finlay, is moving on. Every moment of her curacy placement with us has been a joy, and she has contributed immensely to the life and mission of All Saints. Of course, we’re sorry to see her go, but we’re also so excited for her as she begins the next season of her vocation as part of the ministry team at Christ Church, Deer Park, Toronto. In the days ahead, let us all pray for her and her new parish family as they prepare for their new ministry journey together.

There’ll be a special service at All Saints on Sunday April 28 to say good-bye to Molly and her family and to celebrate what a blessing they have been to us these past two years.

Thanks be to God for Molly’s faithfulness and her innumerable gifts and the fact that she has shared them with us so skilfully and  joyfully.

All Saints has a standing tradition of coffee and conversation on Sundays between services.
Many of us come early (9:30am) for about 40 minutes of music, worship, and prayer beforehand; some stick around afterward (11:00am) for an hour or so of classic Anglican liturgy, hymns, and prayer. Everyone is encouraged to meet in the middle.

Plus we have cake … on the 1st Sunday of every month.

“This church acknowledges being on the traditional territories of …”

At the opening of our Sunday worship on June 18,  Cecile Wagar, Senator of the Oshawa and Durham Region Metis Council, led the congregation in a ceremony to dedicate a stone and plaque that acknowledges the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, the Iroquoian-speaking Wendat, and the 1923 Williams Treaties First Nations as the traditional owners of the land on which the church now stands and has done for 151 years. The indigenous lands marker is a symbol of All Saints’ ongoing commitment to pursuing truth, justice, reconciliation and healing for the children of God.

The All Our Relations Metis Drum Circle provided drumming and spiritual music of First Nations and Metis heritage, and the congregation processed to the front lawn and formed a circle around the stone marker for a smudging and blessing ceremony. The smudging feather and bowl were returned to the chancel steps for the service, filling the sanctuary with the scent of cedar, sage and tobacco as the Canon Vail delivered a moving homily on the Gospel call to pursue justice and the wholeness of the human family, so that we all might live in right relationships with each other and with the Creator.

Creator God,
from you every family in heaven and earth takes its name.
You have rooted and grounded us
in your covenant love,
and empowered us by your Spirit
to speak the truth in love,
and to walk in your way towards justice and wholeness.
Mercifully grant that your people,
journeying together in partnership,
may be strengthened and guided
to help one another to grow into the full stature  of Christ,
who is our light and our life. Amen