A pastoral letter from Archbishop Melissa

A pastoral letter from Archbishop Melissa:

Dear People of the Diocese of New Westminster,

First, let me say how grateful I am to all of you as you do your best to adjust to this ever-changing situation in our diocese, region, country and the world as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to expand.

The Reverend Canon Richard LeSueur, Interim Priest-in-Charge of Christ Church Cathedral (who is self-isolating on account of international travel) was speaking to me about the story of Jesus asleep in the boat in the middle of the storm and the disciples’ understandable fear that the boat would be swamped. Jesus awakens and calls a halt to the storm and then questions the disciples about their trust in him.

In this COVID19 situation part of me just wants to say, “Wake up, Jesus!” while another part of me has to trust that God is present in the middle of this storm, this weird, dangerous storm. Let me just say that I feel privileged to be in the boat with all of you (even if we are not physically together) as we rock back and forth and as we do our best to be disciples of Jesus, even with all our fears, all our fatigue and all our questions at this time.

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Please click the PDF file below to read the full text of Archbishop Melissa's pastoral letter.

On March 17, 2020, the Archbishop sent a directive requiring all churches in the diocese to call a temporary halt to all use of our buildings, with very limited exceptions. Please read her directive by clicking here.