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Hallo again to all. This week marks three years since our first visit to Holy Trinity
Church, Stanley Mission, one of the most remarkable, breathtaking
and important Anglican churches in North America. We reached Stanley after a long, difficult drive through northern Saskatchewan, followed by a boat-ride across the Churchill River. Conversation was easy and wide-ranging on the way there, but when we came in sight of the church words failed every last one of us. Before our eyes was a building and a place which showed forth in every aspect the love and goodness of God. Holy Trinity was built and exists for, by, in, about and because of the love of Jesus Christ. In the absence of words of our own, we sang and read Evensong, surrounded by a cloud of witnesses some of whose names were inscribed on memorial plaques on the walls around us. It was Little Gidding, where, in TS Eliot’s words, ‘prayer has been valid’. Some
150 years since it was constructed, Holy Trinity is still the focal point
of the life of a thriving Anglican congregation. Countless other mission
stations and parishes have been planted and withered in the same century
and a half. Only God knows why this parish in particular has been blessed
with vitality and health. But there are some clues in the
history of the mission.
This missionary impulse is still alive there today. In the last five years, three churches have been built in nearby municipalities and reservations. Whilst we'd not want to present this as a magical recipe for success, it is not hard to parse out some distinctives of Anglican effectiveness here: the holy scriptures, the prayer book, parish-based missionary life, education, devoted lay people and diligent clergy — in a word, focus. In soil such as this, the Gospel can be planted, grow and spread. Superlatives have abounded in this letter because there are times when only superlatives work. And this is the case when talking about Stanley, Little Gidding, Walsingham, and Likoma Cathedral. If you've been to a Stanley Mission, do write and tell us. If you have not, your life will be renewed and refreshed when you find one. See you next week.
Last
updated: 19 June 2005 [1] Transcribed August, 2002 at Saskatchewan Archives Board, Saskatoon |
 This web site is independent. It is not official in any way. Our editorial staff is private and unaffiliated. Please contact editor@anglicansonline.org about information on this page. ©2005 Society of Archbishop Justus |
From the beginning, lay people had the Bible, Prayer Book, and hymns in
their own language; family prayer, catechesis and church education have
been emphasised in local Anglican life, in addition to regular worship
on Sundays and feast days. The first clergy of the parish — with
names like Robert Hunt, J.A. Mackay, and our favourite, Thomas Thistlethwaite
Smith — were themselves men of extraordinary pastoral diligence
and activity. In a wonderful example which could be multiplied several
times over, Archdeacon Mackay writes: