REPORT FROM OUR DIOCESAN REPRESENTATIVE
It is a good thing to take stock and account for the events of the past year, deeds done, monies spent etc. and that is one of the reasons for having this annual gathering. However the exciting thing about the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer is that we may never know all the wonderful things that have been accomplished because of faithful prayer and witness to God's amazing grace and love. and so if we are to report at all, about the activities of AFP in this diocese, I believe we will only be recording a portion of the whole story. As you know the purpose of AFP is to support the practice of prayer and encourage people to pray together. It does this by providing opportunities for worship, education, retreats etc. In order for this to happen we have a hard working steering committee, faithful parish representatives, and a number of additional volunteers who look after the telephone prayer request line and who maintain records of the resource library which is housed at St George's Crescentwood, and very importantly we have tremendous support from our Bishop and the Synod Office staff. Sincere thanks go out to all of you at this time. Everyone has made an important contribution to what we believe we have been called to do as AFP in the past year. This is a wonderful network of faithful and hopeful children of God.
Elsewhere in the reports you will read about the specific work of the office volunteers, the Diocesan Prayer Chain, the Ministry to the clergy, the Treasurer's report, the Membership report and so on. I wish to add that we have been able to give support to our Bishop Donald and his wife Nancy by meeting regularly with them for prayer.
The Steering Committee meets once a month from September to June and we began the year's work with a Quiet Day led by Rev. Norman Collier. We have assisted the Dean in organising Quiet Days at the Cathedral in Advent and Lent. Thankyou to everyone who participated in the prayers during Synod. It was wonderful to know that the deliberations there were being supported by prayer throughout the Diocese. AFP has been represented and has participated when asked, in several Diocesan services and Diocesan family events. We have taken AFP literature and information to two Healing Conferences. For the first time this year, we presented the Nan Henderson Memorial gift of books on prayer, to Rev. Barry Bear and Rev. Mary Lysecki, at their ordination to the priesthood. One day of training and fellowship was held for volunteers and Parish Reps. at St George's Crescentwood.
Rev. David Bloom, who was our clergy adviser, has retired and is now living in Ontario and we offer our sincere thanks to him. We also thank Evelyn Williams for her years of service as treasurer and for her dynamic leadership in this role. We are happy to welcome Michael Clarke to this position. We also acknowledge the faithful ministry of Doris Davison in arranging the prayers with the clergy. Doris has done this for many years and we appreciate that she wishes to engage in other ministries now and we thank her most sincerely for the caring way she has performed the task. It is a privilege to have the support of Bishop Jim Allen in our meetings with the clergy and we are grateful to him for his faithful witness to Gods love. We wish to thank the editors of the Rupert's Land News for reporting on our work and thank Marylin Jackson and Rene Jamieson for writing the AFP Prayer Column. We are indebted to Rev. Tony Harwood-Jones and the parish of St. George, Cresentwood for continuing to accommodate us in their building and we thank them for their generosity.
This year a Visioning conference for Diocesan Representatives was held at Entheos Lodge in the Calgary Diocese. I was very glad of the opportunity to attend. It was a time to get to know other people from across the country and to encourage each other in the work of AFP. There were also workshops and times for worship and relaxation in a beautiful retreat setting. Bea Weger was a workshop leader in Centering Prayer, and we offer our prayer support to her as she continues to instruct and lead others in this form of prayer. More recently I was also able to represent the Diocese at the AFP International Conference in New Orleans where twelve Canadians along with people from the Virgin Islands, Nassau and the Bahamas, Bermuda and the United States, numbering approximately two hundred, met for fellowship, prayer, education and worship. We enjoyed some great music and warm southern hospitality in excellent company. I am grateful to AFP and to the Diocese of Rupert's land for financial support in attending these conferences.
At this time I want to encourage all of us to begin or renew our membership in this organisation of the church. Our money (membership and donations) supports communication across the country, enables our Directors and representatives to travel, allows for literature on prayer to be disseminated, and permits a news letter to be published twice a year in Canada. Members also receive the 'Partners in Prayer' newsletter from the USA. We are excited to be involved in the production and distribution of the Canadian newsletter, thanks to the fact that Wendy Bain has joined Pat Curtis in editing it and producing it here in Winnipeg. Your ideas and contributions to this are welcomed.
I also want to encourage you to visit the resource library and benefit from the materials you will find there. Please know that our catalogue is now 'on-line' thanks to hours of work by Donna Morris, Gil Frederick and Bea Weger.
In closing, I want to encourage us all "to continue in the fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers" all of which, as we discover over and over again, can achieve "infinitely more than we can ask or imagine". Thanks be to God.
Heather Birtles. DR.