After months of negotiation, two Ottawa parishes of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) ”“ St Alban’s the Martyr and St George’s ”“ have reached a negotiated settlement with the Anglican Church of Canada’s Diocese of Ottawa.
The settlement will be effective 1 July 2011 and will entail:
Ӣ both congregations changing their church names
”¢ the people of St George’s retaining their church building in the heart of Ottawa
”¢ the people of St Alban’s relinquishing their building
Ӣ a further undisclosed division of assets between the parishes and the diocese.
St. George’s was my old home parish in downtown Ottawa more than thirty years ago. It’s a classic brick building from the 1880s, my first exposure to which was the bell tower, where as a youthful hitchhiker in 1968 I found a dry place to sleep on a rainy night. Warm, comfortable, and quiet were not on the docket, but one outta four ain’t bad, especially when it was the priority.
The following morning I encountered the church’s longtime rector, Pat Playfair, a burly socialist with a flaming red beard, who nearly tripped over me on his way to ring the bell. Little did either of us know that a decade later I’d be one of his parishioners, along with singer Bruce Cockburn and dozens of “Bajians” — Barbadian immigrants — who not only made the place more lively, but anchored it in the solid biblical theology that eventually led to the separation and current settlement.
The church’s great party day was 30 November, simultaneously St. Andrew’s day (and Ontario is full of Scots) and Barbados independence day. I still remember all the various form of rice and red beans, as well as the semi-secretive draughts of whisky amongst those of us bearing both a ruddy complexion and a Mac-Something anywhere in our name.
Now they have been given the white stone with a new name on it (Rev. 2:17). May they carry it well.
Bart,
I see from an ANIC fact sheet that Playfair was given just six months to turn the parish around in the early 1960s.
Apparently it was also a home to Charismatic Renewal. Was that part of your experience at St. George’s?
I did not know that about Fr. Pat.
That first day he simply made sure I got a good breakfast and a place to stay thereafter. I then went out to work for Bob Stanfield, the Conservative, in the upcoming election. Pat was NDP (=Socialist) and the guy I was staying with was Liberal. We three had a couple of quite enjoyable debates about politics and faith.
Three days before a big election. It’s one of the few things I really miss about Canada — the high quality and general feistiness of political debate amongst friends.
My best Canadian friend and I have been 180-degrees opposite politically for 27 years. It’s a cornerstone of our friendship, not a source of division. As my pastor, Playfair and I enjoyed much the same sort of relationship.