2025 Rector's Report for the AGM

RECTOR’S REPORT

SINCE coming to Trinity now over six years ago, I have endeavoured to exercise my responsibility for the cure of souls in this parish, as its appointed minister of Word and Sacrament, as pastor, spiritual director and teacher, leading missionary, and the one who liturgically represents Christ. This I have sought to do—not through any personal heroics, not through any charms of personality or eloquent and entertaining words, not through any winning strategy or refined spiritual techniques—but simply by getting out of the way, so that grace can have its way with us. But, sinner that I am, inevitably sometimes I do get in the way: I trust in my own strength, I assert my own priorities and agendas, I cling to my limited picture of how God works, and foolishly expect his divine grace to bend to my desires, my will. No doubt in manifold ways my egotism has hindered Christ’s grace among us this year, and I have failed you in love and charity. I ask for your forgiveness.

If there is an art to being an effective minister of Christ, surely it involves our humble reception of grace that is given; and that receptivity surely involves the same kind of self-abasement, self-emptying, and self-forgetfulness that our Lord himself practiced and modeled. One thinks here of what St Paul says to the Philippians about the mind of Christ and the way of the Cross: “Be of that mind in yourselves that was also in the Anointed One Jesus, Who, subsisting in God’s form, did not deem being on equal terms with God a thing to be grasped, But instead emptied himself, taking a slave’s form, coming to be in a likeness of human beings; and, being found as a human being in shape, He reduced himself, becoming obedient all the way to death, and a death by a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, trans. D.B. Hart).

Of course, this teaching applies to all of us, and herein lies the beauty of the Christian life, the beauty of the life of the Church in which we are all members one of another: for I depend upon you to minister Christ unto me, even as I am called and ordained to minister Christ unto you, and we become Christlike necessarily together. The ministry and mission of Trinity—if it is of Christ, if it is of the Gospel—requires all of us to get out of the way, so that, again with St Paul, we can say “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

As I look back upon our last year together, the gratitude of my heart is like an overflowing spring. For you, the parishioners of Trinity, were Christ to me. You got out of the way, so that grace could abound among us. You taught me in manifold ways how we are to be crucified with him, that his life might become alive in us. For this I thank you, and thank God for you. 

Perhaps it’s because we have only recently celebrated the Conversion of St Paul, but my thoughts are still revolving around the miracle of grace to convert us, to transform us, from the state of being condemned and dead already in our sins to being set free and forgiven, made new creations in Christ. Paul’s encounter with the living Christ on the road to Damascus effected a dramatic conversion: his darkness was illumined by the light of Truth, he was called and changed by grace, his life from that moment on took on new meaning and purpose. In the remainder of this report, I want to reflect on our parish’s experience of conversion this past year, and the promise and challenge of transformation that yet lies ahead. I will not pretend to be comprehensive, but wish only to indicate what I see God is doing among us through a few examples. The other reports in this AGM Report can serve to provide the breadth of description and detail mine will lack. My task will be to provide vision. 

Worship and Prayer

All that we are and do at Trinity flows from our worship in the Common Prayer tradition. Our worship forms our souls, conforms us to God’s Word, and transforms us for his service. Holy Communion remains the source and summit of our common spiritual life and mission, and this year we expanded the number of our Eucharistic celebrations by more fully embracing our liturgical calendar, including the Ember Days and Feasts of the Apostles, Evangelists, Martyrs, and other major Holy Days (“Red Letter Days”) throughout the year which previously we had not celebrated. Our daily offices Monday through Friday have continued as a means of our abiding in the Word, and every last Sunday of the month we have offered a service called “Prayer, Praise and Worship”—essentially from the Order of Service for Young People—which is especially popular among Trinity’s old guard.

At this point, I want to convey how wonderfully enlivened and spirit-filled our worship has been this year, because of how the music in our services has allowed us to enter with hearts and minds and voices into the liturgy. Our Music Director, Karis Tees, has such a beautiful gift for bringing people together in song, drawing out from us the best we have to offer, and supporting us in our heartfelt praises to Almighty God. Many have made it a point to share with me that they have found joy, longing, intimacy and wonder in our worship through song. Our worship in song joins in the praise of all creation; as the Psalmist puts it, “O sing unto the LORD a new song; / sing unto the LORD, all the whole earth” (Psalm 96:1). 

I am happy to report that on many occasions many came festively to the Feast. In fact, it so happens that attendance at our Sunday worship has increased (for the first time returning to, and sometimes exceeding, the pre-Covid numbers from when I first arrived in 2020), while attendance at mid-week Holy Day services reached unprecedented highs. We have also had greater attendance at the Daily Offices, especially on Wednesdays. As the number of new folks coming to worship has increased, at times it has been a real challenge for me to keep up with pastoral visits—a happy problem for a parish priest. Another indicator of growth is represented by baptisms: this year we had a total of nine (plus one renewal of baptismal vows), of which three were “persons of riper years.” For all this we rejoice.

Whenever we gather to keep a solemn Feast or Holy Day, we are joining together in celebration. In an age that has forgotten how truly to celebrate, our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving are inherently counter-cultural, yet as such they also have the potential to be radically transformative. I will highlight just three of these that were particularly memorable for me.

Palm Sunday, on April 13th, marked a moving beginning to Holy Week, and included a joyous procession in the neighbourhood. Our choir led us in song, followed by a meandering line of parishioners waving palm branches and greeting onlookers. Despite the chill in the air that day, our spirits were kindled by the unknown depths of love and grief which our crucified King knew for our sakes. The very act of walking together through Fairview in praise of our Saviour was a sign that we are a pilgrim people; but more than that, it was a palpable reminder that our greatest witness in the community is our worship. Another Palm Sunday highlight was our dramatic reading of the Passion of our Lord according to St Matthew. The juxtaposition between our glad shouts of “hosanna to the Son of David!” at the beginning of the service, and then our murderous cries to “crucify him!” brought us viscerally into the heart of the Gospel mystery.

Trinity Sunday, on June 15th, was our parish’s namesake Holy Day. To celebrate it we decided to hold our Holy Communion service outdoors, calling it “Paradise in the Parking Lot,” in reference to the appointed Lesson, Revelation 4:1ff. The service was felt by many as a literal and figurative “breath of fresh air,” and with no walls separating our worship and the surrounding neighbourhood, it demonstrated the permeable flow of grace between our adoration and our mission. I am told that parishioners could see people in the nearby apartment buildings come out onto their balconies, to hear and see what it was all about; some people walking on the trail beside the Church stopped by. That worship also marked the wrap up of our Sunday School and Little Lambs’ Church, the launch of our Summer Outreach Ministry, and the receiving of First Communion by two young parishioners who recently completed a year-long Catechism course which I had taught. After our worship, we continued with a barbeque and potluck, and an abundance of good conversation. It was a glorious day.

The Feast of St Michael and All Angels, on September 29th, has become a much- anticipated gathering for us. A good-sized congregation was present: it was one of the most well-attended mid-week Holy Days (except for Christmas) since I have been to Trinity. Will Barton was our guest preacher, and he spoke memorably about how our worship is caught up with the angels’ praise. Together, our parish renewed our freshly revised Covenant in Ministry, so that there was a palpable sense of shared vision and calling, and commitment to mutual support between Rector and People. After the service, I invited everyone to a feast I had prepared as a gesture of my thanks, and our conviviality and exchanges of love carried on well into the night. 

Study and Discipleship

The Christian life is never static. One way we seek to deepen our faith and repentance at Trinity is through studying the Bible together. Three groups met regularly this year: the Ladies’ Bible study on Mondays, our “Chewing the Cud” parish study on Wednesdays, and the Men’s Breakfast usually on the second Saturday of most months. While all of these are well-established ministries, new faces have appeared, which is most encouraging. This is a sign that those on the margins are moving towards more active participation in our life together.

We also had two special series of studies in the penitential seasons. Four small groups met to study during Lent, in which over several weeks we meditated on St Matthew’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, with reference to other Scriptures which that Gospel account alludes to. In Advent, our Wednesday Bible study focused on working through Advent sermons of Fr Robert Crouse. 

The discipleship of our children, raising and educating them in the Christian religion, is a great responsibility which we take with the utmost seriousness. Our desire is that they so learn Christ, as to be found in him, and typically Sunday School has been the preferred vehicle for this. But on Sundays starting in the fall we tried something slightly different, with the introduction of more regular Children’s Talks and more roles for children to engage bodily in the liturgy. All of that has continued, but since Advent we decided to resume our Sunday School and Little Lambs’ Church, which seems to be a reliable model for teaching our children.

Hospitality and Mission

The Rector’s Rice Bowl, primarily a ministry of hospitality, carried on valiantly this year. We served up nine delicious community lunch meals from a variety of culinary traditions, including Cantonese, Sierra Leonean, South Indian, Beijingese, Nigerian, Sichuan, Syrian, a multicultural potluck, and even Newfoundland fare—all of which were enjoyed by many. We usually had between 40 and 60 people attend these monthly lunches open to all. The remarkable ethnic and cultural diversity of these lunches reflects the diversity of our parish. These simple gatherings around a common table have become a habitual way for parishioners to share of themselves through food and conversation, with the expectation that we will encounter Christ in our midst—in our neighbours and in one another. Through hospitality we are gradually getting to know and love our neighbours by name, we are actively welcoming and inviting them deeper into the life of the parish, and as a result we ourselves are blessed. Not only has the RRB become a regular occasion for new pastoral encounters, but the same neighbours first introduced to Trinity through these lunches are increasingly seeking to be nourished spiritually and showing up at our worship services. What a wonder that people begin coming—or returning—to Church, because they find vitality and life and generosity among us, which flows from the Holy Table where we are all guests! I’ve been especially encouraged this past year by the varied cross section of parishioners who have been coming out to support this ministry—both newcomers and old guard alike. This has been the first year in which I’ve felt my own role in the RRB has been secondary and supportive, rather than the driving force for this ministry, and I intend to continue getting out of the way. My thanks to all who planned and prepared food, helped with set up and clean up, or contributed their loving attention and presence. 

A brief word must be said about our Vacation Bible School this summer. This is a vital outreach ministry of our parish. In July we held two and a half weeks of day camps for children. These camps explored the central question: Who is Jesus Christ? As such they were inherently evangelical, centered on the revelation of God’s love for us through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son. We had an excellent team that made this happen: three summer ministers, Alison Kitt, Oak McKinnon, and Tessa Sneddon, who were supervised by Karis Tees. Because of their competent leadership, I was able to focus on visiting with participant families, and to cultivate pastoral relationships with folks in our neighbourhood. 

Stewardship

At our AGM last year, I issued an exhortation, a challenge, to the parish. While on the one hand I felt we should be encouraged by the congregational growth we had experienced, on the other hand I drew attention to the urgency of our financial situation, and the need for leadership and vision in our stewardship. That challenge was heard and answered. There was a real response in the parish, not only with words, but with action. The Stewardship Steering Committee was established, and Annie Masillamani led us with thoughtful and prayerful diligence. Stewardship is about more than our finances, but in this particular area there have been good results. We began this year staring at a projected $51,565 deficit, but by year’s end we closed with a much smaller deficit of $8,336. In other words, we ended up reducing our deficit by 84%, and I am sure that the labours, prayers, and attention given to this matter by our Steering Committee were a major factor in what we managed to achieve. This, to my mind, is exciting transformation; we pray that it will continue, as we move towards financial balance, sustainability and growth.

Closing Thoughts

A Rector’s Report is also an opportunity to express thanks, which I’ve already done in part. But my thanks will always be partial: it’s an impossible thing to say all the “thank-yous” that ought to be said. As much as I know about the little acts of service and kindness, the quiet and behind-the-scenes labours which keep our parish running day-by-day, the hours upon hours of work in administration, stewardship, care for our property, the attention given to our worship, our prayer, our hospitality and outreach, the gifts of your time, talents and financial treasure—as much as I may know about all this, and the people who offer themselves in love, there is so much that I don’t know. To everyone who has had any share in the worship, ministry, and mission of this parish of Trinity, I thank you.

I must, however, name a few names, and express my thanks to those who work most closely with me in the leadership of our beloved Trinity: our tireless and ever-giving Wardens, David Manoharan, Gillian Jones, and John Durnford, all of whom serve in different but complementary ways; our Music Director, Karis Tees, who has brought such tremendous joy to our worship, has taught us to sing lustily and with good courage, and has shared her gifts in many other areas of ministry; our Secretary, Sharron Burrows, whose commitment to the work of parochial administration is astoundingly constant and consistent, and whose patience with me can only be explained as an intervention of divine grace; our Treasurer, Evelyn Lewis, whose role at Trinity I hardly know how to describe, except poetically, as a solid rock which supports everything around it. Our Honorary Assistant, Fr Gary Thorne, remains a tremendous support to me, even as much of his attention is given to St George’s, where in September he was appointed Rector. My family knows my debt to them for their endurance and sacrifices. Words are inadequate to my deepest gratitude for you all. 

In closing, I wish to end on a note of exhortation and encouragement. I return to the story of St Paul’s ministry. Through small details about his life preserved here and there in the Book of Acts and his own pastoral letters, we can reconstruct a picture of the Apostle’s life and ministry. Paul is known for his dramatic conversion, but also for having been the instrument of the greatest transformation of the ancient mediterranean world through his preaching of the Gospel. In his Epistle to the Galatians, Paul recounts what transpired after he was called by grace and converted: he says that he went into Arabia, and then to Damascus; after three years he visited with Peter in Jerusalem for 15 days; then he went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia (Galatians 1:13-24). But at this point there’s a very interesting “gap” in the history, about which little is known for certain. Verse 2:1 reads: “Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.” Just what exactly was Paul doing between his dramatic conversion, and this second trip to Jerusalem in about 49 or 50 A.D.? Some have called this 14-year period Paul’s “lost years” or “silent years.” While scholars don’t unanimously agree on the exact timeline, and whether the fourteen years he mentions dates back to his conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-9) or to his first visit to Jerusalem (Acts 9:26-30), the question remains: just what was Paul doing in Syria and Cilicia for these long intervening years? Why do we know so very little about this period? Were these idle years? Did nothing of consequence happen?

I find this gap in our understanding of Paul’s early ministry tremendously encouraging. For in spite of his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, it takes quite some time before Paul comes into his own and accomplishes the great work to which he is called. I have to imagine that that time is part of God’s providential plan. Paul will eventually be known as the Apostle to the Gentiles, he will be the great missionary and Church planter throughout the northeastern Mediterranean, he will be the most influential pastor of early Christianity, and will be the author of roughly 25% of the entire New Testament. Yet first, there were these fourteen years. Surely, these were not idle or lost years: surely, God was preparing him, continuing to convert him, opening his understanding to the Word, fortifying him by the Holy Spirit.

It is undeniable that Trinity is experiencing conversion, transformation, growth—both in terms of individual lives, and corporately as a whole parish. The seeds of divine love have been planted, and they are beginning to bear fruit. But God is not finished with us; in fact, he has only begun. Yet greater transformation and growth lies before us. We should not expect or insist that change—change that endures, change that will impact future generations, change that will echo in eternity—will happen in an instant. We have encountered the living Word. We have heard the voice of Jesus, calling us to himself. He has commanded us to serve him by our love, here and now, in this place. He demands our transformation, and his grace will transform us. If we are to be transformed, we need to be patient and exercise forbearance with one another; we need to have the courage and obedience to follow God’s Word and Spirit wherever he leads us; and we need to support, uphold, and build up one another in faith, hope and charity. Let us therefore pray earnestly for grace, confident that God’s grace is indeed sufficient for what he purposes. The miracle of transformation to which we are called, and which is already happening, is the work of God in us and through us, to his glory—all in his good time. 

Respectfully Submitted,

Fr Benjamin Lee+