Dear Friends,
Dr. George Black taught French language and literature, church music and liturgy at Huron College. He served on the national church’s Doctrine and Worship Committee and was instrumental in the development of the Book of Alternative Services. He also served as the chair of the Hymn Book Task Force that published Common Praise in 1998. George used to say that going to Sunday worship was like visiting with old friends.
There is something about the rhythm and cadence of Anglican worship that brings you home. Scripture passages summon voices from the past that resonate with the heart today… Here I am Lord. The psalms echo the yearning of congregations through time… I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. Prayers offered so many times can be recited by heart. The table, set with bread and wine, by divine presence and memory summons the soul. And favourite hymns express our deep desires… feed me till I want no more.
When we assemble in the pews, we bring the whole of our lives: the good, the hard, the broken and the blessed. We gather in the company of strangers and friends, saints and sinners. And we are for a time surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who hold and inspire us to keep the faith. In these times of uncertainty and worry, anxiety and disruption, it’s even more important for us to find as many opportunities as we can to nurture the faith that is in us and worship the One who has created, redeemed and sustains us. And have we got an opportunity for you!
Lift Up Our Hearts is a series of regional worship services designed to bring Anglicans and friends together from all over the Diocese to pray, to be renewed by the Holy Spirit, and to be inspired to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. These five services are part of our Season of Spiritual Renewal in the Diocese and are a response to the first of our 20 Calls from the Cast the Net consultation.
The first Lift Up Our Hearts service is tomorrow, Saturday, March 22 at St. James Cathedral, starting at 2 p.m. The Rev. Molly Finlay will be our inspiring preacher, the suffragan bishops will join me at the altar, the music will be diverse and outstanding, and there will be an opportunity for anointing with holy oil. I expect to be moved and renewed, and I hope you will join me.
If you can’t join us tomorrow, there will be more opportunities, including the following Saturday, March 29 at Trinity, Streetsville. My earnest hope is that Anglicans from every parish of the Diocese will participate in the service that is most conveniently located for them over the course of this year, and that we can come together in worship and praise of the Triune God.
Come, St. James, St. Anne, St. Mary Magdelene and all the saints. Come one and come all. Come to celebrate the Spirit that is growing in you and within us. Come as strangers and leave as friends.
Yours in Christ,
The Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto
