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Dear friends, this past Sunday I had the privilege of being at beautiful Mary Magdalene Church here on Mayne Island. What a joy. At the Easter vigil here on Mayne Island, I wasn't here, but a young man in the community put his hand up and expressed a desire to be baptized, and the community wrapped around him with love and Christian support.
And it was a privilege to baptize Eric at the service yesterday and to see the community so excited and so proud of him. One of the other really neat things that happened on Mayne Island yesterday though was after the service, we traveled up the hill to the parish house, as they call it, and other folks from the community joined us for a beautiful lunch and a celebration of how they've renewed that building.
Some members of the community who aren't technically members of the church in terms of coming on Sunday morning had stepped forward and painted, uh, the church house, and other members of the community likewise, who perhaps aren't technically members, had joined in helping sew new curtains and new pillows and making a beautiful window seat that overlooks the sea. And it was a joy to meet with some of those folks and to see the church truly include them and thank them and welcome them. Last week when I was in Terrace teaching congregational development, one of the things we teach churches is to pay attention to the vicariously connected in the community, as we call it.
Those who perhaps don't come on a Sunday morning but still see the church as part of the community, as a place they would like to call home, and a place they might even be willing to paint or sew curtains for. And so good on you, Mayne Island. It was a joy to be with you, a joy to see how you serve the wider Mayne Island community.
And to the rest of the diocese, if you've never been to St. Mary Magdalene's, Mayne Island it's one of our most spectacular churches, perched on a hill overlooking the ocean. If you ever... If you've never been to Mayne Island, you should come. And if you ever are here, please come and join the folks at St. Mary Magdalene's Anglican Church, Mayne Island.
God bless. Bye-bye.
