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Journey
of a Family Chapter
8: 1975 - 1980
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Undoubtedly, the highlight of 1975 was
the consecration of the church. On Sunday, February 2, Mrs.
Dorothy Jenkins, who was one of the first women in the diocese
to be appointed Rector's Warden, and People's Warden Tam London
opened the main doors to Bishop David Somerville who officiated
at the service. The Bishop, accompanied by the Rector, guest
preacher Dean Herbert O'Driscoll, and the Reverend David Holeton,
processed down the centre aisle as the choir sang Sir C. Hubert
H. Parry's setting 'of Psalm 122. The consecration was followed
by a Litany of Thanksgiving and celebration of Holy Eucharist.
In 1975 Ian Grant was elected a delegate to General Synod, and
it reflected well on St. Catherine's that he would later be
elected to the next four synods.
On October 17, 1975 Bishop Somerville became Archbishop and
Metropolitan of the Province of British Columbia and the Yukon
when he was elected Chairman
of Provincial Synod. December marked the 50th anniversary of
the ordination to the priesthood of the Reverend Canon Jim Best,
who with his wife Frances, worshipped regularly at St. Catherine's
and as Honorary Assistant Priest would occasionally celebrate
the Eucharist.
During the year a memorial garden was established on the west
side of the church, comprising a centre flowerbed, surrounded
by lawn and hedge. Following funeral services, ashes are interred
in the garden and names of the deceased mounted on plaques inside
the church. On St. Catherine's Day, November 21, 1975 the three
halls and committee room were named after Archbishop Gower (main
gym); Archdeacon Greig (hall under the gym), the Reverend N.
John Godkin (hall under the church) and Mary Pellatt (committee
room). The year had also seen an encouraging increase in youth
activity - a thriving young people's (high school) group, the
beginnings of a young adults' (post high school) group and a
new fellowship for young wives and mothers..
A popular fellowship group started in 1975 was the Supper Club
that still meets in members' homes on the last Friday of the
month. Not a couples' organization, the club welcomes everyone
at its potluck evenings.
In May 1976 Mary Pellatt said good-bye to the church she had
served for thirteen years. She was overwhelmed by the generosity
and warmth expressed by Ian and her friends at St. Catherine's
the day she left to begin a new chapter in her life. Bitten
by the travel bug she immediately embarked on a long series
of trips to other parts of the world. After John and Enid Godkin
had introduced her to the Sunshine Coast Mary bought land and
built a cottage in Sechelt She maintains her friendship with
the Godkins who now live in Gibsons.
Upon the departure of Mary Pellatt the rector persuaded Phoebe
Stenson, a member of St. Catherine's since 1958, to assume the
role of parish and rector's secretary. She was to hold that
position for eleven years.
On St Andrew's Day, November 30, 1976 the Reverend Elspeth Alley
and the Reverend Virginia Briant, who would later be rector
of St. Richard's Norgate Park, were ordained priests by Archbishop
Somerville at Christ Church Cathedral. The House of Bishops
ruled that the five dioceses intending to ordain women should
do so on the same day in order that no individual could claim
the distinction of being the first Elspeth and Virginia were
united that historic day with fellow ordinands from Niagara,
Huron, Brandon and Cariboo dioceses.
At the 1976 annual meeting St. Catherine's undertook to support
a program of Outreach. The projects were the Pastoral Institute
of British Columbia, the translation of the prayer book into
Cree for the Diocese of Moosonee, and the work of Archdeacon
John Rye in Ghana.
1977 began with great promise with the arrival of the Reverend
Regina Puckett, originally from South Carolina, as the first
full-time associate minister in the parish. She quickly endeared
herself to everyone, especially the young people of the parish
with whom she was so closely involved. During 1977 Gina learned
that she had a malignant tumour and on June 30th underwent surgery
in Atlanta, Georgia for the removal of the growth. The following
day Ian flew to Atlanta and visited with Gina and her family.
He later arranged for Mrs. Puckett to visit her daughter in
North Vancouver, a trip made possible by the gifts of a number
of parishioners. Throughout her ordeal Gina was ~ supported
by the love and prayers of her friends "back home"
at St Catherine's. Her foster family were Ron and Olivia Seal
who opened their home to her and members of her family from
South Carolina. She returned to North Vancouver in August, and
although she resumed her work her health was failing. While
she was fighting her disease she and Don Mowatt, an executive
producer of features for CBC radio and a member of St Catherine's,
recorded a documentary program Peniel, which was later, broadcast
on the Canadian network. The title was taken from the book of
Genesis in which Jacob fought in the dark with an unknown adversary.
In the morning Jacob said he had seen the "Face of God"
and so named the place of his battle Peniel. Gina interviewed
victims of cancer and was herself interviewed by Don during
her treatment. The program would later win the 1980 George F.
Peabody Award, the highest international honour in broadcasting.
The citation read, in part: "...Peniel is an experience
that requires listeners to evaluate their own life expectancy
with deep consideration for the power of religious faith."
Sadly, Don flew alone to New York to receive the award. By then
Gina was too ill to travel.
In 1977 the CBC- TV program "Meeting Place" was filmed
at St. Catherine's and the morning service was telecast throughout
the country. That year the rectory underwent major renovation,
resulting in an attractive and valuable asset to the parish.
At the time of the renovation the buildings - church, hall and
rectory - were valued at close to one million dollars. 1977
saw the departure of David Holeton who, with his wife Penelope
and small daughter Elena left the parish and St. Richard's to
further his education in Paris.
"Rite II, The Holy Eucharist" of the proposed American
Book of Common Prayer was adopted by St. Catherine's Church
in 1978. Ian Grant stated in his Rector's Report that, in his
opinion "...of all the liturgies developed in recent years
in the Anglican Communion that I am aware of, it is the best
- incorporating the best of contemporary theological insight
and language while retaining the essential dignity of Anglican
worship."
Dan and Lynn Krausert were welcomed into the community of St.
Catherine's during 1978 when he became seminarian assistant
to the Rector. In working with the Youth Group they encouraged
interaction with other provincial and diocesan youth groups.
In their 1979 report, People's Warden Ted Alexander and Rector's
Warden John Bingham felt that St Catherine's community had progressed
toward their parish goal of 1978 that was "To grow as a
loving, worshipping community doing Christ's work in the world."
Activities increased and, in the opinion of the wardens, people
had given of their time, talent and treasure in 1979 more than
ever before. Envelope secretary Mrs. Taddy Eyre reported that
total contributions in 1979 - $98,698 - had increased by over
nine thousand dollars from 1978. In the early part of 1979 the
Reverend Gina Puckett left St. Catherine's Church.
In 1979 the parish became landlords to Camp Artaban when the
offices moved from a brief tenancy at St. Richard's Church.
The Reverend Fred Thirkell, who had recently retired as rector
of St. John the Evangelist, was appointed the first Executive
Secretary. He renovated the basement room off Greig Hall that
is still the location of the Artaban office. At the same time
he was joined by Allison Mulligan who had been parish secretary
at St. John's Church.
Even after Ron and Olivia Seal left St Catherine's in 1979 for
their new home at Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast they continued
to contribute to the parish. He has recently said that "People
should do for the church what they're best able to do and what
I'm best able to do is make something." Parishioners can
attest to that when they look at the large suspended cross and
the beautiful prayer desk he designed and made to match the
bishop's chair in the chancel. The desk was a gift from the
late Graham Rose. Since the Seals arrived at St. Catherine's
29 years ago the parish has benefited on a number of occasions
from Ron's artistry.
The new decade began for St. Catherine's with 1200 people on
the parish roll and the average attendance at the 10 a.m. service
was 350. In the Spring of 1980 the parish marked the tenth anniversary
of Ian Grant's arrival at St. Catherine's with a Festival of
Ministry. The weeklong celebration took place in the context
of the diocesan centennial and the 32nd anniversary of St. Catherine's
as a parish. The celebration began with a service at which Ian's
predecessor, the Reverend John Godkin, preached. Dean Herbert
O'Driscoll had preached at Ian's induction in 1970 and returned
to give the sermon on the second Sunday which ended the festival.
A parish dinner followed which was attended by Archbishop Godfrey
Gower and many of the former wardens. As part of the celebration
the Young Adult group compiled the " Archives of St. Catherine's"
which were on display for three weeks. Gaye McCance, Brenda
Stenson, Gillian Garraway, Alison Brookfield, Brad Thomas, Donna
Blannin, Vivian McGie and Margaret Schultz worked hard and long
in writing a history of the parish and that project has been
an invaluable reference in the preparation of this book.
After 13 years as organist and choirmaster Peter Chappell left
the parish in 1980 and was succeeded by Paul Mitchell. In July
the parish welcomed Heather Luccock as Lay Pastoral Assistant
on a permanent part-time basis. As she stated in her first annual
report her first months were characterized as "getting
to know you" and shortly after her arrival she "got
to know" a number of the youth group rather more intimately
than she may have wished during a "cabin-bound weekend
on a wet and foggy Mount Seymour!" Like her predecessors
Heather worked closely with the Sunday School and was a resource
person for the many and varied groups in the parish.
At General Synod, which took place in Peterborough, Ontario
in May 1980, Ian Grant was elected to the National Doctrine
and Worship Committee which was entrusted with the important
task of compiling all the Canadian revised services - Baptism,
the Eucharist, Marriage, Burial, etc. - into a Book of Alternative
Services. The committee had three years to complete the task.
As Rite II had been introduced to the parish of St. Catherine's
in 1978 the rector was optimistic that by 1983 the congregation
would be completely familiar with the new liturgy.
Since 1978 the Diocese had been preparing for the retirement
in 1980 of Archbishop David Somerville. Ian Grant was involved
in the process of searching for a new bishop and when asked
to plan the service for the electoral synod offered his church
as the venue. The Right Reverend Douglas Hambidge was elected
seventh bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster at St. Catherine's
on June 7, 1980. |
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