United to welcome everyone

In fact, on June 1 to be exact, these three Anglican parishes in Verdun and in the south west region have merged to become one parish, said the Reverend Patrick Wheeler, so that the area and its residents have a united front. This way, the expectations of parishioners can be better served.

“It’s not a question of money, but rather the desire to listen to them and identify their spiritual and other needs,” Reverend Wheeler explained. He has been the head of the All Saints Church for eight years.

In June 2004, St-Aidan's Parish was added to his responsibilities; since the merger on June 1, he also became in charge of St. Clement’s.

Seconded by deacons Geoffrey Chapman, Jean Willcocks and Jessica Bickford, Reverend Wheeler will now be managing a parish of 300 faithful worshippers.

To satisfy his parishioners’ needs, the Reverend intends to establish additional ties with social-community organisations in the area. “We must break peoples’ feelings of isolation. At St. Aidan’s, for example, a community supper is held twice a month.”

Even if services are held in English, the churches of Verdun’s Anglican Parish and of the south west region regularly welcome Francophone worshippers, according to Reverend Wheeler. It is a religious institution that’s open to everyone – that’s the way he likes to see it. “The church must figure prominently in the daily lives of people by leaving its walls so it can reach out to them”, he said. He mentioned that a female priest was ordained and that it is possible for male priests in the Anglican church to marry.

Open, proactive, and without discrimination – that’s our Church – according to the Reverend, yet it maintains its traditions. “People musn’t forget who we are, where we came from, and what our Anglican traditions are”, he added.