Canadian Council of Churches - 75 Years

2017 WPCU in Mission, BC

This 2017 Week of Prayer service was held at St Joseph's Catholic Church, Mission, BC. Participating pastors were from St. Joseph's Catholic, All Saints Anglican, St. Paul's Presbyterian, Bethel Pentecostal Assembly, Mission Hills Community, and St. Andrew's United churches, with attendance from members of these congregations and from other churches in the area.

When I introduced the ministers at the beginning, I made a blunder and everyone laughed which really got everything off to a great start. The lighting of the candles seemed to set everyone aglow. It was very special when all the pastors raised their hands in the final blessing. There was a wonderful feeling of elation as we processed out singing, “Let us build the City of God.” We were blessed to have terrific music ministry. As I went downstairs to the reception, I could hear the noise level, everyone was having a good time and there was lots of conversation. There were participants in the service from churches other than the ones represented by their pastors. Wishing you God's blessings in all your work for Christian unity!

Anne Goodsell, parish rep for ecumenism and interfaith dialogue for St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Mission, BC
Fr Joseph Nguyen (St Joseph's Catholic Church), Pastor Grant Vander Hoek (Mission Hills Community Church), Rev Tim Bowman (St Andrew's United Church), Rev Rebecca Simpson (St Paul's Presbyterian Church), Pastor Ken Critchley (Bethel Pentecostal Assembly), Deacon Connie Wilkes (All Saints Anglican Church)
Music accompaniment at the service was provided by the ecumenical "In the Air” Choral Group. The leader, Jeanette Poulin, is pictured on the left, and the cantor, Jack Ethier, 2nd from the right.