This is your parish, dear friends, and your story.

Do you have any stories about events at or about Holy Comforter Parish?  Perhaps an amusing tale?  Perhaps an inspirational moment?  Please jot them down and send them on to Paul Williams [ pwilliams@arcticnet.org ].  You'll probably find them placed here in the near future.  

Now, this is by no means new, nor is it about Rankin, although our potholes tend to rival the Grand Canyon at times, but it is a bit of a chuckle, so I'll post it here for a few weeks.  Enjoy:

After a hardy rainstorm filled all the potholes in the streets and alleys, a young mother watched her two little boys playing in the puddle through her kitchen window. The older of the two, a five year old lad, grabbed his sibling by the back of his head and shoved his face into the water hole. As the boy recovered and stood laughing and dripping, the mother runs to the yard in a panic.

"Why on earth did you do that to your little brother?!" she says as she shook the older boy in anger.

"We were just playing 'church' mommy," he said "And I was just baptizing him.....in the name of the Father, the Son and in...the hole-he-goes."

The Altar
The altar in the Church was created by Mr. Don Mason, a parishioner at Holy Trinity Parish in North Saanich, BC, especially for Holy Comforter Parish.  With help from his wife Jane, and from a fellow woodworker Adrian, Don began construction of the altar in February 2001 upon learning that we were using an old school table.  Using a variety of woods, dark and light, he constructed an altar that was lightweight, on castors and which could, if necessary be folded away into a parcel about the normal size door.  Upon its completion in July of 2001, it was shipped to us and gratefully received, and blessed in our regular communion service in September of that same year.

Sadly, Don Mason died after a battle with cancer on April 29, 2003, in a four-poster bed which he himself made.  We remember Jane and her family in our prayers, especially during our monthly communion services on the lasting testament that Don built.

                The Blessing  ???
It happened one sunny Sunday morning, in a Baptism service if I recall correctly.  The service had progressed smoothly through, in spite of the large number of youngsters attending.  Some parents, to keep their little ones quieter, allowed them to bring small toys and dolls into the worship centre.  As the service moved toward its closure, Canon Williams stood to offer the blessing and the dismissal.   He moved to the centre of the sanctuary, and raising his right arm, he opened his mouth.  Before he could utter a word, the tinny voice of Buzz Lightyear, spacehero, pipes in clearly from one of the pews near the front: "To Infinity and Beyond!".  As they say, timing is everything!