St. Mary's, Vegreville Enters New Chapter in Shared Ministry

On Sunday, March 2, Bishop Stephen London was part of a “very moving service” at St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church in Vegreville - “the last service they celebrated in their beloved church building. They are making the beautiful and courageous decision to enter into an Ecumenical Shared Ministry (ESM) with the Vegreville United Church two doors down,” Bishop Stephen said. These conversations have been led by the Rev. Laureta Blondin, rector of St. Mary’s.

“I am grateful to her and to the congregation for this work,” says Bishop Stephen. “As I reflected in my sermon, this is both a hard moment and a beautiful moment, and we can have both emotions. It is hard to say goodbye to a place saturated in prayer, history, and memories. And, yet, for the sake of the greater good of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we make these choices. I am proud of the parish and grateful that I could be a part of this movement of the Holy Spirit of God.”

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