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Home > Congregational Support > A Message from Conference President Bev Simpson
A Message from Conference President Bev Simpson
June 2011
To the Pastoral Charges of the Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario:
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
At the Annual Meeting of the Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario in Kenora one month ago, I was installed as your Conference President. I am so looking forward to this year: to the opportunities to visit with you at the upcoming presbytery meetings and elsewhere; to be in dialogue with you as we seek together to be the body of Christ in this particular time and this particular part of the world.
What a source of strength and comfort our faith is! The words of hymns, old and new, come to mind: “New every morning is the love, our wakening and uprising prove...(VU 405)”; “Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise, God always faithful...(MV28)” God’s love – new, yet dependable as each day begins; each day a gift from God.
What a source of strength and comfort our faith in God is and also what a challenge! The reality is that as individuals and even as communities, sometimes the days seem dark and we can’t always see or feel God’s love and providence. As I write this letter, I am acutely aware that many in our conference are suffering great losses due to extended and severe flooding. All of us are affected or will be. Our lives are interconnected. Land not seeded, crops not harvested will have a devastating ripple effect. However, we also know that the costs are not evenly distributed.
Last Friday, your Conference Executive met by phone for their customary post-annual meeting follow-up. Concern was expressed by all, especially for those of you who are experiencing the loss of home or livelihood. Our hearts go out to you; our prayers are with you. As the Apostle Paul puts it, “when one part of the body suffers, all parts suffer with it.” (I Cor. 12:26) We are not only interconnected by geographical proximity, but as members of Christ’s body.
If there are concrete ways we can help to share the load, please let me or a member of the Conference Executive know. If you have resources to offer, please let us know that, too. And let us hold one another in our prayers. I am convinced that prayer opens us to God’s Spirit and that through prayer, God’s Spirit can make a way where there seems to be no way.
May you know the love and peace of God in joy and in struggle.
Faithfully yours,
Bev Simpson
President of Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario
E-mail: standrewsmanitou@hotmail.com
Phone: (204)242-2746
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Posted: June 29, 2011
Expires: never
category: Congregational Support
keywords/tags : message,
conference,
president,
flood
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