Many of you know that Archbishop Greg Venables of the Southern Cone has recently announced his retirement. We as a parish wanted to send him something to thank him for his wonderful leadership and support for ANiC and for us as a church. Below is the card that we sent him and the letter that Greg McVeigh wrote to him on behalf of our church.
Dear Archbishop Greg,
I am writing on behalf of St. George’s Anglican Church in the Diocese of the Anglican Network in Canada. St. George’s used to meet in their historic building in Lowville Ontario. Soon after leaving the Anglican Church of Canada, St. George’s had to leave their former building and was offered space at the Crossroads Centre in Burlington Ontario.
The Crossroads Centre is the home of 100 Huntley Street and Crossroads Television and related ministries. 100 Huntley Street is a Canada-wide Christian television program which has been on the air on week days for many years and was founded by David and Norma-Jean Mainse. Through this daily program many have come to follow Jesus and have been strengthened in their faith.
Crossroads has been very supportive to the renewal of biblical Anglicanism in general and to St. George’s in particular. We meet in their beautiful chapel which seats about 150 people. Adjoining the chapel is a very large and sunny atrium called the Towne Square which is ideal for fellowship times. The Crossroads Center is aptly named for the obvious reason that its ministries are focussed on the cross of Jesus and because its location is truly a crossroads at the confluence of major highways in the economic heartland of Ontario and at the western end of the densely populated Greater Toronto Area. We are also about an hour’s journey from breathtaking Niagara Falls at the Canada/U.S. border.
We believe the Lord has placed us at this crossroads in time and space for such a time as this. Archbishop Greg, your willingness to obey God and suffer the consequences in order to provide us with episcopal oversight and spiritual covering was crucial to God’s purposes for us and for the spiritual well-being of many in Canada. We are grateful beyond words for your courage, faithfulness and love in action. When I heard that you were willing to take us under your wing, the right time was signalled for me personally to get ready to leave the Anglican Church of Canada and for the Anglican Network in Canada to be launched as a separate entity from the Anglican Church of Canada. As time passed it became clear that many others sensed the same timeliness of your stepping forward in faith. We also want to express our appreciation to your wife Sylvia for her support of your action knowing how that would affect her too. Your willingness to endure spiritual warfare together for the sake of others is an inspiration to us all. We also want to thank the lay and ordained leaders of your province for their support of your adopting us for a season.
We are told in Scripture that those who minister to others will themselves be ministered to. We pray for you and Sylvia and your family that your retirement will be a time of refreshment in the Lord, that God will open up new horizons for life and ministry and that He will guide you into His perfect plan for this season of your lives together.
With our sincere thanks and blessings in our Lord Jesus,
the Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the World.
Greg McVeigh, Honorary Assistant
on behalf of the leadership and people
of St. George’s Church (ANIC),
Anglican Church in North America
