The Last Word – December 2024
Larry Worthen
This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of FOCUS.
Wait! Don’t skip the Last Word! It’s going to be positive and upbeat. I promise. I’ve been speaking so much lately about the “M” word across this country, and via Zoom to the UK, I’m feeling like a perpetual purveyor of doom and gloom. One of our members (who shall remain nameless) said the following after completing a Bible study of the book of Jeremiah: “I was never so happy to see the back end of a prophet as I was when we finished that Bible study. Reading Jeremiah is as depressing as one of Larry’s talks!” I got a good laugh at that comment, because I knew what the member meant.
Actually, Jeremiah was not always depressing, and I don’t need to be either! In Chapter 33 of Jeremiah the prophet says the following:
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.” (Jeremiah 33: 14-16)
You see, challenging times are also times of great grace. I want to share with you something beautiful that I experienced last Sunday. My church, where I serve as an ordained deacon, is an amalgamation of three former church communities – two former parishes and a francophone mission church. It has not always been easy for us to have a sense of unity given that we were a “marriage of convenience” due to declining church attendance. We have worked diligently to help all of our parishioners see that Christ is our source of unity and mission. Our parish vision is three-fold, to “Come encounter Christ, Joyfully share His love, and Go and make disciples.” We have all tried to make that a reality rather than just a slogan.
The name of our parish is “Christ the King.” On Sunday, November 24, we celebrated our parish feast day, Christ the King, with a special service where everyone in the church was invited to one main service. Normally we have three on Sunday. This event turned out to be a huge sign of the presence of God through the Holy Spirit in our midst. Our parish is very diverse and has several special communities.
First, we have the deaf community. Each week a translator translates the service into American Sign Language. At this service the translator was in her glory. Her signing is like a dance that is at the same time animated and graceful. At one point in the service, right before the proclamation of the Gospel, we all sang the gospel acclamation and everyone at the service did the signing in solidarity with the deaf community.
Our second cultural group is the francophone community. The service was completely bilingual. Our francophone priest is Fr. Alain, who has come to us recently from Benin, a country in West Africa. Father preached in both French and English. He is in the process of learning English, so he read the first part of his sermon in English and preached the second half in French. We could all see the difference in his comfort and style when he switched to French in the second half. What was clear in either language was his sincere love for the Lord and his desire to share that love with everyone in the church. Francophone parishioners proclaimed one reading in French and slides were provided on the screen with the translation of each reading as it was being proclaimed.
The third major cultural community in our parish is the African community. At a certain stage, parishioners bring the gifts of bread and wine to the altar as preparation for communion. In this case, about ten young women of African heritage brought up the gifts as well as four baskets of the fruits of the earth. They were dressed in beautifully coloured matching African prints. They danced their way up the centre aisle to the front of the church. The music was amazing! It was a mixed choir from both churches, the Francophone and the African Mass, and the youth choir. It was a wonderful blend of African, French, and English music; both traditional and praise and worship. When the young ladies danced to the altar, the African drums were beating and many ululated, a celebratory expression common in African cultures.
Our pastor, Fr. Toochukwu Okafor, is a Canadian citizen who was born in Nigeria. Under his leadership, the parish is growing in its diversity so that all feel that they have a role in their church family.
While no community of believers is perfect, the Lord can show up and give beautiful wings to our human efforts through the power of the Holy Spirit. The lesson here is that while the people of Christ the King come from very diverse backgrounds, they can worship together in peace. The conflicts between people that have become so endemic in our world disappear when everyone acknowledges the truth that Christ is King.
What the angels announced has come to pass: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.” (Luke 2:14 KJV)
We’re sure many of you have beautiful church stories just like this one. We encourage you to share them with us and we will publish them in FOCUS.
Merry Christmas!