Dear Friends,
As People’s Warden, and part of the St. David’s Search Committee I was delighted to announce in church last month that we had chosen the Rev. Dr. Renée Desjardins to be our new rector.
Rev. Renée comes to us from the parish of St. John’s in Ancaster Ontario. A graduate of Wycliffe College, she has been ordained for 11 years and has served in several parishes in the Diocese of Niagara.
The members of the search committee were immediately drawn to Renée when we read her application in which she said, “It is my passion to communicate the Gospel in contemporary words and images to engage people in a deeper relationship with Christ. The sharing and practice of traditional Christian spiritual disciplines is foundational for me. Moreover, I believe as a church we need to engage more intentionally in outreach ministries in our communities, so that others learn in a tangible way of Christ’s love. These qualities, I believe, are consistent with what is expressed in the advertisement for the incumbent of St. David’s parish.”
Rev. Renée has since been to visit Edmonton, and when we met her, we felt sure that we had made the right choice for our community!
Her first Sunday at St. David’s will be September 3rd, which is the Labour Day long weekend, so vestry decided that we’ll hold our official welcome potluck for her on September 10th, which we can also combine with the invitational ‘Back to Church’ Sunday.
I can’t wait for you all to meet her, and for us to welcome her to her new home here at St. David’s.
I know that you will all join with me in praying for her over the summer while she deals with the big step of moving across the country to be with us.
It’s also time for me to go and spend the summer with my family in England, so I wish you all a wonderful summer, and will see you all again on Sunday August 27th when I return!
Blessings,
Susan Spence