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The Citizen, 1989-11-01, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1989. PAGE 5. Military’s loss is local churches’ gain with new minister jVetr minister Reverend David Fuller formerly of St. George’s in London is the new minister at St. John’sand Trinity Anglican Churches. His wife Debbie is a nurse at Wingham and District Hospital. Their daughter Sarah Christine is celebrating her second birthday on November 23. BY BONNIE GROPP Born the son of a navy chaplain, one might assume that the decision of Reverend David Fuller, the new priest at Brussels’ St. John’s Anglican and Trinity Anglican in Blyth, to enter the ministry was a life-long ambition. This was, how­ ever, not the case. When Reverend Fuller was born, his father, Reverend Doug Fuller, was stationed in British Columbia. Following that, the young David spent his years travelling exten­ sively across the country. “I have lived in Chatham, Listowel, Sim­ coe, Ottawa and Halifax, and at times the changes caused me to be The International Scene BY RAYMOND CANON One of the mistakes you are likely to make, when thinking of the Soviet Union, is to group all the Slavic speaking people as Rus­ sians. It is well known that there are a number of Soviet citizens especially in the south and in Siberia that speak languages not even remotely connected to Rus­ sian but, when it gets around to the Slavic nature of the country, every­ body in this category is lumped together as Russian. I realized that this was not true but I cannot say that such thoughts were uppermost in my mind, that is until I found myself on a tour that some Russian agricultural special­ ists were making in Canada so that they could study our farming methods. As I recall the trip went quite well while we were in Ontario and Quebec and during the initial stages of our visit to western farm lands. It was when we arrived in Winnipeg that all hell broke loose. We had been warned that a great many Ukrainians living in the province of Manitoba held the firm conviction that the Kremlin had carried out a policy of oppression against the Ukraine and that people such as Stalin and Krushchev were on a par with Hitler. When I arrived in the lead plane at Winnipeg and took a look at the noisy crowd waiting, it became extremely obvious that any Russian visitors were going to have a rough somewhat resentful,” he says. ‘‘When I was in Grade 11 at Chatham, 1 was doing quite well there and my father informed me that I would be attending Listowel high school the next year. School was very important to me at that time and I was bitter. For a time I actually rejected the church.” While David did attend Listowel District Secondary School in 1978 he returned to Chatham the follow­ ing year receiving his Grade 13 diploma there. He then went on to the Univer­ sity of Western Ontario, and it was during his first year there, in a Political Science class, that he met time if they passed through the airport. Since I was looking after security arrangements, I had the Russians go out by taxis through the military part of the airport. When they were safely out of the way, the four plain clothed Moun- ties and 1 walked through the terminal and were met by an angry mob which either mistook us for the Russians or took out their frustra­ tions on us for being deprived of confronting the Russian agrono­ mists. After a discussion with my boss, Bob Ford, who was in Ottawa, we decided to bypass the next stop which was Windsor. We felt that the Ukrainians would gather there and give us an even rougher time. Instead we flew to London and hoped that the whole thing would be kept secret. Far from it! We were met at the London airport by a howling mob and it was only with extreme difficulty that we got the Russians out of the airport and into their hotel in downtown London. The Russians for their part, were extremely puzzled by it all. Back home the police would have waded in long ago and cracked a few skulls, not to mention making a few arrests. 1 have understandably never forgotten that experience. Now I keep it fully in the front of my mind that Ukrainians never, never should be taken as Russians. Thus, when the current unrest started to his future wife, Debbie. ‘‘He’s the one who dipped my pigtails in the ink well,” she remarks facetiously. Rev. Fuller explains that though he met her in September it took him until March to get enough nerve to ask her out. ‘‘I was afraid she wouldn’t accept.” She did how­ ever, and the couple had their first date on April Fool’s Day. Rev. Fuller went to work at Burns Security in London following the couple’s marriage, while his wife went on to obtain her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree. After Mrs. Fuller completed the nursing program, Rev. Fuller determined that he would like to unfold in the Baltic states and elsewhere in the Soviet Union, I waited to see how long it would be before the Ukrainians got into the act. Actually, considering the amount of unrest that has already taken place in the Soviet Union, the Ukrainians have been rather reti­ cent. However a bit of rumbling has just started to take place. Early in September a Ukrainian popular front, called the Rukh, held its opening conference in Kiev, the capital. The front already claims to have almost 300,000 members, many of them from the area of the Ukraine which was taken from Poland in 1940 by Stalin. It also has the support of the Ukrainian Catho­ lic Church so that, as in Poland, nationalism and religion are going hand in hand. As you may know, the Ukraine is considered to be the breadbasket of the Soviet Union and this is one area where the Kremlin can ill afford to have any amount of unrest. Gorbachev has already had to buy off the miners of the region with promises of improvements and this has most assuredly not been lost on the rest of the Ukrainians. Interestingly enough, the efforts of the Kremlin to pacify the non-Russian elements of the coun­ try have already resulted in some backlash on the part of the Rus­ train for the Armed Forces. During his training he became dissatisfied and was prompted to turn to the seminary and a career as a priest. ‘‘Many people had suggested to me over the years that 1 should be a minister, but 1 guess then the pay, power, and glory of the armed forces sounded better than that of a parish priest,” said David. In May of 1988, he was awarded a Master of Divinity Degree from the Huron College of Faculty of Theology. His Clinical Pastoral Training was completed at Oxford Regional Centre and his parish internship at St. Peter-by-the-I.ake in Sauble Beach. In August of 1988 he became assistant curate at St. George’s in London, coincidentially the same month his father retired from the ministry. When Rev. Fuller was approach­ ed by the bishop concerning the pastoral charges of Brussels and Blyth, he states that he was ‘‘very fortunate”. ‘‘While 1 was certainly given direction by Bishop Town­ send I was also given the option of accepting or rejecting the position, so there was an element of choice in it for me,” he explains. ‘‘How­ ever, having been an assistant for a year. I was itchy to get out on my own. Debbie and I came to see the place and liked what we saw, so I accepted.” When it comes to types of ministry Rev. Fuller really has no preference. ‘When I first started in the seminary 1 was open to all kinds of ministry. I enjoyed the institu­ tional ministry and city ministry when I was involved with them and now at this point I enjoy rural ministry. I certainly believe that the effects of life and religion are the same on city parishioners as on rural ones, but, it is obviously not of the same intensity.” As St. George’s Church was relatively large - an average atten­ dance at regular service was 350 people - there was a small adjust­ ment for Rev. Fuller to make to the smaller parishes of St. John’s and Trinity. However, not as much as one might think according to Rev. Ukranians are not your average Russians sians themselves who resent the rebellious behaviour all around them. One organization, called the United Front of Workers in Russia, has already held its first meeting; it wants to help fellow Russians in the Letter to the Editor Lee relatives dispute Sunshine site choice THE EDITOR, Re: Sunshine Site It is with embarrassment I write this note! Facetious Lee and Sun­ shine! He thinks he speaks for the whole family - well he doesn’t! My sister and I are upset - him penning off without checking with us. He needs a lesson in reality - the Real estate situation in Sunshine is not quite as healthy as he indicates - he ignores zoning, restrictions and neighbours! He’s still upset that the Boat Tours sailed by Sunshine. He’s mad that Geese Limitters flew by and that Douglas Point missed the potential. We’ve asked him many times to get real and stop dreaming about beautiful downtown Sunshine. We asked him to put signs at James­ town and Snellville, to help widen the Maitland but even the Geese go to Brussels. Mr. Editor if you could help Facetious it would be a family blessing. Please explain to him the devastating brain drain Huronview at Sunshine would have on Wing­ ham and Brussels. The need for immediate housing would be Fuller. ‘‘The early service at St. George’s was like Brussels with 50 people on the average and the mid-week service there was like Blyth with about 20 people attend­ ing, so while it is different I can appreciate the small parishes. There is a feeling of intimacy and you feel close to them. And liturgically I am used to both. In the role of minister’s wife, Mrs. Fuller says she didn’t go into it with any expectations. As Rev. Fuller points out, ‘‘She didn’t marry a minister, she inherited one.” Mrs. Fuller continues, “there will always be those who will expect something from you as a minister’s wife. It is your choice whether you let it affect you.” Both Rev. and Mrs. Fuller agree that the role played by the minister's wife of 20 years ago is different from the one today. Then it was common for the spouse to work hand in hand with her husband in his field, involving herself in the ministry. That is now not necessarily the case. Since moving here Mrs. Fuller has been working at Wing­ ham Hospital. “1 have usually been in the field of Public Health but I thought I’d try hospital work for a change. So far, 1 am enjoying it.” Her outside interest, she says smiling is the couple’s two year old daughter, Sarah Christine. “She's just discovered she can open doors,” says Mrs. Fuller. Rev. Fuller’s plans for the parish are at this time simple and basic. “The immediate thing is to visit and get to know the people. You don’t come in and change the world overnight. The priority is to get to know them and formulate the needs of the parish. One way in which the curacy in London helped me is that it bridles you. When you come out of the seminary you are enthusastic and full of optimism and plans. As an assistant, it gave me the opportunity to tone down and not come in and try to force my ideas on anyone.” It is my intent to work with them. They are a unique group here, a good bunch of people.” rebellious areas. To say that the natives are restless is, it seems, something of an understatement in the Soviet Union. insurmountable. The wage contro­ versy at Sunshine would be cata­ strophic. And how soon could zoning be passed to provide the needed variety type store! and who will be delegated or appointed to upgrade and maintain the spacious cemetery. Please Mr. Editor help Facetious Lee see. Sincerely, Wayward and Leeward Lee 4H club meets On Monday, October 23 the “Lean Cuisines” held their fifth 4H meeting at the home of Joyce Johnston. Members went over their project booklets and made some butter­ scotch and strawberry ice cream toppings for their Halloween party on October 30. They did some judging on food dishes to see whether they were fit to be used in the microwave. Then it was time to make up some games for the party. They were all finished early so they had popcorn and fruit punch re­ freshments.