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Huron Expositor, 2004-03-31, Page 3r CLOSING STORE MARCH 29,. 30 & 31ST Re -Opening Friday, April 2 ii atilt 1.74,304TAli Bill 1��� >lii!lilwi. -4 ANT Fine Furniture and Window Fashions 467 Main St. Exeter 235-0173 News p Anglican bisho aims• to support small :congregations duringSeaforth visit Same-sex marriage is church's biggest current issue, :says bishop By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor During his first visit to Seaforth last week, Bishop Bruce Howe was excited to hear stories from members of St. Thomas Anglican Church about how their ancestors supplied the Togs for the historical church. "They love this place; this church is what churches always were - a home. They think of this church as their own living quarters," he said. While he's been the bishop of the Huron Diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada for three and a half years, Howe is still trying to visit all of the 235 churches in his diocese, which ranges from Windsor to Tobermory to Kitchener - Waterloo. "It will be a challenge to make this an annual visit to Seaforth," he said. But, now that he's been to Seaforth, the relationship will be much more personal, he said. "I don't want to be just a picture in the Huron Church News. I want to be a person. The congregation is supposed to pray for me every Sunday and it's nice if I've at least met some of the 'folk. And, St. Thomas of Seaforth will have a pulse and a heart to it for me too," he said. With small rural churches facing multiple challenges, including dwindling congregations and the increasing expenses of maintaining their historic buildings, Howe said one of his main jobs is to "uplift and support" people. "It's my desire to support the small congregation, to hear their challenges, struggles, hopes and dreams. Part of it is to listen and to tell people they're important," he said. Howe praised Rev. Michael Atkins for his work clustering the churches in Seaforth, Clinton and Mitchell. "Father Michael deserves credit for his vision of clustering here. It's a way in which churches can continue in rural areas. It's one way of trying to make small churches viable," he said. Atkins said the clustering is working. "We're struggling financially but we're paying our bills. We're managing," he said. Howe emphasized the importance of supporting small town churches because he said they're the places where people are most likely to learn how to care for others. "Small towns are the crucible of where caring is learned. Cities are so impersonal and anonymous that even people who know how to live in a caring way have trouble expressing it. It's hard to learn how to be a caring person in a city," he said. Even so, Howe said small towns are like everywhere else when facing the challenge of finding enough volunteers to keep things going. He said only 29 per cent of Canadians are volunteers, while in England and the U.S., the numbers jump to 45 -50 per cent. "The folk we have are superb but it's hard to find new people and we need younger folk as well," he said. Howe's recent viewing of Mel Gibson's controversial movie, The Passion of the Christ, convinced him that while congregations might be small in size, the interest in Jesus Christ is not. "It's the third largest grossing movie and the theatre was packed when I went. People have not lost interest in Jesus," he said. Howe described the movie as "intensely powerful" and said he left the movie unable to speak for about five minutes. "The story was so powerful that it continues to be moving 2000 years later. While the violence was extremely graphic, it was not gratuitous. That's the way it was back then. Roman soldiers were addicted to violence and blood," he said. While he's happy to share his opinion about The Passion of the Christ, Howe said he's not going to share his opinion about the issue of same-sex tokrri age, which he said was one of the Anglican Church's biggestissues right now.. "My job as bishop is to build church unity so I've not taken a public stand. But in the Anglican Church, we're not shy about having a conversation," he said. At the Anglican Church of Canada's national synod this summer, Howe said a decision will be made to table the issue, turn it down completely or to allow each diocese to make its own decision about how to deal with the blessing of same-sex unions. "Nobody in the church right now is dealing with same-sex marriage. Our conversations, which predate the recent government decisions, are about the blessing of same-sex unions," he said. "A blessing is an official way to acknowlege the love between two people. It's a way of saying, 'God loves you," said Howe. Howe said the issue of same-sex marriage is less of an issue for young people as it is for older members of the church. And, he added that one of the biggest concerns of most Anglicans is whether or not the church will be split up over the issue. "The reality is there's all kinds of gay people attending church but they don't declare themselves if they feel they would be ostracized. We're right in the middle of the debate and the whole society's divided over it." "We want people to express how they feel but we want them to stay within the family while they do. We don't want anyone leaving the church one way or another," he said. Tent will raisemoney for cancer and be filled for the local food bank From Pogo 1 And, when he considers the number of homeless people in Canada who sleep outside regularly without the camping equipment he has, Price says he'll be fine. "We don't know how lucky we are with our good health. There are people out there struggling just to get fed," he says. Price says he has the support of his daughter and his wife Gail in his fundraising camp -out. "They think think it's a good idea. They just take me as I am," he says. While Price has raised $200 in sponsors so far, he's hoping to raise more. A sign on the outside of his tent, which will be erected in front of Egmondville United Church on Sunday, will display a phone number to call with donations. Susan Hundertmark photo Bishop Bruce Howe, of the Anglican Huron Diocese, provides communion for Dorothy Powell, of the Seaforth Manor, during a visit to the retirement home last Tuesday. When It Comes To Protecting Your Assets.... 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