What a diverse group of 13 we were — every province but one represented; a mix of clergy and lay folk; a broad range of age and interests — all put onto a 30-passenger bus for a five-day drive last June. It was a drive interspersed with stops for sightseeing and learning, eating wonderful meals in church halls, and staying with families in communities along the way.
This Atlantic Provinces mission tour took us to see traditional sites, but also to places where God’s love is being lived and dispensed today. We saw Peggy’s Cove and the Bluenose II at Lunenburg; we visited the Covenanter’s Church and Grand Pré; we went to the site of the only First Nations Residential School in the Maritimes; we found the Hector in Pictou and Anne’s home at Green Gables; we were at the Bell Museum and the Gaelic College in Cape Breton.
To compliment all this history, we also spoke with Rev. Dr. Cynthia Chenard, minister at Iona, Dartmouth, N.S., who told us how the church ministered to the families and workers during the Swiss Air Disaster in 1998. We met with Rev. Laurence Mawhinney, the mayor of Lunenburg and retired minister at St. Andrew’s, Lunenberg, (which has the longest history of any Presbyterian congregation in Canada) who told us about the realities of municipal life in the Atlantic Provinces. We stopped at the fair trade coffee roaster co-op Just Us, and with Rev. Tim Archibald as guide, explored the Minas Basin and the Kings New Minas Presbyterian Church, established in 1990.
At Indian Brook we were welcomed by Eileen Brooks, the spiritual leader of the First Nations people, who told of her growing up experiences in the residential school. We learned the story of missionary John Geddie, and how mission is still a vital part of the life and work of First Presbyterian in Pictou, N.S. We listened to Rev. Dr. Glen Matheson as he told us about being one of the first to respond to the tragedy at the Westray Mines in 1992, where an explosion took the lives of 26 miners.
We stayed at Camp Geddie, the Atlantic synod’s camp in Merigomish. Through its programs, and under the leadership of director Audrey Cameron, many young people are introduced to and strengthened in their Christian faith.
At each stop along the way, whether it was for lunch lovingly and lavishly prepared for us in a church, or a place to lay our heads as we stopped with our billets, what we really felt were the “100,000 welcomes” from the church in the Atlantic synod. The meals were wonderful, the hosts gracious, the scenery marvelous, and the friendships lasting.
Each of us took something home from this trip. Below are a few favourite memories that were shared with me:
• “We are fully dressed in the mini-kilt of Nova Scotia, the tie from P.E.I. and the tam from Cape Breton. Just presenting those to us was a great sign of hospitality.”
• “The interaction with the people in all the churches that provided us with meals and billets. They were so welcoming and interesting to talk to. I also learned a lot about how Presbyterianism started in Canada, and I was moved by the people who helped disaster victims and their families. Even after all this time, their memories are still so real to them and it shows how strong their faith in God is; and the strength God has given them to endure.”
• “God’s grace was so evident to me as we were given the gift of hospitality through the people we met and the places we stayed.”
• “Having the opportunity to experience the Maritimes and see places I’d only read about.”
• “My favourite moment occurred at Camp Geddie as we were sharing Communion on the last morning. As the elements were passed from one person to another, the last one was Stan, our bus driver. As he returned the chalice to the table, it was a tangible sign that we were all one in Christ.”
• “The faithfulness of the people we met; the clergy, who are caring for multiple vacant charges, in place for decades; the members of congregations caring for their church and keeping the gospel message alive in their communities; Glen Matheson, faithful in the face of horrifying disaster; just a constant sense that we were surrounded by faithful people living in hope.”
It started with a dream … a dream of showing those “from away” the beginnings of the church in the Maritimes and how the church continues to work in the lives of the people today.
It ended with a challenge … to take this dream and share it with those we meet.
Thank you, Life and Mission Agency, the Atlantic Mission Society, and the Mission Committee of the Synod of the Atlantic Provinces who put this together, and to Rev. Kenn Stright and Joan Cho who led us so well — we have been given a memory that will last for a long time.
