The box was empty.  More than 300 visitors had come into the church to look around during Doors Open Ottawa (DOO), but by the end of the afternoon not a single can of beans had landed in the box by the door.  There was nothing to give to the local food bank. While disappointing, this should perhaps not have been unexpected. When it is 22 degrees Celsius at 10 a.m. and you plan to visit the French Embassy, Rideau Hall and other nearby buildings on foot, who wants to carry around a can of beans or two, let alone a bag of flour or 2 kilos of sugar to drop off at St. Bartholomew’s Church? This was in 2023. That year, DOO had determined “Food” to be the event’s theme; participating buildings had been encouraged to incorporate this into their planning, if possible, with DOO offering to promote this in their media materials in return.

Little did we realize at that time that this initial disappointment would evolve into an established partnership with the Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre (RRCRC) over the next few years.  Soon after the Doors Open weekend in early June 2023, St. Bartholomew’s reached out to the RRCRC to determine how we might be able to support the needs of the Community Food Bank in our city ward. Located in the former Rideau High School on St. Laurent Boulevard, the centre provides many and varied services for those most in need in Ward 13 (www.crcrr.org).  From monthly and special food drives initially, two tote boxes are now permanently left out at the church for drop-off of non-perishable items any day of the week.  And it is rare that they are empty!

The relationship with the RRCRC has grown and expanded in different ways.  Once a year, the church now helps the centre provide back-to-school backpacks for high school students. It is a mad dash along the aisles in early August as volunteers fill their shopping carts with school supplies and then stuff the backpacks in the parish hall. The packs are blessed a few days later in the main Sunday liturgy before being distributed to the youth by the RRCRC in mid-August.  Some staff members from the centre always join us for the filling of the back packs and bring their van to take them away following the blessing.

Another exciting development happened earlier this summer.  While helping with meal preparation for the Community Fridge at the RRCRC one afternoon, I was shown the centre’s 40 recently-installed cedar raised planters and was offered two for the church.  Being able to accept them required a quick check with the rector and wardens after our 10.30 service two days later.  Within the week, volunteers from the RRCRC had not only brought over the locally milled cedar but also assembled the two 8’ x 4’ planters on the front lawn of the church for us.  This generous gift had coincided with a recently expressed desire at the church to plant a Three Sisters Garden.  This companion planting method originates from Indigenous agricultural traditions, where corn, beans and squash are grown together in a symbiotic relationship.  The crops support each other, enrich the soil, deter weeds and provide shade for the roots of the other plants. At St. Bartholomew’s, one raised bed has now become a Three Sisters Garden, serving as a reminder to the community that we live on the ancestral territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin, who have acted as stewards and guardians of this land. The other raised bed is being used to grow vegetables that will go to the RRCRC Community Food Bank — assuming we can stay ahead of the squirrels. The planters were blessed by the Rev. Canon Catherine Ascah on June 21, National Indigenous Day of Prayer.

We cannot help but be reminded of the parable of the mustard seed as we look back over the past three years.  We trust that God will continue to guide, develop and strengthen the partnership between St. Bartholomew’s Church and the RRCRC in the years ahead so that together we may support those in greatest need in our community.

Judy Wiesinger is a parishioner at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Ottawa.

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Snowstorms made it impossible for Watson to travel to Ottawa as planned, so St. Bart’s parishioners and others in attendance gathered in the church hall to listen online.

Watson’s morning session was on historical friendships that have advanced ecumenism.

He began by mentioning some famous friendships such as the ones between St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare; St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross; and Trappist priest Thomas Merton and social justice and anti-war activist Dorothy Day.

Watson then shared the inspiring story of how a friendship helped heal a deep schism between the Eastern and Western Churches (later known as the Orthodox and Catholic churches). A dispute led to the leaders of the two branches of the church excommunicating one another in 1054 and a “deep freeze” of alienation that lasted for 900 years.

A shift happened when Pope Paul VI was elected in 1963 in the midst of the Second Vatican Council (which included a goal of fostering greater Christian unity.)  In the Orthodox Church, Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople was aware of the beginning of a “thaw” in Catholic attitudes towards other churches. He began a correspondence with Vatican leaders and eventually with Pope Paul himself.

In 1964, Pope Paul made a surprising pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He and Patriarch Athenagoras met, embraced and prayed together on the Mount of Olives in January 1964.

Later that year, Pope Paul returned a relic — the skull of St. Andrew — that had been in Rome to the Orthodox Church. (Andrew is the traditional patron of the Eastern Orthodox).

In December 1965, the Pope and Patriarch made an announcement that they were lifting and cancelling the excommunications imposed by their predecessors in 1054.

Patriarch Athenagoras commissioned this icon which depicts the embrace of the holy brothers — Andrew and Peter — as a gift for the Pope.

In 1975, Pope Paul met with Orthodox Archbishop Meliton. The pope knelt and kissed the Archbishop’s feet, in a gesture that was inspired by Christ washing the feet of his disciples.

Watson noted Jesus’s words to the apostle in John 15:14-15

“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends.”

He concluded: “With friendship, ecumenism becomes something we long for and desire.”

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Those who came to St. Margaret’s on this September 30 listened to and watched a recorded message from National Indigenous Archbishop Chris Harper to Anglicans across Canada as the homily.

“It is a day that many churches across this land will pause and have special services. It is a day when many [at]… municipal gatherings will reflect and tell stories and will share the history that all of us have inherited in the residential experience. But that experience is felt in different ways, especially for the Indigenous people — how many were traumatized…. And it is them that we also need to uphold in prayer and honor their stories….”

He said he likes the new variation of the word reconciliation that has emerged: reconciliaction. “It’s something that we do together.” … September 30th is a day “for all of us to first listen to the truth of the other and the Indigenous experience and what they live in every day. I ask that you listen with an open heart and a prayer that we together may seek reconciliation together. Check your hearts for the fences and the gates of defense that may hinder you from the shared journey of healing and hope.”

Individual Anglicans and parish groups honoured the day in various ways, including wearing orange and reflecting on the history of Indian Residential Schools and colonialism in Canada during worship services on Sunday, Sept. 29.

A group of parishioners from St. Bartholomew’s in Ottawa accompanied Incumbent the Rev. Canon Catherine Ascah on a reconciliation walking pilgrimage through Beechwood Cemetery, reflecting on the history of residential schools as they visited the graves of Nicholas Flood Davin, an architect of the residential school system, and Duncan Campbell Scott, the superintendent of the Department of Indian Affairs from 1913-1922. They also visited the grave of Dr. Peter Bryce, who was hired by the department to report on health conditions in the residential schools. His highly critical report called for major changes at the schools but was buried by the government at the time. He was forced to retire but later self-published his report. So many people leave messages of thanks at his grave that a mailbox has been placed there. They also paused at a plaque dedicated to Métis historian, journalist and author Olive Dickason, a key figure the study of Indigenous history in Canada. Other Anglicans took part in historical tours offered by Beechwood Cemetery and attended its screening of the film Spirit Bear: Echoes of the Past.

In Almonte, the Rev. Jonathan Kouri and parishioners from St. Paul’s attended and helped out as volunteers at a community event Reconciliation Through Art, which included an exhibit of works from Indigenous artists.

Kathryn Fournier, an Indigenous member of the diocesan All My Relations Circle (AMRC) led 15 people from her hiking group and AMRC co-chair Gwynneth Evans on a walk on the Chief Pinesi Portage Trail, which offers historical information about the Algonquin chief whose traditional hunting area surrounds the trail near the confluence of the Ottawa, Gatineau and Rideau rivers.

Fournier told Crosstalk the broad interest in September 30 is encouraging, but she thinks it is important for Canadians to know that residential schools were only one of the tools in the toolkit created to “eliminate the ‘Indian problem,’ which was seen as an impediment to the creation of Canada.” She mentioned The Indian Act as an example. “I hope that we use September 30, as well as June, Indigenous People’s History Month,… as times to better inform ourselves about the whole picture that goes way, way beyond residential schools.”

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You will enjoy great shopping knowing that you are helping many important causes.

The event not only supports the work of the church, but also the food bank at the Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre, Cornerstone Housing for Women and Belong Ottawa at Centre 454 and at The Well/La Source (day programs which provide food, social supports as well as showers and laundry facilities).

In the past, our bazaar has always been a success, and it is mainly due to YOU!   We are only as good as the donations we receive!  So, we respectfully ask that should you be downsizing or wanting to dispose of items in your home, please consider donating to our bazaar.  We always need unique souvenirs, classic tea sets, glass, costume jewellery, books, attic treasures, toys, games and any special hand-made items.  Closer to the date we would also appreciate home baking and preserves!

If you have any questions at all, please call either Liz 613-745-4677 or Linda 613-298-9980.  We would be happy to pick up boxes from you and thank you in advance for considering St Bart’s.

Looking forward to seeing you on Nov. 2 at 125 MacKay Street, 12 p.m. to  4 p.m.

— Linda Assad-Butcher and Liz Heatherington are co-conveners of the annual bazaar at the Church of St Bartholomew, Ottawa.

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