All Saints' Anglican Church Whitby Ontario

The Parson's Pen

21 December 2004

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ! We are delighted that you have found your way to the website of the Parish of All Saints' Anglican Church, Whitby.

The images and information on our website demonstrate something of the gifts and activities of our Webmaster, Judy Pearce, and many other past and present members of our Parish family.

Our Parish Emblem and New Street Sign

As we entered the week in which we celebrated the feast of All Saints, our 138th anniversary and commemorated the faithful departed, those who entered the parish hall after Sunday services were fortunate in being the first to see the impressive centre-piece of the new sign that will soon herald our parish church and adorn our Church building on Dundas Street. Newcomers to our parish may be interested to know the provenance of this project and it’s significance for our parish family.

A Little History

This creation of Mike Bromley of Signs from Above is the fruit of a 5 year process that really began with one of our "visions" in the Lighting our Way planning process and a with a conversation at the celebration for the life of Harry Inkpen. Even as leaders and members of the parish were thinking it was time to redevelop our Dundas Street sign, a friend of the parish who had installed it asked our Incumbent to consider replacing it because it had deteriorated past an appropriately presentable state. It took 2 more years for this to arise on our Advisory Board agenda. A planning committee was struck and the long process of concept development began to take shape. The first members of the committee were Graham Lennard, Linda Finigan, Doris Clodd, Steve Jones and the Rev’d. Kenneth Davis. On your behalf the committee took on the responsibility of helping to create an effective and attractive new communication tool of our congregation in Whitby as well as developing a versatile image that could be used for a multitude of other modern day needs (letter heads, banners, business cards, etc,...). This was no little task as, unlike many other historic parishes, All Saints’ Whitby has never had its own shield, logo or insignia. We began with prayer and discussions, we photographed other congregations’ signs, we made some initial notes and we even contacted Anglican parishes around the world via the internet. Because of the importance of our worship space, it’s well known shape, windows and the wealth of familiar interior images, we also used photographs of these to help in our discernment. With the help of a wide ranging survey of Sunday worshippers, graphic artist Cheryl Hinzel, and sign artist Mike Bromley, committee members began to compile a list of priorities and images that would visually represent who we are. At one point, full colour posters were shown to parishioners to get feedback about different images. We eventually made a recommendation to the advisory board and the corporation and the first versions of our parish emblem appeared in 2003. All expenses incurred and those that remain are being provided for by God through the estates of dear members of our parish and other gifts.

The Emblem of All Saints’ Whitby.

SYMBOLS:

At the centre of the emblem of our parish is the Cross of Jesus Christ our Saviour

• Modelled on our processional cross, also figuring prominently in the Apostle’s window and the bishop’s cathedra in the sanctuary. Like all of the symbols in the emblem the use of this prominent image is a link with the history of our parish family and its historic buildings
• this sign of God’s love for us in Christ, placed as it is in the centre of our emblem, is both a reminder and a statement that all that we are and all that we would be is centered on the person and work of Jesus.
• The particular form of the cross used is of Celtic origin and so speaks of that part of our Anglican heritage.

Superimposed on the body of the cross is the Crown of Glory of our Lord and the promised reward for all His Saints. It evokes our hope as St. Paul wrote :

"Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing" (2 Tim. 4:8)

• The crown is modeled on the gold crown with sparkling points on a blue background that is depicted in our Altar window over against the crown of thorns.
• Our feast day antependia (white hangings) - used for All Saints’ day, Christmas and all celebrations of the Resurrection also bear this cross with crown symbol in embroidery.

SHAPE:

The arched window is a prominent image found in our worship space.

• These windows are mediums of light and great adornments which beautify our place of worship to the Glory of God and in memory of past members or "saints" of the Church. The proportions were directly copied by our sign designer. In the recent history of our parish (1999-2000) immediately following the extensive restoration of our steeple, balcony and stonework we began a visioning process aimed at the restoration of our faith community. We called this seeking of a shared vision of God’s will for our parish: God’s "Lighting our way". For this we used the unifying image of an illuminated, colourful and radiant stained glass window.
• The arch itself is a very recognizable feature of our buildings to all who pass by.

TEXT:

Hand-carved and gilded lettering of All Saints’ is displayed in a venerable Old English text. This was designed to evoke our history and heritage in a prominent and uncrowded form followed by the specific expression of our membership in the Anglican Church of Canada. (Other versions of the emblem would have accompanying indicators of our location in the town of Whitby not needed on a street sign).

Along with the blue and gold, a third (Trinity) colour, familiar to members and friends of the parish, is added here deep red and it is artfully air brushed around the edges.

The motto: "We have heard of your love" is a wonderful echo of many passages in the Word of God that speak of the way a particular community treated "all the saints". St. Paul wrote these words at the beginning of Colossians 1 and Ephesians 1. Building on this biblical foundation our motto may be considered in three ways:

"we have heard of your love" - A word of thanksgiving and faith that we speak to God by our words and actions; a word on which the Church is founded, namely that we are among those who have heard of the love of God in Christ.

"your love" (for all the saints) - A proclamation to all who see and hear us about the kind of community All Saints' Church, Whitby is striving to be. Acts of loving hospitality, acts of welcome and the sharing of the Good News of Jesus Christ were and ought always to be the hallmarks of any congregation of Jesus’ followers.

"We have heard" - A word we yearn to hear on the lips of others as they speak about members of All Saints' Church, Whitby; the effect of our Life and Witness in our Town and beyond. (All Saints’s Day A. D. 2004)

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14 December 2001

Where We Have Been and Where We are Going:

All Saints’ is a Christian community (in the Anglican Church of Canada), founded in 1864 and worshipping in our beautiful building since 1866.

Over the last 137 years, hundreds of people have come to know Jesus Christ, entered into His family - the Church. They have grown in their faith, cared for one another and served the wider community.

Members have answered many calls to service and sacrifice in Canada and overseas.

All Saints’ has also been the spiritual home of leaders in the town of Whitby and the province of Ontario.

In both quiet, unseen ways and more publicly demonstrative ways, our members have witnessed to the love of God over the years.

Like any human community, we have known great joys and great sorrows together including times of conflict and change.

At the close of the year of our Lord 2001, our Parish is a diverse and growing family of some 500+ households.

At a time when many mainline denominational congregations are experiencing decline or aging, we have continued to be blessed with both new and continuing members of all ages.

This has meant that many traditional ministries of our Parish have continued to be strengths and hallmarks of All Saints’: our choirs and music program, service and fellowship guilds, to name a few.

In every generation, some ministries change to adapt to new needs. For those that have fulfilled what they set out to do, we give thanks and commit their faithfulness to memory.

We also look to new life in new ministry. A thriving Church School at two of our three Sunday Worship services, our youth group, Servers guild, Junior and "Cherub" Choirs and the new music band of young people called "Gateway", are just some of the indications of the active presence of our youngest members.

Our Newcomers’ group is developing new ways to welcome and get to know the people of all ages who are joining us. The searching spirit abroad in our world, the growth of our town, and the desire for a sacramental and community life are some of the ways in which God has been drawing new families and individuals to our worship services every Sunday.

We are so thankful that, through the faithful elders and active newcomers of our community, God has well-equipped All Saints’ to fill out the Vision we discerned for this Parish at the turn of this millennium. If you have any questions about who we are, and how we are living out our faith in 2001-2002, come and join us for worship or other midweek programs. Feel free to contact me, the Rev’d Paul Walker, or our Parish office (see phone numbers on index).

Yours in God’s Service,

The Rev’d Kenneth O. Davis,
Incumbent

A Parish of the Diocese of Toronto
A Community of Disciples of Jesus Christ in the Anglican Tradition since A.D. 1866
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