From The Editor

I love our diocese !! I cannot say that enough …

As a teenager I was introduced to the depth of Niagara. Born and raised in the northern section of the diocese, my best friends (thanks to NYC and Servers Festival) lived in four different regions — and road trips were at least a monthly occurrence.

And while the diocese I knew then has changed somewhat, some things have remained: Our diocese is small (in comparison to others across our country), and we are incredibly diverse. 

The road trips of my youth introduced me to worship very different from my home church (not better, not worse, just different). Those trips introduced me to the societal differences that existed in such a small part of our province. Those trips helped me to understand the concept of wider church.

Today, there are many who know no other incarnation of “church” than their own parish. And that is why I chose to present the Regional features — each month focussing on one of the five different regions of our diocese. A journalistic road trip.

Last month we were introduced to Lincoln (wine country, Laura Secord, and migrant farm workers). I’ve already heard from a number of individuals about how happy they were to learn about this region, a mixture of rural and urban and quite dynamic. 

In this issue we are introduced to the Region of Trafalgar, and future issues will highlight the Regions of Hamilton/Haldimand, Brock, and Greater Wellington.

Regional Deans were asked to oversee the gathering of information: The geography and features of their area, issues confronting ministry, good-news stories, shared ministries. Parishes were also invited to contribute articles. 

The purpose of this feature is to help us get a deeper look at who we, are and what we do, in our diocese. Sometimes an article will catch your attention and maybe inspire you to try something similar in your parish or area. Other times it may shine some light on an issue in another part of the diocese. I believe all of this helps us to know one another better.

I hope you enjoy getting to know the regions of our diocese (either again, or for the first time). I look forward to receiving even more submissions from the regions, parishes, and people … in the future.

Rob+