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                                      Good Friday, Easter and rebirth

                          Stations of the Cross,
  were on Good Friday, March 29

Easter Sunday Mass,
was on March 31

St. Gerard's Annual Retreat,
   will be May 10–12,  2013.
       Directed by Sister Marilyn.
          Contact Eileen, 604-524-8833
            kiwifruit5688 (at)yahoo (dot)com

Welcome to the St. Gerard's Catholic Church Community!

Sunday Mass is at 10:30 a.m. St. Gerard's church is located at 1111 Miller Rd., Bowen Island, BC. It's on the corner of Melmore Rd. and Miller Rd., across the street from the park trail to Killarney Lake. From the Bowen Island ferry or the Snug Cove public wharf or marinas, St. Gerard's is just a 1 km walk or drive away. This St. Gerard's map shows the main route and scenic walking route. You'll find St. Gerard's in the northwest corner of this Lower Mainland parish map of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Online, we welcome the world, as shown in this map of recent Web visitors.

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St. Gerard's News

The next work party at St. Gerard's is on Saturday morning, April 20, 2013, 9–Noon, for spring cleaning inside and out. As well, the ongoing St. Gerard's renovation currently includes stone tiling of the floors, with new stone tiling in the sanctuary and, in time, the whole church. Organ repairs (air pump motor) are also underway; since the motor was very hard to access, there will be a new shed for it (outside but still near the organ).

Here's the St. Gerard's family on Sunday, April 14, 2013:

After a full life, Sister Marion MacDonald, scic, died on Nov. 15, 2012, in St.John, NB. A long-time administrator of St. Vincent's Hospital in Vancouver, Sister MacDonald was a founding member of St. Gerard's Church. We were fortunate and honoured to have sister with us in September 2011 at almost 91 years of age to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of our church community.

November 2012 update: Sister Jo Wright, rscj, is in Canada from Uganda and enjoyed visiting St. Gerard's on three Sundays in October. She mainly needs to be in Halifax and went there on October 25.She expects to be returning to her work in Uganda and Kenya in January 2013 after remedies for her declining vision and hearing. That has included operations to remove cataracts from both eyes, the second just a few days ago.

We welcomed Archbishop Michael Miller to St. Gerard's and a potluck lunch again on Sunday, August 26, 2012. We enjoy having the archbishop with us, and he seems happy too.

We thank Fr. Tim McCarthy for serving St. Gerard's for the month of June.

Father Beauregard Day: On Sunday, September 4, 2011, St. Gerard’s Church celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Opening Mass . The Mass and reception celebrated the early days and ongoing spirit of Saint Gerard’s, including hymns that founder Fr. Gerard Beauregard loved to sing. Another founder, Sr. Marion MacDonald, SCIC, 90, long-time administrator of St. Vincent's Hospital, was a special guest. The after-Mass gathering on the church lawn (shown at left) included good food and great welcoming camaraderie. Fr. Beauregard Day participants who have been part of St. Gerard's from before the Opening Mass included Rosemary Anderson, Eva Donnelly, Jen Howard, Sister MacDonald, Peter Schmidt, Eileen Sinkinson, Stephen Sothy, Jim Wright, Pat Wright, and Teresa Wright.

We're turning 40! The Opening Mass in our church took place on Sunday, Sept. 5, 1971, and Archbishop James Carney consecrated St. Gerard's Church on June 18, 1972. We hope to celebrate with a 2011-12 year of thanksgiving and renewal. On Aug. 14, 2011, we got together for brainstorming, starting with a "springboard" handout. Have a look at the results report, which includes a proposed September 2011 event focused on gratefulness in an ecumenical context. Members of the wide community of St. Gerard's, were invited to participate in a brief "St. Gerard's 40th" survey, and here on August 24 are the survey findings.

Archbishop Michael Miller celebrated Mass at St. Gerard's on Sunday, July 31, 2011. Afterward, he joined 32 members of the community in a potluck lunch, as shown below.

Coincidentally, that day was the 35th anniversary of the passing of a St. Gerard's founder, Harry Wright (on Bowen Island on July 31, 1976), as Archbishop Miller mentioned in his homily. It was his first visit to St. Gerard's, but it was evident that he already knew a lot about us.

On Sunday, July 10, 2011, St. Gerard's welcomed our new priest, Father Rey, more formally Father Reynaldo Usman. He quickly established a rapport with the people. Soon he was in the aisle for the homily, interacting with the congregation about the parable of the sower. An hour after Mass, he was still at the door, happily chatting.

Retreat: Father Ranjan d’Sa (top left), who formerly served St. Gerard’s each Sunday, flew from his current parish in London, Ontario, to facilitate the 2011 St. Gerard’s Retreat. It took place at Rivendell Retreat Centre on Bowen on the May 27–29 weekend, and the theme was “Our Father.” The St. Gerard’s community for the event included a core group from Bowen Island, several parishioners from our sister church  in North Vancouver (Holy Trinity),  and others from all over, like Powell River and Hastings, New Zealand.

New stained-glass windows: When the sanctuary wall of St. Gerard’s church had to be replaced, the need became an opportunity. Church members planned a simple kind of stained glass windows. The abstract design is rooted in our understanding as Christians of the great truths of the death and resurrection of Jesus as depicted by artists through the centuries.

The windows were inspired by a station of the cross in an ultra-modern church in Umbria and a stained glass window in a small chapel near Grenoble by a French artist known as Arcabas.

The centre-panel mosaic of coloured blocks suggests a hill—Golgotha, with the central cross of Jesus and the two smaller crosses of the thieves.

The strong line extending from the left panel to past the crossbar of the centre panel prompts thoughts of the reed that held a sponge filled with sour wine in response to Jesus' “I thirst,” the spear used to wound Jesus’ side to prove He was dead, and a ladder to take the body of Jesus down from the cross.

The dominant circular shape at the bottom of the centre and right panels anchors us in the reality of the empty tomb, the resurrection, and the eucharistic body of Christ.

The B.C. Catholic newspaper has published a longer article about this. It is titled "New windows let light shine through on Bowen Island."
     

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What's the history of our Bowen church community?

When Bowen Island was a holiday resort, priests from Holy Rosary Cathedral came to Bowen Island each summer Sunday to say Mass. The venues included the school, a dance hall, and Union Steamships' Evergreen Hall. Around 1960, Bowen Island Catholic Christians set out to build a church, with neighbourly help from fellow islanders. In the early 1960s, Father Gerard Beauregard, who lived with the destitute at the Catholic Charities men's hostel and worked with the homeless in Downtown Vancouver, began serving the Bowen community. Father Beauregard was devout, ebullient, brilliant, eccentric, and deeply good. He loved the island and the islanders, and he was inspired by the project. After reaching Bowen by bus and ferry, he would hike to Evergreen Hall with his backpack and black bag, engaging in animated conversation with whomever he met.
  

Above, Fr. Beauregard pauses near the lagoon to chat with Ernie Peerless, a non-Catholic. Above centre, Fr. Beauregard approaches Evergreen Hall, ready to say Mass in the morning and then start clearing the lot on the corner of Miller and Melmore in the afternoon. Years later, above right, his smile still says it all.

The just-visible figure near the top left corner of the first photo below is Father Beauregard in logging gear, part way up an alder on the St. Gerard's site. With him but out of sight, there's a small work party he'd enlisted after Mass.
 

After the Bowen Catholics had saved up the building costs, our Bowen church rose like a fitting part of the landscape on the corner of Miller and Melmore.

 
The people named their new spiritual home in honour of Saint Gerard Majella, Father Beauregard's baptismal patron. On September 5, 1971, the first Mass was celebrated at St. Gerard's, with a large congregation. A few of the church members stayed for a photo in front of the church. They are listed like this:

Front row, left to right: Fr. Gerard Beauregard, Sister Philomena Gallant, Mooney boy, Mrs. Augusta Paterson, Sister Loretta McDonald, Sister Jean Mulvaney, Debbie Dumaresq, other Mooney boy. Back row: Mr. Mooney, Mr. Harry Wright, Mrs. Ellen Dorman, Mrs. Agneta Wright, Mrs. Dawn Gunn, Mr. Sam Dumaresq.

On June 18, 1972, Archbishop James Carney consecrated St. Gerard's church.

During the construction, Fr. Beauregard crafted the sturdy tabernacle from his hand-laminated wood. Meanwhile, Harry Wright spent hundreds of hours carving the crucifix entirely in one piece from a yellow cedar driftwood log from the shore of Deep Bay, Bowen Island. From another cedar log, Mr. Wright carved the original "St. Gerard's Catholic Church" sign, which is still there, nestled among the ferns near the church entrance and completing its cycle of life.

St. Gerard's member Camilla Roberts noticed something that was missing: a Way of the Cross. Mrs. Roberts, who combined a mobility disability with artistic ability and commitment, began painting the 14 Stations from her wheelchair. In June 1977, she presented St. Gerard's with our unique Stations of the Cross.
 

Others contributed other talents. Years before the construction began, Alex Rankin, Sam Dumaresq, and John Mayberry had persuaded the Union Steamships' realty arm to "sell" us our corner lot for one dollar. Ellen Dorman, revered on Bowen Island as an angel of mercy, did much to earn wide support. Along with the islanders' good will, prodigious efforts by the St. Gerard's community made the annual Strawberry Tea at Collins Hall remarkably successful. One example of our "unsung heroes" was Mrs. Augusta (Gussie) Paterson, who baked a tableful of apple pies for each Strawberry Tea until past eighty. Others, like the maker of the evocative IHS cross above the church entrance, are anonymous. With dedication and generosity, St. Gerard's was soon able to take another step (above centre), adding our little rectory.

The written accounts of the early days are sketchy, and the pioneer leaders mentioned here have passed on, but much from their work remains.

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What's happening in recent years?

Today, St. Gerard's remains a welcoming, vibrant Christian faith community of Bowen Islanders, seasonal residents, and visitors, plus relatives and friends.

Almost every Sunday, we have coffee after Mass, along with juice and cookies, in the gathering area at the back of the church. Everyone, especially visitors and newcomers, is very welcome to join in.

Fr. Ranjan d'Sa, who served us well, is now Pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in London, Ontario. Father Ranjan came to St. Gerard's on Sept. 26, 2010, to celebrate Sunday Mass and say goodbye.

On Saturday, September 18, 2010, we had a good turnout for a St. Gerard's work party (above). Laughing at the rain, we filled raised beds with soil and planted shrubs and grasses. The result is a new garden on the Miller Road side of the church and rectory and a renewed sense of community vitality.

Sister Jo visited the Vancouver area on her way back to her work in Uganda and Kenya and enjoyed seeing everyone when at St. Gerard's for Sunday Mass on August 29 and September 5. "I love this little community," she said.

On  Feb. 18, 2010, Cecilia Sothy (1938–2010), a founding member of St. Gerard's, passed on, with Sister Jo, rscj, her older sister, at her side. The family has thanked St. Gerard's for support during Cecilia's cancer illness and at the prayer service and funeral. Fr. Jim Comey concelebrated the funeral Mass at Cecilia's Vancouver parish, Immaculate Conception, and at least five other St. Gerard's members attended.

In January 2010, St. Gerard's said goodbye to Eileen and John Richter, who have moved to New Westminster. Eileen, a long-time member of the church council, has contributed immensely to the St. Gerard's community. Eileen (at left, below) and the community were hosted by Judith McBride for a farewell potluck.

Thanks especially to Michel Paré, the St. Gerard's rectory has new siding.

The St. Gerard's Church community is delighted to welcome new members from all over. Susi and Gene Spiering of Vancouver came across us when they visited Bowen Island as boaters, and they were among our seasonal members. They liked our church community so much that they get a boating trip to Bowen and St. Gerard's most Sundays now. Susie (right) plays guitar and leads the singing at Mass.

After Mass on Aug. 23, 2009, thirty members of the St. Gerard's community accepted the invitation to a potluck lunch. The highlight was Sister Jo's slide-show presentation about the work of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Uganda and Kenya, which St. Gerard's supports. Below, Father Ranjan D'Sa (black shirt) and Sister Jo (East African garb), among others, look forward to their meal. In a conversation, Father Ranjan discussed connotations of the name "Ranjan." It seems that our new priest is called "entertaining agent of everlasting joy."

On Sunday, August 16, St. Gerard's celebrated the life of the late Agneta Wright on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her birth. Her family presented a memento that will remain on the wall near her pew. (Details below.)

The St. Gerard's church community will sadly miss our faithful long-time member Pawel (Paul) Pogorzelec (1921-2009). Paul's funeral, a celebration of life, was held at Holy Trinity Church on August 5, 2009. Condolences to Paul's devoted wife Józefa (Josie) Pogorzelec and their loving family. In the announcement time at the end of Mass at St. Gerard's on August 9, Paul's grieving daughter spoke eloquently to express her appreciation to the church community for their support.

Mrs. M. Agneta Wright (1909-2009), a founder of St. Gerard's, passed peacefully from this life on Saturday, June 20, 2009, after receiving the sacrament of the sick the previous day. Agneta, a seasonal Bowen Islander who loved Bowen, had been an active member of the Catholic community here since 1958. Grandchild Maria Wright photographed Agneta (below) on her 99th birthday, Sunday, August 17, 2008. After Mass earlier that day, the people of St. Gerard's had presented Agneta with flowers and thanked her for everything she had done to help establish St. Gerard's and inspire its members. The photo shows only a contented Agneta, but there are actually about  thirty of her family members celebrating with her. She is in her favourite spot in the sunroom with a southern outlook over Deep Bay and the entrance to Snug Cove, Bowen Island.

In a short ceremony at the end of Mass on Sunday, August 16, 2009, Agneta's family, with the whole congregation participating, presented a memento to the church council for the people of St. Gerard's on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Agneta's birth. It features an Apostolic Blessing, along with a BC Catholic story and Agneta's obituary. The memento was installed on the cedar wall beside her favourite pew near the front, as shown in the above photo.

Participants say the St. Gerard's annual retreats at Rivendell Retreat Centre, Bowen Island, are always a big success.

Maintenance and renovation of the church, rectory, and grounds are ongoing. Bob and Bev Lewis led the renovation of the rectory, or "annex." Michel Paré is currently very active in renovation of the church. Hugh Stark, who passed on near the end of 2008, provided strong leadership in recent years, and he is greatly missed by St. Gerard's and Bowen Island, as is the late Tom Donnelly.  Many members of the St. Gerard's community volunteer for work parties, although there is no pressure to do so. (And no logging.)

Another large project was the installation in the church loft of the set of organ pipes, made in 1901, for our "new" organ. It was acquired from a Christian church in Vancouver but was originally used to accompany silent films in a movie theatre. The quality of the organ was evident in a sacred music recital by Darryl Nixon (below right) of St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church, Vancouver.
 

At the front of the loft, we have a stained glass window from an 1840s-built Church of England church in Coventry, UK. Former Bowen Islanders Eleanor & Iain Benson had managed to acquire it and install it in their home. When the Bensons decided to live near Lourdes, France, they removed the stained glass window from their Bowen house and contributed it to their church, St. Gerard's.

While we miss Eleanor and Iain and their seven children, we're glad we received their window (below right). Beneath the image of a young priest holding a small child for an infant baptism are the words "For such is the kingdom of God." It is a quotation from Mark 10:13-16 (King James version), a passage in which the disciples are impatient with the little children but Jesus opens his arms to them.

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Africa outreach with Sister Jo

We at St. Gerard's open our arms to children in need by supporting the work of Sister Jo Wright, RSCJ, in Africa. Sister Jo, who has a long association with us, is based near Kampala, Uganda. She travels widely to assist the sisters in many communities in Kenya and Uganda as a leadership team member.

Sister Jo sent this 2011 Easter card to St. Gerard's and had previously sent this 2010 Christmas letter and card.

St. Gerard's children have raised funds for the Sisters' Uganda-Kenya Solidarity Fund by selling lemonade and even eggs. When we asked Sister Jo for a photo for this website, she sent the above photo of children at St. Bernadette's Primary (Elementary) School, Nakibizzie, Uganda. She included this commentary:

When I was in Uganda, I often drove our Sisters who teach at St. Bernadette's to school in the morning. As we approached the school, we would see the children running along, many of them barefoot, with colourful plastic mugs in their hands. Many of the children do not have breakfast before setting off for school and do not have food for lunch, so the school provides them with maize porridge for lunch. A number of these children are sponsored for their school fees through our Solidarity Fund. When we receive donations from friends such as St. Gerard's Catholic Church, Bowen Island, these donations go into the Solidarity Fund. Then, when needy children come to our attention, as far as possible we assist them. For example, when Sr. Liz, the head teacher, noticed a young boy standing at a classroom window each day, she spoke to him. His family could not afford school fees, and all he asked was to be allowed to stand at the window and listen to the lessons being taught. As you can imagine, we investigated his situation, and the boy was enabled to join the school.

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Which clergy serve St. Gerard's?

St. Gerard's is affiliated with Holy Trinity Parish, North Vancouver, and we're delighted to share the parish clergy. Holy Trinity pastor Fr. Jim Comey (above left) joins us once a month. Fr. Jim Comey says "Our parish community is very dynamic and creative." He adds that "both our church and rectory look elegant and strong" and that he's pleased we're aiming to take the church renovation further with a new carpet and an enhanced entrance

Fr. Tom Smith (above right) was our priest until appointed as a parish pastor.

Fr. Reynaldo Usman, OM (Father Rey, left) is our current priest at St. Gerard's Church. Since the renovations of the rectory are essentially complete, he is looking forward to being able to stay overnight on Bowen Island when possible and spend some days off getting to know the island and the islanders.

Father Rey, who is from the Philippines, is currently a temporary member of the Vancouver Archdiocese. When Father Rey was away, Archbishop Michael Miller visited our church community, and he heard lots of parishioner requests to encourage Father Rey to make his stay a permanent one.

Fr. Peter Ha (left), served the St. Gerard's community for a year while he was Fr. Comey's assistant pastor at Holy Trinity parish, but he is now studying in Rome, preparing to teach at a seminary in Viet Nam.

  
A few years ago, we gathered to bid farewell to  Fr. Varghese George Edattukaran (below). Father George would later return to the Bowen Island church community to lead a St. Gerard's annual retreat.
    
      

St. Gerard's contacts

St. Gerard's information: New to Bowen Island or St. Gerard's? Comments about this St. Gerard's Website? Other questions? Email StGerards@rcav.bc.ca. Please indicate your topic in your subject line.

Clergy and parish office: Phone 604.988.6304. Or visit the Holy Trinity office, which also serves St. Gerard's, for additional contact information.

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Links

The B.C. Catholic online: The B.C. Catholic, the Archdiocese of Vancouver's weekly paper, aims to serve the needs of the Catholic community in B.C.

Catholic information: Questions about the Catholic faith?
The Discovering the Faith page addresses frequently asked questions.
Or visit Catholics Come Home.

Catholic calendar: Combine daily scripture readings with reflections.

Encyclicals: Papal Encyclicals Online is a guide to online papal and official documents of the Catholic Church.

Sisters' website: Sister Jo is a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

Christianity in stained glass: Click on the thumbnail images to appreciate the stained glass windows of Holy Rosary Cathedral and Let There Be Light.

Zulu sculpture: Receive cross-cultural inspiration with the Most Holy Trinity
sculptures and Stations of the Cross carved in thombothi wood by Joel Mbuyisa for Sacred Heart of Jesus church, Mangete, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Prayer: Pause in the Sacred Space. Sing along with hymn words and music from St. Gerard's Choir, Singapore. Start an online retreat with Creighton University Ministries, Nebraska.

Meditation in verse: John Bradburne, who gave his life for God's lepers in Mutemwa, Zimbabwe, communicated in thousands of meditative poems, including short daily ones.

Gratefulness: Let this day be a A Good Day, starting with Benedictine monk Br. David Steindl-Rast.

Bowen churches: Besides St. Gerard's, Bowen Island Christian churches with web presence include Bowen Island United Church, Cates Hill Chapel, and Bowen Island Community Church. The Bowen Island Municipality site and BowenOnline list Bowen Island faith groups, including the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and Unitarians. One can visit Canadian Christianity online.

Good day to visit? Check the Bowen Island  weather forecast. In any case, with a visit to Bowen and/or St. Gerard's, it can be a good day for you.

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Why Mission?

Our church community is officially called St. Gerard's Mission, the name on the newer of the two St. Gerard's signs in front of the church. People ask about it.

Many dioceses use the term mission for churches that are not full parishes. In that sense, St. Gerard's has always been a mission of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver. The concept of mission also appealed to Fr. Gerard Beauregard, a founder who saw his role as that of a missionary, especially to the homeless of Downtown Vancouver.

The word mission has the same Latin root, miss-, as Mass, which comes from the word missa in Ite missa est. That phrase, the priest's final words in the traditional Latin Mass, is an idiom that freely translates as "Go, you are sent." Since our Christian community is called a mission, our name is a reminder that we are sent to be witnesses to God's love, to carry on Christ's work.
 

We, the Christian community of Saint Gerard's Catholic Church, Bowen Island, invite you to our Bowen church. Share in our mission!

Thank you: Until the archdiocese took on the hosting of this website recently, it was hosted by Notre Dame Regional Secondary for years. We thank Notre Dame and also teacher Peter Vogel for the work he contributed. 

Copyright © 2012 St. Gerard's Mission, Bowen Island, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, BC, Canada.
This Saint Gerard's Catholic Christian Church website was last updated on April 17, 2013.

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