Anglican Parish of New Germany

Anglican Parish of New Germany A Faith Community made up of two churches. St John in the Wilderness and St. Andrews

04/12/2026

It’s International Bird Day!
“The Parable of the Mustard Seed”
Jesus’ vision of a new community….
“Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.” Luke 13:18-19

Jesus’ parables are one of the ways Jesus trains his disciples. The parables, like the sermon on the mount, have always been crucial for the church to imagine the kind of community it is called to be. We discover again and again that Jesus’ parables significance points to everyday life. The parables are meant to be lived.
The original audience may have been perplexed by this story. They would have known that no-one would intentionally plant a mustard shrub. In fact, the Jewish Mishnah forbade the growing of mustard seeds in the garden because they were ‘useless annoying weeds’. In the Hebrew Scriptures the “birds of the air” can be a reference to Gentiles/Non-Jews, the foreigner. This parable suggests that the kingdom of heaven is available to everyone. Even those who may be considered outsiders or not “Worthy”. Jesus is calling us to see the significance in the insignificant. The parables of the kingdom of heaven make clear that the kingdom of heaven is not “up there”. Through the parables Jesus is teaching us to “be for the world the material reality of the kingdom of heaven brought down to earth.” As Jesus is himself the parable of the father so the church is meant to be the parable of Christ. A people in space and time welcoming the outcast, the foreigner, and the stranger. These kind of communities will look like unwanted weeds to the world, or even to other christians (especially now in the U.S.) However, this is exactly the church Jesus is asking us to embody.

All of the birds in this icon are native to the Holy Land

Giclee Signed Prints and Digital Downloads: kellylatimoreicons.com

04/11/2026

“The Three Mary’s”
An Icon for Eastertide.

God chose women to first bring the good news of the resurrection of Jesus to the world.

The women who went to the tomb that first Easter morning weren't going there seeking resurrection. They were going to perform one last act of loving presence—to anoint a body. But in that act of being with, even in death, they became the first witnesses to new life.

In the Icon Christ’s mother wraps her arms around Mary Magdelene and “the other Mary” as they go from the garden tomb to proclaim Christ’s resurrection.

Each gospel tells a different version of easter morning. It could be easy to miss the point of the story and get lost by the amount of exegesis that has gone into the who’s who of Mary’s in the Gospels. There is Mary (mother of Jesus), Mary Magdelene, “the other Mary”-Mary (mother of James and Joses/Joseph), Mary (wife of Cleopas) and Mary of Bethany.

In Mark and Luke, the gospel writers mention many women, “the myrrh-bearers” going to the tomb easter morning. Some historians believe some of these Mary’s in the gospels could be the same person. (i.e. Mary, Christ’s mother and Mary the Mother of James) In Luke, Mary the wife of Cleopas is interestingly also considered to be the “unnamed follower” with Cleopas as they walked on the road to Emmaus with a risen Christ they did not recognize. (tradition also holds that Mary and Cleopas were Jesus’ Aunt and Uncle!)

In Matthew, it is Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” who go to the tomb.

In John’s Gospel, it is Mary Magdalene alone who first sees the risen Jesus, mistaking him for the Gardener.

Although, as some could point out, Jesus’ Mother is not described in any of the Gospels as being present with the women coming to attend to the body of Jesus and saw the empty tomb. However, in his work, ‘The Life of the Virgin,’ St Maximus the Confessor draws on the Church’s tradition to say that Mary was “inseparable from the tomb” and so was there on the Sunday morning when the other women arrived. This belief has been preserved in the traditional iconography with many icons of the myrrh-bearing women, when studied closely, contain Mary, the Mother of God with the other women, denoted by MP ƟY (a Greek/ abbreviation for Mater Theos; Mother of God) inscription is clearly written in her halo.

Regardless, I hope this icon can continue to remind us that in a time where women were excluded and overlooked, when Christ was crucified and buried, and the male apostles fled and hid, it was the women who stood by Christ in his suffering and death, and became the first witnesses and preachers of the gospel.

Signed Giclee Prints and Digital Downloads of this icon available here: kellylatimoreicons.com

04/05/2026

Happy Easter!
“Mary Magdalene turned around and saw Jesus there, but she did not know it was Jesus…supposing him to be the gardener.”
–John 20:14, 15

Mary Magdalene is the first person to encounter the risen Christ. It’s no accident that the gospel writer of John has Mary mistaking Jesus for the gardener. A gardeners work is like going home, with their hands in the soil ( humans from the humus). Just as Adam is created from the soil, Jesus is buried then risen from the dead, bringing new life. Both happening in a garden. John is hoping we notice the connection.

This is Jesus continuing to show us that resurrection and new life and our hope of heaven happen here on the ground. In the dirt, loving where it hurts in the humus of humanity. This is a Christ it may be hard to recognize. It is not a risen Christ in bright glowing robes, but Christ in muddy ones ( and in Rembrandt’s version of the moment, a beat up straw gardener’s hat and shovel) Jesus doubles down being human wounds and all. He’s showing us that he is to be found in the people and places where many are not looking. It’s Mary who is the first to recognize this Jesus. A woman becomes the first to share the first fruits of the resurrection. “An Apostle to the Apostles”

Using the traditional resurrection icons of Mary and Jesus on easter morning I wanted to flip the image around. Instead of Jesus towering over Mary Magdalene, I wanted to show Mary standing tall looking for Jesus and finding Christ the Gardener down on the ground with the plants. “Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

Icon:“Mary Magdalene and Christ the Gardener”

Signed Giclee Prints, Digital Download Available: kellylatimoreicons.com

04/03/2026

It is Good Friday. Today we bear witness to Christ present in all of the crucified people of history. Most importantly those who are suffering and oppressed in our current time. Looking into the eyes of mothers who are still losing their sons and daughters as they are unjustly murdered by the state. Our hope for this image is that it will continue to guide our thought, and prayer, but most importantly, our action.

Hopefully, we won’t be like Peter sitting by the fire, the rooster crowing, and instead of standing with Christ in his suffering and having the hard conversations, we instead run away and act like they don’t exist.

“Mama” is currently installed at Holy Communion Episcopal Church in St. Louis, MO.

Signed Giclee Prints and Prayer Candles: kellylatimoreicons.com

03/31/2026

Today is Trans Day of Visibility.

On this day over the last several years I reflect on the life of Marsha P. Johnson.

Marsha was an American gay liberation activist and self-identified drag queen. Known as an outspoken advocate for gay rights. Among the first people on the front line of the Stonewall riots, she was a Mother figure and Protectress to many on the Streets.

Marsha was found dead in July 1992 under mysterious circumstances. Many claim she was likely murdered but police failed to investigate much into her death at the time.

This violence still continues. According to Human Rights Campaign, “fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, and that the intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia conspire to deprive them of employment, housing, healthcare and other necessities, barriers that make them vulnerable.” Trans lives matter. LGBTQ+ lives Matter.

May Marsha’s life inspire us to stand with the most vulnerable among us!

kellylatimoreicons.com

03/17/2026

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.”

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Ireland’s Saint Patrick’s day message a few years ago in which he lamented the blight of human trafficking which still remains a reality in today’s world.

“Saint Patrick’s personal experience of being trafficked to this island as a teenage slave had a deep and lifelong impact on him. The trauma of being uprooted from family and friends at such an early age gave him a particular empathy for victims of human trafficking. Patrick’s captivity transformed and shaped his whole life and his relationships with God and others. In his slavery and isolation he discovered through prayer a warm and personal friendship with God which he instinctively wanted to communicate to everyone he met. He challenges us to listen out for the cry of the poor, the ordeal of the migrant, the loneliness of those displaced through war and violence. His experience raises awareness of the injustice of human trafficking which shockingly continues. If we seriously wish to trace our connections with Saint Patrick this week, then we must open our hearts and minds to those who are struggling to survive such cruelty and exploitation in today’s world.”

Of all the stories about Saint Patrick’s life, I have been reflecting on this again today. May we too, stand with the most vulnerable among us.

Signed Giclee Prints : kellylatimoreicons.com

03/09/2026

Happy International Women’s Day!

“The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are.”

-St. Teresia Benedicta (Edith Stein)

Congrats to our small but mighty team of walkers for the coldest night of the year walk. Together they were able to rais...
03/01/2026

Congrats to our small but mighty team of walkers for the coldest night of the year walk.
Together they were able to raise $1785 for Souls Harbour Rescue Mission in Bridgewater. Well done Carolyn, Rev Gordon and Rev Catherine.

Hi folks we are once again preparing for the coldest night of the year walk. If you are interested in joining our team w...
02/17/2026

Hi folks we are once again preparing for the coldest night of the year walk. If you are interested in joining our team we are registered as The Anglican Parish of New Germany. If you would like to donate and help us reach our fund raising goal you can do both by clicking on the link below .

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcnoy.org%2Flocation%2Fbridgewater&data=05%7C02%7C%7C779eb7c5973c4a0d32ce08de583a6068%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C639045204904965794%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=JipRiqJepzQeOk1xHML0pPtPP6Ac%2FZZ7fs9Yv6ybSEI%3D&reserved=0

02/15/2026

Happy Transfiguration Sunday ( Part2)

Commissioned by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury, North Carolina.

This was my second attempt at painting an icon of the Transfiguration. Usually, Christ is painted in an all white robe, but instead we decided to represent not “Whiteness” but “Brightness” by implementing guilded silver leaf over Christ’s robes. As you move across the church the light shifts and glows beautifully. Jesus, Moses, Elijah and the 3 disciples are also depicted as middle-eastern not white Anglo-Saxon like most of the traditional icons. Moses holds the Ten Commandments and Elijah a loaf of bread extending a piece to Christ.

I want to thank the people of St. Luke’s, and the arts committee. And my friend Jeremiah Clark who made the 5x7 foot board for this icon.

Signed Giclee Prints and Digital Downloads: kellylatimoreicons.com

January happenings in the Parish
01/11/2026

January happenings in the Parish

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PO Box 116
New Germany, NS
B0R1E0

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