08/15/2026
I’ve been reflecting on this article, written by the Rev. Canon Dr. Ian Mobsby, that opens, “There is nothing like a crisis that forces people to get back to the heart of things.” It speaks to the moment the Church is facing and to what I see every day here in West Lincoln.
The article describes the deacon as a minister of the threshold, someone who stands between the Church and the neighbourhood. That is where my ministry lives: not only on Sundays, but in the everyday places where faith and life meet.
In West Lincoln, my diaconal work happens in conversations at the local Tim Hortons, in the quiet honesty of a farm driveway, and in grocery store aisles where someone finally shares what has been weighing on them. It happens in families facing hard times, neighbours showing up for one another, and stories offered when people know they are being heard without judgment.
The article reminded me that the diaconate is not about recruitment or fixing the Church. It is about presence: noticing where the Holy Spirit is already moving through our rural roads, small towns, and community networks, and helping the Church pay attention to that sacred movement.
My ministry here is shaped by one simple conviction: God is already at work in West Lincoln. My task as a deacon is to be present, patient, and attentive enough to see it and to help our parish of St. Luke's see it too.
This is the work I love, the work I am called to, and the work that gives me hope for the Church’s future.
Deacon Stephen
A personal reflection from a Diocesan Missioner working in the Anglican Church of Canada.
