A Heartfelt Thank You from your Chaplain — Issue 5

There are many things I am thankful for as I sit and write this newsletter submission. I am thankful to God for calling me to this vocation as School Chaplain here at KES. I am thankful for supportive friends, family, colleagues, students, and their families. Being inducted on Monday by Mr. Seagram, Bishop Fyfe sharing her words of hope and blessing for our relationship to blossom, and hearing Dr. Jody Clarke share a message about courage are highlights of my career as an ordained priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. To say I am humbled is an understatement. I would not have reached this point in my calling had I not taken the time to learn how to “be” and how to listen to what the Spirit is saying to me. As I step into this role, I do so with gratitude, humility, and great hope. I look forward to walking alongside each of you in the weeks and years ahead, supporting the spiritual life of the KES family, and encouraging spaces of reflection, service, and belonging.

During Chapel this past Thursday, I asked you to open yourself to the words of the sermon and to be still in your mind to hear what the Spirit is trying to say and where it is leading you. No matter the size of your faith, the point of the mustard seed is that we only need a seedling of faith for it to grow into something larger than us. Find your seed, plant it, nourish it, watch it grow, and see the world change around you from that one seed of faith.

I have continued to enjoy seeing all the students congregate in the Fountain Performing Arts Centre (aka the Theatre) for Chapel time. Having everyone together creates an incredible, undeniable force of positive energy and prayer. The outcome of such moments together can move mountains. The experience of whole-school Chapel has been powerful. In the week of October 20, 2025, we will return to the Hensley Memorial Chapel for school services. However, we will be following a different schedule, and we will still have Chapel in the Theatre periodically when scheduling makes a full school Chapel necessary. The school calendar will indicate the week, it will also be posted on the Student Lounge whiteboard, and we’ll remind everyone in Morning Announcements. A schedule will be released in the coming days, and I look forward to us all embracing this opportunity to worship together in both the Theatre and the Chapel by grade level. The services will continue to be 30 minutes in length.

Thank you for welcoming me so warmly into the life of this remarkable school. I am humbled and honoured to serve as your School Chaplain.

With every blessing,