Summer Update from Rev. Alison

[Rev Alison Mock]

Dear YKUC Friends:

Hello from Whitehorse! I arrived here late Monday night, and have been enjoying a few days of quiet before the Whitehorse Worship Arts Festival, which begins this afternoon and runs all weekend. As I type, I’m cozied up in our friend Bev’s lovely little blue house, enjoying the sound of the rain and wishing that more of it would fall on Fort Simpson and Wrigley. I hope you are all doing well, and that you are surviving the intense heat and the smoke as best you can.

Since leaving Yellowknife on June 8th, I’ve been having a whirlwind of a time. June is the busiest time of year for the Doctor of Ministry program I’m enrolled in at Tyndale University. I spent much of June completing readings and assignments, and the last two weeks in an intensive retreat-style residency. For two weeks, we live on campus together, share meals, and attend three classes and three worship services a day. They were long days, and the course work was tiring. As I’ve shared with some of you, it was also quite emotionally tiring. While Tyndale is an interdenominational school, most of the students and faculty are from conservative, evangelical, or baptist traditions, and I found myself very much on the outside looking in, not sharing the same theological or ecclesiological assumptions, and not speaking the language. It’s also not an affirming campus, and I was the only out queer person there. It was very strange to be in Toronto in June and not have any Pride flags around (save for the one I brought from home to hang in my room!) At times, it was lonely and alienating. But, I was surprised and amazed by the depth of the conversations I had with classmates, and the relationships we were able to build across difference. Quite apart from the academic work, I learned a lot about myself in those two weeks, and a lot about how it feels to be on the edges. Tyndale is the right place for me to study for lots of reasons, but needless to say, I will be very happy to return to YKUC, where ALL of me is accepted and loved!

Being home in June means that even though I missed Yellowknife Pride, I was able to attend Toronto Pride, where some funeral director friends and I scattered a handful of ashes of my mentor Gerry along the parade route and in the gay village. That was special and meaningful, but gosh, grief is hard, isn’t it? They say that all of the “firsts” without someone are the hardest, and this was certainly true for our first Pride without Gerry. Thank God for memories to make us smile.

I know you had a wonderful month with Bev Brazier in my absence — we are so lucky to have her as a friend of YKUC. I’ve been chatting with some folks from the worship committee this week, and they have worship well in hand for the month of July. Actually, that’s a massive understatement. They are SO deep into the stories and coming up with amazing content for the next few weeks. It’s incredible to watch and listen to them engage and brainstorm and make connections. Both Bev and I are quite sorry that we can’t be at these services to enjoy the fruits of their labours.

Those of you who have been attending worship know this already, but every three years, the Revised Common Lectionary (the cycle of scripture texts we follow) take us right back to the beginning of the book of Genesis and guide us through the entire story of our ancestors in faith. Bev started in June with the convenant with Abraham, then told the stories of Sarah and Hagar, and left us with the very challenging story of the binding of Isaac. This week, Dawn McInnes and Emily Baillie are tackling the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah, and Laurie Gault will join in with their twins, Esau and Jacob, on July 12th. Lorne Gushue continues with Jacob’s dream of the ladder on July 19th, and Janice Daly tackles Rachel and her much-maligned sister Leah on July 26th. If you want to follow along in the story, simply grab a Bible and spend the month reading through the book of Genesis - it’s a soap opera! But, it’s not often that we get the gift of following a continuous narrative for weeks at a time, so let’s dive in and learn our stories. I’m going to finish up Genesis in August (Go, go, go, Joseph!) and we’ll keep going with the book of Exodus, taking us all the way to Thanksgiving. 

I miss you all! Taking all my study leave and vacation at once is great in some respects, but it’s a long time to be away from my favourite place. Feel free to be in touch, and I’ll see you on August 1st!

Cheers

Alison