As the chair of the GIFT committee, permit me to share some thoughts with you about the GIFT program in which we shall be involved this Lent in a five year enterprise to raise nearly $354,000 for the Parish of March and for the Diocese to support parishes.

When I first heard about this, I was alarmed at the amount suggested:  it seemed a scary sum!  So I began to reflect upon what a parish similar to ours might hope to achieve, considering the project in a down-to-earth practical kind of way, that wouldn’t be so scary!

When Martha Asselin, the professional fundraising person assigned to us, first spoke to us, she raised an interesting point:  if one were over seventy, one could add a codicil to their will leaving money to the parish and this would count towards the GIFT program.  My immediate question was:  “Do we have to die within five years?”  Not at all, she said.  We could live as long as we wished (whew!).

So I began to imagine various scenarios.  WHAT IF, I conjectured, in such a parish there were 30 over-70’s who could leave in their wills $10,000 to the parish  that would raise the whole $354,000!  Parishes seldom pose this possibility to their congregations:  perhaps we should think seriously about it here!

And then there would be the under 70’s, I remembered.  WHAT IF, in my hypothetical parish one hundred of them (or any number) were challenged to give, for instance, $1,500 or more over the first years, above their regular offerings.  To many that may seem more than they could do.  But if we look at it more closely, $1,500 over first years is $300 per year or $25 a month.  And what would that equate to?

In any month that might be equivalent to three packages of cigarettes or a missed “pub night” or a pizza from the pizzeria or hamburger instead of a prime rib roast or one less meal eaten out:  simple, almost painless sacrifices!

WHAT IF, we were to think about these very ordinary, do-able, possibilities.  WHAT IF we were to pray about it and WHAT IF we were to decide we wanted to get involved and to do it.

Then none of this need be so scary, and we could serve the outreach, evangelism, ministry and openness to others in healthy accessible buildings, that would continue to build and enhance God’s work among us in the Parish of March.

Please click here for more information about the Diocesan Giving in Faith Together (GIFT Campaign).

Ron Saucier
Chair of the Parish of March GIFT Committee

A Welcome to the Parish of March and our website

"We strive to be a caring community of believers and searchers that reaches out to others to share both Christian love and the good news of Jesus Christ...."

If you are looking for a spiritual home – where everyone knows your name, and a safe place where you can ask hard questions about the Christian faith, then consider coming to join us.

We worship each Sunday in all three of our member churches:

• St John’s Anglican Church, South March, 325 Sandhill Road, Kanata
• St Mary’s Anglican Church, North March, 2574 6th Line Road, Ottawa
• St Paul’s Anglican Church, Dunrobin, 1118 Thomas Dolan Parkway, Dunrobin

RECTOR'S MESSAGE

Being Anglican is not for the weak of heart.

Yet, as a denomination, we see ourselves having the capacity to face up to the challenge of dealing with the ambiguities of life. Despite our many and varied positions on issues within the denomination, we gather together in unity with one another, knowing that when all is said and done, the love of Christ will prevail through anything.

If you want to know more, then come check us out.  Identify yourself to me when you do.

It would be my great pleasure to answer any questions you may have about our churches or our denomination or, more importantly, to speak with you concerning any concerns you may have regarding your personal spirituality.

The Rev. Karen Ann Coxon
Incumbent
Parish of March
Anglican Diocese of Ottawa