Southwestern Ontario Pastoral Charge
1559 Victoria Avenue,
Windsor, Ontario
N8X 1P4

ANNUAL REPORT FOR ALL SEASONS CHURCH OF CANADA

Year Ending 2008

Attention: Rev. K.D. McKibbon


After many years of my own spiritual journey as a previously ordained catholic priest, I was accepted into the ministry of All Seasons Church of Canada. Through All Seasons I have been able to realize a calling of being a facilitator for disenfranchised persons searching for a meaningful and nourishing faith expression. Persons without a church, persons excluded from church membership by reason of marital status, persons refused church inclusion because of their sexual orientation, all have a right to gather and live their faith. This continues to be an essential aspect of my pastoral charge with All Seasons Church of Canada.

While my pastoral charge is not limited only to the disenfranchised, they are very much the largest segment of my ministry. I do, however, also have outreach to persons of established mainstream churches who for their own reasons seek out my ministry.

I have continued my particular outreach to men and women of the local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered community in the Windsor/Essex area. They are a community who require a specialized form of understanding and ministry to help them reconcile their self-acceptance and religious identity against an unfortunate and regrettable history of intolerance and discrimination by so many institutional churches and faith doctrines. Members of this community benefit from my pastoral charge through coming to experience a wholesome understanding of their intrinsic self-worth and goodness in the eyes of our loving and inclusive God.

One book in particular that I have read in the past year has strengthened my resolve in ministering to the LGBT community. It is “Ministering Graciously to the Gay and Lesbian Community: Learning to Relate and Understand”. It is an outstanding book with many helpful strategies and approaches.

As vice chair of the Aids Committee of Windsor I have found much of my time this past year consumed both with organizational matters relating to this wonderful organization, but also countless spiritual counselling sessions with men and women diagnosed as HIV positive or with AIDS.

Because of my background as a manager with the Canada Border Services Agency, I have also spent much of my time assisting refugee claimants and same sex spouses seeking admission to Canada to lawfully reside with their partners. This outreach frequently extends beyond the practical into the spiritual – the imparting of faith, hope and charity.

In summary, my pastoral charge as a minister of All Seasons Church of Canada included:

  • Proclaiming and Preaching the Good News at worship gatherings (12 events); I have been guest celebrant at the local MCC church while their minister was recovering from illness with breast cancer;
  • Ministering to individuals and their families at the time of a loved one’s impending death, and officiating eternal life funeral celebrations for the departed (8 events);
  • Regular visitation of the sick and infirmed in nursing homes and hospitals, and the incarcerated in jail (semi-weekly and on an ad hoc basis);
  • Celebrating one baptism with friends and their family;
  • Preparing couples for the celebration of their marriage, and then officiating these celebrations of their love and faith (41 events);
  • Pastoral counselling sessions for members of the LGBT community (22 events);
  • Guest speaking appearances (8 events); guest appearance on local radio relating to gays and their faith;
  • Election as vice chair of the board member with Windsor’ Aids Committee (3 year term);
  • Volunteer and fundraising work with Windsor’s Downtown Mission and the Windsor/Essex Hospice Village (ongoing);
  • Organized gatherings with LGBT organizations and presented video-based presentations and discussions regarding a proper understanding of homosexuality and the Judea-Christian traditions (3 events);
  • Liaising with other local faith communities in my area (2 events).

In conclusion, this past year has been an enriching spiritual journey for me – made possible through the pastoral charge God has blessed me with through All Seasons Church of Canada. Without All Seasons, the extent of my ministerial outreach would be severely limited. I am forever grateful that I have been allowed the privilege to exercise ministry in such a profoundly meaningful and effective way.


Respectfully Yours,

Joe McParland,

All Seasons Church of Canada



Return to Top