St. Laurence Anglican Church | Anglican Church in Coquitlam, BC

Holding one another in grief.

Dear Friends,

Many of us have spent this week carrying the weight of what happened on Tuesday in Tumbler Ridge, a small and close-knit BC community of just 2,400 people. An 18-year-old opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and at a nearby home. Nine people lost their lives: five students, an education assistant, two family members, and the shooter herself. The youngest victims were twelve years old. Twenty-seven others were injured. It is the deadliest school shooting in Canada since the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, and its shadow falls across the whole nation.

Sorrow is everywhere, as one of our parishioners wrote to me this week. And it is right to grieve.

On Sunday, we will not set aside our regular worship, because for many of us the familiar rhythms of prayer, word and sacrament are themselves a shelter in dark times. But we will weave grief and lament into our service, and we will not pretend. Once our children have gone to Kids' Church, there will be a time for us to come together as a community for an act of lament and remembrance.

On the matter of our children: we are aware that families are taking a variety of approaches to talking with their children about what has happened, and we want to honour that. We will not raise the subject with children in Kids' Church, nor when the children are present in the worship but our leaders will be prepared and ready to respond with care and compassion if a child raises it themselves. One of our parishioners, a teacher, has shared the following guidance, which reflects trauma-informed practice from our local School District and which we commend to parents, grandparents and carers:

"Trauma-informed practice for children tells us not to bring up the events, but to be prepared if children do. In the event that a child raises the situation, validate their feelings and concerns, and reassure them they are safe. Be present and listen. Acknowledge feelings while providing calm, age-appropriate reassurance. Be mindful of media exposure, which can increase anxiety. Let children know that not every family wants to talk about this sad event, and speak with them privately if needed."

The grief in Tumbler Ridge is layered and complex. Some in that community are mourning a daughter and a young person in pain, alongside those she harmed. We hold all of that before God.

In the meantime, we offer this prayer:

God of the grieving heart, hold the children of Tumbler Ridge in your arms. Hold the adults who gave their lives alongside them, and those who witnessed what no one should ever see. Hold those who weep and those who cannot find words. Hold those who search for answers in the darkness. Be close to all who mourn, and lead us, gently, through. Amen.

We are praying for the community of Tumbler Ridge, for every family shattered by this violence, and for one another. We look forward to being together on Sunday.

With love,

Philip

Theme: God meets us where we are. One day at a time.

Introducing Our Lenten Companion: The Great Blue Heron

It started in Mexico.

While on holiday, I found myself watching a white heron standing motionless at the edge of a lagoon, patient and utterly still in the middle of everything. And I thought immediately of home, of the great blue herons along the Coquitlam River, at Colony Farm, and along DeBoville Slough, and of the season that was coming.

That moment gave us our Lenten image for 2026.

We could have chosen a traditional symbol. The desert, the cross, ashes. All carry genuine meaning and we will encounter them. But this year we wanted to take our cue from the landscape we actually live in, and from a creature many of us pass without quite noticing.

The great blue heron is one of the largest wading birds in North America, with a wingspan of up to six feet. And yet it moves through the world with extraordinary quietness. It does not fight the current. It stands in moving water, attentive and unhurried, and waits for what is real to become visible beneath the surface.

In anxious times, the heron has something to show us about the Christian life.

Lent is not about frantic moral improvement. It is about learning a different quality of attention. The heron calls us to stand steady when the current is strong, to pay attention rather than react, and to trust that what we need will come.

The heron also lives with real pressures: habitat loss, a rapidly changing world. And yet it remains. Present. Still doing what herons do.

That, too, preaches.

Throughout Lent the heron will accompany us in our worship, our weekly reflections, and our social media. We hope it becomes a genuine companion for the season.

Welcome to Lent. Welcome to the water's edge.

Philip and the St. Laurence Team

Pastoral Note: Tumbler Ridge

This Week at St. Laurence

Pre-Vestry Financial Discussion

Office Closed

Shrove Tuesday

Phoenix Friends

Wednesday Morning Gathering - 9:00

Memorial Service for Kelly Eksyma

Senior Men's Lunch

ignYte

Lent 2026

Sacred Ways

Looking Ahead

One Service Next Week

Annual Vestry

Women's Retreat

Parish Community Events

Tax Receipts

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