An Easter of Growth
Celebrating some of the stories of growth and the Gospel reaching hearts this Easter.
We want to celebrate when we see the Gospel bearing fruit around the diocese. And in their recent travels, our bishops are noting significant signs of growth and discipleship in so many of our congregations. This past Easter Sunday these signs were particularly evident. Easter is always a bigger service for most churches, but this year many congregations reported especially encouraging signs of growth and new ministry opportunities. Here are a just a few from some parts of the country:
Rev. John Ngai, priest at Church of the Good Shepherd, Vancouver, BC
“We give thanks to our gracious Lord for a joyful and blessed Easter at Good Shepherd Church (Vancouver). On Easter Sunday, we rejoiced together as 9 brothers and sisters were baptized and 12 were confirmed, publicly declaring their faith in Jesus Christ and their commitment to follow Him.
This celebration was made even more meaningful on Maundy Thursday, when baptism and confirmation candidates—both youth and elders—shared their testimonies. Through their stories, we witnessed the beauty of God’s work across generations: lives transformed, hearts renewed, and faith awakened through personal encounters with Christ.
Each testimony was a powerful reminder that the gospel is living and active today. From different walks of life, each person shared how the Lord met them in His grace, drew them to Himself, and continues to lead them forward.
As a church family, we rejoice in God’s saving work and give thanks for His faithfulness. May we continue to pray for these brothers and sisters, that they would grow deeply in their faith, remain steadfast in Christ, and shine as His witnesses in the world.
To God be all the glory. "
Rev. Mike Rutledge, rector at Benediction Church, Kitchener, ON
“This year, the big highlight of Easter was having 8 baptisms to celebrate and 2 confirmations. We were excited to have Bishop Dan with us as well. Of course, with such celebrations, we certainly had a larger crowd for the service, and have had a few people continue to come, and others have asked to meet with me to discuss faith further. I am hopeful for these conversations, believing, of course, that God will bring salvation to them.”
Rev. Stephen Lieberman, rector at Christ the King, Edmonton, AB
“This Holy Week was our first Holy Week in our new facility. We give thanks to God for what he has done.
We had four main services: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, an Easter Vigil with a baptism, and an Easter Sunday service, which included a community breakfast.
Easter Sunday, we had nearly 170 attend the service.
In the lead up to Easter, we ran an Alpha program, which saw many new Christians from the parish, as well as some seekers from the community join us. We also put out flyers in the neighbourhood surrounding the church building. We saw a handful of participants from the neighbourhood join us for the various services and Easter events.
One mom and her two children from the neighbourhood came to the Easter Vigil. Although the children had attended our Shrove Tuesday Pancake supper, this was the first time she had attended or set foot in a church service since she was a child. She said she was really blessed to be there to celebrate a baptism and participate in the liturgy. She hopes to come again when she is not working on Sunday mornings. We’re excited to see where these kinds of connections will lead. We pray for many more such opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ!”
Rev. Ben Vanderheide, rector of St. Peter & St. Paul, Ottawa, ON
“During Holy Week, we had a Maundy Thursday - Foot washing, stripping of the Altar service.
Good Friday - 10AM - Family service, and 12PM-3PM stations of the cross service, where 12 parishioners shared reflections on the passion/crucifixion narrative.
Saturday, Easter Vigil service 7:30PM - 3 Adult Baptisms, Holy Communion
Easter Sunday 10:30AM service - we had a post-covid record number of people attending the service.
We have seen a large number of young adults, young families, and new comers to Canada attending our services this year. Easter Sunday was the nations of the world coming to our doorstep!
One of our University of Ottawa IVCF international workers, who is a member of the church, brought 25 international students with her, and most of them have never set foot inside a church before.
An Iranian woman who first came to St Peter & St Paul’s Easter Sunday 2025, was baptized at the Easter Vigil service this year.
The place was packed and people were excited to praise our Resurrected Saviour and Lord!”