New Anglican minister settling into Yk
Rev. Bryan Haigh, his wife and young son came to city from South Africa in April
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Thursday, September 15, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The new minister at Holy Trinity Anglican Church said he has many messages for the people of Yellowknife.
Rev. Bryan Haigh stands with his wife Michelle Haigh in their new home right beside Holy Trinity Anglican Church on 52 Street. The Haighs and their two-and-a-half-year-old son came to the church, where Bryan is the minister, from South Africa back in April. - John McFadden/NNSL photo
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But at the top is one message: Rev. Bryan Haigh's door is always open.
The minister, who took over at the church on April 22, said his sermons are of the utmost importance to him, but added he wants people to know that he is here to listen as well.
Haigh moved with his wife Michelle and two-and-a-half-year-old son Nathan to Yellowknife from Johannesburg, South Africa. Haigh took over from Rev. Joseph Royal, who left to become director of the Anglican Church of Canada's Arthur Turner Training School in Iqaluit.
Haigh said coming to Yellowknife with his family all came about quite organically.
"We wanted to gain some international experience and had considered various options, none of which worked out previously. Completely as a surprise, the Yellowknife opportunity became available," Haigh said. "I e-mailed...with a copy of my resume and honestly I didn't expect a response. I thought they are going to feel I am too far away, they don't know me, they'll probably take a Canadian. But they did reply and we followed the interview process. When they asked if we could pursue it - I said, 'Yes.'"
Haigh said he learned about the opening from an Anglican website. He said he understood that five people in total applied for the position. He was one of three who reached the interview stage. Oddly, he added, none of the people who applied was Canadian.
Haigh said winter was pretty much over when he arrived in the North back in the spring, but he feels he has a good handle on what the next several months have in store for himself and his family from a weather perspective. He admits however it is going to be a big adjustment coming from the warmer climate of South Africa.
"We have obviously Googled a little bit about Canadian winters. Yes - we know what is coming. We are ready for that. No - we're not quite there yet - there are still a few things that we need to purchase," he said.
Haigh, who has served at three different churches in Johannesburg, said the reception he and his family received when they arrived in Yellowknife was different than back home.
"The community aspect of the church, the love, the welcome and compassion and the fellowship was just overwhelming," Haigh said. "We have not experienced that in previous churches."
He said he expects to see between 150 to 200 people for church service on Sunday mornings. He added pays visits to patients at Stanton Territorial Hospital.
Haigh said it would be impossible for him not have noticed some of the social problems that are evident on Yellowknife's downtown streets.
"I have seen a lot of social concerns over drunkenness. It breaks my heart to see people embroiled in alcoholism. Here at the church we have Alcoholics Anonymous four nights a week," Haigh said. "I think that the church has a wonderful role to play. I see various programs and opportunities that exist and I would like Holy Trinity to invest in the local community. Jesus came into the world not for the middle class, nor for an elitist class, not for the poorest of the poor - he came for everybody and we need to do the same."
