The Citation as recorded in the Permanent Register of
the Order of the Diocese of New Westminster
Born into an Anglican family,
Bruce spent most of his first 19 years attending church services or Sunday
Schools in Vancouver, Victoria, CFB Borden and CFB Petawawa. After leaving the
church for a few years, he and his family began attending St. Catherine of
Alexandria at the beginning of the 1980s. Bruce has been an integral part of
the parish ministry since his arrival. Bruce has two passions that ingrain him
to the parish: Christian education for young people and Bible study. Bruce’s
patient approach to bringing the bible to life and making the stories relevant
has been appreciated by his students from the 1980’s to now. Bruce has attended
nearly all the parish Bible studies, Lenten and Advent programs (and has also
led several), and Disciple 1 and 2. As study leader, he quietly presents his
thoughts and nudges people along, moving forward together on their spiritual
journeys. Bruce’s stability, grounding in the Anglican faith and dependability
make him a respected parish leader. He has a quiet voice and thinks of others
and how any actions may impact them. He has served on Parish Council as Warden,
Synod Delegate and Member-at-large where his reflective approach to the
discussion is appreciated, as are the times when he speaks his mind, usually
reflecting the views of the many ‘silent’ parishioners in the pews. Bruce has
also worked with the Diocese on the Stewards in Action project and an
Evangelism project in the late 1990s through 2005. Bruce is caring and
compassionate as is evident on Wednesdays where he helps serve coffee and
befriends the guests at the food bank and Paul’s Place. In addition, he visits
shut-ins and has been a member of the parish’s pastoral care and prayer teams. Bruce
models his concern for the life of the parish, its parishioners and visitors
through participating in worship and parish life. Bruce continues or has been
Lay Administrator, reader, intercessor and greeter. Bruce shares in the
preparation of Sunday morning coffee, and was an early member and now leads the
book club and helped decorate May Day parade floats. Through all these
ministries Bruce models a sense of caring and worth of each member of the
parish. And he is able to identify gifts in individuals to encourage them to
get involved in more of the life of the parish. Bruce seldom says no to giving
a hand to support parish activities or assist a parishioner. Also, Bruce
identifies where work or ministry is needed and gathers the resources needed to
complete the task. Apart from his active involvement in parish life, Bruce
enjoys walking with his wife Nancy, searching for geocaching treasure,
gardening, watching hockey and reading.
