Minister

The Rev. Bruce Chalmers, an Anglican priest, began his ministry with the North Thompson Ecumenical Shared Ministry on June 15, 2020.  He was appointed by Bishop Barbara Andrews from the Territory of the People of the Anglican Church of Canada after receiving affirmation of this decision from Bishop Greg Mohr of the BC Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Rev. Victoria Andrews of the Pacific Mountain Regional Council of the United Church of Canada.

Many in our Parish see God’s Spirit being in our midst as we sought our next minister.  Being an ecumenical shared ministry, there is an attempt to rotate the denominations serving in the position of Priest/Minister/Pastor.  It was the Anglican denomination’s turn.  We feel blessed, that Bruce, an Anglican with experience in a shared ministry, felt called to apply and then to accept our offer to join us in our ministry in the North Thompson.  His assertion that “Music is my prayer.” resonates with us.

The Rev. Bruce Chalmers at a congregational picnic at the Church of St Paul.

A short biography is found on the Minister page.  Reflections that he has shared with the Parish are also found on this page.

Re-imagining Church

For over 60 years the folk of the United Church in the North Thompson Valley have been one church family – the North Thompson Pastoral Charge of the United Church of Canada.

For many years the Pastoral Charge was made up of 3 points: Blue River, Clearwater, and Barriere.  The Charge begins in McLure and goes to Blue River (a distance of almost 200 km).  In the 1980s Blue River United Church closed and thus the charge became 2-point.

In the late 1990s, Clearwater United Church sold their building and have been worshipping in St. James’ Catholic Church since 2000.

In 2008, Barriere United Church began experimenting with becoming Church of St Paul, recognizing the coming together of the Anglicans (from Barriere’s Church of the Redeemer), Uniteds, and Lutherans in town.  Church of St Paul is an acronym for Serving Together as a Parish of Anglicans, Uniteds, and Lutherans.  This was made real on Pentecost Sunday 2010 with the signing of the Shared Ministry Agreement!

In the Fall of 2015, the entire Pastoral Charge became an Ecumenical Shared Ministry when representatives from the three denominations and the Pastoral Charge gathered to sign a new Shared Ministry Agreement.  Clearwater United Church became Trinity Shared Ministry!