A Farewell Message from Rev Anne Barker: What’s Left To Say?

I have loved working with our CUC congregations and communities – and specifically with you, the people who love them! These three years serving in Congregational Life have been an honour and a joy. Thank you for the many beautiful ways you have welcomed me in – all the conversations, workshops, services, and visits … for the privilege of accompanying you through tender times, where we did some of our best and hardest work …  and for all the celebrations, the creativity, the laughter, and the love.  

Serving with you has reminded me how much I love the daily practice of ministry, the rhythms of congregational life, and the magic of being there for everything – messy bits and all. This time has been a masterclass in the true spirit of interdependence. Your wisdom, courage, and willingness to be vulnerable – your willingness to show up, again and again, embodies the essence of this faith: 

We are in this together.
What we have – and what we do – matters.
And the world needs our open hearted, caring, creative best.
Always. 

When I complete my CUC work on June 26, I will carry you with me in my heart, and expect that we’ll meet up again, within our larger movement. In the meantime, I’ll take all I’ve learned from you into my work with a new community, the lovely people of our Grand River congregation. 

Rev. Alice Blair Wesley writes, in her 2000 Minns Lecture, “Love is the Doctrine of this Church”:  

The free church is an organization we establish and join so that we may help each other to find, over and over again, in a thousand varying time frames and settings, what are our own worthiest loves, and therefore, what these loves now require of us, if we would be loyal in the most meaningful sense, in what we do, in our actions, in the way we live. 

May we continue to come together, helping one another to discern our real and right loves – in our congregations, in our communities, in our national movement, and most especially, in our precious lives. 

And if you’re still reading, here are three of the books I still think we all need:

• Imaginable: How to Create a Hopeful Future (Jane McGonigal)
• Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds (adrienne maree brown) Please note that the Emergent Strategy Book Club- Session 2 is taking place from 1-3 pm June 6, 2026
• Set Boundaries, Find Peace: a guide to reclaiming yourself (Nedra Glover Tawwab)

Love always,

Anne