Remembrance Day sermon offers capstone to JoAnn Todd's pastoral career

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Late last month, Rev. JoAnn Todd officially said goodbye to her Anglican congregations in Blyth, Wingham and Seaforth, retiring from the pastoral charge and clearing the way for someone new to take on the role.

 

Todd came to ministry later in life, spending much of her career in nursing. However, in her later years, she returned to the church, first becoming a licensed lay worship leader and filling in at her local church when coverage was needed. When she stood in front of the congregation to give her first sermon, something clicked and she realized that that was where she was meant to be at that stage of her life.

 

She would eventually continue her studies and become a priest with the Anglican Church, taking on a charge that would come to be called The Regional Ministry of Hope. It began with Anglican Churches in Lucknow, Wingham, Blyth and Brussels, but, Lucknow and Brussels have since closed and Seaforth has joined, which is where it stands today.

 

This is unlike the stories of many pastors in the area who have studied to be in these positions and spend their lives in the church. For Todd, it was almost somewhat of a capstone to her career spent in a position that meant a lot to her. She found that her past jobs helped prepare her for what she would face as a spiritual leader in Huron County.

 

She said she has truly enjoyed her time in the position and will miss all of the people she has come to know and befriend over the years, but assures them that she isn’t going anywhere. (Anglican tradition prescribes that retiring pastors keep their distance, metaphorically, from the church and the congregation for at least a year after retiring to ensure a period of transition and a respect for the new pastor coming in, allowing the congregation to change along with the leadership of the church.)

 

And while she has enjoyed the people she’s worked with over the years, one of the ways that she - and the churches she’s led - has truly made its mark is through the outreach work the church has done under her watchful eye. This includes work through the Coldest Night of the Year, seasonal donation boxes, concert fundraisers for the Huron Residential Hospice and more. However, one of the biggest endeavours has been the North Huron Connection Centre at the church in Wingham that recently opened its doors and has worked extensively, through the United Way Perth Huron, to aid the unhoused and underhoused people of the area in a variety of ways.

 

Todd’s family, friends and congregation members all gathered at Trinity Anglican Church in Blyth on Sunday, Oct. 26 to honour Todd and her work within the churches and the greater community. She said it was a fitting celebration and that she was so happy to see so many people she cares about together in one room. However, she also acknowledges that it will be tough for her. 

 

Todd feels as though she’s part of three different families and she’s been part of them for a number of years - Seaforth is the newest addition, but still important - so she will miss the people she’s come to know so well and care about so deeply.
However, even with that tinge of sadness, Todd said she knew it was time to walk away from the churches, despite not having any big plans for her retirement. She and her husband had just taken a big cruise to mark their 50th wedding anniversary, so she’s just looking forward to the time away.

 

Todd says she’s taken up a position on the board of directors of the Huron Residential Hospice, a cause near and dear to her heart, and, with winter coming, she felt as though she didn’t have many more winter drives in her. So, with those stars aligned, as well as her intention to allow the churches to bring some new blood into the mix, she felt that the time was right to step away from the church and let someone take over its leadership.

 

Looking back at her career, she says it’s interesting to see where God was leading her, even if she didn’t know it at the time. As a young woman in nursing school, she said, she would have never believed that she would have been retiring as a priest one day, and yet, that is the path that her life has taken. At once, she can look back and think of her ministry as popping up in the later years of her career, but also see how God was present in the earlier years of her life, guiding her to where she ended up, she just didn’t know it at the time.