Low Down Articles
In the Hills
Article 15 of 18
This article first appeared in the "In the Hills" column in the September 2, 2009 issue of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News.
Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.
o o o
Ten years of encouraging spiritual life
by Catherine Joyce
Rev. Gisele Gilfillan is celebrating ten years of United Church ministry in the Wakefield/Alcove/Rupert area. Ordained in 1999 at Queen's Theological College in Kingston, she came to the Hills for her first ministry placement and found a community poised to welcome her with open arms.
Ten years of partnership have inspired the birth of the Wakefield Grannies, the Wakefield Players and collaboration with the Youth Centre, the Seniors' Housing Project and the Fair Trade movement - to name but a few of the community initiatives Gisele has helped to nurture in her charge.
Born in the tiny Saskatchewan village of Willowbunch, Gisele grew up with five siblings in a bilingual Catholic family. They moved to St. Boniface when she was five. "I grew up with God-talk in the house. I remember my brother, sister and I deciding as young adults to read the Book of Revelations start to finish into the wee hours of the morning, taking somewhat seriously its promise of blessing. I think our childhood fostered a curiosity about faith, which helped us to develop our spirituality."
Gisele shifted from the Catholic Church early on, and experienced a life-changing awakening years later with the birth of her children. "My life became a journey of such beauty and blessing. I felt an awakening toward God. Their births stirred my regard for God - to carry, to nurture and give life, to consider and welcome new life - it was so glorious to share in this process."
A subsequent move to Vancouver with her husband and family brought Gisele into contact with a local United Church, and a group of strong women of evangelical faith.
"I heard language I had never heard before about 'being saved' and of 'calling Jesus into your heart'. It was puzzling to me. And then, when it appeared I was again expecting a child, I was flooded with such an intense awareness that God is Good, that I simply and consciously said: 'I give my life over to You'."
Looking back Gisele identifies this feeling of God's lifegiving goodness as the central theme of her spiritual journey. "The most pivotal spiritual moments of my life have reaffirmed and deepened this recognition. Even the painful ones. I believe everyone is beloved by this good, kind Entity, this Divine Being that fosters life."
At 35, a mother of two living in Kingston, Gisele began to weave together the strands of her spiritual experience. "Actually, it was like a melody - suddenly I heard the music and knew it was time to do something with my heart's desire." She met a female clergy, resonated with her experience and felt that ministry was a real possibility.
For 12 years she studied theology while now raising her children on her own, undergoing in the process a rigorous reformation of her beliefs.
"I struggled with the language of faith and of lived experience, with the inclusivity and exclusivity of our tradition, the inadequacies and beauty of translations, the call of Christ consciousness. The struggle stretched me and eventually led to a radical sense of openness, especially around the Communion Table."
In coming to this area Gisele has found a loving fit with the gifts she offers and the congregations she serves. "Ministry is varied and textured but most clearly it is about opening to the Divine that is already present. There is a spirit of such healing, creativity and compassion here. My role has been to hold space for those spiritual realities to manifest and to encourage spiritual life to emerge - like a midwife."
Again that theme of birthing, of bringing life, nourishment, affirmation: Gisele Gilfillan has brought her vision of God to a community that reflects back, in struggle and in joy, the inherent goodness she so ardently believes in. Ten years is just the beginning.