Sara Jewell

by Sara Jewell In this deeply intimate collection, Sara Jewell searches for meaning in a chaotic past, embracing grief while daring to move through it. In a dizzying array of colors and styles, Jewell grapples with the desire to hold onto a moment with the knowledge that it has already passed. Souvenir embraces the possibility of metamorphosis while acknowledging the comforting haze of oblivion.

“Kerry? Are you okay?” All the woman on the phone had done was identify herself and say she was calling from Charlottetown on behalf of Quilts of Valour — and silence answered her. Kerry Howarth was still on the line in her Cardigan, P.E.I., home, just overcome with emotion. She had seen photos and videos of quilt presentations on Facebook so she knew what the phone call meant.

Rev. Catherine Smith, a retired United Church minister living in Sackville, N.B., arrives at a downtown café carrying a small notebook for our conversation about rural ministry. In the book are ideas — eight of them so far — about the challenges and opportunities for rural churches. Having served rural communities of faith for 14 years as an ordained minister, Smith sees the empowerment of laypeople as the future of rural ministry, even if a church building closes.