On June 1, 2008,
Alex and Nancy began their ministry as the
clergy at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Sooke,
BC.
They came from
St.
Barnabas Episcopal Church in Borrego Springs, California
where they had served for the seven years.
“Even though a congregation was there since
1975, we were the first clergy to serve there
year round. As soon as we arrived as full time
clergy, the mission qualified to become a
parish.” St. Barnabas was served first by
visiting clergy who came on Sunday morning and
returned home Sunday afternoon and then by two
retired clergy from the Anglican diocese of
British Columbia. The first resident priest who
served during the six month winter season was
The Rev. Canon Horace (Sheila) McClelland -
retired chaplain of Shawnigan Lake School. He
was followed by The Rt. Rev. Ron (Ann) Shepherd
- retired bishop of this diocese.
Alex comes to Holy
Trinity with 39 years of ordained ministry. From
1964/65 he studied graduate Philosophy at the
University of Ottawa. He was present for the
first unfurling of the maple leaf flag and the singing
of the national anthem. He then went to Rome for
his master’s degree in Sacred Theology. After priestly
ordination in 1969, he joined the faculty of the
graduate school of Theology for Ministry at the
Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas.
For the next 13 years he lectured in Dogmatic
and Moral Theology, Liturgics and for the last
five years he also directed the Theological
Field Education program. He earned a Ph.D./S.T.D.
in Moral Theology in 1975 at the
Catholic
University of Louvain, Belgium writing a
dissertation on Liberation Theology. He has
ministered in Roman Catholic/Episcopal Hispanic and Anglo
parishes in Texas, Oregon,
Idaho and California.
Nancy, ordained in October
1998, has been busy within her own expressions of
ministry. First she has been a spiritual
director since the 1970s. While ministering in
Idaho at
Trinity Episcopal Church she created an
after school program for high school students
called “The Gathering Place” which won her
recognition within the community as well as
receiving a tri-state Leadership Award from the
Director of the FBI. She began visiting
mentally ill prisoners for spiritual direction
at
Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center (PWCC)
and has continued by returning twice a year
since leaving Idaho in 2001. While ministering
at St.
Barnabas Episcopal Church in Borrego
Springs, Nancy began and directed a Retreat
Center for the parish as well as leading the
Women’s retreats for the Diocese for four
consecutive years prior to moving to Canada.
In addition to her duties at Holy Trinity Nancy
also serves as Archdeacon for the Selkirk
Region.
Both Nagys also
received multiple awards from the Educators of
the State of Idaho and were the only two clergy
selected to serve on the Idaho State Governor’s
Board for the Decade of the Child. In June 2009
Nancy was appointed
Archdeacon for the
Region of Selkirk by
Bishop James Cowan.
The Nagys were drawn
to Holy Trinity by the welcoming congregation,
their worship and outreach program, especially
the weekly free Friday lunch program –
Vital
Vittles – that serves the community and the
newly rebuilt parish building, as well as the
just refurbished but already rented rectory.
