Who We Are

All Saints’ Westboro, located at 347 Richmond Road in Ottawa, is a parish of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, a diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada, and a part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

We welcome your participation in any way that is most accessible for you as you are a part of this community.

We are a progressive, inclusive, and affirming community of Christians on a journey of spiritual growth. We seek compassion and justice for all by:

Worshipping God
Welcoming all
Nurturing each other
Working for social justice
Reaching out to the world

We call ourselves “a Christian community in action.” We celebrate God’s love for the world by reaching out to our neighbours, both near and far.

Anglicans are members of a worldwide family of churches, 44 regional, national or member churches tracing their descent from the church in England. The Anglican Church of Canada is one of these member churches, self-governing in its decision-making but working together with others in the family of churches called the Anglican Communion.

Meet our clergy and staff

The Venerable Kathryn Otley

Incumbent of All Saints’ Westboro and Archdeacon of West Ottawa

I was born in Montreal. My siblings and mother now live in Nova Scotia and Ottawa – the Maritimes are like a second home to me and I go there every summer. I love to spend time with family and friends. All three of my children and their partners live in the Ottawa area and we love playing board games together. I am an avid reader, stitcher, kayaker, camper and golfer. Madigan, Maebh and I (my dog and cat) enjoying spending time in the great outdoors.

I came to Ottawa in my twenties to attend Carleton University. I earned degrees in Classics and started a family. When my children were all in school I returned to university, this time in a response to a different call. I was accepted as a postulant of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa and graduated from St Paul University and ordained in 2006.

I served in an inner-city parish (St. John the Evangelist), a rural parish (Fitzroy Harbour) and a suburban parish (Christ Church Bells Corners). Each parish has taught me more about faith and community in new and different ways. I am passionate about learning from others, continuing education and sharing what I have learned in creative and innovative ways. During the COVID lockdowns I attended workshops and conferences online, honing different skills and developing awareness.

It is my joy to serve and worship, teach and learn with you at All Saints in the village of Westboro.

From the very beginning I felt a call to respond to human need with compassion and a helping hand up. I am a dedicated advocate for social justice issues – they are the heart of my call to serve as a Christian and my call to ordained ministry. Homelessness, Human Trafficking, Street Youth Issues, Food Justice, Anti-Racism and Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples are particular areas of focus.

I completed the School for Parish Development in Vancouver over a two-year period and developed many skills. These include the ability to create a detailed survey and assessment of a parish. This can lead to the collaborative development of Strategic Directions which reflect the engaged heart of the parish as it looks to the future.

Caring for the needs of the members of the parish who are shut in or suffering is one of the most fulfilling aspects of my call to ministry. A pastoral, listening presence is one of my strengths. In addition, I have training in conflict mediation, complex grief situations, palliative care response and suicide prevention. Lately I held a leadership role in trail initiative called HELP (Healthy End of Life Planning). We assessed needs and created comprehensive programs and workshops on grieving, caring for the caregiver, estate planning and more. I look forward to sharing this and more with the parish as we serve God together in this community at this time.

The Reverend Chung Yan (JoAnne) Lam

Associate Incumbent of All Saints’ Westboro (she/her/hers)

The Reverend Chung Yan Lam began serving as the Associate Incumbent of our Parish on May 12, 2022.

She comes to us as an active expression of our full communion between The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada. We honour this opportunity to be a witness to the ecumenical partnership between our Christian traditions. Read more about the Waterloo Declaration, the foundational document on our full communion relationship with commentary from the Anglican Church of Canada.

Ecumenically, Rev. Lam serves as a Vice-President of the Canadian Council of Churches, representing the ELCIC and also on the Christian Council of the Capital Area. She has served as the co-chair of the Anglican Lutheran National Worship Conference. Her activities and passion include exploring and engaging communities with ecumenism, social justice, and intercultural ministries. Children and youth ministry, biblical studies and liturgical arts are some of her interest areas.

Being a lifelong learner, Rev. Lam continues to pursue training in theological studies and beyond: First Aid Instructor, Mental Health (including suicide prevention), race literacy, musical instruments, and recipes. There will be occasions to share a meal or an afternoon tea time together, as she believes that by breaking bread, Christ is among us, engaging our uniqueness through the transformative experience of kind hospitality.

One special note is about Rev. Lam’s name. Her first name is Chung Yan (z-joong y-en) and the family name is Lam (lam). The pronunciation in the brackets reflects the Cantonese dialect. The Chinese characters look like this 林頌恩。”Chung” means praise. “Yan” means grace. Together, it means, “praising God’s grace” and her younger sister’s name (“added grace”) in combination with this one is from the John 1:16 referencing “grace upon grace.” She was born in Hong Kong and her family immigrated to Canada to the busy town of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Since then, she has moved and lived in other provinces and even in Europe for a few years.

Her ministry is supported by her family: Michał, Deborah, and Gideon.

Janet Currie-Kelk

Children and Youth Ministry Leader

Janet joined All Saints Westboro in March 2024. She previously supported the Children, Youth and Family Ministry at Kanata United Church from 2021 and continues to serve on the Youth and Young Adult Leadership team for the United Church Eastern Ontario Outaouais region.

Janet grew up in Kanata just outside Ottawa and for many years worked as a Marketing professional for various companies in Ottawa and Toronto.

Her passion for children and youth developed in her teens; along with the joy of supporting children and their families in their spiritual growth. This passion – plus a desire to deepen her understanding of Jesus and the role God has for each and every one of us – led her to complete a Diploma in Youth Ministry at the Atlantic School of Theology.

Janet loves the energy generated by children and youth, and delights in their curiosity as they ask questions, and deepen their connections with those around them and with Jesus. She is passionate about living out one’s faith in the community whether it’s supporting local missions or food banks, traveling for Habitat for Humanity or service trips, worshiping with others across the country, fundraising, or exploring God’s creation. She also enjoys dramatic pageants, musicals, Bible storytelling, singing and playing the ukulele.

When she’s not at church, you will find her cheering on her three boys who are 23, 21 and 16 and walking her dog Koko with her husband Owen. You will also find her curled up with her two cats reading something, as she loves to learn. Janet enjoys gardening, travelling near and far, practicing yoga daily, and kayaking on a lake in the summer.

How We Worship

Anglican worship is “common prayer,” using set liturgical texts printed in prayer books (The Book of Common Prayer and The Book of Alternative Services) and in the Sunday leaflet. For Anglicans, the familiar prayers repeated each Sunday allow us to enter into worship more deeply as we offer our worship and ourselves to God.

Anglican worship is biblical. Our liturgical texts are full of scripture. At each service, we hear three passages of Scripture and a psalm. The lectionary (list of readings) covers much of the Bible over a 3-year period.

Anglican worship is sacramental. We believe that God’s grace is expressed through material things – bread, wine, water, oil. The weekly Eucharist is at the heart of our lives, giving us food for the journey. It brings us into communion with God and with each other. Baptism and other sacramental rites mark important moments in our religious life, both as individuals and as members of a community.

Anglican worship involves both clergy and lay people. The priest presides at the altar. Lay people (men, women and children) assist. They read scripture lessons, lead in the intercessions, assist with the Eucharist and lead in the singing. We all participate by joining in hymns and prayers. Anglican worship is a community activity.

You will see in a central position at the front of the church the altar, the table at which the Eucharist (Holy Communion), is celebrated every Sunday. You will see to one side the font where baptisms take place 4 or 5 times a year. Baptism is the way that we receive the gift of new life and become part of the Christian community. You will see stories from scripture in stained glass, and crosses and other symbols of the Christian faith. You will see the colour of the season in the altar hangings and vestments.

Anglican Theology

Anglican theology is shaped by three factors: Scripture, Tradition (the collected wisdom of the church over centuries) and Reason (God’s gift of understanding and balanced judgment). We use all three to look at our own experience as we try to discern God’s will. Anglicans place a high value on scholarship and study.

Within the Anglican Communion, there is a variety of views and practices. We see doctrine as something that is not fixed for all time but is always changing and developing in new times and places.

Anglican prayers reflect our strong belief in the goodness of God’s creation. We hold an optimistic view of humanity. We believe that we are part of God’s good creation and are confident in God’s plan to bring us to our full potential as members of God’s human family. We believe that we are the stewards of creation, called to care for the natural world. We are called to take responsibility for the social order, to ensure that our society is a just and welcoming place for all people. We believe that God calls the church into being in order to do God’s work, transforming culture and making the world a place where God is known and God’s purpose fulfilled.

In the parish library, you will find books about Anglican history and practice. Two books that will tell you more about the Anglican Church are This Anglican Church of Ours and Meet the Family: Welcome to the Anglican Church of Canada. Both books are by Dr. Patricia Bays, an active All Saints’ parishioner.

Governance

All Christians are called to bring to others the good news of God’s love. The baptismal covenant (in the Book of Alternative Services, p. 158-9) describes our call. Out of this ministry of all Christians, some people are called and ordained to special ministries in the church. The Anglican Church has three historic orders of ordained ministry: bishops, priests and deacons. All orders of ministry are open to both women and men.

The bishop has oversight of the church in a particular diocese, a geographical grouping of many parishes. Bishops ordain and appoint clergy; they celebrate baptisms and confirmations. They chair meetings of diocesan synods (gatherings of clergy and laity to transact the business of the diocese.) They meet with other bishops nationally and internationally. Priests are ordained and authorized to baptize, to celebrate the Eucharist, to hear confession and pronounce the absolution. They are responsible for the life of the parish and share with other clergy responsibility for the life of the diocese.

A deacon is one ordained to a ministry of service to others. All priests are first ordained as deacons. Some choose to remain deacons permanently, with a ministry of service.

Lay people assist the ordained clergy in the running of the parish and in the pastoral ministries that are offered. Some lay people help during worship services as readers of scripture, in leading the prayers, as servers (generally ages 11 to 16), as diaconal ministers, and as those helping to administer at Communion.

Each week we gather at All Saints’ for worship, for community and support, and for mission and outreach to our community and beyond. At the annual Vestry Meeting in February, we elect wardens, delegates to synod, and members of the parish council. This group takes responsibility for looking after the church buildings, finances and programs.

We belong to the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa and send representatives to synod to discuss concerns and make decisions about the life of the Anglican Church in this area. As a diocese, we send representatives to Provincial Synod (regional gathering of dioceses mostly in the province of Ontario) and the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, which makes decisions about our life as an Anglican church in this country.

Our Contemplative Garden

If you stroll by All Saints’ Anglican Church with First United Church, you will be able to pause and rest on one of the benches in our courtyard garden. Sheltered by healthy linden trees and made beautiful by the many shrubs and flowers which frame the courtyard, this place has become a haven for neighbours and strangers, pets and baby strollers.

Tucked into the east side of the property is a new garden which we call the Healing Forest, dedicated to the memory of the children of the residential schools. To acknowledge our relationship with the Indigenous people of Canada, we have set aside a small green space for peaceful reflection.

Follow the gravel path into this space where you may rest on one of the rocks at the centre. We hope you will find this a place for contemplation, prayer, or conversation with a friend.

Green Living

All Saints’ Westboro has a history of concern for the environment and love of Creation. The parish received a Green Church Award from the Ottawa Diocese in 2001, and an Ottawa Lady Bug Award for Natural Garden Care in 2006. In 2004, Corporation of ASW contracted John G. Cooke & Associates, Consulting Engineers to conduct a comprehensive assessment of buildings, note deficiencies, and recommend and prioritize repairs. Their report, which also addressed public safety and operational costs, and an Electricity and Energy Audit conducted by the EnviroCentre in 2007, provide guidance for the Property Committee’s on-going stewardship.

To date we have installed a tankless hot water heater (2008), converted lighting to more energy-efficient forms (2010-13), insulated the roof of the chapel in conjunction with the installation of a Decra 50-year steel roof on the Chapel and church hall complex (2010), completed a program of window replacement (2012), and installed new high efficiency gas-fired boilers in conjunction with the renewal of the radiant in-floor heating system in the sanctuary (2013).

In the last 2 years, working with the Faith and the Common Good organization we have achieved the light green and medium green certification. We now have a group working on the highest certification (dark green).