Born and raised in Cox’s Cove, the Very Rev. Park retired from service in August after achieving the rank of commander and is now the Dean of the Cathedral at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Corner Brook.
Growing up, he said the church played a vital role in his life, with much of his youth spent as a server or member of the choir at St. Nicholas Anglican Church in his hometown.
He left Newfoundland for university in 1978, fully intending to become an Anglican priest. After several years of ministry in St. John’s and Plum Point, Park was eager for another challenge, something he admits the military provided.
Through his career as a chaplin, Park was a part of the Canadian Navy’s contingent in the Gulf War in 1990 and later served in such places as Bosnia-Herzegovina. He also played a role in supervising other chaplins and offering support to soldiers and their families in conflicts in Afghanistan, Croatia and Somalia.
During the mission in Afghanistan, Park was stationed in Germany, where he was often the first face a soldier would see when sent to hospital after being wounded in combat.
He also helped prepare families for the shock of seeing their once athletic, vibrant loved ones left with missing limbs and horrific injuries.
“They had a son who maybe a month before left home able to do anything physically and now he might be a triple amputee,” Park said. “It was tough, challenging work and you really had to have a good pastoral sense.”
Park said his experiences changed him forever, although while serving he relied upon his faith to protect him from harm.
“I just like to leave my protection in God’s hands,” he said. “I’ve got what I think is a pretty simple, firm faith. I never stopped to think about the danger ... I just carried on and did the work I was there to do.”
Now settled at home with his wife, Nancy, Park said he’s ready for the task of approaching his ministry in a different way in order to meet the challenges facing a modern church.
Park said the days of the church being the centre on a community are gone and that new ideas are needed in order to remain relevant in a modern age.
He said he’s hopeful his unique perspective will help as he tries to rebuild the relationship the church once had with the community.
“I’m coming back as a different person with a whole bunch of life experience and a worldview that sometimes causes me to see things a little differently than someone who’s lived here all their lives,” he said.
“The mission isn’t just to fill the pews — the mission of the church is to tell people that God loves them and to live as though you believe it.”
One initiative he hopes is a start of this process is a partnership with the WestRock Community centre whereby children and families can attend a camp which is run by the church.
“There’s going to be relationships built between them and us,” he said. “We’re not asking for anything in return, we just want participation.”
In a world in which social media has largely replaced face-to-face connections, Park said such initiatives are vital in helping re-establish relationships within the community, as well as with Jesus.
“I think they achieve the opposite of what they try to achieve,” he said of social media sites. “You can have nine hundred birthday greetings on Facebook ... but it isn’t as good as someone who bakes you a cake and visits you. It’s all about relationships. That might be where the church can play a role in the future.”
