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What's New?

USE THIS PAGE as an easy way to find the interesting little corners of the website that may have arrived when you weren't looking... or that you may have missed...

February 19, 2025
Some time ago, I created a section of my website, called “Faith & Culture,” in which I would post some opinion pieces, from a faith perspective, about current events.  It has six items, the most recent of which I posted today: an essay that points to the fact that, in 2025, when global tensions are dominating headlines, we ought to be thinking about how a person can live with quality when disaster strikes.
April, 2021
I should mention here that, at the end of 2020, I wrote a summary of our year, and posted it online.

I have begun to maintain a collection of my sermons with several recent ones now uploaded.
October, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic hit close to home; did Heather have it?  Did I have it?  On October 11, I began what amounted to a day-to-day log of our encounter with the Manitoba Public Health System.

I also uploaded the text of a recent sermon: “The Church – A Hospital for Sinners”
June 23, 2020
After leaving this website more or less untouched for a long time, today I posted a personal update, covering the period: July, 2019 to June, 2020.  As well, I posted a sermon on the Doctrine of the Trinity, which I gave, during a COVID-19, pandemic-compliant, in-person Eucharist – at St. Margaret’s Church, Winnipeg.
August 1, 2018
The Biblical book of Joshua is incredibly violent.  Today, I posted an essay, reflecting on the conquest of what is now called the “Holy Land.”  How is it that the constant slaughter, described in those pages of the Bible, can be acclaimed as the work of God?  And, is there an implication about where a Jewish “homeland” should be located?
April 26, 2018
St. Margaret’s parish asked me to give a lecture on Islam.  It is something I have often done, since 1989 when I studied the world’s second-largest religion as a university project.  The lecture, entitled “Living Alongside Islam,” is, essentially, “Islam for Non-Muslims.”  I announced the event, both in FaceBook and here, on my website.  After the event, I changed the announcement to be a reflection on how it went.
December 8, 2017
A friend of mine was reading Margaret MacMillan's book, The War That Ended Peace, and became more and more struck by the similarities between Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and a certain Twenty-first Century President of the United States.  He wrote a short essay about the parallels, entitled “Portrait of a World Leader,” and I asked for, and received, his permission to publish it here.
June 26, 2017
In May and June of 2017, Heather and I went on a cross-continent trip, all to do with our grandchildren – our oldest, Markus, in Eastern Canada, and our newest, Annabelle Jane Green, in California.  I wrote up the trip, calling it “A Grandchild Odyssey,” and posted it online.  The start of the adventure is posted here, and probably the most amusing section, entitled “How Grandad has a baby,” is posted here.
November 11, 2016
The 2016 U.S. Presidential election unleashed such a barrage of complex and hostile emotions among my acquaintances far and wide, that it put me in mind of a Remembrance Day speech that I gave in 2015.  So I posted it online today.  The main point of the address is this: the people who died in the world wars of the 20th Century did not give their lives so that we can be free to hate, to hurt, or to do whatever we like.  Sometimes “freedom” actually means NOT doing what you please.
May 20, 2016
I posted an opinion piece that reflects on two issues together: the relationship of modern Christians to Indigenous peoples, and the current controversies about changing gender norms – particularly same-sex marriage.
July 7, 2015
Most of the changes on this website over the past six months have been on the personal side.  Two trips are described: one to California over Christmas, 2014, and one to the Caribbean island of Grenada in February, 2015; there was a concert, a brand-new granddaughter, and a dreadful late-winter cold.  Currently I’m once more at our cottage, so you might find an update or two here.  Finally, I've added a few pictures to the family photo album.
November 4, 2014
My personal blog now has three new additions – all dealing with time that I spent alone, in a very wet and cold autumn, at the cottage:
  1. Repairing an outhouse roof;
  2. Running a chainsaw on a steep and slippery hill; and
  3. Doing some very wet work.
September 10, 2014
There have been several developments in this website recently:
April 21, 2014
A visitor to this website wrote asking the following question: “The New Testament speaks of a loving and merciful God, who demands the torture and death of his own Son as ‘payment’ for the sins of humanity.  But, what kind of a loving Father needs to exact this kind of revenge?”  I replied with an essay entitled “Sacrificial Atonement," – posted online today.
December 5, 2013
As the winter of 2013-2014 began – a winter that turned out to be really intense, throughout North America – my wife and I took a road trip through the Rocky Mountains.  This is an account of the adventure.  It’s called, “A Winter’s Trail.”
November 30, 2013
I uploaded a sermon entitled “Music that draws us into the Heart of God,” that was given in May, 2010, when a noted Winnipeg Organist and Choir Director was about to retire.  One friend of mine says that this is “...the best sermon I ever heard.”  You can judge for yourself.
November 25, 2013
Two new definitions were added to the Glossary of Anglican Clergy Titles:    Provost, and Lay Canon.
October 5, 2013
I’ve managed to bring my perssonal blog up to date, with three major entries since the Spring of 2013:
April 11, 2013
Further entries in the Glossary of Anglican Clergy Titles were made or updated today: Parson, and Vicar.
January 30, 2013
My wife and I have now completed a third ocean cruise, this one going from San Francisco to Buenos Aires around the southern tip of South America.  The blog of this adventure consists of an Introduction and synopsis, a contents page, an index, a photo album, and the narrative itself, which begins here.
July 18, 2012
Prompted by some email correspondents who visited the “Anglican Priest” section of this website, today I completed an article entitled, “How do I know if I’m called to be an Anglican Priest?” and posted it online.
April 4, 2012
A couple of pages have been added to the “Neat Stuff” section of this website.  Today I posted a set of instructions for doing the Hokey Pokey, written in the style of William Shakespeare.  Then, a little earlier in the year I posted, with permission, the funny but unsettling Macleans article that tells the story of the wreck of the Costa Concordia as if it were an Italian opera!
December 23, 2011
Many people have come to this website looking for information about what the day-to-day life of an Anglican priest is like.  Today I completed a full-length essay on the topic, complete with a list of the most common duties of an Anglican parish priest, and a separate list of skills and abilities that priests tend to need.
December 1, 2011
Heather and I recently went on a phenomenal trip to the Mediterranean.  Mostly it was an ocean cruise, but it began with a stopover in Cambridge, England, and ended with four days exploring the city of Rome.  A full narrative of the adventure was posted to this website today.  There are four components: the story itself, with illustrations; an extensive Photo Album; a Contents page that you can use to pick and choose what sections you might want to read over again; and an "Entry/Exit" page that allows you to browse to other segments – either earlier or later – of my “Chronicles.”
October 30, 2011
This has been an amazing year in our personal life.  My wife and I have been on two separate ocean cruises, and as if that wasn't enough I lived near the Arctic Circle for almost a month!  Today I posted a simple page celebrating this remarkable triple-crown year.
June 7, 2011
Quite a number of people – wondering what kind of ordination gift to give someone – have found their way to my Priest FAQ page.  It got to the point of being a “frequently” asked question, so I created an article about appropriate things to give ordinands.  You can find it here.
May 28, 2011
A new page was created today, in the Anglican Priest section of the website.  It’s called “Glossary of Anglican Clergy Titles,” and it lists and defines almost thirty different, and (to the layperson) exotic titles and offices that are associated with Anglican clergy.  Want to know what an Incumbent is? or an Archdeacon? or a Metropolitan?  This is where you can look it up.
May 23, 2011
A new page was created today, consisting of unusual, odd, or rarely asked questions about the Anglican priesthood.  The page is in large measure a response to the reports from Google Analytics that list the type of queries that have led people to my pages (see the origins of the Priest FAQ section, March 30, 2011, below).  Some of the queries are by no means “frequent,” but they are interesting, and worth an answer.

As well, another Priest FAQ subsection was completed.  This one is on the topic of the requirement that clergy say Morning and Evening Prayer daily throughout their lives.  Click here to see the article.
May 17, 2011
From April 14 to May 9, 2011, I lived in Churchill, Manitoba, filling in as parish priest for the Anglican congregation in that town.  It was a normal “clergy supply” assignment, but it was also quite an adventure, since Churchill is in the far North and has an extreme environment.  While the world that I normally live in was experiencing the return of warm weather, I was shovelling through snow drifts and going on a dog sled ride.  Today I have posted the whole experience online, and you can access it here.  There is also a 36 picture photo album.
May 6, 2011
A new Priest FAQ subsection was completed today (see below for an explanation of ‘Priest FAQ’).  This subsection is on the topic of divorced Anglican clergy.
March 30, 2011
In December, 2010, I began writing a new page called “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” about being an Anglican Priest.  I did this as a result of installing Google Analytics on this website a couple of months earlier (see “A Hidden Website Camera,” my Chronicles diary entry for December 2, 2010).

You see, Google Analytics was indicating that the second most visited corner of my website was (and still is) the page that speaks of my vocation as a priest.  In addition to showing me the number of “hits” (visits and visitors) the page was getting, it also showed me the type of search phrases that people were using to land on the page: simple questions, such as “What is an Anglican priest?” or, suprisingly often, “How does one address an Anglican priest?”

So I started the FAQ page.  It has since grown to be quite a big project, driven always by the kind of questions posed by googling visitors.  Today I completed a section of questions church leaders might want to ask when interviewing a candidate for employment as a parish priest.
February 24, 2011
Well, as a continuation of what started to happen on February 12, it seems as if I have overstayed my welcome at www.mts.net.  They feel that I have too many pages and pictures, so their machinery has stopped allowing me to upload or fix anything!  Very frustrating!  Therefore, O faithful visitor, I have moved the entire site to a web-hosting company that doesn’t have such limitations.  My only hope is that you don’t even notice, or if you do, that the change is a mere curiosity and utterly painless.

ps. If you take an interest in such things, my new web host is called “Host Papa.”
February 12, 2011
I was uploading the latest chapter in the diary of our Caribbean cruise when I got a notice saying that I was forbidden to upload anything more.  Apparently my website had reached 40 megabytes, the maximum disk space allowed!  Well, that’s a milestone, of sorts.  Who would have thought!??
So, I had to delete something in order to get that new page (with all its images) online; and from here on, I guess I’ll have to delete more of the older sections as I put the new ones up!  Such is life.
January 5, 2011
I went through the entire Photo Album to make navigating it more intuitive.  The "Previous" and "Next" buttons on each page of the album now make more sense [to me, anyway].  I added a couple of new pictures while I was at it.
December 1, 2010
On October 20, I began to work with “Google Analytics™,” a service that tracks the number of visitors to a website.  In the six weeks that followed, I found that 978 different “visitors” (ie: computers) have clicked somewhere on my website.  As I become more adept at working with the reports, I will probably tell you about them in my blog, but for sure they will affect the way I set up some of these pages.
October 19, 2010
The latest installation in my cottage diary was completed in September, and begins here.
August 24, 2010
In June, 2008, I accepted the position of “Interim Incumbent” in the parish of St. Luke, Winnipeg.  For a while my life continued on a fairly pleasant and predictable track, so that I was able to organize a Harwood-Jones family reunion, and a little later performed in concert on the clarinet, both of which events I posted on this website.  Then, for almost two years, I posted nothing here, nothing whatsoever.

Now I have retired once more, and you will begin to see a little movement on these pages.  The Currents section is starting to flow again; new photos are appearing in the Photo Album; and items are being added to the collection of Neat Stuff.
November 8, 2006
Upgrading this website is becoming an enjoyable ‘retirement hobby!’  Since the spring of 2006, I’ve been through the “Oxbow” section, and have been bringing the earliest entries up to the current look and feel.  Anything earlier than September 23, 2001, has been adjusted.  As well, stale Oxbows have been removed.

Of course, I continue to treat the “Currents” section as a kind of “blog,” and after a bizarre adventure with Bell Canada in early October, I wrote it up for this website.  The narrative is deliberately funny, and has begun to get a lot of “hits.”  Readers may even find it as hilarious as the “tree” narrative of 2002.

Speaking of Bell Canada, I found a horrendous Bell story on the Web, and just now added it to the “Neat Stuff” section.

Finally, just to tantalize you, I’m now working on an expansion of the “Anglican Priest” section, where I intend to post some essays on religious topics.  The first entry is entitled: “Death – enemy or friend.”   (as of July 2010 this project remained incomplete)

Stay tuned.  In fact, drop in to “Currents” or “Anglican Priest” from time to time, because new entries there will not always be reflected here.
August 7, 2005
Talk about “What’s new!”
In 2005 I retired from full-time ordained parish ministry!  A wholly new way of life is upon me.  I put a few notes about this enormous step in the Currents/Oxbows section, but my main thrust was to make a brand new Albwost Canada section - where I hope people will go if they wish me to come and give some lectures (something I hope to do plenty of in retirement).  As well, I completed work on some unfinished sections in the cottage saga - most notably the hilarious day when I paddled back and forth across the lake fourteen times!
Oct 1, 2004
“Sabbatical” (from “Sabbath,” the divinely-ordained rest from normal activities) - a time of refreshment and renewal, both mentally and spiritually.
The first day of my Sabbatical I had an unexpected stay in a motel, and to pass the time, I began an online diary.  Almost every day since, I would put one or two highlights on the web.
Knowing that few would want to read it all, I went on to create a calendar, where a visitor might see at a glance what entries have been completed, and, with a simple click, visit a particular entry wihout reading everything that went before.
Another kind of referral page seemed a logical addition - where a visitor can see the whole Sabbatical’s itinerary, and link to pieces of it as desired.
Some might wish to entitle this web log “Travels with Ol’ Harry,” because a distinct feature of the first month has been coping with a very elderly car whose last valiant duty in its long career has been to take me from Winnipeg to Toronto to Québec.
May 24, 2004
A pleasant day off with lots of tinkering on the site - mostly “look & feel” stuff, and the deletion of really stale items.  In the process I noticed that I never told you about putting an essay online!  An in-depth study of Christianity and Islam, I wrote it in the early 1990’s for submission to a course on Inter-Religious Dialogue at the University of Manitoba.  The title is Sacred Violence - in Christianity and Islam.  Sometime in 2003 I began to put it online.  The process is time-consuming, because nearly sixty pages with footnotes have to be scanned and put into HTML, so it’s not yet finished.
December 8, 2003
The Chronicles and Oxbows sections continue to be kept current.  As well, I’ve written and posted an essay, from a priest’s point of view, on the ingredients of a “good” wedding or funeral.  Finally, I’ve begun to upgrade the “look and feel” of one of the oldest sections in this website - the “Neat Stuff” material - adding a [to me] hugely funny email I got in response to my account of an August, 2003 bicycling adventure.
December 9, 2002
I’ve begun to upgrade the look and feel of the whole site.  Different sections will have their own colour coding, while the navigation - for which I used different concepts over the years, is being made more uniform.  Don’t expect everything to have the new look all at once, though.  This site is just a hobby, and I only tinker with look and feel when all the high priority things in life (work, housekeeping, getting ready for a wedding, etc.) are done!

The most recent upgrade was done on one of the oldest sections: the “Computer Geek of the 4th Order” Section.
September 9, 2001
The vast majority of the website is in the form I want, so not much change is expected for the forseeable future.  However, the Currents and Oxbow sections of the site continue to grow, with various sagas and pictures.  Check in there from time to time.  There may well be something new.
January 7, 2001
Since October 2000 I have made a few entries in the Currents and Oxbow sections of the site, including some photographs from our trip to Vienna. As well, I posted a paper on 'Liturgy in the Time of Richard Hooker' which I presented at the University of Manitoba November 29, 2000. I've done a bit of detail tidying at various points in the site.
October 6, 2000
... worked on the photo album, adding a picture of the extended family, when we all gathered in our kitchen at the time of Mom's funeral; and a picture of Rachael Skydiving, August, 2000.
June 18, 2000
... it's Father's day, and I added a sentimental photo to the Photo Album
May, 2000
... added several items to the Neat Stuff section.

March, 2000
... posted a brief tribute to my Mother, Lorna, who died March 16.

February, 2000
I did a thorough house-cleaning, and changed the appearance of the main page.

Behind the scenes I was actually rebuilding the entire site from the ground up... in "frames." It was a lot of work, and I had almost finished, when I thought it might be good to see what it looked like on a few other platforms.

What a shock! On my old Powerbook 180, most of the new navigation buttons were invisible, and the rest of the material was misshapen and oversized. Then I checked it on a couple of Windows 95 Pentium machines. Although the graphics were in colour, the beautiful layout apparent on my own machine had been distorted into something crammed and ugly!

Sigh.

I tinkered, shrank navigation buttons and pictures, and tried again, with very little improvement.

In the end, I left the site in its non-"frames" format, but used some of the new graphics to spruce things up. So, my visitors are now greeted with bright yellow buttons and a blue gradient background - not to mention a colour portrait of yours truly - where once there was a neutral background and a cartoon drawing of me!

The complete overhaul also helped me find stale links, and a few other details of the site which weren't working at their best. Those were cleaned up.

Enjoy your browsing!
G3 Pbk  
December, 1999
A moment I had long been waiting for came on October 30, 1999. That's the day I acquired a brand new Powerbook G3. It is wonderful, but so far advanced from my previous, 1995 model machine, that there was an intense learning curve! It took me more than a month to get up and running efficiently, but, by December I was able to do a little website housework. I upgraded the family page, put a detailed biography of my daughter, Ariel, on the site, and wrote up some recent news in the Currents section.

September 3, 1999
I amused myself while on vacation writing a few illustrated vacation adventures for the Currents section of my website.
In a very limited way, I have begun adding photos to the site.  Chris scanned some photos for me while I was visiting him at his home, and I posted them online in my nascent photo section.

May 17, 1999
Sympatico’s magazine, NetLife printed an article about my website!  When they phoned to interview me, I thought the piece would be simultaneously published online, but I was wrong.  It was to remain exclusively in print format.
So I wrote to Peter Giffen, the magazine editor, and to Kevin Brooker (author of the article), and they gave me permission to post the article on this website.  So, for your delectation, click here! Thanks, Kevin and Peter!

August 14, 1998
How did I spend my summer vacation? Part of it was spent enabling online credit card ordering of my book, A Little Bible Handbook. Check out the website of Albwost Books, the desktop publishing business through which I distribute the book.

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June 29, 1998
Began the process of dismantling the “St.Chad” portion of my website, having been appointed to the parish of St.George, Winnipeg. If you had ever bookmarked one or more parts of St.Chad’s website and came back after September 1998, you'll either find a "404 - Not Found," or a "Sorry!" notice on the more frequently accessed URL's.  The current website for St.Chad’s is located here.

November 12, 1997
Made a new section entitled "Chronicles." This may turn out to be the most personal section of the website. Glimpses of me... useful particularly for friends and acquaintances to whom I may not have written for some time, but who are curious about what I've been up to.  This is where I ended up putting my resumé. The "Currents" section functions almost like a diary, although it will not be as detailed as one, nor will it be updated with manic frequency.  Maybe every couple of months or so.

February 24, 1997
I began to develop a whole new section about life as an ordained person. It can be found leading from the word "Anglican Priest" on my main home page.
The section includes a list of prayers that mean a lot to me, and a position statement on some of the burning issues facing the church today....

January 25, 1997
The creation of this "What's new??" page... I hope it tantalises the curious and rewards the regular visitor....

January 17, 1997
I posted my formal Resumé... imagine, a whole life story in a few cryptic lines!

January 13, 1997
Pop the champagne! Cheer! Or, stand up and sing a hymn! This day saw the official launch of my online Bible Study resource, “A Little Bible Handbook.”

 
April 15, 1996 - This Website is Launched
This day is my first day as an amateur webmaster. I have made a basic home page, including with it a cartoon that had once been drawn of me by Linda McIntosh (a member of my parish, and a talented artist, but also a noted Manitoba politician).
(Thus began my life as an amateur HTML editor! That home page remained, virtually unchanged, to December, 1999, when the arrival of powerful new tools made some serious variants possible.)
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