Members of the Anglican parish of St. Aidan and St. Bartholomew have been appointed a new rector, Rev. Jason Pollick, who will serve as interim priest of the Gibsons church.
Pollick stepped in to the role on Aug. 1, replacing Rev. Peter van der Leelie.
With St. Bart's since 2006, van der Leelie, and his wife Nancy, made the move to Brandon, Man. earlier this year to act as rector of more than one parish.
Pollick hails from Quebec City, where he was born and raised. He describes himself as one of the last of a dying breed of anglophone Quebecers.
Although Pollick moved to the Coast to fulfill the position at St. Bart's, Pollick gently chuckled that it was a woman who brought him out here.
"I met my fiancée, who is originally from Vancouver, in Halifax at the Anglican Church's General Synod last year," he said. "She lives in Vancouver and we have to do a little commuting here and there, but she was largely the reason I moved here."
Pollick comes to the Coast with experience. Ordained in 2008, Pollick was worked as what he describes as a transitional deacon.
"It's where one intends to continue to priesthood, but you go through a period of kind of like being an apprentice, usually done under a senior priest," said Pollick, who was previously the rector of the Greater Parish of Gaspé. "I was ordained in the diocese of Quebec, which is not very populous. But moving on in Quebec, I eventually hit the ground running and was acting largely as a parish priest."
On top of his experience with the Anglican Church, Pollick has a lengthy academic background, including holding a master's degree in anthropology and a certificate in addictions counselling.
As for becoming a reverend, Pollick said it was a calling, having an experience as a young man where he found himself lying in bed one night, unable to sleep, and was washed over with what he called "a feeling of complete certainty."
"I didn't come from a churchy family, so I wasn't the only one shocked when I announced I wanted to become a priest," Pollock said.
Pollick may have landed on the Coast only recently, but he said he is already settling in.
In addition to getting acquainted with the ferry commuting, Pollick laughed when he said he is still getting used to deer being a traffic impediment.
"Other than that, I am adjusting well. I find the people in Gibsons very friendly, very open-minded," he said.
