The Rev. Elizabeth Sipos Reflects on Collins First Nation
Seventeen years ago, the Rev. Elizabeth Sipos spent a summer serving in the Diocese of Moosonee, ministering across a six-point parish that included Ogoki, Nakina, Longlac, Jellicoe, Geraldton, and Collins First Nation.
This week, as wildfires continue to devastate communities across Northwestern Ontario, Collins is among those that have been consumed by the flames.
For Sipos, the news has brought back vivid memories of a place and people she has never forgotten.
“Collins is accessible either by boat, floatplane, or train,” she recalls. “I took the train, which slowed down enough for us passengers to safely disembark.”
Among her memories is the small Anglican church where the community gathered for worship. Built of logs and heated by two wood stoves, the church’s outdoor bell called the faithful together each Sunday. According to Sipos, the church has since been deconsecrated and its paintings removed, but the memories of worship and community remain.
As Regional Dean of the Thunder Bay–North Shore Deanery, Sipos is now helping coordinate the Diocese of Algoma’s response to the wildfire emergency. Yet amid the practical work of organizing donations and supporting evacuees, her thoughts remain with the people of Collins and the many neighbouring communities facing unimaginable loss.
“I invite your prayers,” she wrote this week, “for those who are displaced and those preparing to evacuate, for all service personnel fighting the fire and coordinating rescue efforts, for the communities who offer hospitality, and for all God’s creatures.”
She also asks for prayers for rain and weather conditions that will slow and extinguish the fires, and for the strength and hope that communities will need when the time comes to return home and begin rebuilding.
As Anglicans across the Diocese respond with donations, practical assistance, and prayer, Sipos’s reflection is a reminder that disasters are never simply headlines. They are deeply personal, touching communities, friendships, and places that continue to shape our lives long after we have left them.