From the Rector s Desk

Transcription

1 LENT 2018 VOLUME 12, ISSUE 1 From the Rector s Desk Dear Friends of St James: As I write my mind is wandering over the highlights of the last year from new asphalt to new shingles - we have accomplished many things together. At the end of February, we will also hold our Annual Vestry meeting during which we officially review the business and other events of the last year and plan for the year to come. One of the big pieces of the Vestry Puzzle is the review of the audited financial statements from 2017, followed by a discussion of the budget for In many ways, our audited financial statements affirm what we already know. They are a historical statement of our parish s finances over the previous calendar year. They tell us what we did financially. CONTENTS: 2. Where do you Fit? 4.Christmas at St. James 5.The Outreach Program at St. James 6.Good Friday Anthem 7.Lenten Calendar On the other hand, our budget forms a record of what we hope to do over the upcoming calendar year. Each week, after we receive the Eucharist, we stand together and proclaim Glory to God, whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Have you ever considered our annual budget to be an expression of our faith that God is working through us, in our parish and our community? One of the other important pieces of vestry is the election of officers Wardens, Deputy Wardens, Advisory Board Members, Synod Representatives, etc. These important roles are some of the ways in which people offer their time and talent to the service of their parish. I would encourage you to consider these opportunities carefully. Whether you are allowing your name to stand or not, please pray for those who are. I am often reminded of a friend who says that you can tell what s important to a person by reading two books their date book and their cheque book. Each year, Vestry encourages us to take time to consider how we spend our time and our money as a part of God s Church. Many of you serve your parish church faithfully and, often, in ways that go unseen. Thank you so very much for all that you continue to do! If you are new to St James, or if you are considering serving in a new capacity, I would be happy to have a chat and answer any questions that you have. I look forward to seeing how God will work amongst the people of St James over the next year. Peace, Fr Greg Page 1

2 Faith, Trust, Hope, Confidence, Love and Attitude Once all villagers decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That's FAITH. When you throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That's TRUST. Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but still we set the alarms to wake up. That's HOPE. We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future. That's CONFIDENCE. We see the world suffering, but still we get married and have children. That's LOVE. On an old man's shirt was written a sentence 'I am not 80 years old; I am sweet 16 with 64 years of experience.' That's ATTITUDE. Where do you fit? By Diane Allengame We all know that things have changed at church, and we wonder why many of our children and grandchildren no longer make church a priority. At a recent workshop I was quite intrigued with the following description of church goers, and non-goers. The term children is used to mean the next generation, not a specific family relationship. Institution Builders the people who lived through WW2. They see organization as the key to affecting change and making things better. They were taught how to organize for success. They have tremendous loyalty to institutions. These are the folks who stepped up in communities to create everything from community halls, sports teams, opportunities for youth, and civic groups such as Lions etc. They understand the church to be the highest and best expression of an institution and within that context formed groups, auxiliaries, did fundraising and so on. This generation is nearly gone. Institutional Maintainers -- children of the builders. People who are now 'nearly killing themselves' (not my words!) to keep things going due to their loyalty to the Builders, and their experience growing up with institutions. Institutional Destroyers -- children of the maintainers. These are the folks who were exposed to church (i.e. through Sunday School) but didn't find enough relevance to stay. If they still attend church they don t have denominational loyalty and are likely to church shop. Many have opted out, found other things to do. These people like to know the church is still there, might support it financially, often want to see their grandkids baptised but more for tradition s sake than a deep seated Christian desire for the sacrament. Generally are not actively involved. Institutional Ignorers -- people mostly in their 30s/40s who just don't 'see' church. They didn t go to Sunday School. Church is not part of their vocabulary, not part of their life. Don t know the language or rituals. However, these people actively seek out spirituality through things like meditation. They understand the need for support, counselling etc. but do not think about church as the source of those benefits. Page 2

3 Institutional Builders -- more or less the millennials -- want to make life better, tend to be liberal thinkers, passionate about change but may lack some of the organizational skills that the Builders had. They see things very differently than the other generations. They are skeptical about institutions, find churches to be hypocritical etc. They are highly individualistic, making connections via social media. There are common elements across these groups, most importantly, a deep seated need to connect with God, to find hope and acceptance and love. However, how each of the groups wants to experience that, and how the church has to work to connect with them, is radically different. So you can see that coming up with one great idea is not nearly good enough. All the mainstream denominations are experiencing the same thing to a greater or lesser degree. So where do you fit? Do you see your children or other people you know in one of these groups? Knowing this, how might you talk about your church to them? Food for thought! Saying Grace - a "gentle reminder for all of us" A visiting Priest was attending a men s breakfast in Ohio Farm County. He asked one of the impressive older farmers in attendance to say grace that morning. After all were seated, the older farmer began Lord, I hate buttermilk. The Priest opened one eye and wondered to himself where this was going. Then the farmer loudly proclaimed, Lord, I hate lard. Now the Priest was overly worried. However without missing a beat, the farmer prayed on, And Lord, you know I don t care much for raw white flour. Just as the Priest was ready to stand and stop everything, the farmer continued, But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them up, I do love fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up we don t like, when life gets hard, when we just don t understand what you are saying to us, we just need to relax and wait till You are done mixing, and probably it will be something even better than biscuits. Amen. Page 3

4 Christmas at St. James St. James ready for Christmas Services thanks to Chancel Guild Members. Also featured are the new altar tapestries thanks to David Finch donated in memory of his mother. Courtesy Christina Heighton News and Views is a newsletter for the people of St. James Church. It is published four times per year Lent, Pentecost, Fall and Advent. For submissions in the newsletter: Any member of the Parish of St. James may submit an article for the newsletter. To do so, newsletter@stjamescaledoneast.ca or leave your articles in writing or on a CD in the newsletter box at the church office. Articles are based on space availability and relevance. Thank you for your submission. Donna Davies, Editor Next Newsletter: Pentecost 2018 Deadline: May 6, 2018 Publication: May 20, A helping hand doesn t need to be big in size. It is the helping attitude that matters the most Page 4

5 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:9-13 Bell Tower Boutique It s been about a year since we opened the doors to the public and since then we have generated nearly $1000 for various outreach projects. In order to keep things moving ahead we are looking for a Coordinator. No previous retail experience is necessary! The Coordinator will set up the schedule for coverage on days the boutique is open, work a shift from time to time, help with pricing, keep the bulletin board up to date, make signs etc. and work with Donna on promotions. It requires about four hours a month of your time and will make a real difference to our ability to help others through Outreach. Interested in learning more? Please talk to Diane Allengame. Donations for the Boutique Spring cleaning beckons! This is a great time to lighten the load and de-clutter. Any of the following items would be great for the boutique: Spring décor items such as Easter wreaths, Easter eggs Garden décor items Candle lanterns Jewellery Gently used purses, bags and scarves in spring colours Popular fiction Glassware As always we ask that items be sparkling clean and free from chips and nicks. Thank you to everyone who helped with our Christmas season; for your donations and your shopping The Outreach Program at St. James The scope of our Outreach activities is captured by the phrase, Here, Near and Far, Before Christmas we concentrated on the Near aspect with a campaign of support for Choices, The Bridge and Caledon Community Services. We would again like to thank everyone who contributed to making the Advent Giving Tree such a success. Here is a reminder of those you helped: Choices Youth Shelter - provides a variety of services to homeless youth in Dufferin County, Caledon and surrounding areas. Their mission is to be a safe and supportive resource that offers homeless youth, 16 to 24 years of age, an alternative to living on the street and supports their transition to a more productive and brighter future. The Bridge - assists offenders who are discharged from institutions and returning to the GTA. Their needs can be anything from housing, obtaining identification in order to acquire proper medication, to clothing, toiletries, support groups and employment readiness programs. Caledon Community Services - Their mission is: Helping people help themselves by working creatively and responding to community needs. During Advent, many of you donated to help create some Christmas magic for needy Caledon families. Going forward into 2018: We will continue our support for: Our Foster Child, Luis, through the Arms of Jesus program. Luis is 13 years old and we will be his sponsors until he turns 18. Choices Youth Shelter. Donna Davies has sent an to everyone listing items which can be donated on a regular basis and Howard Jones put a list of these items up in the Gathering Space. It would be helpful if Page 5

6 people use this list to indicate what they have donated so that we receive many different things. Donations can be placed in the Gathering Space. Thank you to Donna and Chuck for delivering these to Choices. The Bridge. Please talk to someone on the Outreach Committee if you would be able to drive to Brampton once a month to deliver donations. We will be making a donation to The World Evangelical Fund to assist children in the Caribbean who need support after the hurricanes of Christine MacMillan, who was the guest speaker at the Women s Advent Retreat, has put us in touch with this organization and will continue to give us ideas as to how we can assist needy women and children around the world in material ways. Finally, we would like to express our thanks to the volunteers who take time every week to be in the St. James Boutique, selling items generously donated by parishioners. Money from these sales assists us in helping others Here, Near and Far. The Outreach Committee meets once a month to discuss and plan initiatives. If you have any ideas, please talk to anyone on the committee or attend one of our meetings Thank you for your support, Your Outreach Committee (Valerie, Howard, Trudy, Claire and Greg) Good Friday Anthem By Howard Jones My Saviour Has Died on the Cross At the Good Friday service this year the choir will sing a new anthem which I have composed: My Saviour Has Died on The Cross. In the last two years my Lenten studies and meditations have been mainly about the discipleship of Mary of Magdalena. There has, of course, been a lot of nonsense written about her but I also discovered a real and inspiring story of discipleship and devotion. Mary was probably Jesus s best disciple in terms of understanding and internalising his deepest spiritual teaching. There must have been a deep bond of mutual respect and affection between them as there often is between a teacher and a devoted student (disciple simply means student). In the gospels Mary is the key character in the vigil at the tomb and the witnessing of the resurrection. My anthem is about the crucifixion and entombment of Jesus as experienced by Mary. It starts with her lamenting his death on the cross. In a brighter middle section she recalls his ministry and teaching. She returns to the present and the tomb but, as perhaps the only disciple to understand the possibility of his resurrection, she feels some hope and prays in words which are also applicable to us for our Easter vigil. The prayerful nature of the ending is emphasised by a series of Amens. If this was purely Mary talking she would address Jesus as master or teacher but, because it is meant for us also, I have used the word, Saviour in the title and the text, which is more familiar to us. The choir will sing this anthem at our Good Friday Service on 30 th March. I am most grateful to the choir, Mary and Joanne for their enthusiasm and the hard work they are putting into rehearsing it and I am honoured that my anthem has been chosen for the important service of Good Friday. Page 6

7 ===================================== Sunday, February 25 9 a.m. BAS Eucharist 11 a.m. BAS Eucharist followed by Vestry Friday, March 2 - World Day of Prayer And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25 Sunday, March 4-9 a.m. BAS Eucharist 11 a.m. Sabbath Rest Service Sunday, March 11 9 a.m. BAS Eucharist 11 a.m. BAS Eucharist Sunday, March 18 9 a.m. BAS Eucharist 11 a.m. BAS Morning Prayer Sunday, March 25 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Palm Sunday Service Thursday, March 29-6 p.m. Pot Luck Supper 7 p.m. Tenebrae Service Friday, March a.m. Good Friday Service Sunday, April 1 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Easter Sunday Services Sunday, April 8 9 a.m. BAS Eucharist 11 a.m. BAS Eucharist Sunday, April 15 9 a.m. BAS Eucharist 11 a.m. Contemporary Morning Prayer Sunday, April 22 9 a.m. BAS Eucharist 11 a.m. BAS Eucharist Sunday, April 29 9 a.m. BAS Eucharist 11 a.m. BAS Rite 2 Page 7

8 Please Join us for our Easter Services ST. JAMES CHURCH 6025 Old Church Road Caledon East L7C 1H8 Rev. Greg Fiennes-Clinton Tel: Joined by faith, recalling the past, embracing the future Page 8