Who we are:

St John's Vancouver Anglican Church, Vancouver is a community of Christians dedicated to the exposition and teaching of the Word of God, to the spreading of the good news of the Gospel at home and abroad, and to the application of God's purpose in our own lives and families.

 

News > 2008 Parish Life Notes > 08.06.01 Parish Life

Jun 1, 2008

 

Why do we pray together?

As an amateur in the area of prayer, I would take this question and hold it up as a mandate for our Church. We pray together because we are called to pray. Prayer is simply our response to God calling us to be with Himself. We all struggle with so many of the questions around prayer, questions that are full of doubt and concerns – that we are not worthy to call on God, that God is not really listening or answering, or we have nothing significant to say to Him. These thoughts may all appear to be our truth at some point, but the reality is that regardless of who we are or where we are, God is calling on us to respond to Him.

We pray as children because we are the children of God, and I firmly believe that God is always calling His children to Himself. So we need to come together as His family and hold each other before our Heavenly Father. All prayers said from the heart are good prayers. We are like children unable to speak deeply or well but the Father hears our hearts more than our words.

If we pray together we are honouring Him who has honoured us. As we trust more we pray more, and as we pray more we become more human and real to one another. In our transparency before Christ we become more transparent to
one another. Thus we give the gift of encouragement, that in all things Christ is our all in all, and from that place alone we are able to stand with one another and lift all our concerns, our sorrows and our joys unto Him who can do exceedingly
more than we can ever ask or imagine.

When my Mother died, I discovered this prayer of Ignatius Loyola in her Bible, and we prayed it at her funeral. It is perhaps the ultimate prayer of the heart:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
My memory, my understanding,
And my entire will -
All that I have and call my own,
You have given it to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.
Amen

My prayer for myself and us all is that we would risk becoming real before God
and each other so that we too might find the love and grace of Christ to be our
sufficiency. Amen.

Gail Stevenson

Youth News

Today we will have our annual “Thanksgiving and Grade 12 Graduation Service” at 4 pm. This will be a time of giving thanks and moving our Grade 12’s on to Ekklesia. Please come! (It will finish by 5:30 pm with a light supper afterwards.)

Does anyone have a van we can borrow? From June 28-July 3 is our annual Grade 12 houseboat trip. We need a number of vans to go to Lake Koocanusa and back. (Three to four are needed.) Please contact Ken or Julie if you can help out (ken@stjohnsshaughnessy.org).

Parish Announcements

Parish Prayer. Please join us for prayer this Tuesday evening in the Trendell Lounge at 7:15 pm for coffee and 7:30 pm for prayer to pray for St. John’s people and ministries and other ministries beyond our parish.

Parish Prayer meeting in Tsawwassen. Tanya and Tim Hawke will host a parish prayer gathering in their home this Tuesday at 7:30 pm. Call Tanya at 604.948.9910 or email for address and more information.

Prayer Chain. Crises (loss of work, accidental injury, death in the family, or illness) often come upon us unexpectedly. St. John’s has a prayer chain; the members would be glad to pray for you or your family/friends in your time of need. Please phone the church office to be put in touch with the prayer chain. If you have questions, please speak to Edie Rittinger (604.731.4966 ext 24) or Ruth Matheson (604.731.4966 ext 12).

St. John’s Children’s Choir. The St. John’s Children’s Choir Summer Concert is Saturday, June 7 at 2:00 pm. We’d love to see you there!

Luke’s Gospel for Sunday School Teachers and Parents. In the fall many of us at St. John’s will launch into a study of Luke’s gospel, including all children on Sunday mornings. An evening is planned to prepare anyone interested in teaching Sunday School at which Bronwyn Short will give an overview of Luke’s Gospel. Join us on Monday, June 16th from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in the Trendell Lounge. Please direct enquiries to ruthf@stjohnsshaughnssy.org.

Do you like to cook or help with the prep? Throughout the year, various ministries require a meal prepared for a group as an ongoing need or as a single event. There are a number of people who serve the congregation in this way, whom we greatly appreciate and don’t want to wear out! If you’d like your name added to a list of those who would be willing to help in some way, either with cooking or set up/clean up, please call Jan at the church (ext 28) or email.

Direct Debit Offering. With direct debit, your regular giving is automatically transferred directly from your chequing account. It’s simple and convenient.

  • Direct debit is processed on the fifteenth of every month.
  • You can use the service to donate all or a portion of your monthly giving.
  • Your offering will be designated according to your direct debit authorization form. By letting the Computer Services staff member know by the tenth of any month, you can adjust your designation or discontinue the service, temporarily or permanently.
  • Tax receipts will be provided at the end of the year

Food Bank. As a congregation we continue to support the Food Bank throughout the year. Please remember to bring in non-perishable items for the boxes in the Narthex (Granville Street entrance).

Community News

Housing Needed. Regent College is looking for friendly Vancouverites to provide up to one week of free housing for incoming students while they search for permanent housing in August. Meals are not expected (but welcome nonetheless!). This is also a great solution for people going out of town and in need of a house-sitter. For more information, please call Cheryl at 604.221.3355 or email: housing@regent-college.edu.

Benefit Concert. There will be a benefit concert, Tuesday, June 17 at 7:30 pm at St. John’s Shaughnessy in the church, sponsored by the South Burnaby Church of Christ. The program will be classical piano, violin and vocals mostly by young prodigies. All proceeds will go to the Canadian Red Cross and will be matched by the Canadian Government for relief efforts in China. Tickets are $20 each and available at the door. Age 12 and under are free. For further information and a program for the evening, please refer to website: www.sbchurch.ca/SichuanBenefitConcert.