News > 2009 Parish Life Notes > 09.01.18 Parish Life

Congratulations to new parents!

Congratulations to Natalie and Sean Martin on the birth of their second child, Juliana Cara on Wednesday January 7th in Campbell River, BC, a sister for 3 year old Jasmine. Sean was in our first Artizo graduating class and they have been ministering in Dublin, Ireland for the past two years. They have moved back to BC and plan to return to the Lower Mainland sometime later this year.

New to St John’s?

If you have been coming to St John’s for 6 months or less, we would like to get to know you! Please join us for a free ‘Welcome lunch’ after the 11:00 am service in the Trendell Lounge today.

Legal Update

The legal team advises that on Tuesday this past week the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court set our case down for a three week trial beginning 25 May 2009. A judge will be appointed shortly. Contrary to initial expectations, there will be no need for interim hearings with respect to the use of our church buildings as the Diocese has agreed that we will remain in possession of them until the outcome of this trial. While it is possible for a decision to be rendered immediately upon conclusion of trial, a delay of several weeks or even months is more typical. Avoiding an interim hearing, which would govern only until trial, means the legal funds raised to date can be applied directly to trial-related expenses. The legal team needs your continued financial support during the next six months and will keep us informed about significant developments as things progress. Please prayerfully consider how you might contribute to these fundraising efforts. In the next month we will schedule a meeting in which more details can be presented and questions asked.

The Living Waters Program at St. John’s

The 8 week introductory program, called CrossCurrent, will start on Thursday Jan 22, 2009. This is a Christ-centered discipleship ministry that deals specifically with relational and sexual brokenness. All programs include worship, biblical teaching and prayer ministry. If you are wondering if you should apply, here are some actual examples of issues participants have brought to God in this ministry:

• A sense of emptiness in relationships and a longing to experience God’s love
• Experience of neglect in childhood or many losses in life
• Struggle with same sex attraction/shame/fear. Longing to acknowledge struggles and seek help from God’s family
• Wounded relationships due to own or spouse’s use of pornography
• Feelings of unworthiness before God because of past sexual activity

Manya Egerton would be happy to answer any questions (confidentially). Email or call her at or 604.261.7785. For applications, contact the Living Waters office at 604.301.1470. Spaces in the program are limited.

2009 Giving Envelopes

The 2009 ANiC – St. John’s Project Giving Envelopes are ready for pick up at the back of the church. Please pick up your envelopes and use them, even if you plan to give once a month or quarterly.

Baptisms

The next baptism service is on Feb 8 – If you are interested please call Joanne McKinnon at ext 15.

Missions Lunch Jan 25

Exciting updates about missions in the Arab World. Join us for lunch immediately following the 11:00 am service. Cost is $5 per person or $10 per family. Please let the office know if you plan to attend.

Senior’s Tea

St. John’s Seniors Tea will be held on Tuesday, Jan 27 at 1:30 pm in the Trendell Lounge. We will be looking at pictures of Westminster Abbey in Mission, which we visited last May on our bus tour. Please RSVP to the church office.

Men’s Breakfast

Men’s Breakfast January 31st – Keith Ganzer will be speaking on “Prayer in the Daily Life of Men”. The cost will be $15. You can sign up in the Trendell Lounge between the 9:00 and 11:00 am services or by calling the church office during the week.

St. John’s Richmond Anniversary

Thanksgiving: St. John’s Richmond celebrates its second anniversary this Sunday. We give praise and glory to God for His abundant mercies, for His spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ, and for you, St. John’s Shaughnessy, for your prayers and partnership. We are being strengthened with power through his Spirit at work in us and in those He is bringing us into contact with. Please continue to pray for us--for courageous witness to God’s gospel.

Children’s Choir

The St. John’s Children’s Choir begins rehearsals again on Monday, Jan 19 at 4:30 pm in Room 100. There are spaces still available to join. We welcome children aged seven and up who are independent readers. Please talk with Amber Salladin if you have any questions – 604.319.6048, or email Amber.

Discovering Christ presents Christianity Explored

~a course for the curious, a place to ask questions

The Christianity Explored course meets Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm in the Church Hall for a wonderful home cooked meal, short presentation and discussion. The course runs for 7 weeks and is designed for those who are curious about Christianity or are new to the Christian faith. Christianity Explored provides a warm, pressure-free environment to explore questions of faith and life. It’s informal, fun and you can choose to be silent or say whatever you want. No question is too hostile or basic and no knowledge of faith is expected!

If you have any questions or wish to register please email Aaron or phone him at the church office at 604.731.4966 ext 22.

The course is free, but a small donation is asked to help cover the cost of the awesome food. The next Christianity Explored course begins on Feb 4.

Accommodation Needed

A couple from Victoria, along with their 15 year old son, are in need of a two-bedroom suite, or similar accommodation, for a period of 3-5 months while the father takes ongoing treatment for leukemia. I have met with this family, and can assure you they would make very good house sitters over the winter months to come.

If anyone is considering going away this winter, and would welcome this family to stay in their home, that would be much appreciated. Or, if you know of a suitable suite which might be available – please contact Edie Rittinger at ext 24.

Accommodation needed

Stable Christian refugee man from Sri Lanka is looking for a single room to rent in the Lower Mainland for up to $500 per month. Please call Paul Ratsoy at 604.980.0778.

Employment opportunity

If you are interested in applying for or want to encourage someone to apply for the following position, please look at the full description on our website. Applicants can email their resume and cover letter.

Ministry Support Coordinator – The ministry support coordinator will have three primary responsibilities: Support Ministry Staff, Event Coordination, donor Administration & Communication.

God is teaching us how to share his blessings and not to hoard them selfishly, so we might be more like a mint than a bank: like a river not a swamp. Over the last several years as God has protected and provided for us, an increasing amount of our resources has been moving beyond our parish boundaries. We are now part of the Anglican Network in Canada; St. John’s Richmond was successfully launched; and we are hosting training events for leaders and workers from other churches in a number of ministry areas. This year God gave us a precious unity in our Vestry vote, and we have increased our giving to Malawi as well as making significant commitments to training, outreach and prayer. God has added to our number those who are being saved and there are a number of ministries which are breaking new ground.

December 2008 was a difficult month in a number of ways. It came at the end of a tumultuous year for the global Anglican church, with the launch of the Anglican Network in Canada, GAFCON, the Lambeth conference, and global Anglican leaders calling for the recognition of a replacement Anglican province in North America. How thankful we are for the provision of care from the Network. We came to the beginning of December needing $330K by year end – the largest amount ever, and this in the context of a marketplace which was in meltdown. December has traditionally been our largest month for financial offerings, although we incur expenses steadily over the year. We have always felt that when faced with financial challenges, the right thing for us to do is to lay the issue as truthfully and plainly as we can before God in prayer and before you in each congregation. This we did in early December. And then the snow came.

You do not need me to tell you that December 2008 broke all records for cold and snowfall, with four consecutive snowstorms leaving over 60 cm of snow on the ground. The roads became impassable, the sidewalks treacherous, and the weight of the snow on rooftops, threatening. We had very small Sunday congregations on December 14, 21 and 28. We made the difficult decision to cancel two of the four Christmas Eve services (including the midnight service) and Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, late at night, the roof of the Portico collapsed under the tremendous weight of the snow. It seemed to be a metaphor for our helplessness.

The snow was beautiful and dangerous. I was very moved by a number of people who said to me that they were praying to God about our situation. Then, during the week after December 28 a large number of individual parishioners, made their way to the church office to deliver their financial gifts.

I am telling you this because it is very important for us to stop and mark the goodness and provision of God. We cannot congratulate ourselves. God keeps taking us beyond our resources and abilities and teaching us to trust him. This was not something staged, it was not a product of a clever human strategy, it was beyond human calculation. It was God’s doing and we should stop and praise him for his grace and ask him to help us trust him for the future. Jesus taught that it matters to God that we should return to him and give thanks for his goodness (Luke 17:12-20) and I call on you to stop what you are doing and kneel down and give thanks to God for his kindness, for his faithfulness and for his
overwhelming grace to us.

David Short