News > 2009 Parish Life Notes > 09.02.01 Parish Life

Engagement

Jane Corrall and Duncan Long were engaged this Christmas and are hoping to be married in late spring here at St. John’s. Please keep them in your prayers as they plan their wedding, finish school, and look for work and housing.

Prayer Meeting – Monday Feb 2 at 7:30 pm - Mission Focus: St. John’s Richmond

“There is nothing that tells the truth about us as Christian people so much as our prayer life. Everything we do in the Christian life is easier than prayer.” (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Sermon on the Mount, Part 2, p 46).
Dear friends, you are invited to join us at the parish prayer meeting on Monday, (February 2) for two reasons: first, that you may be encouraged in your praying for St. John’s ministries as well as for those ministries that are beyond our walls; and secondly, to encourage fellow pray-ers. Give it a try; you may just want to come back and make it a monthly habit for 2009. Sean Love will be our mission speaker.

Connections - Hospitality Ministry

Do you want to get to know other people at church? Are you finding it challenging to connect with new people at St. John’s? Connections is a way to get to know new people or connect with old friends by sharing a light lunch with 6 or 8 others in a host-family’s home. You will meet with them after the Sunday services on Feb. 22 and March 29. How do you get involved? We will have a registration table today, and next Sunday, after the 9:00 am service in the Trendell Lounge and after the 11:00 am in the Narthex. For more information call Jan at the church office 604.731.4966 ext 28 or email jan

Bible Study Home Groups

We have a number of Home group Bible studies that meet around the lower mainland. It is a great encouragement to be involved with others in the congregation throughout the week, to study the word of God and pray together. If you are not presently in a small group and would like to be, or would like more information, please contact Jan Hobbis at 604.731.4966 ext 28 or email Jan

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.

Praise God

Praise God! A home has been found for the family whose husband & father is undergoing treatment for leukemia. However, it has been empty for over a month and needs some clean-up done. If anyone would like to volunteer to join a clean-the-house party, please let Edie Rittinger know at 604.731.4966 ext 24 or Cheryl Chang at 604.375.7358

Are you looking to get involved at St. John’s? We have two opportunities.

1. Volunteer Receptionist: Being a volunteer receptionist is a great way to get involved in the life of the church and to meet new people. We are currently looking to fill the the following time slots: Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning, Thursday morning, and both morning and afternoon on Friday.

2. Bulletin Stuffers - join with other volunteers on Friday afternoon to help stuff the Sunday service bulletins.
It’s a good opportunity to serve and make new friends.
If you think either of these jobs might be for you please contact Krista at the church office.

Library

Hot off the press! The lastest titles in the Anglican Agenda Series are here. The titles are: Taking the Holy Spirit Seriously by J.I. Packer, Taking Worship Seriously by Archie Pell, and Taking Christian Disciplines Seriously by P. Klenner. Cost $3 for one book, $8 for three.

Vestry

The Annual Vestry Meeting (the annual general meeting) of the Parish will take place on Wednesday, Feb 18 at 7:30 pm in the Church. If you are a member of St. John’s, please plan to attend.

St. John’s Women’s Retreat

Ladies, mark your calendars! Our annual women’s retreat this year will be at Loon Lake Educational Centre on the weekend of April 24-26. The theme for the weekend is ‘From Fear to Joy ~ Meeting with the Risen Christ~ 3 talks on Luke 24’. Plan to come and be wonderfully fed both spiritually and bodily, and for great fun and fellowship with other women of St. John’s. There will be two different options for accommodation this year, for those who may like a little more privacy. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help organize this event, please contact Darrell Thomas at 604.269.9011 or email Darrell

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.

Friends,

I wonder what you would call someone who:

• works fairly much in the background, in a job which very few people understand or appreciate?

• dedicates their life to a group which is often overlooked and underestimated?

• labours to help other people help other people, often without obviously immediate results?

• arrives before others and leaves after others and works without very much thanks and without any complaint for many years because she is serving someone greater than us?

• gives remarkable diligence and energy to creatively engaging the minds of young people with the gospel, who gives hours every week to writing wonderful material, individually tailored to the children of our church, rightly handling the word of God, ensuring that the children are engaged and built up in their faith, week after week after week?

• supports, trains and encourages others to invest their lives in helping children grow in their knowledge of God?

• has sought to find ways to help families nurture the faith of their children and created fresh, gospel focused, beautiful portrayals of the gospel at special events in the church?

• has brought the wide world of global gospel mission into the lives of our children in Sunday School, fostering a love for those Christ loves?

• answers weekly phone calls and emails from other churches, other cities, other countries wanting help with the challenging task of teaching children the word of God?

• regularly spends time with Sunday school teachers from other churches equipping them to better communicate Christ to children?

• brings experience as a trained teacher, theological education and a godly humble mind to the task?

• gives the best years of their life, not only to their own children but also to the children of others, not to make them successful, cheerful, or agreeable but to bring them to Christ and to bring Christ to them?

I would call her Ruth Flannigan.
We are a very fortunate church, indeed, to have Ruth as the director of Children’s ministries (for the last [nearly] 16 years). Ruth is taking a very well deserved leave and I want to honour her and tell you how highly I esteem her in the Lord and that you should too. If you have not done so, you should give her your thanks.

David