News > 2009 Parish Life Notes > 09.05.31 Parish Life

Artizo Graduation

Today at the 11 am service we will celebrate the graduation of four Artizo Interns. Afterwards there will be a lunch in the Trendell Lounge. All are welcome!

Grade 12 graduation ceremony, Today at 4 pm

We have moved the time of the grade 12 graduation ceremony to 4pm. Please join us in the church to celebrate this milestone in the life of the St. John’s Youth Group.

Prayer Meeting – Monday, June 1st, at 7:30 pm

“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 this Monday, June 1 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. Don Curry, Chair of the St. John’s Mission’s Committee will be our mission speaker.

Many thanks to the congregation

We would like to thank all of those in the congregation who have written and emailed us with words of encouragement, and support, and promises of prayer regarding the court case. Thanks be to God.

Legal Updates

During the first week of the trial we have been communicating with the congregation through email updates, and through our website (www.stjohnsvancouver.org). If you wish to receive regular updates please email Krista at Krista@sjvan.org . Please include your name, address and phone number, so that we can update our Parish List at the same time.
You are welcome to go and be an observer at the court hearings. The dates are Monday-Friday, May 25 - June 12. Daily hours of court are 10:00 am - 12:30 pm, and 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm. The courthouse is located at 800 Smithe Street in Vancouver. There will be a group meeting in the church hall at 9:00 am to pray together and then continue down to the courthouse by public transit. Court adjourned early on Thursday, May 28th, so please check with the church office towards the end of this week to make sure the court is in session the day you were planning to attend.

Please join us in prayer for the court case

Everyone is welcome to attend any or all of these prayer services.
• Prayer Services - Weekdays at 7 am (Morning Prayer), 12 pm (Noon Day Prayers), 5:30 pm (Evening Prayer)— in the South Chapel. Contact Norah Johnston for more information, 604.224.8986.
• Evensong on Tuesdays at 5:30. This service occurs on Tuesdays all year long and is followed by dinner together in the church hall.
• Individual Opportunities - We want to cover the trial in prayer and have asked for volunteers to pray for each hour the trial is in session. Thank you to all those who have volunteered their time. We still have two openings on Thursday afternoon and would love to have more people praying during the whole week. Anyone who would like to volunteer or for more information, please contact Joanne M, ext 15 or email.

Giving to the Legal Fund

Praise God for the generosity of St. John’s parishioners that we are within $100,000 of our original targets for the legal fund as we seek clarification from the courts regarding ownership of our property. We continue to encourage people to give generously. Cheques should be make payable to the ANiC - St.John’s Project and should be marked as being designated for the legal fund. Donations may be placed in the offering plate or delivered to the church office. For more information contact Krista Friebel at the church office ext 19.

Library

The most recent additions to our library are now on display. Do come and take a look!

 Baptisms

June 28 is the date of our next baptism services. If you wish to be baptized or to have your child baptized please contact Krista in the office at ext 19 by June 17.

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 am service in the Trendell Lounge on June 14th. After lunch, David Short and other staff members will give a short presentation. You can register by emailing or calling the church office.

Parent lunch and prayer 24 May

On Sunday 24 May we will be having a simple lunch after morning church for all parents/families of CTC and Senior Youth and Ekklesia. This will be an opportunity to give thanks to God for the year we have had and also welcome the new grade 6 families into the youth ministry. Most important is that it is the day before St. John’s court case and so is an appropriate time to meet and pray. The cost will be $5 for an individual or $10 for a family. Please RSVP to Julie Moser by email.

Grade 12 Houseboat Trip

This is the annual call for vans for the Grade 12 Trip to Lake Roosevelt in northeast Washington. We need three vans to use from June 26-July 1. If you can help, please email or call Ken or Julie Moser ssy.org at 778 861 9500.

Parish Family News

Flowers

The flowers on the Credence Table are given to the glory of God by Mandy Johnson and Bruce Chow in celebration of their marriage held here yesterday.

Upcoming Events

Come discover a treasure in your own backyard

Regent College invites you to participate in a one or two week course during our Summer Programs. We have topnotch professors and over thirty classes to choose from. If you are looking for spiritual enrichment and intellectually stimulating conversation, this will be an excellent place to start! Check it out at the website.

Bring a Friend - If you have taken a class at Regent College before May 2009, do not miss our bring a friend benefit. If
you invite a friend who has never taken an on campus class at Regent, you will both receive one third off your tuition, either credit or non-credit, on the same class.

+65 - As well, seniors (65+) receive a tuition discount of fifty percent for any course you audit over the summer and all year round!

Dear Friends,

What is leadership? There are many ideas floating around today about this hot topic. Some say ‘leadership is enabling a group to engage together’ or ‘leadership is influence’ or ‘leadership is a function of knowing yourself’ or even ‘a leader is a dealer in hope’. Napoleon provided that last quote – unfortunately, even his troops must have eventually given up hope somewhere in the Russian winter.

What about this definition: ‘leadership is sleeping on damp hillsides, fighting wolves and counting … and counting… and counting’. One of the Biblical images of a leader is that of a shepherd. Shepherds in Jesus’ time were pretty ‘hard men’. They had to stay with the sheep night and day in the fields. They had to fight off wild animals, and they had to care for, and know, (and count) all their sheep every day. The image is used by the Bible to help us to understand that a Christian leader is meant to sacrifice for, protect, care for, feed, and look-for-when-lost all those to whom they minister. In 1 Peter we read God’s instructions to Christian leaders:

“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3)

Today in the 11am service we celebrate the graduation of three Artizo interns from St. John’s (Shaughnessy) and one from St. John’s, Richmond. The Artizo program is committed to finding, encouraging and equipping young men and women with gifts for ministry so they will take up positions of ministry leadership. These 4 graduates have just completed 2-year ministry apprenticeships. I’m sure many of us have been blessed by their ministries during this time and are thankful to God he has raised up these godly young leaders in his church at this time.

Please join us as we pray that these young people will continue to grow to be the type of leaders God desires and Canada desperately needs: mature shepherds and overseers of God’s flock who are not ashamed of the gospel.

Eric Thurston

(on behalf of the Artizo Board)