Expecting Emmanuel –
A Special Advent Prayer Service on Monday, December 14 at 7:30 pm in the church
Are you already feeling wearied by the thought of the Christmas season?
Is there too much to do, and very little of it connected to the birth of Jesus?
Is there pain or loss in your life that makes it hard to think about celebrating this year?
Do you desire to spend some time in quiet prayer and meet Emmanuel, our God, who is truly with us?
Then come to this special “Keeping Company with God” Advent service. Please feel free to invite friends or neighbours.
Brass & Organ Concert – Dec 15, 7:30 pm
Please join us for a program of seasonal music and carol sing-along, with the VSO Brass Quintet and Terry Fullerton, organ. Adults $15, seniors and students $12. Children 12 and under free. Tickets at the door only.
Senior’s Tea
St John’s Seniors special Christmas Communion and Lunch will be held on Tuesday, December 15. Communion will be in the chapel at 11:00 am with lunch to follow in the Trendell Lounge. Do come and bring a friend. Please phone the church office at 604.731.4966 if you need a ride.
Come and pray for 25 minutes
As part of a prayer network for ANiC, we are planning to join other Anglican churches throughout Canada praying for God’s direction for us – not only our congregation but all the other congregations of the Anglican Network in Canada as well. We have arranged two places where you could come, this Tue, Dec 15 at 1:00 pm and join us in this time of prayer.
Please plan to join us at either of these two homes:
Gail Stevenson, #9-5650 Hampton Place, 604.266.1936
Barbara Pain, 3227 West 35th Avenue, 604.266.0849
For more information, please contact Edie Rittinger in the church office.
Nominations for Church Committee
Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven people of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. Acts 6:3
Just as the early church had to quickly figure out how to care for the needs of the growing group of Christians, so do we at St. John’s, each year, need to identify leaders to help run the mission and ministry of the church. Please prayerfully consider whether you or someone you know would be willing to serve on church committee. To find out more, or to nominate someone, please contact the ANiC - St. John’s Project People’s Warden, Lesley Bentley by email or at 604.261.9495 or St. John’s Parish Corporation People’s Warden, David Ley by email or at 604.266.3075. Nominations will close Tue, Jan 5, 2010.
Financial Update
Thank you for your generosity last week. We are making progress toward meeting our budget, but still need $298,000 by December 31. If everyone gives what they gave last December we will meet our expenses by year end.
We want to remind people that St. John’s is set up to receive donations of securities. If you hold securities and wish to include them as part of your giving, and receive the increased tax donation receipt, please contact Krista at the church office by email or at 604.731.4966 ext 19.
More Words of Encouragement Regarding the Judgment
We have received many notes of encouragement from people around the world. Here is the latest:
St. John’s Richmond continues to pray with great affection for St. John’s Shaughnessy and our fellow ANiC parishes as you seek God’s wisdom and glory in the coming days. As you cling to Jesus, you are light in the darkness.
Service Times
Please note next Sunday the service times are, 8:00 am, 10:00 am and 6:30 pm. December 27 and January 3 are also the same service times. For Christmas services please see the front page or the special events pages of this website.
Parish Discernment Meetings
As a parish, we have much to think through and pray about regarding our future ministry and whether or not to appeal the judgment from Justice Kelleher. To this end, the Trustees have scheduled several Parish Discernment Meetings in two “Rounds”. They would like every member to plan to attend one meeting in each Round. The first two meetings of Round 1 were held last Wednesday and Thursday. The next two meetings of Round 1 are planned for
• Thursday, December 17, 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm (in the gym or Trendell Lounge)
• Sunday, December 20, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm (in the gym)
The dates for Round 2 meetings are as follows:
• Wednesday, January 6, 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
• Thursday, January 7, 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm
• Sunday, January 10, 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm (bring a bag lunch)
Letter to the congregation
Bishop Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster requested this week that we make his pastoral letter available. We are complying with his request and you may find it on the information tables, along with a clarification letter from the leadership of St. John’s printed on the reverse side.
Parish Family News
Condolences
Our sincere condolences to Deirdre Keegan, a member of our evening service congregation. She has just received word of the sudden death of her youngest brother Gerard. Please pray for Deirdre and all the members of her family, who are dealing with multiple losses in their family in the last three years.
Condolences
Members of the 7:30 am service will be saddened to hear of the death of Margaret Fukuyama’s husband a short while ago. Margaret was a most faithful member of that congregation, and she was the “servant of the Lord” who mended our torn Bibles and prayer books. Due to her own ill health she has not been able to attend church for the past two years. Please pray for Margaret as she adjusts to living without her husband of many years.
Community News
St. John's Richmond Mission
Please pray for St. John’s Richmond as we host a Christmas mission along with the Vancouver-based Artizo Interns Dec 18-20. SJR is hosting events in homes, schools, the community, and the church.
Crisis Pregnancy Centre
The Crisis Pregnancy Centre of Vancouver is looking for a volunteer to assist in developing a Power Point presentation for sexual integrity education. Please contact Janice at 604.736.0969
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Dear Friends,
Today we welcome Bishop Trevor Walters who will be preaching at all our services. Bishop Trevor was consecrated bishop at the 2009 ANiC (Anglican Network in Canada) synod on November 13th along with Bishop Charlie Masters and Bishop Stephen Leung. His area of responsibility is the ANiC parishes in Canada west of Ontario. Bishop Charlie has Eastern Canada as his area of responsibility and Bishop Stephen provides oversight for the multicultural ministries of ANiC throughout Canada. All three serve under Bishop Don Harvey who continues to be the moderator for all of ANiC.
In the Anglican model, the bishop serves as the overseer of the churches in his area. He is a “pastor to the pastors” who provides Gospel teaching, encouragement, pastoral care, direction, and at times, discipline for the clergy and lay leaders of these churches. He guards and preaches the Gospel entrusted to the church, strengthens the unity of the church, ordains clergy, and lays hands on people prepared for confirmation. Please pray for Bishop Trevor as he ministers to us and the other ANiC churches of Western Canada in this way.
It is a great gift that, in addition to preaching today, Bishop Trevor will take part in a number of ministries at St. John’s throughout the week to come and get to know what God is doing in our church. We are blessed to have a bishop like Trevor who loves the Lord Jesus and will care for us, pray for us and provide godly oversight that will encourage and strengthen us as a congregation. Welcome Bishop Trevor!
Warmly in Christ,
Dan Gifford
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