News > 2010 Parish Life Notes > 10.03.07 Parish Life

Keeping Company with God-Monday, March 8th at 7:30 PM in the Sanctuary.

Whatever your need; a quiet time with God at the end of your day, a place to receive prayer support for personal concerns or a desire to hold up this congregation in prayer – this is a place of “prayer care.” This service is held every second and fourth Monday of the month.

Sidespeople Coffee and Dessert

We invite all those associated with the Greeting Ministry – team leaders, sidesmen/women and anyone who may be interested in joining the ministry – to an evening of coffee and dessert, fellowship, appreciation and discussion on Wednesday, March 10 at 7:30 pm in the Trendell Lounge. For information about this event or the Greeting Ministry, please contact Neil Stopforth at 604-536-7477 or spdbrd@telus.net.

Bishop To Visit With Us This Week

We are looking forward to Bishop Don Harvey’s visit with us this week. He arrives tomorrow, and will be visiting various ministries through the week, and preaching at the morning services next Sunday.

Living Waters

Want to help Christian young people take on the challenge of living in the world today? Then come to “A Thousand Whys” on April 9 when Darrell Johnson, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Vancouver, and his wife, Sharon, will launch a trust fund to honour their son and to expand The River—the Living Waters Canada ministry to youth. Hear why the Johnsons want to equip young people, and how you can support Living Waters. First Baptist Church, 969 Burrard St. in Vancouver at 7:30 pm. Free parking at Nelson Square (808 Nelson St.). For more info, phone 604.301.1470 or go to www.livingwaterscanada.org.
A local pastor writes – “The River is a ministry that our youth and young adult groups are crying out for. They want a place to talk openly and safely about the tension they feel in their lives between the values of their parents and church and the sexually charged culture. In The River young people hear real life stories and learn about topics, like peer pressure and temptation ,through interactive skits and small group discussion. Working with churches and pastors, The River staff model how to talk about the issues facing our young people and equip churches to enter into life-changing conversations with their youth. I thank God for the ministry of Living Waters and am excited to see our churches embrace what The River has to offer.”

ANiC-St.John’s Project 2009 Tax Receipts

Last week we issued 2009 ANiC-St. John’s Project tax receipts with an incorrect date of issue. Please do not submit these to the Canada Revenue Agency. Your corrected tax receipts will be mailed early next week. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Please contact Krista Friebel at 604.731.4966 ext 19 or Krista@sjvan.org if you have any questions.

2010 Budget Passed:

On February 9th Vestry approved a budget for 2010 showing a 1% increase in offertory giving over 2009.
This money does not include legal fees.

                        2010 Budget                2009 Actual
Revenue             $1,949,118                 $1,943,419
Expense             $1,934,118                 $1,877,749
Excess (Deficit)   $15,000                      $65,670

Legal Update

In late January the leadership from all parishes (St. John’s, St. Matthews, Church of the Good Shepherd, and St. Matthias & St. Luke) impacted by Justice Kelleher’s Judgment, met. It was clear that pursuing the appeal is the direction we felt led in, this was after the individual parish discernment processes. We have communicated to our lawyers and they are now dealing with the paper work needed to continue the appeal. We do not have a court date yet, but expect one in very late spring or early summer. We will let you know as soon as we have a date. Please pray for Geoff Cowper and Stanley Martin as they prepare the appeal on behalf of our parish and the others.

The financial commitment of the appeal process for the B.C. Court of Appeal is $300,000.  To participate in this, please make cheques payable to the ANiC Legal Fund.  There are yellow pledge forms available at the church exits for those who would like to express their financial commitment and intent  but are unable to give to the Legal Fund until later this year.

Ratanak/St John’s support team

A team of 4 from St. John’s (Jan Hobbis, Chris Pain, Karol Boschung and Graham Meakins) will be in Cambodia from March 13th to March 28th. They will be joining 6 others from Canada and Australia to complete work on “The Sanctuary” a building in Svay Pak, Cambodia. The building will become a ministry centre for this community. If you want to be a part of the “home team” that supports them in prayer and follows their activities there is an information meeting on March 8th at Fairview Presbyterian (corner of Fir and W. 11th Ave) at 7 pm.

Free Accommodation And The Use of a Car For The Rev. Dr. Sam Chan And His Family Needed.

As mentioned in previous notices, Dr. Chan and his wife and two sons (ages 2 and 6 months) are planning to come to Vancouver on study leave from April 24 to June 25 to study at Regent. Sam is a medical doctor and a professor of theology, ethics, and preaching at Sydney Missionary and Bible College, Australia. He has visited and preached at St. John’s in the past. He is highly regarded by David Short and Dan Gifford and Dan would be happy to give him a reference, if need be. He’ll be helping out at St. John’s while he is here. If you know of some free accommodation for them, please contact Ruth Matheson, 604.731.4966, Ext 12. IT would also be very helful if someone could lend them a car or rent one for them.

Women’s Retreat

Come all ladies to a weekend away to be refreshed by God’s word and wonderful company. The retreat this year is going to be April 23-25 and it will be at Loon Lake Educational Centre in Maple Ridge. The topic is Learning to trust God, the journey from entitlement to thanksgiving. Our speakers are Marion Maxwell and Kerensa Symons. Registration starts March 28, 2010. Cost of the retreat is either $155.00 for four people to a room, or $200.00 for two people to a room. If you have any questions please contact Darrell Thomas at 604.269.9011.

Malawi Visitors from the Diocese of the Upper Shire

Newly ordained Bishop Brighton Malasa,and Father Grant Tebulo, the Sunday School co-ordinator, will be visiting St. John’s for two weeks at the end of April. The Malawi committee is planning several events, please put these dates on your calendar.
Saturday, April 17, 6:30 pm -Coffee House. If you are interested in performing, please contact Karen May, 604.324.3134 or k_e_may@yahoo.com. This is a family event and preformers of all ages are welcome.
Sunday, April 25 - Bar-B-Que Lunch to follow the 11:00 am service.

Parish Family News

Community News

Concert - 8:00 pm Friday March 12 at St. John’s Shaughnessy Church - The Baranduin Ensemble serves up an evening double-feature, presenting the Triple Concerto for violin, flute and harpsichord (BWV 1044) and the famous Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.  David Poon will be performing on harpsichord, and Sarah Tippett will be playing violoncello, with a guest appearance by Angela Hodgson on violin.
Tickets are $15 at the door ($10 for students and seniors).  Visit www.baranduin.ca for more information.

God’s Loving Touch Renewal Conference
March 19 and 20
You are invited to this conference hosted by St. Andrew’s, Delta (Anglican Network in Canada).  It will be held at Cedar Park Church, 5300 44th Avenue, Ladner, B. C.  The speakers will be Bishop Malcolm Harding and Archdeacon Paul Crossland, rector of two ANiC parishes in Manitoba – one in Brandon and the other in Dauphin. There is a brochure posted on the bulletin board in the church hall.  For more information or to register: phone – 604.943.8727; email – godslovingtouchconference@gmail.com.

Dear Friends,

For God to use us at St. John’s for His ministry, we need to start with prayer and continue in prayer. At our Vestry Meeting, several ministry leaders gave reports and invited us to participate in the various ministries through our prayers. God has lavished his blessing on us with resources and we need to ask Him how best to use them for His purposes. Here are some prayer points for a few of our ministries.

Children’s Ministry – Lisa Nikkel, Bettina Konrad, Jennifer Martin, & Rachel Prince
Pray that God would continue to grow the children in the knowledge of Him and that they would be firmly rooted in their faith.
Pray that God would teach and show the Children and their families how to share the gospel and invite friends to come to Sunday School.
Youth Ministry – Ben Short & Chloe Moore
Pray that God would lead Jim Salladin and the selection committee in the appointment of the new youth minister.
Pray that the Youth would grow in their love of Christ and continue to bless the body at St. John’s.
Discipleship – Jan Hobbis
Pray that those in Bible study groups would be intentional in asking God to show them who they might invite to join their group and then to take the initiative to invite them.
Pray for those who are not in a small group that they would seriously think and pray about joining one.
Pray for God to provide opportunities for men in the congregation who are unable at present to be involved in Bible study because of schedules and time constraints.
Pray that God would continue to raise up leaders from within our congregation.
Pastoral Care – Edie Rittinger
Pray that God would provide leaders for Pastoral Care ministries, such as visitation, Divorce Care, and Grief Share.
Pray that God would make us a praying church, reliant on Him to supply all our needs, casting all our cares on Him, remembering that He cares for us.

Please join and partner in these ministries through your personal prayers, within your small groups, and just between family and friends. Our God is a great God and he is often rendered too small in our ministries by our lack of prayer. We have the gospel at St. John’s because God used the praying Church in Antioch to send out Paul and others to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Prayerfully,
Joanne Lawrie