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St John's Vancouver Anglican Church, Vancouver is a community of Christians dedicated to the exposition and teaching of the Word of God, to the spreading of the good news of the Gospel at home and abroad, and to the application of God's purpose in our own lives and families.
News > 2010 Parish Life Notes > 10.04.04 Parish Life
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April 4, 2010
April Parish Prayer Meeting CancelledBecause of the Easter Monday holiday on April 5, the parish prayer meeting will be cancelled. The next parish prayer meeting will occur on Monday, May 3. Ordination to the Diaconate – April 25, 3:00 pmBishop Don Harvey is coming to Vancouver to ordain two of our staff (Aaron Roberts and Keith Ganzer) to the diaconate on Sunday, April 25th at 3:00 pm at First Baptist Church (corner of Burrard and Nelson Streets downtown). We are unable to have Episcopal acts in St. John’s church while we are involved in the court process and are very grateful that First Baptist has opened their doors for us. We hope that many of you will plan to attend to pray for and encourage Keith and Aaron in this important step in their lives. Help Needed!There is an urgent need for more people who are willing to serve on the Coffee Team for the morning coffee hour. This is an excellent way to get acquainted with more folks here in the congregation, and an “easy” way to serve. Small group Bible Study people should consider offering to do this as a group – it’s great fun! And, a special appeal to our 11:00 am congregation – please consider coming early, serve on a coffee team, and then come to the 11:00 am service, knowing that you have made a difference that day. To volunteer, please contact Brent Smith by email or telephone 604.687.6689. Christianity Exploreda course for the curious, a place to ask questions Women’s RetreatLadies, the women’s retreat is rapidly approaching. Don’t be slow in registering. To register, you must bring a cheque made out to St. John’s Vancouver and a completed registration form. The cost is $155 (5 people per room) or $200 (2 people per room). You can register at the church office, in-between the services or after the evening service on April 11 and 18, or at Women at 10. There is limited space so please make sure you register early. The topic is Learning to Trust God and the speakers are Marion Maxwell and Kerensa Symons. Don’t miss this great weekend away. Malawi Visitors from the Diocese of the Upper ShireNewly 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. Parish Family NewsCondolences Condolences Community NewsThe River Benefit Concert for Myanmar (Burma) Lighthouse Harbour Ministries Spring Luncheon
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Dear Friends, We are embarrassed by death. It is not lovely, although sometimes it might be a relief; it is not holy, although it may give great opportunity for love; it has nothing to do with dignity (which is about achievement and rank) and everything to do with recognizing that our lives, our bodies are the gift of God our Creator. One of the most familiar ways we often try to domesticate death is to pretend that the body is “just a shell” and that the real “me” is something different. This is a lie which robs us of real hope and which is answered by the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus. In his book The Undertaking, funeral director Thomas Lynch addresses the “just a shell” theory of dead bodies. “You hear a lot of it from young clergy, old family friends, well intentioned in-laws—folks who are unsettled by the fresh grief of others,” he says. He recalls an Anglican Deacon saying something of this sort to the mother of a teenager who had just died of leukemia and receiving a swift slap on the face in reply: “I’ll tell you when it’s ‘just a shell” she said, “for now and until I tell you otherwise, she’s my daughter.” Lynch continues, So to suggest in the early going of grief that the dead body is ‘just’ anything rings as tinny in its attempts to minimize as if we were to say that it was ‘just’ a bad hair day when the girl went bald from chemotherapy. Or that our hope for heaven on her behalf was based on the belief that Christ raised ‘just’ a body from dead. What if, rather than crucifixion, he’d opted for suffering low self-esteem for the remission of sins? What if, rather than ‘just a shell,’ he’d raised his personality, say, or The Idea of Himself? Do you think they’d have changed the calendar for that? . . . Easter was a body and blood thing, no symbols, no euphemisms, no half measures. The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead means that he is Lord of time (now and future), Lord of space (this world and the next), and Lord of humanity (our bodies and selves). It means that our great enemy is defeated and that with all Christians everywhere today we may confidently sing: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Warmly, |
