Author: RevMarie

On the last evening before his crucifixion Jesus prayed for unity among his followers.

For a number of years, there has been an international effort towards that unity that is marked by a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. You can find lots of information, prayers and devotions at

http://www.oikoumene.org/

Locally, the downtown churches have a tradition of joining together for a service of worship. This year we are delighted to be the host church for this important service.

Please join us at Christ Church on Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 2 pm for a joyous service of unity with our ecumenical brothers and sisters!

NOTE CHANGE OF DATE

Instructed Eucharist
Why do the people at the front wear those unusual clothes? Who figures out which scriptures we read? Why do we pray THAT prayer at that time in the service? Why do we do things in the same order all the time - wouldn't it be more fun and creative to mix this stuff up?

I know that I wondered about lots of these things - but I was too embarrassed to ask someone! I think lots of us would have trouble answering all those questions, whether we are newer Anglicans, exploring the idea of being an Anglican, or we have been in this tradition for years.

On Friday January 18, at 6:30 pm you will have a chance to ask and explore lots of these kinds of questions as we celebrate an "Instructed Eucharist". This is a full Eucharistic service, with explanations of why and when as we go along/

Come along and learn together. You will find that the investment of a couple of hours will enrich your worship from then on!

See you there

Rev. MArie

Hello everyone

Just a reminder that our annual meeting will be at a different day and time this year - Wednesday January 23, 2013 at 7 pm.

Please plan to be there. We have lots of important things to discuss, and well, its just good to get the family together!

If you consider Christ Church your home congregation, you are a voting member ( the only requirements under church law are that you be 16 years old, be a regular attender and contribute to the church).

If you are very new and still "checking us out" to see if this is where you will settle - you are also very welcome. It is a good chance to understand how things work and who does what.

We have a number of committee and positions that will need filling so if you have any interest at all in being more involved, or changing the focus of your involvement please talk to Rev. Marie or the wardens before the meeting. All of us are given gifts to be used for the good of God's kingdom and we want to use all the wonderful gifts with which God has blessed this congregation!

See you there

In the meantime - pray and pray. We need to hear God's voice!
Rev. Marie

We grieve with our dear Muriel dePencier at the sudden passing of her brother, Charles, on Boxing Day. Visitation will be at the funeral home from 2 to 4 on Saturday December 29 with the funeral at Martyn's on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm (Rev. Marie celebrating).

We know Muriel and her family will treasure your expressions of comfort and care.

We pray for Muriel's strength and presence as she lives out the truth of 2 Corinthians 1, comforting her family with the comfort she receives from the God of all comfort!

Yours in the hope of the resurrection
Rev. Marie

Family

On Tuesday evening, at 7, we will be looking at a "snapshot" of our givings and spending patterns as a church. You are all invited to join us and to comment, ask questions (even hard ones!) and to discuss in love our future as stewards of God's good gifts to us.
See you there!
Rev. MArie

The music of Christmas is so wonderful - and we have so few chances to really sing it! SO if you enjoy singing, playing an instrument, just listening or "making a joyful noise" there are three great opportunities to do that and to share the joy of Christmas with others at the same time. In date order here they are:

Sunday December 16 at 7 pm at Christ Church - Our Annual Community Carol Sing!
This just keeps getting better every year! Bring your neighbours, friends and family for a relaxed time of singing, cider and goodies!

Thursday December 20 afternoon at NEMHC
We join our friends at the Northeastern Mental Health Centre for a rollicking time of singing and goodies. This is a time when our gift of a couple of hours ends up being a blessing to all of us! No experience required! For details phone 705-474-3170

Sunday December 30, a Neighbourhood Carol Sing beginning at 241 Victoria St. East at 6:45
We have received this lovely invitation from our sister church, St. John's, who are offering this event in cooperation with Calvin Presbyterian Church.

On December 30th we will be going Christmas carolling! We will meet at Fr. Nussey's house (241 Victoria St. East) at 6:45 and carol through the neighbourhood. We will return to his house for hot chocolate and goodies. We hope many of your parishioners will take part!

Joy To The World - Let's sing it out!!!

Good Monday morning in the first week of Advent!

Tonight (Monday) at 7pm we will meet again to pray for direction for Christ Church, and for our Facilities Review Committee

Wednesday night we will meet at the church at 7 pm to finalize the Building Assessment that we need to send to the Diocese as part of the Diocesan Strategic Plan ( all the congregations in the Diocese are - or will be - or have done - this!). Next week we will, finally, wrap this process up on Tuesday Evening at 7 when we look at our finances.

I know that this can seem like "nuts and bolts" work, but it is deeply spiritual. God has entrusted us with wonderful and generous resources and looking at how we have used them, and how we plan to use them is part of where "the rubber meets the road" as a church family ( and as individuals and families). We make the best plans we can, but only God knows what is in our future and so learning to listen as God guides us in this is critical. So whether you have been at Christ Church for many years, or you are a newer attender, we invite you to be part of this. You are welcome - and your voice is important!

See you there!

Now may the Christ who loves you, and came to us so that you might know this love, keep you in his care this day

Christ Church, Advent 2012
Coming in History, Mystery and Majesty

In a particular place at a time when the world both watched for it and was unprepared for it, God broke into our world in History, Mystery and Majesty. As we walk through Advent, a time of waiting and anticipation, we see this most clearly.
A baby is born. For the most part this is a lovely but hardly surprising event. Even a baby being born to a peasant teenager in an obscure village in a country ravaged by war and strife is hardly front page news. It has happened since the beginning of human history and it happens many times each day even now.
But this baby ? this little scrap of humanity was not just human but God. This baby was the God of all the Universe, our Creator and Sustainer. This baby was that God breaking into the world of human history. This baby was the embodiment of a love so great and profound that we struggle to find words to express the mystery of it all. This baby will come again, not as a helpless child, but in majesty and glory. And before Him, every knee shall bow.
Advent is our time of waiting, and in the waiting we both remember and anticipate.

We remember that the first coming was not God?s first interaction with the Creation crafted eons before, but rather the culmination of a plan that had been set before the world began. We listen to the story of God?s working with his frail and broken people ? a story of renewing and reshaping and redemption. We hear the prophecies and see the pattern of God?s fingerprints on every aspect of history. And we read the predictions yet to be fulfilled and in them and in the record of God?s dealing with our world, we find hope.

Advent is our time of waiting and in the waiting we both remember and anticipate.

We remember how God has sustained and challenged and led our church family to the place where we now recognize God?s work among us in a new way. We remember the challenges faced in faith and God?s faithfulness to us. We listen to the stories of those whose history we now share. Some of those stories, like our present stories, are tales of difficulties and even brokenness but above all they are wonderful stories of God working with us, renewing, reshaping and redeeming lives for God?s glory. They are stories of God providing for God?s people who seek to do God?s work. They are stories of God?s love lived out in human lives that touch and treasure each other. And in these stories we find hope for a future marked by the fulfillment of the purpose God is working to His glory at Christ Church. God has been in our history. With great joy, we anticipate. We are confident that God is working God?s own plan as we walk into a future that seems still somewhat of a mystery.
Advent is our time of waiting and in the waiting we both remember and anticipate.

We sit quietly in the waiting, in the midst of the busyness and noise, and allow our minds to review our individual histories. We see the pattern of God?s fingerprints everywhere. We see God?s gifts of love and care. We see God?s purposes worked out in what seemed disasters. We see dashed dreams that have been replaced somehow by infinitely better realities. We see the abundance, the amazing generosity, of God?s gifts and blessings. We see God persistently and loving crafting our past and that gives us great hope. And as we look at the past, our confusion and even fear are quieted by a mysterious confidence that God is working in our present and will continue to do so in our futures. In this, we find peace

Advent is our time of waiting and in the waiting we both remember and anticipate.

As Christ?s Body, here and now, in a particular place and time we celebrate God?s gift of including us in His plan, and we live in joyful expectation. We pray that the Babe of Bethlehem will be born anew in us. We pray that we will enter into the mystery of this unimaginable love and that as that Christ-love is born again in us, here and now, the world will see not us, but Him, in all the majesty and glory that is due Him.
Maranatha ? Come O Come Emmanuel!

Rev. Marie, Advent 2012
P.S. Once again, Rob and I thank God for the amazing gift of serving God among you and with you. And we pray God?s great blessings for each of you in this new year!

It is the week before Advent and the Celebrations begin!

Today we had a wonderful Christmas Tea - Fran and crew - you outdid yourselves!!!

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the Celebration of Christ the King and we remember who we serve and whose we are!

Sunday, we will have two services, 8:30 and 10:00 followed by Brunch after the 10 o'clock service.
About 12:30 we will gather in the parking loot and caravan out to Craig and Elaine's lovely property on Hwy 63 for a Walk in the Woods. While we are there we will gather fresh greens, and have a time of WARM gathering ( Elaine makes great hot chocolate!) and then return to the church to Make Advent Wreaths. This is a great Christ Church tradition and everyone is welcome - if you can't make it to the whole day, come as you can.

On Wednesday is our Prayer Pal Reveal Dinner. If you have been praying for a child this year, or if you have a child who has been part of the program then don't miss this important dinner ( parents can have a "date night" and other caregivers can have a night off - drop the kids off and enjoy some free time). The Prayer Pals bring something for a shared supper and both adults and children bring a small ornament to exchange as a gift to remember this past year. For more info, contact Elsie Black or Ellen Vaughan or call the Church Office.

On Saturday you can start the Advent season with a Quiet Day, beginning at 9:30 and finishing at 3:00. Our theme will be Living Between the Steps - Living with Uncertainty. What is a Quiet Day? It is a chance to begin the season with some time for learning, reflection and silent prayer. Rev. Marie will give three short meditations. Each meditation will be followed by a private time of quiet. Some folks walk outside, others pray privately, journal or draw or listen to music or read. After each private time, we gather together and talk a little casually before the next meditation. The day ends with a short service of prayer. In between times, there will be coffee and tea available, and a simple lunch of bread and soup. There is no cost except free will donations. Folks have found this a very meaningful way to begin their Advent Season. You are perfectly free to just come at the last minute - or to come for part of the day if you can't make the whole day, but if you know that you will be there, it is helpful if you can call the Church office and let us know ( we want to be sure there will be enough soup!)

Make sure you give yourself the gift of meaningful time and fellowship in the midst of this busy season!