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Services for Holy Week at Christ Church are:

1. Maundy Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

2. Good Friday at 2:00 p.m.

3. Easter Vigil (Saturday) at 7:00 p.m.

4. Easter Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (NOTE: only one service this Sunday)

This Sunday, March 29 is Palm Sunday.

Please note we will have only one service at 10:30 a.m.

This Wednesday, February 18 is Ash Wednesday. Service at 7:00 p.m. consisting of Holy Eucharist and Ashes.

Ash Wednesday represents the beginning of Lent, a 40-day time period for us to re-evaluate our lives in anticipation of the Resurrection of Our Lord on Easter Sunday.

All welcome.

Rev Marie found this in her holiday reading and found air interesting. She would love to hear your reactions. What do you think about this? Please comment in the box below.

The great heresy of the church today is that we think we?re in the entertainment business. A.W. Tozer believed this to be true back in the 1950s and 60s. Church members ?want to be entertained while they are edified.? He said that in 1962. Tozer grieved, even then, that it was ?scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction was God.?*

More recently, David Platt has asked: ?What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would His Word still be enough for his people to come together?? (Radical)

Would it be enough?

Tozer got it right: ?Heresy of method may be as deadly as heresy of message.?

HALLOWEDNESS, NOT SHALLOWNESS

Like Tozer, we should be concerned that so many people in our churches want to be entertained while they worship. We should be concerned when we no longer recognize the difference between the two. And we should be concerned by the growing belief that adding more entertainment value to worship is necessary for the church to accomplish its mission.

I may stand alone, but it grieves me when I see worship services characterized more by props, performances, and pep rally atmospheres than by any sense of divine sacredness; and hallowedness giving way to shallowness.

This is not about worship styles. The issue is not traditional versus contemporary versus blended worship. It?s not about organ versus worship band. That discussion misses the point completely. This is about the heart and focus and intent of worship. The real issues, for me, are these:

1. Who or what is the spotlight really on?
If the figurative spotlight in our church services is on anyone other than God, it is not worship. If the spotlight shines brighter on human performance than on the gospel of Christ, it is not worship. If anyone other than Jesus is receiving our adulation and applause, it is not God we worship.

2. What message are we communicating?
The message of the church?the message the world needs to hear from us?is not, ?Come and have a good time,? ?Come and be entertained,? or ?Come and find your best life now.?

Tozer said: ?Christ calls men to carry a cross; we call them to have fun in His name.?

The message of the church is the message of the cross. Lest we forget, Jesus? cross was a source of entertainment only for those who mocked Him as He hung on it.

3. How are lives changed?
?But our methods are attracting and winning people!? some will say.

Tozer addressed that sentiment: ?Winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world?s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love for God? To total committal to Christ??

THE WORD DOES THE WORK

David Platt and the church he pastored, The Church at Brook Hills, decided to try to answer the question, ?Is His Word still enough for His people to come together?? They stripped away the entertainment value and invited people to come simply to study God?s Word. They called it Secret Church. They set a date?on a Friday night?when they would gather from 6:00 in the evening until midnight, and for six hours they would do nothing but study God?s Word and pray. People came. A thousand people came the first time and it grew from that. Soon, they had to start taking reservations because the church was packed full. Secret Church now draws tens of thousands of people via simulcast in over 50 countries around the world?with no entertainment, no bells and whistles or smoke machines.

Why do they come? Platt explained in an interview: ?People are hungry for the Word. There?s really nothing special or creative about it. It?s just the study of the Word ?. The Word itself does the work!?

People are hungry. They are hungry for a diet of substance, not candy. More of the Word. Deeper into the Word. Less of what Tozer called ?religious toys and trifles.?

*Tozer quotes are taken from Tozer on Worship and Entertainment by James L. Synder.

Source: http://mikelivingstone.com/2014/12/17/the-heresy-of-worshiptainment/

ECUMENICAL PRAYER VIGIL

for ABDUCTED and MISSING WOMEN

Why:?In honour of the abducted and missing girls and women in Canada and around the world

When: Thursday, June 12, 2014

Time: 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Where: ?BEGINS: Pro-Cathedral at 7:00 p.m.
WALK TO: St. Andrew's United Church
WALK TO: St. John the Divine Anglican Church--END POINT

More information at: 705-474-3170 and hewsonzink37@gmail.com

Bishop Stephen Andrews is pleased to announce the appointment of The Reverend Marie Loewen as Archdeacon of Temiskaming, effective 1 May 2014.?She takes up the role from Archdeacon Linda White, who has retired.

Marie was made Deacon in 2002 and ordained Priest the following year. After a dozen years working in the insurance industry, she became a Pastoral Intern at St Brice's Church, North Bay, and later served as Programme Associate for the Temiskaming Deanery. For four years Marie served as Regional Dean for Temiskaming Deanery. In 2001 she was appointed the Part-time Incumbent of St Mary Magdalene's, Sturgeon Falls. In 2005 she took up her current appointment as Incumbent of Christ Church, North Bay. She has studied at Nipissing University, University of Waterloo, and Thorneloe University.

Bishop Andrews states that 'Marie will be a worthy successor to Archdeacon Linda, with whom she has worked closely. She has proven herself to be an effective leader and I look forward to benefiting from her experience and pastoral insights in the challenges that face us as a diocese.'

The date of her collation has yet to be set.

1. Tues. 20 May?Wed. 21 May-Thurs. 22 May:?noon-1:00 pm on each day
?All You Need is Love?: a 3-part session on the human quest for significance, community and transcendence
Presenter: The Rt Rev?d Dr Stephen Andrews, Bishop of Algoma

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2. Fri. 06 June: 2:00 ? 4:00 pm
Doing a Green Audit in a Church
Presenter: The Venerable Anne Germond & Green Audit Team

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To register for either [or both] Web Conference, or for further information, please e-mail webconferencealgoma@ontera.net -- Please register early.

In addition, if you have not yet taken our Orientation to Web Conferencing,?please register for any one of the following 1- hour training sessions:
Tues. 06 May: 10:00 ? 11:00 am
Wed. 07 May: noon ? 1:00 pm
Thurs. 08 May: 7:00 ? 8:00 pm
[You are welcome to request other times?if you cannot attend one of these sessions.]

Algoma Web Conferences [Webinars] are online seminars available to anyone, anywhere who has high speed Internet, speakers and microphone [and/or webcam, or headset]. Alternatively participants may opt to attend the webinar at their local Contact North Centre [available throughout the North] with prior arrangement.