Christ Church

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.

Did you miss our first service at the Greenwood Avenue location? Bishop Stephen Andrew's sermon as well as the concluding remarks of Mayor Al McDonald and Rev'd Marie Loewen can be found on our Listen page (see above).

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/

Rev'd Marie and Rob traveled to the Tarime Diocese in Tanzania as part of a missions trip from the Algoma Diocese last year. ?Howard Edwards visited the parish in the fall to tell us more about the diocese of Tarime and how to help, including by supporting A-Cross Africa. ?Howard is in Africa again and his Facebook posts and photos are well worth visiting.

The church was packed for the ordination of Beth Hewson to the diaconate last Saturday. ?It was a joyful celebration of God's call to Beth and?His hand in her life, which Christ Church has been privileged to witness since Beth and Tom came to the parish.

Here is the announcement from the diocese:

God willing The Right Reverend Dr Stephen Andrews, Tenth Bishop of the Diocese of Algoma, will ordain Dorothy Elizabeth (Beth) Hewson to the sacred order of Deacons on Saturday the 29th of November 2014, the Eve of St Andrew the Apostle, at Christ Church, North Bay (312 Greenwood Avenue), at 2 o?clock in the afternoon.? Your prayers and presence are requested.? Clergy and Lay Readers are invited to robe and process. The liturgical colour is red.

Beth is a graduate of Canadore College (Recreation Leadership), Laurentian University (B.A. Psychology), George Washington University (M.A. Education & Human Development), and Trinity College where she received her M.Div. this past spring.? She is currently a Chaplain at the North Bay and District Hospital. ?She is married to Tom Zink and they reside in North Bay.

 

It's the first Sunday of the month - and that means all of us worshipping at the same service (10:30 am) and sharing coffee and goodies after!

This Sunday is extra special. We will be spending some time in interesting and important conversations. The Transition Team will present a quick update on the sale of Vimy Street and our present position with a chance for those with questions to ask them. We will have coffee, goodies and a time to visit together in the lower level afterwards and those interested in our Outreach Activities will gather in the "Green Room" for a time of catching up.

This is a great time to get to know each other better. See you there!

Last evening, after a long illness, Rev'd Marie's mother Dorothy Quinn passed into God's nearer presence. Her passing was consistent with her life; quiet, faith- filled and gentle, surrounded by the love of her family in the home she cherished.
Here are the arrangements for her service:
Rod Abrams Funeral Home Ltd. ?905-936-3477
www.RodAbramsFuneralHome.com
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Quinn: Dorothy,
Peacefully, surrounded by the love of her family, on Wednesday October 29, 2014 at her home in Alliston.
Dorothy Palmer, at the age of 83 years. Beloved wife of the late John "Jack" Quinn.
Loving mother of the Ven. Marie and her husband Robert Loewen, Marj and her husband Paul Daniels, Marion and the late Rev. Donald Mills, Marlene and her husband Reid Parr, and John and his wife Suzanne. Remembered with love by her 13 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Predeceased by her brother George Palmer and her sister Marjorie Crow.

Resting at Rod Abrams Funeral Home 1666 Tottenham Rd. Tottenham 905-936-3477
on Sunday November 2, 2014 from 2-4 and 7-9pm.
Funeral service will be held in Grace Baptist Church (354 Victoria St. E. Alliston ON L9R 1V7, 705-435-5686)
on Monday November 3, 2014 at 11am.
Interment Alliston Union Cemetery.

Click on the 'Images' link above to see a few new photographs of recent events. ?Thanks to Eric Magill for providing most of them.