THE E-POSTLE

The E-postle-January 21, 2018

 

“The Parish of St. John the Apostle is called to be

*          A Spirited Community at the heart of Port Moody

*          transformed through the experience of the presence of Christ

*          and sent out to share God’s Love”

 “Arise and go to Nineveh” –by Yamy Engelmeyer

 Hall Refreshment Project Going Forward

You may have noticed a couple of changes in the parish hall in the last few months.  One of the parish’s stated priorities this year was to take some concrete steps in dealing with building issues, and the hall has been a place to practice.  A new arrangement of furniture has helped make the space more flexible for community use and increased notice space.  The closet for the community food bank has been fitted with safer shelving.  The choir room has been cleaned up and is in the midst of being painted.  This coming week the hall floor is being re-waxed.

Still to come is a decision on improvements to the Godly Play room space and audiovisual upgrades.  None of these changes have been expensive, but then none of them has been able to address the larger concerns of accessibility or major renovations to the Church or Parish Ministry Centre.  It will be up to the Vestry to discuss the financial implications and securing funding in order to proceed, so as to begin a ministry plan with your new incumbent.

Yours in Christ, Stephanie +

Upcoming Dates

January 18- 1:30 pm, ACW Annual Meeting in parish hall

January 19-20- painting of choir room

January 23-24- stripping and waxing of parish hall. No groups in hall these days

January 24- Group and Committee reports due to parish office for Annual Vestry

January 24- 4-5 pm, Catechism Group in the PMC (note: after this week we will meet in hall)

January 29- 6-9 pm, Parish Council meeting.  Note early start for council members

February 4- 11:30 am Parish Visiting Ministry meeting in PMC

February 14- Ash Wednesday:  pancake supper 6 pm, services 8:30 am and 7:30 pm

February 18- 11:30 am Annual Vestry Meeting

February 23-25- Spiritual Formation Weekend at Loon Lake “Prayer Beyond Words”

February 25- noon, Lunar New Year lunch at Lougheed Wonton Restaurant

 

Stewardship Reflection

“Direct us O Lord, in all our doings with thy most gracious favor

and further us with thy continual help;

that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee,

we may glorify thy holy Name,

and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. “  

 – The book of Common Prayer

What is God directing us to begin, to continue working at, or to end this week?

Offering Envelopes Reminder

Thank you to everyone who picked up their boxes of 2018 offering envelopes.  This is a reminder to clearly write the amount you have enclosed on the outside of the envelope every week.  This will greatly assist the counters in their work each Sunday.

Floor Waxing in Hall

All hands needed on deck to move non-essential furniture after the 10 am service this coming Sunday onto the stage or into the (newly repainted) choir room (don’t bump the walls!).  Volunteers also still needed to help strip and wax the floor of the parish hall on Tuesday January 23 and Wednesday January 24.  Please speak to Rich Thompson or a warden.

Last call for Vestry Reports
Please be sure your reports are submitted no later than Monday January 29^th, 2018. Please email your reports to Karen at stjohn7@shaw.ca . Your timely submissions are greatly appreciated.

Flowers for the Altar

There are still spaces available in 2018.  Sign up on the flower chart near the door to the chapel and a member of the Altar Guild will contact you.

Coffee & Crafts, Wednesday, Feb. 7^th at 9:30

On this day, we will be sorting our crafts supplies.  These include ribbon, lace, wood craft items, yarn, fabric crochet cotton and probably many things we have forgotten are there!  Please come and join us if you are at all interested in crafting.  Maybe these items will give you crafting ideas or maybe you can give us ideas. We are hoping to downsize our supply so this maybe the last chance to see some of these items.  Look forward to seeing you on the 7^th– Ferne

Lunar New Year Celebration Lunch

In line with tradition, and to welcome the Year of the Dog, we will be celebrating with a lunch at Lougheed Wonton restaurant, 2408 St John Street (within walking distance from church) on Sunday 25th February 2018 at 12 noon. Tickets @ $15 per person are limited to only 50, and will be on sale in the first week of February. For reservations, please approach Ruby.

Lenten Book Study Group

Those interested in coming together for an evening session of “Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John” on Tuesday evenings are invited to sign up on the list on the parish board.  Workbooks are a suggested donation of $5.   There will also be a group studying the book on Tuesday mornings from 10:30-noon, and other parishes may have groups on different days.  We’ll post them as we receive word.

Liaison for Diocese of Northern Philippines

St. John Port Moody has been paired with St. John, Bila, Mountain Province, in the Diocese of Northern Philippines as our partner diocese in mission.  We have not been able to find a parishioner to be the liaison with this parish, which consists of making contact through FaceBook and updating them about our parish, as well as exchanging prayer requests.  There is a very important meeting this coming Saturday January 20, 2018 from 9:30-noon at the Synod Office (1410 Nanton at Granville).  A representative from each parish is urged to attend.   Please let Stephanie know if you are able to go to this meeting and convey the information back to the parish.  Speakers will include Dean Peter Elliott and retired archbishop Douglas Hambidge, and the coffee will be on!

Prayer Cycle

In the Anglican Communion-

* Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby; Primate of Canada Fred Hiltz and Indigenous Archbishop Mark McDonald; BC & Yukon Archbishop John Privett; Council of the North Diocese of Brandon and Henry Budd College;

* our partner Diocese of Northern Philippines, Bishop Brent Alawas, and especially the people of our twin church at St. Johns Mission, Bila, Mountain Province;

* Diocese of New Westminster Bishop Melissa Skelton, and this week:

St. Agnes, North Vancouver – The Ven. Stephen Muir, The Revs. Sharon Smith & Lizz Lindsay

St. Paul, Vancouver – The Revs. James Duckett & Alain-Michel Rocheleau, St. Paul’s Labyrinth, The Advocacy Office, and Our House.

St. Timothy, Burnaby – The Rev. Ruth Monette

*The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada- National Bishop Susan Johnson, BC Synod Bishop Greg Mohr;

*In our parish:

The work of the Canonical Committee as the first draft of the Parish Profile is prepared

*The brothers and sisters who share our worship space: The Port Moody Korean Presbyterian Church and the Polish Evangelical Church.

 

Readings for January 28, 2018   Epiphany 4

Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

Important Contact Information

Interim Priest– The Rev. Stephanie Shepard rev.seshepard@gmail.com or 778-773-6816

Parish Office– Karen Evans stjohn7@shaw.ca or 604-936-7762

Wardens– Geri Grigg gerigrigg@gmail.com Terry Walton terry&joanne_walton@telus.net

or through the parish office

Treasurer– Chelsea Belyk chelsea.belyk@gmail.com

Parish Council– Adelaine Miller, Secretary adelainemiller@shaw.ca

Altar Guild– Brenda Binns Brenda.Binns@hotmail.com

St. John Prayer Circle– Sue Elliott Elliott.sue1@gmail.com

Pastoral Visiting Ministry– Joanne Walton terry&joanne_walton@telus.net

or Alma Oldenburg almaolden@hotmail.com

Anglican Church Women (ACW)- Sue Hall 604-936-0176 sbhcat@hotmail.com