The E-postle July 5, 2020

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
E-Postle
July 5, 2020

“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”

 

THIS ISSUE AT A GLANCE

• Upcoming Dates
• Stewardship: Stewardship Reflection, Community “Phone a Friend”
• Worship: Guest Musician
• Parish Matters: Bottle Drive for Fundraising, Beware Email Scams, Financial Status for April & May 2020, Parish Giving, Ongoing Updates Pages, E-Postle Submissions
• Parish Ministries: Anglican Church Women (A.C.W.) Call for Donations, Deanery Vacation Bible School, Food Bank Temporary Suspension & Ongoing Support Needed
• Community News: Community Kitchen
• Weekly Devotions: Prayer Cycle, Scripture Readings
• Important Contact Information

 
UPCOMING DATES

***Note: All gatherings below take place online via Zoom unless otherwise indicated.***
(Visit https://www.stja.ca/2020/program-updates/ for connection information)

Sunday, July 5                     8:30am & 10:00am – Sunday Morning Prayer

Meeting ID: 542 312 325
Password: 010729

Sunday, July 5                     following 8:30am and 10:00am worship – Informal Virtual “Coffee Hour”
Tuesday, July 7                  10:15am – 12:00pm – Bible Study
Tuesday, July 7                   7:00pm – 8:00pm – Prayer Group

 

STEWARDSHIP

Stewardship Reflection

From Sunday by Sunday: Reflections on Stewardship, prepared by the Ven. Dr. Michael Pollesel:

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
It’s difficult to find many these days who don’t feel “overburdened.” We all seem to have a great deal on our “plates”. Jesus reminds us that the faithful steward is the one who comes to Jesus and asks him to share the burden.

 

Community “Phone a Friend”

Your St. John’s Stewardship Team have set up a “phone a friend” service for us all to keep from feeling a bit disconnected during these days of physical distancing. We have set up phone teams to call each week to “check in” and help relieve some of the loneliness that is inevitable in the current circumstances.

We would like to make sure no one out there is left out, so email or call Kristin (bobandkristinkuhn@gmail.com or 778-957-8987) or Natasha (freefromfear101@gmail.com or 604-961-6630) if you are not receiving a call and would like to, or if you are interested in helping to make these phone calls, and we will make sure you get hooked into the service.

We know that the caring community that is St. John’s will not leave any of its people feeling more separated than is absolutely necessary. “Distance means so little when people mean so much.”

-Your Stewardship Team

 

WORSHIP

Guest Musician

We extend a warm welcome to Birgit Giesser, who is serving as guest musician while LaRee is away. She will be joining us at 10am Zoom worship on 2 more Sundays: July 5 & 12.

 

PARISH MATTERS

Bottle Drive for Fundraising

Good news! We now have another option for bottle recycling fundraising, besides the existing arrangements with Biggar Bottle Depot in Port Coquitlam.

We are now registered with Return-It, and you can bring your unsorted cans, bottles and containers in clear/transparent plastic bags to ANY Return-It Express Depot.

Log in at the Express Kiosk using St John’s phone number – 604-936-7762.

A label is then printed out to be placed on the bag – no sorting, no counting, no waiting in line. The staff will sort the containers and credit refunds to St. John’s Express account, which will go into the General Fund. Since we started (during Cathy Hall’s tenure), we have raised $7,087.15

Note: Pre-printed labels will be made available once church buildings are reopened.

 

Beware Email Scams

Some parishioners have recently received fraudulent emails purporting to be from Vivian – the message claims that she is in a meeting and that is why she is emailing to ask a favour. When you reply, the person asks you to purchase a gift card so that she can help someone in need. Please note that Vivian would never ask for help in this manner!

You can often tell that a message is fake if you look carefully at the originating email address, if the tone/wording seems strange, and/or if the request asks you to give money in an odd way. If you ever have any doubt about an email’s authenticity, please feel free to call Vivian (or email rector@stja.ca directly in a separate email) to confirm.

For further information, here are 2 government resources re: email fraud recommended by the diocese:  https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/protect-fraud/internet-email-telephone.html and https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm

 

Financial Status for April & May 2020

We append below the Parish financial status for your information.

Statement of Income and Expenses 31st May 2020

	April Actual	May Actual	May Budget	YTD Actual	YTD Budget
Income	$15,127	$12,610	$ 19,083	$73,437	$95,383
Expenses	$3,347	$2,789	$ 19,079	$70,109	$95,395
Surplus (-) Loss	$11,780	$9,821	$4	$3,327	-$11

 

	April Actual	May Actual	May Budget	YTD Actual	YTD Budget
Offering for General Funds	$10,984	$9340	$15,408	$52,714	$77,402
Offering for Property	$1,473	$1,380	0	$6,702	0

Notes: Expenses were reduced significantly as the Rector’s salary was paid for by the Diocese and the Parish Assessment waived.

 

Parish Giving

Thank you to all who have continued with your offerings via PADs and cheques. If you are interested to e-transfer your contributions directly to the church account, please contact Amalia treasurer@stja.ca or Ruby at peopleswarden@stja.ca for more details.

 

Ongoing Updates Pages

There are 2 important pages on our parish website which will be updated regularly as we have new information (links to both pages can also be found at the top of our homepage www.stja.ca):

1. Program & Worship Updates/Links – https://www.stja.ca/2020/program-updates/ – current information on programs, including Zoom meeting information and the bulletin and scripture readings for Sunday worship.
2. Updates on Covid-19 at St. John’s – https://www.stja.ca/2020/updates-re-coronavirus/ – a collection of all special correspondence from Archbishop Melissa and from our parish re: actions that St. John’s and our greater diocese are taking with the Covid-19 virus.

 

E-Postle Submissions

If you have submissions for the E-Postle, please email them to Kathy by Wednesday at 9:00pm at news@stja.ca.

 

 

PARISH MINISTRIES

Anglican Church Women (A.C.W.) Call for Donations

The A.C.W. is continuing to do its community outreach programs on behalf of St. John the Apostle. Unfortunately, due to the cancellation of our Spring Tea, we have less funds available to continue our work.

We would like to ask the St.  John’s community to consider donating what you would have spent at the Spring Tea to the A.C.W. directly.  Donations can be made by cheque or by e-transfer to the church, and all donations will receive a tax receipt.  When donating, please ensure that “A.C.W.” is clearly marked in the memo line or comments section.

We know that this is a difficult time for many, and any donations would be helpful. We would like to thank you for your ongoing support of our outreach ministry work.

-President Alma Oldenburg, Vice-President Sue Hall

 

Deanery Vacation Bible School

For 4 more Sundays this summer (July 5, 12, 19, & 26), St. John’s is sponsoring a Sunday morning virtual Vacation Bible School for all children of our deanery. We begin at 9:30am and gather until approximately 9:50am on Zoom.

The theme of our VBS is “Compassion Camp – Be Loved, Be Kind, Be You”, and during this time together the children hear a Bible story and have a discussion relating to the theme of the day, while doing some artwork with some musical accompaniment.

Afterward, for those who stay for St. John’s worship, the Children’s Talk picks up on the day’s theme, and children have a chance to gather as usual, as well as to share more of their VBS experience with our wider congregation.

For more details and Zoom connection information on our VBS please connect with Anne at deacon@stja.ca.

 

Food Bank Temporary Suspension & Ongoing Support Needed

The St. John’s Food Bank is not able to operate until further notice due to the COVID19 virus and the many restrictions that are in place for the safety of all our community and beyond. The Food Bank will resume when safe to do so and will continue to rely on the generosity of our parishioners.

Since this ministry to our community is a priority for St. John’s, Parish Council decided at our June 30 meeting to continue to use funds that would normally have gone into purchasing food for our own Food Bank to support others who are able to continue to serve our community in this time. We will be giving $500/month in July and August to SHARE Food Bank. Please continue to give generously to our Food Bank ministry so that in this time of great need we can continue to support this important work for the most vulnerable among us.

In the meantime, we have been informed about 2 local food programs that are currently still operating if you are interested in inquiring about other ways to help.

1. SHARE Food Bank – https://sharesociety.ca/news/share-covid-19-update
2. Club Freedom, a meal program run by CityReach Care Society, Broadway Church, and Eagle Ridge Bible Fellowship – https://www.cityreach.org/clubfreedom. (To volunteer or donate food for Sun/Tues/Thurs contact Craig Savage at craigs@cityreach.org or 604-253-2700. To volunteer or donate food for Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat—contact Debbie Fell at debbiefell@shaw.ca or call 604-942-5622)

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

Community Kitchen

St. John’s, along with partner Inlet United Church, was recently awarded a $2000 start up grant by the Port Moody Foundation. The project proposal was for the Spring Street Community Kitchen. The original vision was an in-person, group cooking series of events. The planning group is currently revisioning the project into a virtual cooking experience.

 

 

WEEKLY DEVOTIONS

Prayer Cycle

The Anglican Church of Canada – the Most Rev. Linda Nicholls, Primate, and the Most Rev. Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop.

The Diocese of New Westminster – the Most Rev. Melissa Skelton, Archbishop, and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of BC and Yukon.

And this week:

• The Legal Officers of the Diocese – George Cadman, Chancellor; Kevin Smith, Vice-Chancellor; Donald Paul, Registrar; Jennifer Dezell, Legal Assessor
• Our partner Diocese of Northern Philippines, Bishop Brent Alawas, and especially the people of our twin church at St. John the Evangelist Mission, Balugan;
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada – National Bishop Susan Johnson, BC Synod Bishop Greg Mohr;
• The brothers and sisters who share our worship space: The Port Moody Korean Presbyterian Church

 

Readings for July 5, 2020 – Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Psalm 45:11-18; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

 

Readings for July 12, 2020 – Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

Genesis 25:19-34; Psalm 119:105-112; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

 

IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION

Rector	The Rev. Vivian Lam	rector@stja.ca	604-936-7762 (church voicemail) / 604-723-5029 (cell)
Deacon	The Rev. Anne Anchor	deacon@stja.ca
Parish Office		administrator@stja.ca	604-936-7762
(Office is closed at this time, but email and voice messages will be checked Tuesday – Friday)
Rector’s Warden	Geri Grigg	rectorswarden@stja.ca
People’s Warden	Ruby Ng	peopleswarden@stja.ca
Treasurer	Amalia McGlashan	treasurer@stja.ca
Envelope Secretary	Sheila De Vaal	envelopesecretary@stja.ca
Parish Council	Kristin Kuhn, Secretary	parishcouncilsecretary@stja.ca
Altar Guild	Brenda Binns	altarguild@stja.ca
Anglican Church Women	Alma Oldenburg	ACW@stja.ca	604-788-2562
Bible Study	Lynne Milner	biblestudy@stja.ca
Building Repairs / Maintenance	Brian McGlashan, Building Coordinator	property@stja.ca
Children’s Ministry/Godly Play	Christina Anchor	children@stja.ca
E-Postle	Kathy De Vaal	news@stja.ca
Food Bank		foodbank@stja.ca
Parish Visiting Ministry	Joanne Walton/Alma Oldenburg	pastoralvisits@stja.ca
Prayer Circle	Sue Elliott	prayer@stja.ca
Prayer Shawls	Rosa Weisensel	administrator@stja.ca