The E-postle May 31, 2020

Pentecost Sunday
E-Postle
May 31, 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
• Rector’s Note
• Stewardship: Stewardship Reflection, Community “Phone a Friend”
• Worship: Pentecost Red, Zoom Update
• Parish Matters: Financial Status up to 30th April 2020, Delaying Parish Opening, Banner at Front of Church, From the Wardens – Parish Giving, Ongoing Updates Pages, E-Postle Submissions
• Parish Ministries: Anglican Church Women (A.C.W.) Zoom Meeting, Food Bank Temporary Suspension & Ongoing Support Needed
• Community News: Sacred Teachings Podcast
• 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, May 31                     8:30am & 10:00am – Sunday Morning Prayer – Pentecost

Meeting ID: 542 312 325
Password: 010729

Sunday, May 31                      following 8:30am and 10:00am worship – Informal Virtual “Coffee Hour”
Tuesday, June 2                      10:15am – 12:00pm – Bible Study
Tuesday, June 2                     7:00pm – 8:00pm – Prayer Group
Thursday, June 18                  7:00pm – 8:00pm – Anglican Church Women (A.C.W.) Meeting

 

RECTOR’S NOTE

The Easter season finally draws to a close this Sunday with our celebration of the feast of Pentecost. I think about the disciples that very first Pentecost, with the memory of Jesus leaving them in the Ascension still quite fresh – they were probably sitting in that house, thinking “OK, now what?” And this “what” turned out be the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit rushing upon them suddenly… this Holy Spirit that infused them with the marvelous ability to communicate the message of God’s power and presence in the many languages of those who were gathered in the city!

As we at St. John’s gather virtually this Pentecost, I hope that we will consider anew the gift of that same Holy Spirit to each of us. Every one of us has that Holy Spirit empowering us too! How will the Spirit help us to communicate the power and presence of God to diverse others in this particular time of Covid-19? What personalized, just-for-them message do people around us need to hear right now about who God is? How will we allow this amazing Holy Spirit to work through us, to help more and more people know better this God who is everything to us?

Peace, Vivian

 

STEWARDSHIP

Stewardship Reflection

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

Day of Pentecost – John 20:19-2

The gift of the Holy Spirit, given to all who live as faithful stewards, can be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, in that the Spirit does indeed offer us a source of sustenance for our journey. A curse, in that the Spirit forces us to see the choices we make which are contrary to God’s dream for all creation, thereby not allowing us “off the hook” for them.

 

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

Pentecost Red

In celebration of Pentecost this Sunday, May 31, we invite everyone to wear something red to our Zoom worship services this week, to represent the power and presence of the Holy Spirit!

 

Zoom Update

After May 30, Zoom will be requiring everyone to upgrade to software version 5.0 or higher – this higher version has updated security features. When connecting to a Zoom meeting in the past few weeks, most people should have already gotten a Zoom message asking you to upgrade. If you haven’t already upgraded, we suggest that you do this before Sunday to avoid delay in connecting that morning – depending on your computer, the upgrade typically takes just a few minutes to complete. Zoom should prompt you when you try to connect to a meeting link, and you can also find more information via https://zoom.us/. If you have any questions about the upgrade, please feel free to connect with Vivian at rector@stja.ca or 604-723-5029.

 

PARISH MATTERS

Financial Status up to 30th April 2020

We append below the Parish financial status for March and April for your information. We thank everyone for your continuing support for the church, as well as in our ministries to the larger community in a time when need is more keenly felt than ever.

Statement of Income and Expenses 30^th April 2020

	March Actual	March Budget	April Actual	April Budget	YTD Actual	YTD Budget
Income	$ 12,554	$ 19,083	$15,127	$19,083	$ 60,942	$ 76,333
Expenses	$ 18,291	$ 19,083	$3,347	$19,079	$ 67,320	$ 76,232
Surplus (-) Loss	$ (5,737)	$ 0	$11,780	$4	$(6,378)	$101

 

FUNDS	March Actual	March Budget	April Actual	April Budget	YTD Actual	YTD Budget
General	$ 8,806	$ 15,408	10,984	15,408	$ 43,374	$ 61,633
Property	$1,073	$ 0	$ 1,473	$ 0	$ 5,322	$ 0

 

Notes by Treasurer:
In February, some annual expenses such as insurance get paid, which may make it appear as though our expenses are far more than budgeted. There were also a few un-budgeted larger expenses that happened earlier this year, like snow removal. This resulted in a YTD deficit of $12,277 as of February 29^th.

March income took a dive as our last in-person worship was on 8^th March. Expenses remained close to our budgeted amounts.

April’s income improved as donations came in via PADs, cheques, and e-transfers. Expenses were reduced significantly as the Rector salary was paid for by the Diocese, as well as our Parish Assessment. These combine to a savings of $11,288, which will continue in May.

Those that share our space have also continued to contribute in these difficult and uncertain times.

Also worth mentioning is that we do not have an Administrator at the present time.

 

Delaying Parish Reopening

Please see the Parish Council statement to parishioners, that outlines our discernment to not yet reopen St. John’s buildings for in-person worship on June 14 at  https://www.stja.ca/2020/5-22-20-parish-council-statement-on-re-opening.   

For more details on the diocesan requirements for reopening, please see https://www.vancouver.anglican.ca/news/documents-available-phased-re-opening-for-in-person-worship.

 

Banner at Front of Church

If you have not seen it already, we have installed a banner at the main entrance of the church which reads:

St. John the Apostle Anglican Church
Connected to You in Prayer, Care, and Shared Experience

Join us online for Sunday Worship and Daily Psalms and Prayers
www.stja.ca

You may have noticed it as the Cover Photo of our Facebook page, as well as the background for Vivian’s Zoom profile for Sunday worship.

We also received some diocesan communications coverage at: https://www.vancouver.anglican.ca/news/online-worship-numbers-at-two-st-johns.

 

From the Wardens – 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.) Zoom Meeting

Sadly, our usual annual wind-up dinner in June has been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. We have decided to have a regular business meeting on Zoom on Thursday, June 18 at 7:00pm.  The meeting will focus on our future plans for the Fall and the Fall Bazaar.

Please contact acw@stja.ca for connection details for the meeting.

• Ann Adair-Austin

 

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. Please speak to Lynne Milner at foodbank@stja.ca with any questions about the Food Bank ministry in general.

Since this ministry to our community is a priority for St. John’s, Parish Council has decided at our March 31 meeting 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 $1000/month for April-June 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

Sacred Teachings Podcast

The Sacred Teachings podcast’s current season has the theme “Path to the Stronghold“. In the penultimate episode of the season, “The Armour Of God”, Steven A. Darden talks life in lockdown and how Mother Nature is blooming once more. Check it out at https://www.anglican.ca/im/podcasts/ or https://vimeo.com/channels/sacredteachings.

The teachings, languages, traditions and stories of the Ancestors are shared in this “Sacred Teachings” podcast series, which is sponsored by the Anglican Church of Canada. Highly respected Indigenous speakers are featured in this series, with a different theme for each season, including the sacredness of Creation and finding meaning in a global crisis.

 

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 Deanery of Peach Arch – The Reverend Stephen Laskey, Regional Dean
• 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 May 31, 2020 – Pentecost

Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; 1 Corinthians 12:3b -13; John 20:19-23

 

Readings for June 7, 2020 – Trinity Sunday

Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Psalm 8; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-30

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	Lynne Milner	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

St. John the Apostle Anglican Church
2208 St. John’s Street
Port Moody, BC V3H 2A7
Phone: 604-936-7762
Email: news@stja.ca
Web: www.stja.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/StJohnAnglican

St. John’s 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