The E-postle June 6, 2021

Second Sunday After Pentecost
E-Postle
June 6, 2021

“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
• Worship & Prayer: Bishop’s Pastoral Letter re: Kamloops Indian Residential School, Ongoing Pastoral Care & Support
• Formation: Your Input Needed – Indigenous Truth & Reconciliation Book Study
• Stewardship: Stewardship Reflection, Call for Stewardship Volunteers
• Parish Matters: Bishop’s Letter re: Diocesan Reopening Planning, Precautionary COVID cleaning, Flower Beds at Back of Church, Current Parish Office & Buildings Status, Financial Status for March and April 2021, Parish Giving, Ongoing Updates Pages, E-Postle Submissions
• Parish Ministries: Anglican Church Women (“A.C.W.”) News, Youth Opportunities, Food Bank Report
• Community News: In the Presence of Ancestors (formerly The Welcome Post Project), Next Spring Street Community Kitchen – June 24
• 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/2021/program-updates/ for connection information)

 Sunday, June 6                       8:30am & 10:00am –Sunday Morning Prayer

https://zoom.us/j/542312325?pwd=R3FKTnZ4WUU1YUFveCtzOUljM2FLZz09
Meeting ID: 542 312 325
Password: 010729

Sunday, June 6                       following 8:30am and 10:00am worship – Informal Virtual “Coffee Hour”
Tuesday, June 8                      10:15am – 12:00pm – Bible Study
Tuesday, June 8                     7:00pm – 8:00pm – Prayer Group
Tuesday, June 22                   7:00pm – 9:00pm – Parish Council
Thursday, June 24                  6:00pm – 7:00pm – Spring Street Community Kitchen

WORSHIP & PRAYER

Bishop’s Pastoral Letter re: Kamloops Indian Residential School

Bishop John has just sent a pastoral letter re: the recent news from the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (which he has also asked to be read at all worship services on June 6). The letter offers reflection on the work at hand for the larger Church and all of us as individuals, in the ongoing journey of truth and reconciliation with Indigenous communities.

https://www.vancouver.anglican.ca/news/pastoral-letter-from-bishop-john-stephens

Ongoing Pastoral Care & Support

A note from Vivian:

Please know that St. John’s is here for you as we continue to move through this pandemic. Now that I don’t see many of you as regularly, and with the limitations of virtual interactions, it is more challenging to know what everyone’s state of wellbeing and ongoing pastoral needs are. I invite and encourage you to reach out to me or to any of the other parish resources below, if and as you need.

Rector – Please contact me via rector@stja.ca or cell.  I am happy to connect via phone, email, text, Facetime or Zoom, and, during this pandemic, in-person in urgent situations. I am here for support in crisis times (i.e. emergencies, hospital stays) and if you would like prayer for an upcoming medical procedure or other major circumstance. I am also available for general spiritual support and encouragement, and can offer a listening ear and prayer in the moment.

Community “Phone a Friend” – our Stewardship Team has set up phone teams to call folks each week to “check in” and help lessen isolation and foster connection. Connect with Kristin (bobandkristinkuhn@gmail.com or 778-957-8987) or Natasha (freefromfear101@gmail.com or 604-961-6630) if you’d like to receive or help make these calls.

Sunday Prayers of the People – If you would like to be prayed for in our Sunday intercessions, please email Anne at deacon@stja.ca. You will be prayed for by first name, for whatever time period you indicate. If you are adding someone else, please be sure you have their OK to do so.

Prayer Circle – Please email Sue E. at prayer@stja.ca. This is a group of parishioners who commit to pray for prayer needs of parishioners and friends/families. All requests are kept confidential within the group, and you can let the group know as much or as little detail of the situation they’re praying for, as you wish. If you are requesting prayer for someone else, please be sure you have their OK to do so.

Parish Visiting Ministry – Members of this team focus on our parishioners who are homebound or living in care homes. During this pandemic time, they are praying for and connecting with these parishioners via phone, email, and mail. Please connect with Joanne W. or Alma at pastoralvisits@stja.ca with needs in this area.

 

FORMATION

Your Input Needed – Indigenous Truth & Reconciliation Book Study

Vivian is hoping to lead an online weekly book study (for roughly 4-5 weeks), beginning in the next few weeks, on the intersection of our faith and our journey toward Indigenous Truth & Reconciliation. The book will be finalized soon.

Please email Vivian at rector@stja.ca if you are interested in joining this study, and let her know when you could meet (please note all choices that could work for you):

1) Tuesday morning

2) Sunday after the 10am service

3) A weekday afternoon or evening – please note if you have any preferred days

And also…

4) If there are particular questions or topics you hope we would cover in this study

STEWARDSHIP

Stewardship Reflection

Mark 3: 34-35
And looking at those who sat around him, Jesus said, “here are my mother and my brothers! Who ever does the will of God is my brother and my sister and mother.”

Call for Stewardship Volunteers

The Stewardship Team is looking for some willing volunteers to join our team as we ramp up to prepare this year’s fall campaign. No experience necessary, just a desire to help keep our church healthy, strong, and vital. If you think you might be interested in helping our team, please call Kristin Kuhn at 778-957-8987 or the church office.

 

PARISH MATTERS

Bishop’s Letter re: Diocesan Reopening Planning

Bishop John recently sent a pastoral letter (and follow-up) re: reopening timelines in the diocese, in light of the new provincial Restart Plan. Along with details on what will be permitted at each stage, he notes, “Please do not feel that your parish… must rush into offering indoor/onsite worship. I urge you simply to begin planning for in-person worship, but the exact timing will be determined by the leadership in each parish.”

As you know, Parish Council has been in discussion and discernment since March about these matters, and as of our most recent May 25 meeting, among other planning, we are in process of preparing a parish survey in the next several weeks in order to solicit feedback from the wider congregation. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available, but in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any Council member with questions or comments.

The pastoral letter can be found at https://www.vancouver.anglican.ca/news/pastoral-letter-on-worship-in-the-diocese-of-new-westminster-and-bcs-restart-plan, as well as a follow-up at https://www.vancouver.anglican.ca/news/variance-to-may-26-pastoral-letter-on-worship-in-the-diocese-of-new-westminster-and-bcs-restart-plan.

Precautionary COVID cleaning

Last week one of the groups that meet at our church notified us (as part of our agreed-upon pandemic protocols) that one of their members had recent exposure to someone testing positive for COVID, and this member attended a meeting in our space. The member has since tested negative for COVID. The exposure risk is therefore very minimal, but as an extra safety precaution we have had our janitorial company do an extra clean of the hall last week.

Flower Beds at Back of Church

Now that spring has sprung and summer is fast approaching, we are opening the church grounds to anyone who is interested to tend to the flowerbeds, be it planting or weeding.

You are welcome to do so at anytime; if there are others present who are not in your household/core bubble, please mask/maintain social distance and take other necessary COVID precautions. Please also let Deanna (administrator@stja.ca) know when you are here, so that we are aware of who is on the property. If you should enter the buildings, please continue to log the time with Deanna as usual, for contact tracing purposes.

Current Parish Office & Buildings Status

The Parish Office is now open 3 partial days a week – generally on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10am-2pm – but please note that this schedule may shift from time to time. For now, the office will not be open to walk-in visitors – anyone coming by the office for a necessary purpose will need to make an appointment beforehand and follow Covid safety protocols as directed.

Anyone planning to come inside the church buildings at this time must also check in beforehand with Deanna in the office at administrator@stja.ca – even if you plan to be here just for a brief period of time. This is to enable necessary contact tracing, notification to anyone else in the building at the same time, and to review safety protocols as needed.

Two of our community 12-step groups are currently meeting in our space; other outside user groups have opted to hold off on meeting in-person for the time being. The 12-step groups are following strict safety protocols and are permitted to meet under the current provincial health order.

You may view the full reopening plan, the most recent guide for outside user groups, as well as diocesan updates at https://www.stja.ca/2021/updates-re-coronavirus/

Financial Status for March and April 2021

We append below the Parish financial status for your information.

Statement of Income and Expenses ending 30^th day of April, 2021

	March 2021 Actual	April 2021 Actual	April 2021 Budget $	YTD April 2021 Actual $	YTD April 2021 Budget $
Income	$ 15,301.70	$ 14,497.70	$ 18,620.82	$57,062.80	$ 74,483.28
Expenses	$ 13,462.85	$18,582.86	$ 18,541.32	$ 61,628.92	$ 74,165.28
Surplus (-) Loss	$ 1,838.85	($4,085.16)	$ 79.50	($ 4,566.12)	$ 318.00

 

	March 2021 Actual $	April 2021 Actual $	April 2021 Budget $	YTD April 2021 Actual $	YTD April 2021 Budget $
Offering for General Funds	10,355.00	10,811.00	15,333.33	40,630.00	61,333.32
Offering for Property	1,221.70	1,111.70	0	4,422.80	0

Treasurer’s Note: Unfortunately, we had a financial loss in April due to some higher expenses, which has resulted in a current annual loss so far this year. We have time to rebound from this easily.

We received an email from the Diocese that contained great news. We qualified for some financial relief in the form of a Canada Wage Subsidy from the Canada Revenue Agency in the amount of $13,983.34 (for periods from Nov 22, 2020 to May 8, 2021), which will be reflected in the May financials.

Parish Giving

Thank you to all who have continued with your offerings via PADs and cheques. If you wish to e-transfer your contributions directly to the church account, please contact Ruby at peopleswarden@stja.ca or Amalia at treasurer@stja.ca for more details. There are also links on our website at https://www.stja.ca/supporting-st-johns/ if you would prefer to donate by PayPal or Credit Card.

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/2021/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/2021/updates-re-coronavirus/ – a collection of all special correspondence from the Bishop 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.”) News

Thank You!
The ACW would like to thank everyone who made a donation to their outreach fund in lieu of the Annual Spring Tea this year. Your generous donations amounted to $1,375, and we were able to distribute these funds, along with funds from the Virtual Fall Bazaar, to various outreach projects (Covenant House, the Refugee Fund, St. Jude’s Care Home, VST Annual Fund, L’Arche, Coming Home Society, Tri City Women’s Shelter, Union Gospel Mission, and Mission to Seafarers), as well as a contribution to St. John’s General Fund.

Next Meeting
The next ACW meeting will be held on Thursday June 17th at 7pm via Zoom. We will be discussing plans for the fall at this meeting. Please contact ACW@stja.ca for Zoom connection details.

Youth Opportunities

Are you a member of our St. John’s community that is aged 14 to 19? Are you interested in participating in youth activities in our church? Did you know that there is an active local Anglican/Lutheran youth group you could be involved with?

Even during the COVID period, the local youth group that meets at St. Laurence Anglican Church is actively meeting, sometimes in person with limited COVID-safe activities and sometimes by Zoom. There are also lots of chances to participate in the youth movement to support youth in our churches or to add a youth perspective to the work of the church. If you are interested in youth activities and would like to connect with our local youth group, please contact Kristin Kuhn at bobandkristinkuhn@gmail.com or connect with the Parish Office and we will help build that connection with you!

Food Bank Report

At our April meeting, Parish Council decided to continue to support the SHARE Foodbank with donations of $500 per month taken from the St. John’s Foodbank fund (retroactive to January 2021), since our own Foodbank does not have immediate plans to resume in the near future. Thank you to those of you who have continued to support the Foodbank financially. Your contributions will still be helping those in need in our community.

And thank you to those who had supported the St. John’s Foodbank with donations of food while we were still meeting in person. The food has been sorted by date, and items close to their “Best Before” date have been taken to the SHARE Foodbank every month during the pandemic–so food donations have not been wasted!

Thank you again,
Mary Kyle

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

In the Presence of Ancestors (formerly The Welcome Post Project)

“‘In the Presence of Ancestors’ reasserts the presence of the original caretakers of these Coast Salish Lands and Waters, inviting all of us to join this legacy of ancestors and ensure a healthy future for all of our relations.” (from the Port Moody Ecological Society website at  www.noonscreek.org).

As part of honouring of the land in this area, those that hold a sacred responsibility to care for the future of these lands and waters have been commissioned to carve house posts that will be raised in ceremony along the Shoreline Trail by June 21, 2023

Stories from the Musqueam people are the focus for events this year; these will be on Zoom. The house post will be carved by Chrystal Sparrow at Noons Creek throughout the year.

Dates
– Thu Jun 10: Artist Talk with Debra Sparrow (θəliχʷəlʷət)
– Sun Jun 13: Weaving Workshop with Debra Sparrow
– Mon Jun 21: National Indigenous Peoples Day – Honouring Musqueam

For information on participating in these Zoom events go to  https://www.noonscreek.org/presence-ancestors/

Next Spring Street Community Kitchen – June 24

Please save the date for our next online Spring Street Community Kitchen on Thursday, June 24, 6-7pm. Note that we will take a summer break after this, resuming again in September.

Thanks to all who participated in May’s “Fish & Salsa” kitchen; the video for the cooking portion of the evening can be found at  https://youtu.be/I6e_pOk4Ll4 and the accompanying recipes at our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SpringStreetCommunityKitchen.

Funds raised in support of our Spring Street Community Kitchen are being re-gifted to the communities we serve. For June’s kitchen, we will give to The Hope for Freedom Society, which provides long-term residential supportive recovery for people suffering addictions, and also runs homeless outreach and meals programs in the Tri-Cities. Donations can be given via https://www.stja.ca/supporting-st-johns/; please designate your gift to our Community Kitchen project.

We also welcome volunteers for future kitchens – planning, hosting, moderating, and tech support are just some of the roles available. Email us at SpringStreetCommunityKitchen@gmail.com.

(The Spring Street Community Kitchen is a partnership between St. John’s and Inlet United Church – be sure to like and follow us at https://www.facebook.com/SpringStreetCommunityKitchen.)

 

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 Province of BC and Yukon – The Most Rev. Lynne McNaughton, Metropolitan.

The Diocese of New Westminster – the Rt. Rev. John Stephens, Bishop.

And this week:

• St. Augustine, Marpole – The Reverend Katherine Hough, The Reverend Christine Magrega;
• St. Mary the Virgin, South Hill – The Reverend Expedito Farinas;
• St. Mary the Virgin, Sapperton – The Reverend Arvin Amayag;
• Our partner Diocese of Northern Philippines, especially the people of our twin church at St. John the Evangelist Mission, Balugan; and Brent Alawas, their current Bishop and Prime Bishop-elect of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.
• 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 June 6, 2021 – Second Sunday after Pentecost

1 Samuel 8:4-20, 11:14-15; Psalm 138; 2 Corinthians 4:13 – 5:1; Mark 3:20-35

Readings for June 13, 2021 – Third Sunday after Pentecost

1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13; Psalm 20; 2 Corinthians 5:6-17; Mark 4:26-34

 

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	Deanna Lemke	administrator@stja.ca	604-936-7762
(No drop-in visitors at this time – please make an appointment to come in. General office hours are Tues/Thurs/Fri, 10am-2pm, but may occasionally change.)
Rector’s Warden	Rich Thompson	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	Geri Grigg,     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	Rich Thompson	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