Palm / Passion Sunday

E-Postle

April 2, 2023

 

8:30am (in-person only) & 10:00am (in-person + Zoom) – Holy Eucharist

https://zoom.us/j/542312325?pwd=R3FKTnZ4WUU1YUFveCtzOUljM2FLZz09

Meeting ID: 542 312 325

Password: 010729

 

This Week’s Worship & Programs – https://www.stja.ca/2023/program-updates/ – current information on what’s going on at St. John’s, including Zoom links and the bulletin and scripture readings for Sunday worship.

 

Click here for contact info for parish ministries

 

There WILL BE Coffee Hour following the 10am service.

 

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS: 

Sun – Apr 2                                   Palm Sunday services + (at 10am) All-Ages Chat

Sun – Apr 2                                   (after 10am service) In-Person Lenten Study #5 “Invited”

Wed – Apr 5                                 Coffee & Crafts

Thurs – Apr 6                               Maundy Thursday – 6:00pm soup supper + 7:00pm worship

Fri – Apr 7                                     12noon – Good Friday service

Sat – Apr 8                                     Clean-up of church grounds

Sun – Apr 9                                    Easter Sunday services + (after 10am) Easter Egg Hunt

 

Sun – Apr 30                                Companion Diocese Presentation

Sat – May 6                                  Spring Tea

Thurs – May 11                           next Spring Street Community Kitchen

Sun – June 18                               Honouring National Indigenous Day of Prayer and blessing of the blankets

Wed – June 21                             National Indigenous Peoples Day; Coast Salish Blessing Ceremony @ Rocky Point

 

NEW THIS WEEK:

Stewardship Reflection

From Working Preacher – Matthew 27: 11-54

Jesus Christ calls us to be his disciples, taking up the cross, dying to ourselves, our selfishness, in order that we might look out upon the world to serve it. We are not called upon to do any thing that Christ has not done.

Clean-up of Church Grounds for Easter

We call on ALL able-bodied persons to come and help clean-up the church grounds on Saturday, 8 April, starting at 9am. Raking of leaves and debris and trimming of plants and hedges are just some of the fun things to do! Please bring your family along for a work-out.

Grounds Coordinator is still recovering from surgery, but will be there to work alongside you!

Refreshments and cold beverage will be served.

Palm Sunday this Sunday April 2

We’ll be blessing palm crosses in-person, and for those on Zoom, please join our palm procession fun by lifting up a local plant from your garden/household! The 10am service will include an All-Ages Chat. 

Updated COVID Protocols

Parish Council approved updates to our COVID protocols on Mar. 25 – beginning with services on April 2, masking is now optional at worship, and continues to be optional downstairs at coffee hours. For now, we will continue to have a no-contact Peace, and maintain our current setup for Communion (one station for wine located to the side).

We know that all will continue to be sensitive to those who may have different comfort levels from you re: masking, touch, and distancing. We also appreciate everyone’s continuing to help our community stay healthy by remaining at home if you are feeling unwell. Thank you!

Companion Diocese Presentation

The Executive Archdeacon of our Diocese, the Ven. Philippa Pride, will be our guest speaker at the 10am service on April 30. She will be giving us a presentation of her journey to our Companion Diocese in the Northern Philippines, including material re: our sister church, St. John’s in Balugan. Her presentation will be given as our sermon that day via PowerPoint. Also, she is planning to stay after the service for a Q&A session. Please mark your calendar for an interesting visit! Further details are forthcoming. Please speak to Brenda Lou-Hing with any questions. 

Parish Council Retreat

Our newly-formed Parish Council met for a productive Zoom retreat last Saturday, Mar. 25. We prayed together, learned ways of working together better via a personality assessment tool, brainstormed and visioned about our upcoming Community Garden and future property development, and started setting goals for the upcoming year. We look forward to sharing more with and collaborating with the wider parish as the year goes on.

Labyrinth Walks at Inlet United

Come for a calming, contemplative walk along the indoor labyrinth pathway at Inlet United Church. This is a free monthly event; donations gratefully accepted. The next event will be this Thursday, April 6, 6:30-8:30pm. Contact Inlet United for more info. 

 

INFORMATION:

Next Coffee and Crafts

This Wednesday, Apr. 5 at 10:00am. Come and join us for coffee, fun and fellowship.  Please bring your ideas for future craft projects or just your own project to work on while we visit. We look forward to reactivating this informal gathering once again. 

Holy Week & Easter at St. John’s

Holy Week and Easter have arrived, and we hope you’ll join your St. John’s family—whether virtually or in-person—and invite friends and family too! If a service is listed as “hybrid” it will be in-person and on Zoom.

As always, everyone of all ages is welcome to attend – we’ll have art supplies available for younger visitors in addition to the special programming listed below. Zoom connection and other information can be found at https://www.stja.ca/2023/program-updates/

• MAUNDY THURSDAY, April 6, 6pm soup supper (in-person) & 7pm worship (hybrid) – Feel free to join one or both parts of the evening. We’ll enjoy a simple soup supper downstairs with some brief prayers and readings in the Parish Hall at 6pm, and then move upstairs for a 7pm worship service which will include foot washing and a Stripping of the Altar.

• GOOD FRIDAY, April 7, 12noon (hybrid) – the church will be open for personal prayer from 11am on (and also after the service), and the Stations of the Cross will be available then as a focus of meditation – art supplies will be available for those drawn to pray in more creative ways! The service will include a Meditation on the Cross.

• EASTER SUNDAY, April 9, 8:30am (in-person) & 10am (hybrid) Eucharist – Both services will have Eucharist and coffee hour, and the 10am will include children’s programming and an Easter Egg hunt after the service. We encourage you to dress in your Easter best (however you define that!), and to bring bells to ring (and other gentle noisemakers) or something colourful to wave in the air each time we hear the word “Alleluia!”. 

Maundy Thursday Soup Supper

After a pandemic hiatus of 3 years(!) we will be gathering in-person for Maundy Thursday on the evening of Thursday, Apr. 6 – simple soup supper at 6pm downstairs in the Parish Hall + 7pm worship service upstairs.

If you are able to help provide some of the soup or assist with setup/cleanup, there is a sign-up sheet by the stage in the Parish Hall or please connect with Ann Adair-Austin at cannadairaustin@gmail.com. 

Calling All Bakers!

For our fundraising Spring Tea on May 6th, we hope to serve PIE and BROWNIES with ice-cream, along with tea & coffee. Please mark your calendars!

We do have some volunteers to bake pies but more are always welcome. There will also be a Bake Table and Craft Table so time to start planning how you might contribute to those.

Please connect with Ferne or Ruby peopleswarden@stja.ca if you can help! 

Seeking 125^th Anniversary Ideas

2024 will be the 125^th anniversary of our church’s official opening. We will be spending the year remembering and celebrating God’s work in our parish over these many decades, and reconnecting and reaching out to our surrounding neighbourhoods.

We are looking for your ideas of ways we can mark this anniversary year – no idea too small or big for us to consider! Please mark your idea down on the newsprints (upstairs by the chapel, or downstairs in the Parish Hall), speak to any Council member directly, or email the office at administrator@stja.ca. If you’d be interested in helping with planning, please connect with Vivian at rector@stja.ca.

Temporary Office Hours

Through April, the Parish Office will have temporary adjusted hours: Tuesday through Friday, 8am-11am.

 

HOW YOU CAN SERVE THE WORLD AROUND US

Spring Street Community Kitchen (updated)

Save the date for our next gathering at St. John’s on Thursday, May 11, 4-6pm, where we will come together for some bulk cooking of soups and sandwiches and have supper together afterward. A portion of this food will go to a local shelter run by Progressive Housing Society, and the rest will be for us to take home for ourselves and/or to share with those from our own networks.

Registration required: please send your name and email address to SpringStreetCommunityKitchen@gmail.com.

Check out our Facebook page for photos and videos from past events, as well as to keep updated on future ones. If you have ideas for this ministry collaboration with Inlet United Church, would like to be more involved, or have any questions, please connect with Vivian in-person or at rector@stja.ca. 

ReSponse Update + Donations for Pots & Pans

We are so excited to tell you that we have had notification that our new Refugee family will be arriving on May 9!!!  This is a family consisting of a father; mother; 3 boys aged 8, 7 and 2; and a grandmother.

We would like to thank everyone so much for all the donations we have received so far.  And thank you for storing the items until we can find a home for the family. We have nearly everything that will be needed although we are still looking for a high chair and a kitchen garbage can and we will need to order school supplies when we know which school the children will be attending.

St. Laurence Church is collecting money toward a new vacuum for the family. We are hoping that we can buy a set of new pots and pans especially from the people from St. John’s.  If you would like to make a donation of $10 or $15 you will be able to claim it for income tax.  Please mark “Refugee Family” on your envelope.

If anyone knows about a reasonably priced 3-bedroom suite in the Tri-Cities that will be available May 1, please speak with someone from the ReSponse Team—Mary, Karlis, Sheila, Laurie, or Richard.

And please pray for a safe arrival for our new family.

 

HOW YOU CAN SERVE IN THE PARISH COMMUNITY 

Wednesday Morning Prayer Space

As part of our mission to be a spirited community in the centre of Port Moody, we are hoping to have our space open once a week for people to just come in and sit down in a quiet space. We are looking for 4 more people who are willing to come in pairs to be present while people who seek quietness and release of daily stresses for a short time come into this space.

We will begin experimenting soon with opening the church for personal prayers and meditation on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 am to 1 pm. If you feel called to this ministry, please connect with Ruby at peopleswarden@stja.ca or Vivian at rector@stja.ca.

Intercessors and Tech Support Assistants

2 critical roles in Sunday worship are those who lead us in prayers and those who keep our tech running smoothly. We are looking for more people to sign up – training and support will be provided, especially for those without past experience interested in learning! Please connect with Anne at deacon@stja.ca or Ruby at peopleswarden@stja.ca.

Sunday Coffee & Refreshments

Hospitality and fellowship are so important to our community’s ongoing health and growth. We would love to have more folks be part of this vital Coffee Hour ministry! A Roster/Sign-up sheet is on the notice board in the kitchen. Please consider signing up if you are able, or if you would like to contribute treats.

 

HOW YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT ST. JOHN’S 

Flower Chart for 2023

is up at the Narthex (back of the church, by the chapel).  Should you wish to commemorate a birthday, anniversary or give in memory of a loved one, please consider signing up to donate flowers for the altar.

Parish Giving

Donations may be made by cheques, PADs or through e-transfer directly to the church account. Please contact Ruby at peopleswarden@stja.ca or Sheila at treasurer@stja.ca for more details. You may also give via PayPal/credit card via our website.

 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR FORMATION AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Lenten Program… “Invited” (updated)

We are meeting one last time this Sunday April 2 after the 10am service for our Lenten program “Invited”, exploring what it means to engage in genuine, Christian invitation. This final session will offer a recap of previous sessions, so come join us if you’ve been curious what it’s been all about! There are also extra handouts from previous sessions in the back of the church.

 

Readings for April 2, 2023, Palm Sunday / Passion Sunday

Liturgy of the Palms – Matthew 21:1-11

Liturgy of the Passion – Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 27:11-54

Readings for April 9, 2023, Easter Sunday

Jeremiah 31:1-6; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 28:1-10