The Baptism of the Lord

E-Postle

January 8, 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.

 

Coffee & Refreshments will be served after the 10 am service.

 

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS:

Tues – Jan 10              10:15am – 12noon – Epiphany Book Study #1 at Zoom Bible Study

Jan 1 – 31                    Cold Wet Weather Mat month at St. Laurence Coquitlam

Thurs – Jan 26                     date available to make sandwiches

 

 

NEW THIS WEEK:

Stewardship Reflection

Matthew 3: 13-17.  From Holy Textures:

“Fulfilling of righteousness requires letting go of our personal sense of what is right and proper in order to let it be God’s will that is fulfilled. For Jesus, as at the end, so too at the beginning: a deep and profound aligning of his heart and will with the will and spirit of God.”

Christmas Card from Angus

We recently received a beautiful Christmas card with the following message from the Rev. Dr. Angus Stuart (who served as Interim Priest in 2022 while Vivian was on medical leave):

To Vivian, Anne, Ruby, Rich, and all our dear friends at St. John the Apostle, Port Moody,

A wish for peace and happiness at Christmas and through the New Year.

With much love, Angus & Christine. We treasure the weeks we spent journeying with you all this year.

School Work Experience Program

We are delighted to have a new partnership with School District 43, in which we are offering work experience to students with developmental disabilities. Students are joining us during the school year each Friday to help with assembling worship bulletins, as well as other office tasks as assigned. Please keep this new program connecting us to our wider community in your prayers.

 

INFORMATION:

Epiphany Stars

This year we are again distributing “Epiphany stars,” each of which has a different word to reflect on for the coming year. If you are not able to pick one up at Sunday services, please connect with Vivian at rector@stja.ca and she would be glad to draw one out randomly for you and email or mail it to you.

Seeking Epiphany Written/Photographic Reflections (updated)

In Epiphany we will be exploring the flip side of darkness, and reflecting on how God can be found in the more obvious “light”. We invite you to consider writing a very brief reflection on “Where in your ordinary, everyday life does God shine clearly?” Photo responses would also be welcomed (please add a caption).

Our goal is 30 people sharing reflections and we’re almost half-way there! Thanks to those who have already signed up – we are looking for 18 more people to participate, and hoping for a wide diversity of people of all ages and abilities and interests. Please let Vivian know at rector@stja.ca if you can help out with this project, and she will assign you a day in Epiphany season (Jan. 6 through Feb. 21) to offer your reflection.

You can view the reflections daily (Mon-Fri) on our Facebook page and also our diocesan parish webpage.

Epiphany Book Study

In Epiphany season we will be doing a book study together on Learning to Walk in the Dark, by Barbara Brown Taylor, exploring how God can be (sometimes unexpectedly) found in “darkness”.

“Taylor has become increasingly uncomfortable with our tendency to associate all that is good with lightness and all that is evil and dangerous with darkness. Doesn’t God work in the nighttime as well?… Through darkness we find courage, we understand the world in new ways, and we feel God’s presence around us, guiding us through things seen and unseen. Often, it is while we are in the dark that we grow the most.” (From the publisher.)

Books are available now through the office at the subsidized price of $10, and audiobooks and e-books can also be purchased directly from your favourite retailer.

Discussion at our Tuesday morning (10:15am-12noon) Zoom Bible studies begins this Tuesday, Jan. 10.  If you would be interested in an evening/weekend Zoom discussion group, please let Vivian know at rector@stja.ca. 

Sermons Online

Just a reminder that you can access sermons (including this year’s 3 Christmas homilies) online on our parish YouTube channel, which is also linked toward the top of our parish homepage. We hope that this will be helpful if you wish to meditate further on a sermon, or share with friends and family.

Beware Email Scams

Please continue to stay vigilant about email scams, especially during this holiday season. Recently, several people received fraudulent emails claiming to be from Vivian. They ask if you are busy or say that she needs a favour; other messages claim she is in a meeting and ask you to handle a request discreetly. When you reply, the person asks you to purchase a gift card (or something similar) so 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 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, 2 government resources re: email fraud recommended by the Diocese are: The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and an article on Internet, email and telephone scams.

Cold Wet Weather Mat Update

We have 1 more available date to make sandwiches for the Cold Wet Weather Mat month at St. Laurence, Coquitlam: Thursday Jan. 26. A sign-up sheet for sandwich makers has been posted downstairs in the hall.

The number needed, ranging anywhere from 10 – 20, will be given to you a day or two before the date for which you have signed. Please note that the date you sign up for is the date you deliver to St. Laurence during daytime office hours.

Please let Anne Anchor know if you can help at deacon@stja.ca

The boxes for donations are now in the Narthex (back) of the church.

One is for supplies for daily bagged lunches such as juice boxes, (soft) granola bars, home-baked cookies or bars, pudding or fruit cups, chip bags, and a fruit or veggie snack.

The other is for personal toiletries & small clothing items such as shampoo, small soaps, toothbrushes/paste, floss, deodorant, shaving products, chap sticks (small sizes). If you wish to donate socks, or underwear, they must be new.

Exciting News! We are welcoming our Refugee Family in the New Year.

Please consider donating a welcoming gift for our arriving family as part of your Christmas giving.

Possible gifts include items to set up a home:
* bed and bathroom linens
* kitchen supplies
* first aid kit
* basic tool set
* cash donation

Please contact Mary Kyle for more information.  We will be keeping track of items that have been purchased, so please let Mary know what you will be giving, so we can avoid getting duplicates.

If you know of a 3-bedroom apartment or townhouse for rent at a reasonable price, please let Mary know. 

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.

 

Readings for January 8, 2023, Baptism of the Lord

Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17 

Readings for January 15, 2023, Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-12; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42

 

IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION

Rector	The Rev. Vivian Lam	rector@stja.ca	604-936-7762
Deacon	The Rev. Anne Anchor	deacon@stja.ca
Parish Office	Joanne Fong	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	Sheila De Vaal	treasurer@stja.ca
Envelope Secretary	Antoinette Woodman & (Asst. Env. Secretary) May Fung	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
Bible Study	Lynne Milner	biblestudy@stja.ca
Building Repairs / Maintenance	Rich Thompson	property@stja.ca
Children’s Ministry/Godly Play		children@stja.ca
E-Postle	Ruby Ng	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