The Palms are here!

Hi Friends,

     The palms are here. I am happy to make all the crosses for Palm Sunday - but I don't want to deprive others of the fun and pleasure of it if they want to make crosses.

     I am suggesting a get together on Wed March 20 at 10:30 am in St. Peter's Hall for palm cross making.  And I thought I might have palms available for cross making on Friday at Games Night too. I could give a lesson on making the crosses in church this Sunday and also supply palms and instructions to anyone who wants to try making a few at home. 

     The St. Luke's Sunday School will make some crosses this Sunday. I will reserve some palms for church decorating as well. We have a smaller bunch of palms this year than last year. Please spread the word to those who don't have email. Thanks!  

-  Janet (and Rev. Andrew)

 These are photos from Palm Sunday last year - 2012

Impossible Made Possible

From Melba Anderson’s Windows of Worth

When I say, “I can’t,”

God says,” I can.”

When I say, “I’m not,”

God says, “I am.”

When I say, “I won’t,”

God says, “I will.”

When I say, “I’m empty,”

God says, “I’ll fill.”

When I say, “I’m weary,”

God says, “I’m rest.”

When I say, “I’ll surrender,”

God says, “I’ll do the rest.”

“For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1: 37 KJV)

PWRDF Lent Resource: Lent 4 Generosity

PWRDF Lent Resource: Lent 4 Generosity Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32

     In this fourth week of Lent we are considering what it means to be generous. As we are considering those things that others do without, we are becoming more aware of those things that we have to share. We are called to recognize opportunities to reach out, and to do so with joy in our hearts. We are challenged to focus on the benefits of giving to enhance the wider community, rather than the disappointment that can be felt at perceived personal deprivation.

cf. http://hipsterchurch.blogspot.ca/2011/10/does-it-pay-to-be-generous.html

     This week we will reflect on the role of generosity and sharing within our food system.

     Mon: We want – Health. Does your faith benefit from both short and long-term sustenance? 

     Tues: We Don’t Want Inequality. Do you hoard the blessings in your life or do you celebrate them in community? 

     Wed: Mix it Up- Consumption. We all work better when we are not hungry; is your faith at its top potential or does it need to be fed? 

     Thurs: In the Garden – Environment. Is there sufficient room in your faith to continue growth, or do you need to seek out creative new spaces? 

     Fri: Going Back to the Source – Access. Do you provide for your spiritual development as frequently and as cleanly as you provide your body’s water needs? 

     Sat: The Process – Production. How accessible is your spiritual home? How often do you visit?

cf. Parish Bulletin - March 10, 2013

World Day of Prayer, March 1

     This year the service for World Day of Prayer is held at the Church of the Nazarene, Elmsdale, P.E.I.
     Here's some information about the day - cf. http://www.wicc.org/history-prayer/

The History of the World Day of Prayer

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER >>HISTORY OF THE WORLD DAY OF PRAYER

The origins of World Day of Prayer date back to the 19th century when Christian women of the United States and Canada initiated a variety of cooperative activities in support of women’s involvement in mission at home and in other parts of the world. These activities related to the following areas:

Concern for women and children

Women had a strong sense of identification with the needs of women and children and searched out ways to provide appropriate support. In spite of strong resistance from all-male mission boards, in 1861 and the following years, women founded numerous and effective women’s boards for foreign and home missions whereby they could work directly with and for women and children.

The role of prayer in mission work

Since 1812 women encouraged one another to engage in personal prayer and take leadership in communal prayer within their mission auxiliaries and associations. This emphasis on prayer led to annual days and weeks of prayer. In 1887 Presbyterian women called for a Day of Prayer for Home Missions and Methodist women called for a Week of Prayer and Self-Denial for Foreign Missions. A Baptist Day of Prayer for foreign missions began in 1891. In 1895, a day of corporate intercessions for mission was initiated by the Women’s Auxiliary of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Women had a vision of Christian unityThat was seen as essential to their exercise of mission. By 1897 the women of six denominations formed a joint committee for a united day of prayer for home missions. In 1912 the Woman’s Boards of Foreign Missions called for a united day of prayer for foreign missions

Study was everyone’s responsibility

Following the Ecumenical Missionary Conference in New York City in 1900, women organized an inter-denominational Central Committee for United Study that prepared publications, summer conferences, study days and courses so that women could become informed about the lives of women in other parts of the world and could study biblical foundations and issues related to mission work.

Women organized interdenominational structures

That were effective and cooperative. For example, in 1908 women founded the Council of Women for Home Missions that took responsibility for joint work with immigrants and other social issues and for preparation of the joint day of prayer.

Women celebrated their commitment

In 1910-1911 women celebrated the 50th Anniversary or Jubilee of women’s missionary activity by organizing a series of speaking engagements across the United States that provided women with a powerful experience of what they had achieved in ecumenical cooperation, in local and global linkage, in prayer and information sharing, and in biblical reflection. All of this had been in the hands of women. Out of this experience many local interdenominational women’s groups were formed.

Women linked world peace with world mission

After the devastation of World War I, women incorporated the conviction that world peace was intrinsically tied to world mission. Therefore, women renewed their efforts for unity.

In Canada

Presbyterian women called together representatives of women’s missionary societies from five denominations in 1918 for united prayer and action. This committee, which now has expanded into the ecumenical Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada, organized the first national Day of Prayer in Canada on January 9, 1920.

In the United States, the first Friday of Lent was established as a joint day of prayer for missions, beginning on February 20, 1920. Due to the enthusiastic facilitation of local denominational and interdenominational women’s groups, the day of prayer spread rapidly throughout the USA. Canadian women took up the same date in 1922.’

World Day of Prayer comes into being

In the second half of 1926 the women of North America distributed the worship service to many countries and partners in mission. The response worldwide was enthusiastic. By the beginning of 1927 the call to prayer that was issued was for a World Day of Prayer for Missions.

In 1928 this statement came from the World Day of Prayer Committee:

It is with deep gratitude that we recognize the growing power inherent in our World Day of Prayer. The circle of prayer has expanded literally around the world. We have learned the great lesson of praying with, rather than for, our sisters of other races and nations, thus enriching our experience and releasing the power which must be ours if we are to accomplish tasks entrusted to us.

In 1928 during the International Missionary Conference in Jerusalem, women delegates from many countries agreed that worldwide participation would be a bond of unity among women. Helen Kim of Korea was chosen to be the first woman outside of the United States to write the order of worship for the World Day of Prayer in 1930.In 1930 The Federation of Women’s Boards of Foreign Missions of North America coopted ten women from all over the world as corresponding members. Plans for a world committee for WDP were proposed for 1932, but depressed economic conditions prevented its implementation.

In 1941 the coordination of World Day of Prayer within the United States became the responsibility of an interdenominational movement now known as Church Women United. Coordination with other countries was carried out by the Foreign Missions Conference of North America.

In 1969 The World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations decided to change their international day of prayer from March to May in order to take part in the World Day of Prayer.

It is from these roots that World Day of Prayer has taken its present shape. World Day of Prayer has moved with women wherever their lives have taken them.

For information on World Day of Prayer goals and the international executive committee, click here.

Ash Wednesday

image cf. http://www.sumc.org/

     Below Readings for Ash Wednesday comes from the Anglican Church of Canada's website www.thecommunity.anglican.ca

ASH WEDNESDAY (VIOLET)

Wednesday, February 13^th, 2013

Readings
JOEL 2:1-2, 12-17 OR ISAIAH 58:1-12; PSALM 103:8-18; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:20B-6:10; MATTHEW 6:1-6, 16-21

Collect
Almighty and everlasting God,
you despise nothing you have made
and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our brokenness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

First Reading
A READING FROM THE BOOK OF JOEL
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near – a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
JOEL 2:1-2, 12-17

Or

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practised righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgements, they delight to draw near to God. “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
ISAIAH 58:1-12

Psalm
REFRAIN The Lord remembers that we are but dust.

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness.

He will not always accuse us, nor will he keep his anger for ever. R

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is his mercy great upon those who fear him. R

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us.

As a father cares for his children, so does the Lord care for those who fear him. R

For he himself knows whereof we are made; he remembers that we are but dust.

Our days are like the grass; we flourish like a flower of the field;

When the wind goes over it, it is gone, and its place shall know it no more.

But the merciful goodness of the Lord endures for ever on those who fear him, and his righteousness on children’s children;

On those who keep his covenant and remember his commandments and do them. R
PSALM 103:8-18

Second Reading
A READING FROM THE SECOND LETTER OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS
We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see – we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:20B-6:10

Gospel
THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
MATTHEW 6:1-6, 16-21

Prayer over the Gifts
Merciful God,
turn us from sin to faithfulness.
Accept our offering,
and prepare us to celebrate
the death and resurrection of Christ our Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you now and for ever.

Prayer After Communion
God of compassion,
through your Son Jesus Christ
you reconciled your people to yourself.
Following his example of prayer and fasting,
may w0e obey you with willing hearts
and serve one another in holy love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Why do we reflect on Scripture? Why do we study the Bible?

     Gone are the days when the only instrument about God and about what the Bible said came from the Parish Priest.  As Christians we each have a personal relationship with Christ our Saviour.  We each have the responsibility to grown in our faith by understanding what God and Jesus mean to us.  How can we live as informed and faithful Christians if we don't try to understand the writings of the Bible ( which is the book of instruction and inspiration given to us through God's grace )?  
     Bible Study is a life-long process  of discovery and reflection which enriches our perspective of the world and encourages us to make wise decisions.   The Christian life is meant to be full of God's grace, joy, love, provision and ethics.  One is never too old or too knowledgeable to benefit from God's Word - the Bible.

cf. Parish Bulletin, Feb. 3, 2013

Image cf. http://www.netbiblestudy.net/worship/

2013 Annual General Meeting

     We had a great Annual General Meeting (AGM) yesterday.  First the morning workship service was held at St. Peter's Church Alberton at 10:30am with Holy Eucharist.  It was a combined Parish service in advance of our annual meeting.  The service began with a slide show featuring us, the folks of our Parish participating in a variety of church events through-out the year - thanks Christine for putting this together!
     Following the service we went down to the Hall (in basement) for a potluck lunch with lots of goodies, from casseroles to sweats - we have lots of good cooks in our Parish!
     After lunch we held our annual meeting, chaired by Rev. Andrew chairing with myself as secretary, my regular job in the Parish.  Here's a photo of us hard work!!  - thanks Cyndi for the photo.

      Below is the cover from the 2012 Annual Report - this is my third year compiling the reports.  This year the cover features old photos of the Parish churches.  Last year I had winter scenes of the churches and the year before summer photos.  I'm looking forward to coming up with a creative cover for 2013's report.

Below is Rev. Andrews Annual Report - it sums up our year. 

Click on images to enlarge.