Thanksgiving Time

My dear Sisters and Brothers,

It is hard for me to believe that this is my fourth Thanksgiving celebration amongst the people of this parish. Time is something that we all have to be thankful for, as once it is spent it can never be retrieved again. Time is the only gift that, once given, can never be retrieved again.

I have much to be thankful for this year. As I watch Magdalene grow, develop and mature I see everyday that I have been blessed greatly by our God. The love I feel for her is unlike any love I have felt before in my life and the more I feel it the more I come to understand the love that God has for each of us as his children.

I learn many things from my daughter that teach me about thankfulness and God’s grace here in this world. I am thankful that she is healthy, happy and secure in who she is. I am grateful that Wendy Faye has the freedom to be at home to provide the primary care that Magdalene needs. I thank God that He provides for my needs in all that He gives me and in all that He does for me.

Our Parish Family has much to be thankful for this year as well. Our revitalized fundraising efforts have proven to be tremendous successes. Both St. John’s and St. Andrew’s have engaged in a great deal of planning and work to bring people out in support of our Parish. The Vestry at St. John’s and the Fundraising Committee at St. Andrew’s have shown great leadership in providing the kind of fun and delicious events to help us raise funds for the glory of God and the good of His church here on earth.

I want to personally thank everyone who supported the 130th Anniversary events at St. Andrew’s. If you made food, served food, ate food, attended the historical presentation and the celebration Eucharist and/or helped out in any way you have my sincerest gratitude. Events like this give us a sense of our history and show us where we have been so that we can point ourselves toward the future certain of our past.

All these efforts are valuable for more than just the funds that they generate for the glory of God and the good of His church. These events also bring us together as a community for fellowship. There are four major anchors that hold the church together: Worship, Work, Fellowship, and Education. When we can properly balance all of these things in our own personal lives then the church will grow and thrive in this part of the world.

At a recent meeting of our Parish Council we discussed the things that we do well here in this place as a community of faith. Overwhelmingly we agreed that the worship and preaching that we offer and hear in this place are valuable, life giving, and engaging. I urge you all to consider how it is that you organize your time and consider how much time you spend in corporate worship. Services filled with people are joyful come and see what our Parish Council is so excited about. For a faithful Christian cannot live the vows of Baptism in isolation. A truly faithful Christian needs to come to the community as much as the community needs the faithful Christian.

In today’s culture I know that the hope of the Gospel is not something that is of use to many people – or at least that is what many people think. But nothing is further from the truth. Our lives are filled with hardship, heartache, grief and trouble – all of which the church community can help you with. The message that the Gospel shows us all is that God loves us and desires a relationship with each of us and how better to further that relationship than by coming to worship each week to give thanks to God for all the blessings of our lives.

I am thankful to those of you who are extremely faithful attendees of our services. Your faith gives me hope for the future of our Parish. Your job is to spread the word about the kind of uplifting worship you feel when you come and encourage others to join us. Coming to worship should not be seen as a duty but as a joy. Coming to worship should not be seen as an ordeal but as an experience worth sharing. Coming to worship should not be seen as something to be taken for granted but as something to be anticipated and looked forward to. Those who are responsible for leadership in these services work hard to ensure that this will be the case.

The hard work that so few people do to plan, organize and present our parish events and worship is something that we all have to be thankful for. We are in need of more people to offer themselves as Vestry members, Parish Council members, ACW members, Altar Guild members, Readers, Servers, and much more besides. If God has blessed you with a skill, ability or talent please consider offering it back to God by serving Him and His church.

Wendy Faye and Magdalene join with me in wishing you all a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. May it be a time for you to consider that which God has blessed you with and how it is that you can offer a portion of that back to God in thanksgiving.

Yours faithfully,
The Reverend M. Elliott Siteman
Rector

Rectory Repair Day

A group of very hard working men came to the Parish Rectory on the 22nd of September to shingle the roof.

A pictorial record of the event can be found by clicking HERE.

Thanks to all who worked so hard to keep the rain out!

Vacation Time

Fr. Elliott will be on vacation from 20 August to 3 September. If you have an emergency that requires the services of a priest then please call one of the Parish Wardens and they will contact the Priest-on-Call.

Sorry it's been a while...

This blog has taken a bit of neglect of late. If you are looking for our service times please follow this link:

Parish Calendar

And if you are looking for some ongoing events keep checking back here from time to time.

Blessings

Holy Week is Approaching

The worship services that we are offering for Holy Week are as follows:

Palm Sunday 1 April 2007
8:45am Liturgy of the Palms and Eucharist, St. Andrew's, Neil's Harbour
11am Liturgy of the Palms and Eucharist, St. John's, Ingonish
(Both of these services will begin at the respective Church Halls)

Monday in Holy Week 2 April 2007
10am Holy Eucharist, St. Andrew's

Tuesday in Holy Week 3 April 2007
10am Holy Eucharist, St. John's

Wednesday in Holy Week 4 April 2007
7pm Holy Eucharist, St. Andrew's

Maundy Thursday 5 April 2007
7pm Institution of the Lord's Supper with Foot Washing and Ritual Stripping of the Altar, St. John's

Good Friday 6 April 2007
11am Celebration of the Lord's Passion, St. Andrew's
1pm Celebration of the Lord's Passion, St. John's
3pm Ecumenical Service for Good Friday, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Ingonish Beach

Holy Saturday 7 April 2007
8:30pm Easter Vigil, St. Andrew's

Easter Day 8 April 2007
9am Holy Eucharist, St. John's
11am Holy Eucharist, St. Andrew's

All are welcome to come and participate in this great week leading up the the joyous celebration of Easter.

Annual General Meeting Time

Our AGMs are scheduled for:

St. Andrew's: 18 February 2007, following the 11am Eucharist
St. John's: 25 February 2007, following the 11am Eucharist

Both meetings will take place in the respective Church Halls. All are welcome to come and attend these meetings of the congregations and discuss those things that are of importance for the work of the Church in this part of the world.

Our Rector's report can be accessed by clicking

HERE

28 January 2007 - the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Services this week are scheduled for:

11am Holy Eucharist, St. John's, Ingonish
7pm Evening Prayer, St. Andrew's, Neil's Harbour

Come and worship, come and worship!

14 January 2007 - the Second Sunday after Epiphany

Our services this week are scheduled for:

11am Holy Eucharist, St. John's, Ingonish (using the Liturgy from our Companion Diocese of Manicaland in Zimbabwe)
7pm Evening Prayer, St. Andrew's, Neil's Harbour

All are welcome at our services of worship.