Notices for the Week of April 22nd - 28th
Notices for the Week of – April 22nd – 28th
This Week at St. Helen’s
Tuesday – 7pm Church Council meets
A Memorial service for Frances Rebecca (Beckie) Reamsbottom has been set for Saturday, May 5th at 2pm.
Floral arranging for the Altar: Do you have some experience in flower arranging or would you like to learn? Do you enjoy being creative in this way? We are looking for someone to help once a month to arrange our 2 containers of altar flowers. Please speak with Jos Laskey, if you would like to take part in this ministry at St Helen’s.
Altar Guild – Have you ever thought about how some of the changes of colours get done over the course of the church seasons or for special events. St. Helen’s has an altar guild which has a number of teams which take turns in their duties on about a once a month basis. Training is provided and there is great fellowship. If you have thought about this ministry or think you would like to learn more about it, please speak with Heather Herd, the current altar guild president or to the rector. There will be a meeting of the altar guild coming up in the near future and would be a great time to step into the circle. As the hymn says: ‘Draw the Circle Wide, Draw it Wider Still.’ We would love to have you join the circle.
Bottle Drive – Next Sunday, April 29th, is our monthly bottle drive. Les and Kelly Foulds will be happy to receive your recyclable, deposit bottles that day immediately following the service. Please have them already bagged and leave them outside of the doors of the lower hall.
Lunch Bunch – The next monthly gathering of the Lunch Bunch is Tuesday, May 1st. The cost is $6 and we gather in the upper hall from 11:45. To accommodate numbers, please speak with Joan Hnedish to lt her know you would like to come along. It is a lovely lunch and an active time of fellowship. Do come along.
Readings for Next Sunday, April 29th Easter 5
Acts 8:26–40;
Psalm 22:24–30;
1 John 4:7–21;
John15:1–8
Tea for Two – Concert and Strawberry Tea
Our annual strawberry tea is evolving somewhat and is set to take place here at St. Helen’s on Saturday, June 23rd. Tickets will soon be on sale and are just $20 for the early bird purchase or $25 closer to the date. The start times is as the title indicates 2PM. The concert will take place in the church followed by tea in the upper hall. Here is what you get for the purchase price: 1/A wonderful concert under the direction of our Director of Music, Matthew Ma along with the two professional voices 2/ A wonderful Strawberry Tea will be served following the concert. There will be the usual activities that have accompanied our Strawberry Teas of the past.
This is a great time to invite family and friends and perhaps even purchase a ticket for them as a gift.
This Summer at St. Helen’s
Two special opportunities are being planned at St. Helen’s this summer.
1/ Vacation Bible School – will take place over a week in late July or early August. It will be a Monday to Friday offering and volunteers will be needed. If you are interested, please speak with the Rector.
2/ Making our Journey in Prayer and Action – How do we make our pilgrimage through our life’s journey? How are we moved to action through prayer? How does our action grow our of our prayer? During one week in late July or early August, each evening, Monday to Saturday and concluding with our Eucharistic celebration on the Sunday morning, we will have a series of music, worship, and prayer to come to a deeper understanding of what it means to be on a spiritual journey that is fulfilling for us as disciples of our Lord. We can think about this as a journey of discovery. We are planning to have childcare available for those who would like to attend but need the help. We are in the planning stages now. If you would like to be a part of the planning group, please speak with the rector.
Events and Happenings Around the Diocese
Lecture Tonight, April 22 – 6:30-8a;30 at St. Mary’s, Kerrisdale, The Reverend Dr. Naim Ateek former Canon of St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem and founder of Sabeel, the Palestinian Eucumenical Liberation Theology Centre will be at St. Mary’s this Evening as a part of a cross-Canada book tour. The Canadian Friends of Sabeel are sponsoring in part this tour promoting Fr. Ateek's book, A PALESTINIAN THEOLOGY OF LIBERATION - The Bible, Justice and the The Palestine-Israel Conflict.
Induction of the Rev. Ruth Monette – Tuesday, May 1st at 7pm - You will remember that Ruth was an interim priest at St. Helen’s just a few years ago. She will be inducted as Rector of St Stephen the Martyr, Burnaby on the Feast of SS Philip and James (May 1)
ACW AGM will be held at St. Mark’s, Ocean Park, on Saturday, May 5th beginning at 9am. Registration is required. If you have not yet registered, please speak with Judy Nicholson or one of the ACW member here for more info
Diocesan Mission Conference 2018 - Keynote Speaker Lillian Daniel The diocese alternates year by year between having a synod meeting and a diocesan conference. You must be a delegate to go to a synod meeting but anyone can go to the conference. This year the on day conference is being held on Saturday, May 26th at Burnaby Mountain Secondary School, 8800 East Lake Drive. The gathering is from 8am and finishes at 4pm. Please speak with the Rector or one of the wardens if you are interested in attending. All church council member and those who exercise any leadership in the church on committees or as a member of a group are encouraged to go. Transportation can be arranged.
Here is a little about it…… Lillian Daniel is a preacher, teacher, writer, and speaker whose honesty and wit have taken her from the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. to the Festival of Homiletics in Denmark. Wherever she goes, Lillian brings a deep understanding of scripture and how it can be practically applied to everyday life. Featured in the New York Times and on PBS, her words have been described as biting, hilarious, pitch perfect, tender, and often stunningly beautiful. Her most recent book, When Spiritual But Religious Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church (Jericho, 2014), makes a provocative case for why religious community matters. Earlier books further explore Lillian’s commitment to making religious life real. This Odd and Wondrous Calling: The Public and Private Lives of two Ministers shares stories about ministry from the inside. And Tell it Like it is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony tells the story of one church’s attempt to get people to talk to each other about, of all things, God. As an editor at large for The Christian Century Magazine, and a contributing editor at Leadership Journal, Lillian’s words and work can be found in The Huffington Post, Christianity Today, Relevant Magazine, Books and Culture, The Journal for Preachers, as well as in the United Church of Christ’s daily email devotionals that boast over 20,000 subscribers. She has taught preaching the University of Chicago Divinity School, Chicago Theological Seminary, and Yale Divinity School, where she received the 2010 distinguished alumni award for “Distinction in Congregational Ministry.” Equally comfortable in convention centers, classrooms, lecture halls and church pulpits, Lillian has spoken at Duke Chapel, Princeton Seminary King’s College London, and Queen’s University Ontario. After leading three churches, most recently as Senior Minister of a 1,400 member church outside Chicago, IL. Lillian is currently devoting herself full time to writing, speaking and procrastination.
Don’t Forget! For updates on what is happening at St. Helen’s go to both our Facebook Page and our website. Current information is put up on these pages each week. The web addresses are: Parish Website: www.sthelensurrey.ca
Parish Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/sainthelensurrey