Notices for the Week of February 4th to 10th
Notices for the Week of February 4th – 10th
Thank you to the Organizing Team for the International Food Fair held last night. It was a great success and enjoyed by so many, many people. Thank you to everyone who brought food. Congratulations to those who were successful in their auction bids and to those whose names were drawn to win prizes.
Lunch Bunch takes place Tuesday, February 6th in the upper hall. Gathering is from 11:45 am and we eat shortly after that. Cost is $6 per person.
Annual Vestry Meeting & Reports – All reports should now be in for collating and printing. Thank you to those who have submitted their reports so far. If you still have your report to submit, please do so in the next day or so.
Notice of the Annual Vestry Meeting - The parish council has set the date for our annual meeting as February 25th, 2018 following the 10 am service. At the meeting we will receive reports, approve the financial budget, elect a parish council including synod delegates and alternates.
For your Diary – Get the Dates in Now
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper – Tuesday, February 13th 5:30pm
Ash Wednesday – February 14th – Services at 12 noon and 7pm.
Lenten Studies – Tuesdays at 7pm beginning February 20th and Thursdays at 11am – starting February 22nd.
Lenten Gatherings at St. Helen’s Please sign up for our Lenten Study which, this year is - Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John. Have you ever wished to deepen your relationship with God? To experience a warm friendship with God? Maybe even fall in love with God – again – or for the very first time? Our Lenten gatherings will be using a beautiful prayer journal, one for each participant and the gatherings for conversation will be facilitated once each week during Lent. Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John is a six-week journey into deeper intimacy with God through praying with the words of John the Evangelist. This beautiful 60-page journal inspires meditation on a daily verse from John, encouraging participants to respond through words, images, or however the Spirit leads. You can also subscribe online to receive a daily short video in which a monastic brother from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist shares comments on the daily Gospel verse, having a relationship with Jesus, and possibilities for further reflection.
Annual Easter Bunny Run We are collecting new items only please. These may be small stuffed animals, small toys, story books, crayons, colouring books, little lego sets, board games, craft kits, jump ropes, card games, dominos, puzzles for boys and girls from toddlers to age 10 to hand out at the Surrey Food Bank the week before Easter. No candy or chocolate is needed. If shopping is a problem, or you would prefer to make a financial contribution, please speak to Wendy Russell at 604-507-0203. A box will be placed at the back of the church for your donations. As always, your support is most appreciated.
Readings for Next Sunday, February 11th – The Transfiguration
2 Kings 2:1–12;
Psalm 50:1–6;
2 Corinthians 4:3–6;
Mark 9:2–9
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
Flowers for the Altar - People have asked about making donations toward the flowers. Here is some information in a question and answer format.
Why Flowers? Flowers are placed at the altar each week to beautify the church and as a reminder of God’s creativity and generosity to us. It reminds of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the promise of new life given to us.
When? - People most often donate these flowers in memory of a loved one. The information about this is placed in the Sunday service sheet and prayed for as we remember those who have died in the intercessions. People also donate the altar flowers in thanks for a special event such as a marriage, a birthday, an anniversary, or graduation. Really, it can be whatever your wish it to be. Which Sunday? - You may wish to donate the flowers for a particular Sunday that is closely associated with the memorial or thanksgiving. It does not matter if there is more than one person contributing to the flowers on any given Sunday. The cost of the flowers is spread over the whole year including Sundays when there has not been a particular sponsorship.
How Much? - Please remember you are making a donation to the church. Please make your cheque or cash donation in an envelope and place it in the offering plate on any Sunday. Please mark the envelope ‘Altar Flowers’. Please mention the date for which the flowers are intended as well. Of course, please donate what you think you can afford but in various conversations, a $25 donation will go a long way in helping to defray the cost of the flowers each week.
What Now? If you would like to contribute to the flowers and have the memorial or thanksgiving placed in the intercessions, please speak with Heather Herd who will take the details to pass on to be placed in the Sunday notices. A week before the designated Sunday, Brownee Hamilton will call you to remind you that on the upcoming Sunday your thanksgiving or memorial will be in the intercessions and in the service sheet. If you have not already made a donation to the flowers, your donation will be very much appreciated on that Sunday. If you have any questions, please speak with Heather Herd. If you are not sure who Heather is, please ask the Rector.
Saints and Commemorations
Hannah Grier Coome 9 February - Religious, Founder of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, 1921 — Commemoration The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine is an order of Anglican nuns founded in Canada in 1884 and dedicated (as its Rule states) to “personal sanctification and active charity.” Today we remember Hannah Grier Coome, who was its founder and first Mother Superior. Born in Ontario, she married an Englishman and spent most of her married life in Britain. In 1877 her husband’s business sent him to Chicago, where he died of cancer the following year. Mrs Coome remained in Chicago for another three years, then decided to return to England and try her vocation as an Anglican nun. On her way back she visited her family in Toronto and discovered a group of Anglicans who wished to found a Canadian sisterhood. She accepted their invitation to take the first step and performed her novitiate in the United States. Mother Hannah returned to Toronto in September, 1884, and launched the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine. She and her new community initially faced a good deal of harassment, but their work during the Riel Rebellion, serving in the government’s field hospitals, overcame these prejudices. The Sisters eventually founded a hospital of their own, where over half their patients received medical attention free of charge. Later they established a nursing home for the elderly, one of the first in Canada, and took charge of a school for girls. Mother Hannah guided these enterprises, and the everyday life of the Sisters, with holiness, practical wisdom, and a sense of humour that pierced high-flying pretensions and unseasonable gloom. She retired from the office of Superior in 1916 and died on Ash Wednesday five years later. In her life she learned to be a light which kindled righteous deeds in others, and her community continues in the same work to this day.
From: For All the Saints (published by the Anglican Church of Canada)