Notices for the Week of January 28th to February 4th
Notices for the Week of Jan 28 – Feb 3rd
Next Saturday!! - International Food Fair!! – Tickets Available
Saturday, February 3rd beginning at 5:30pm As you know St. Helen’s has a great representation of people from many cultural backgrounds. A food fair is a great way to celebrate our diversity, who we are as an Anglican faith community, and, at the same time, raise some money. This is a ticketed event but the tickets are FREE. But we hope people will make a donation at the door to help defray the costs. We plan to serve traditional food from about a dozen countries. There will also be Auction of services and a 50/50 draw. Wine and beer will also be available for purchase. Our core team is made up of Simon Lee, Jean Robertson, Fil Sotana, and Jacquie Stinson. If you can help out in any way, please speak with one of them. Your hands would be very welcome.
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 – The parish council has set the date for our annual meeting as February 25th, 2018 following the 10 am service. At this time we will receive reports for all our various groups in the parish and elect officers and parish council for 2018. Please get the report you are responsible for to the Rector or one of the wardens as a Word document no later than January 31st so the reports may be collated and distributed. Sending your report by email (at the parish email address) is the best way to get in. If you are unsure if you are to submit a report, here is a list of some of the reports we are expecting: Warden’s Report; Finance Report; Property Report; Grounds Report/Building Maintenance Report; Sunday School Report; Anglican Church Women (ACW); Altar Guild; Choir; Prayer Circle Cemetery; RMIT -Tri-Parish Team
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 – Days and times to be set – more info next week
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 4th – Presentation of Christ
Malachi 3:1-4;
Psalm 84;
Hebrews 2:14-18;
Luke 2:22-40
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
Perfumes and Scents in the Church and Parish Hall We have all heard of the problems associated with breathing and th e triggers that cause people real difficulties for breathing. In the last year, a number of parishioners have approached the wardens and rector in reference to their own difficulty breathing. The difficulty comes when members of the congregation, including both men and women, are wearing scents, colognes, and perfumes to church and other events in the parish hall. For some people, the throat begins to close or constrict and breathing can become severely restricted. This, of course, is quite serious, very scary, and can easily lead to a medical emergency. It is important to understand that this has nothing to do with disliking a particular fragrance or scent. The church council requests members of the congregation, of their own volition, to refrain from using perfumes, colognes, and scents so that others who are easily affected may breathe easy. We hope everyone will be understanding of this.
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 Thomas Aquinas 28 January - Priest and Friar, Teacher of the Faith, 1274 Thomas Aquinas was a thirteenth-century Dominican friar who spent most of his adult life teaching in universities. His powers of concentration were legendary. He once stood in front of three different scribes and dictated three separate works at the same time, without losing the train of his thought in any of them. Thomas was also a man of constant prayer: his students often found him kneeling beside his desk when he was working on a difficult theological question. He understood that he had his gifts to help the Church lay hold of “the truth as it is in Jesus.” Unlike many other theologians at that time, Thomas saw no contradiction between human reason and God’s revelation. He once said that God gives grace not to destroy creation but to make it perfect — to raise it above itself, so that the whole human being, through its reason, might actively share in God’s own life. This insight has been gladly confirmed by the Church— and particularly by our own Anglican tradition. From: For All the Saints (published by the Anglican Church of Canada)