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This Week at St. Helen's
Tuesday - 7pm Parish Council meets (Upper Hall)
Wednesday - 7pm  ACW Meets (Upper Hall)  

Thank you to John Smit who joined us today and played trumpet for Last Post and Reveille as well as joining Matthew in the Prelude and Postlude.  

Special Appeal - a few weeks ago a special appear went out for help with our heating, electrical and plumbing in the church and hall.  We would like to thank those who have responded.  To date we have received $1280 of the $3000 we are asking for.  Thank you once again.  If you have not had the opportunity to help out, your special appeal donations are still welcome.  Please mark your envelope 'Special Appeal'.  We know the people of St. Helen's always step up to the plate when asked.  So thank you in advance for your generosity.  

Love Sparkles in the Autumn Air - Concert and Tea Nov. 18th Next Saturday afternoon, November 18th at 1:30pm, St. Helen's is pleased to present Soprano, Lambroula Pappas accompanied by our parish musician, Mr. Mathew Ma.  Tea will be served in the upper hall following the concert.  Both the concert and tea are included in the ticket price of $15 per person.  This is a great opportunity to invite friends and family.  We are counting on the congregation to get the word of this wonderful musical event out and around in support of St. Helen's music programme.  

The 2018 Church Calendars are now available for purchase at $7.00 each. The same price as the last few years. These are available from Pat Clegg at coffee time. Or call her at 604-495-4559 to place your order.  

VST Student Jonathan Pinkney  Several weeks ago we welcomed Jonathan to St. Helen's for a parish placement until the end of next April.  Jonathan is a student in second year and ordination postulant. He will be taking roles in the Sunday Eucharist as well as working in a variety of areas of parish life.  Please make him welcome to the parish.  

It is Bazaar Time!  Get the word out - bring your friends - it's St. Helen's Annual Bazaar, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2017.  11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.  Not only lots of fun, but the best deals in town.  You can help make this important fund-raiser successful! We need your home baking, preserves, candy, other foodstuffs, previously loved jewelry, please see Lynn Turner with your ideas! The Raffle ticket books will be available next week, please take and sell!  Please do your best to support and advertise this event!  SET-UP will take place Friday, November 24 at 10:00 a.m. and goods may be dropped off between 10:00 a.m. - Noon OR between 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.  Please do not plan on bringing your sale goods in on the Saturday.  Pick up can be arranged if necessary.  We need your help for set-up, during the event, and for take-down!   

Forthcoming Dates for St. Helen's
Saturday, November 18 Concert featuring our Parish Musician Mr. Matthew Ma with guest Soprano, Lambroula Pappas
Saturday, November 25 Christmas Bazaar 11am - 2pm
Sunday, November 26  Celebration of the Reign of Christ at 10am  

Readings for Next Sunday, November 19th
Judges 4:1-7;
Psalm 123;
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11;
Matthew 25:14-30  

Hymn of the Week  O God Our Help in Ages Past
Isaac Watts was the son of a Dissenter, a Congregationalist at odds with the Church of England.  His father was a strong advocate for his faith, and found himself in trouble with the law on more than one occasion because of his dissent.  That was the intense sort of environment in which Isaac Watts character was formed. Watts was never a very robust person, but he demonstrated poetic ability at an early age.  Sometimes he even rhymed his ordinary conversation.  He also developed expertise in several fields, to include religion and philosophy. While still quite young, Watts expressed annoyance with the Psalm tunes that they sang in their congregational tradition.  When Watts expressed his low opinion of the music that they were using, his father is reputed to have responded, 'Why don't you give us something better, young man!'  So Watts did.  He wrote some 600 hymns during his lifetime, and is known today as the Father of English Hymnody. O God, Our Help in Ages Past is a paraphrase of Psalm 90:1-5.  Watts wrote it in 1714, and published it in a collection of poetic versions of the Psalms in 1719.  It included poetic versions of each of the 150 Psalms to include Joy to the World, based on Psalm 98, and Jesus Shall Reign, based on Psalm 72. Watts was a lifelong Dissenter. However, some years after his death, officials erected a monument in his memory in Westminster Abbey, proof that his contributions were too significant not to be acknowledged. The hymn tune associated with this hymn was composed by William Croft.  He named it St. Anne in honor of the church where he served as organist,St. Anne's Church in Soho, London. 
This article was written by Richard Neill Donovan on the website Sermon Writer  

Holy Days and Commemoration of the Week  
The Consecration of Samuel Seabury 14 November First Anglican Bishop in North America, 1784  Commemoration On this date in 1784 three Scottish bishops laid hands on Samuel Seabury, making him the first Anglican to be consecrated for the office and work of a bishop in North America. For over a century the Anglican Church in the American colonies had been governed by the bishop of London, and despite repeated pleas to English authorities it still lacked a resident bishop when the United States were granted independence. To end the absurdity of being episcopalian without an episcopate, the clergy of Connecticut held a conference in March of 1783, at which they elected Seabury, a native son with thirty years' experience as a priest, to sail for England and be consecrated their bishop.  He expected his negotiations with the English bishops to be easy and quick, but was bitterly disappointed. After a fruitless year in London he packed his bags and journeyed north to Aberdeen, where he opened negotiations with the bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church. They quickly agreed to consecrate him, but on one condition that he do all in his power to make the American Church adopt the Scottish Communion Office. This liturgy was the first true alternative rite in Anglican history; it remodelled and enriched the Communion Order of the English Prayer Book, so that the eucharist might conform more closely to the shape of the ancient liturgies. Seabury accepted the Scottish condition and when he returned to the United States was successful in fulfilling it. The first American Prayer Book of 1789 incorporated a Prayer of Consecration which was substantially the same as Scotland's,  thus turning a local rite into an international alternative within the Anglican tradition. So, we honour Samuel Seabury not only for his perseverance in bringing the Anglican episcopate to North America, but also for his role in renewing the liturgical heritage of our communion.  

Hilda 18 November Abbess of Whitby, 680  Commemoration Hilda was a seventh-century Englishwoman who became the abbess of Whitby and nurtured adjoining households of nuns and monks. The Venerable Bede wrote of her: 'All who knew abbess Hilda, the servant of Christ, called her Mother because of her wonderful devotion and grace ...; she never ceased to give thanks to her Maker or to instruct the flock committed to her care. She was born into the royal family of Northumbria and lived a quiet, devout life in the world until the age of thirty-three, when she decided to take the habit of a nun. Almost at once she was given charge of a small community at Wearmouth, and her guidance proved so effective that she was asked to renew the life of another community nearby. In the year 657 she finally moved to Whitby, a monastery which included a household of monks and a household of nuns. Under her leadership it became the most famous religious community in all England. The Venerable Bede reported: Not only was Hilda an outstanding example of holy life to all who were in her monastery, but she also provided an opportunity for salvation and repentance to many who lived far away and who heard the happy story of her industry and virtue.” Bede went on to say: So great was Hilda's prudence that not only ordinary people but also kings and princes sometimes sought and received her advice when they were in difficulties. She compelled those under her direction to devote so much time to the study of the holy Scriptures and so much time to the doing of good works, that there was no trouble in finding many who were fitted ... for the service of the altar. So, we give thanks for Hilda of Whitby, who died in the year 680 and used her own gifts of holiness and wisdom to nurture holy gifts in others, that they might serve the people of Christ and make seventh-century England a household of God.