This past week has been one of observation and reflection, of finding my way around and learning the ropes, of discovering what's happening in St. James', in the DTES, in Vancouver. It has been an opportunity to see something of life in this city, in its diversity and with its contrasts, all sorts and conditions of folk, extreme poverty and extreme wealth side by side, the comfortable and the marginalised.

We Christians believe that all people are loved by God, made in his image and so to be loved and valued by us. In 1983 the Anglican Bishop and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool together wrote a book, drawing from their collective experience of ministry in that great city in north-west England, entitled Bias to the Poor. This title, and much of their writing, points to the Judaeo-Christian tradition which, beginning with the Old Testament prophets and continuing in the teaching of Jesus and the company he keeps in the Gospels, tells of God's passion for justice for all, and especially for the poor and oppressed. The pioneers of the Anglo-Catholic movement in the 19th century served in the socially-deprived parishes of England's cities, witnessing to God's love for all by practical concern for the poor, and by campaigning for decent housing and working conditions.

As I discover more of the history of St. James', it is good to find that this ministry and witness has been part of life in this parish, and is still so, not least in the Street Outreach Initiative. On Tuesday I went with Fr Matthew to the AGM of the Metro Vancouver Alliance. It was a great encouragement to learn of this Alliance of a wide variety of faith communities, community groups and labour organisations across the region committed to listening to concerns at grass-roots level, to those who do not know how to make their voices heard, to discovering common needs, wrongs to be addressed, longings and aspirations, and to know that St. James' is a member. The Alliance's work is focused on three areas at present, affordable housing, income justice, transit, all overlapping as issues of social inclusion and all of which should be matters of concern for the whole community.

What has this to do with the Church, with St. James', one might ask. Why should we care? Because God cares! Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly."

Father Kevin Hunt 

SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2015        

 

Morning Prayer       

8:00 am in the Church

8:30 am in the Church   

HIGH MASS   

10:30 am in the Church

Read the Mass booklet here 

COFFEE HOUR       

12:00 pm in the Parish Hall

EVENING PRAYER            

5:00 pm in the Church     

THIS SUNDAY: JOURNEYS - A FORMATION SERIES

Sundays 9:30 am - 10:15 am

We continue with more of the amazing journeys that parishioners have taken involving social justice issues.

June 14: Travels in Cuba - Peter Goodwin  

June 21: Circle of Eagles Lodge - a documentary video made for the Lodge's 40th Anniversary, and a talk about work there with Aboriginal people coming out of the federal prison system - Jerry Adams  

June 28: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Closing Ceremonies in Ottawa 2015 -

FAREWELL MOTHER ALEXIS

Thank you for your ministry amongst us, and God's blessings upon your new life in Prince George.

MASTER OF CEREMONY EMERITUS   

A certificate of Master of Ceremony Emeritus was presented to Philip Green on Sunday June 7, 2015. Philip has served this parish faithfully as a Master of Ceremony for many years, and in recognition of his unfailing willingness to serve in numerous other capacities, Philip Green was hereby designated M.C. Emeritus. Wardens & Fr. Fenton

#22DAYS

During the 22 days between the closing of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (May 31) and National Aboriginal Day (June 21) we will toll the bells 22 times. This will be done in remembrance of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

JOB POSTING: CHILDREN & FAMILY COORDINATOR 

St James' is currently seeking a part-time Children and Family Coordinator to help children and their parents find new ways to more fully participate in the life of St. James' community and aid in their spiritual formation. The objectives of this position are:

* to develop the spirituality of children within the parish of St. James' Anglican Church

* to work with parents in helping them to discover their role in the spiritual formation of their children

* to be an advocate for children as essential members of St. James' Anglican Church

For more information about this position and details on how to apply, go to the Diocese of New Westminster website: http://vancouver.anglican.ca/jobs/children-and-family-coordinator

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Summer is fast approaching! It's a good time to simplify our lives so that we have more time to relax and "re-create" ourselves. Your regular parish giving can be streamlined this summer by enrolling in our pre-authorized donation program. You can take weekend getaways or vacations without the time and trouble of "catching up" later on your donations.

The church will appreciate the regular, dependable flow of contributions and you will appreciate the convenience of having your offerings made "automatically."

Please pick up a pamphlet from the Narthex explaining the program. There is a simple tear-off application form attached. If you still have questions or need help, the Church Office will be happy to assist you.

KIDS' CORNER  

Vision: To help children and their parents find new ways to more fully participate in mass and aid in their spiritual formation.

Gospel: In today's Gospel we hear Jesus telling us two parables about small seeds that grow into big plants and provide food and shelter. God starts with something small to do great works. God seems to prefer small subtle means to bring his Kingdom into being; even Jesus entered the world as a baby. It does not take a superhero to be used by God to do great things. You and I can do small deeds of love and these can be used by God to have bigger impacts than we can ever imagine.

Parents: Talk with your child(ren) about feelings of being small or unimportant. Think together about small acts of love that can have lasting impacts on the world, both what you've already experienced and what you may do together in the future.

What words can adequately describe the gifts of God? They are so many as to be innumerable, and so wonderful that any one of them demands our total gratitude of praise. I have no time to speak of the richness and diversity of God's gifts. We will have to pass over in silence the rising of the sun, the circuits of the moon, the variation in air temperature, the patterns of the seasons, the descent of the rain, the gushing of springs, the sea itself, the whole earth and its flora, the life of the oceans, the creatures of the air, the animals in their various species - in fact everything that exists for the service of our life. But there is one gift which no thoughtful person can pass over in silence; and yet to speak of it worthily is impossible.

God made us in his image and likeness; he deemed us worthy of knowledge of himself, equipped us with reason beyond the capacity of other creatures, allowed us to revel in the unimaginable beauty of paradise, and gave us dominion over creation. When we were deceived by the serpent and fell into sin, and through sin into death and all that followed in its wake, God did not abandon us. In the first place, God gave us a law to help us; he ordained angels to guard and care for us. He sent prophets to rebuke vice and to teach us virtue. He frustrated the impact of vice by dire warnings. He stirred up in us a zeal for goodness by his promises, and confronted us with examples of the end result of both virtue and vice in the lives of various individuals. To crown these and his other mercies, God was not estranged from the human race by our continuing disobedience. Indeed, in the goodness of our Master, we have never been neglected: our callous indifference towards our Benefactor for his gifts has never diminished his love for us. On the contrary, our Lord Jesus Christ recalled us from death and restored us to life.

In Christ, the generosity of God is resplendent; for as Scripture says: 'being in the form of God, he did not cling to equality with God, but emptied himself, assuming the form of a servant.' What is more, he assumed our frailty and bore our infirmities; he was wounded on our behalf that 'by his wounds we might be healed'. He set us free from the curse, having become a curse on our behalf himself, and underwent the most ignominious death that he might lead us to the life of glory. Not content with restoring us to life when we were dead, he has graced us with the dignity of divinity and prepared us for eternal mansions, the delight of which exceeds all that we can conceive.

'What then shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits to us?' God is so good that he asks of us nothing. He is content merely with being loved in return for his gifts. When I consider this I am overcome with awe and fear lest through carelessness or preoccupation with trivia, I should fall away from the love of God and become a reproach to Christ.

Basil the Great, The Longer Rules for Monks, 2, 2-4; PG 31, cols. 914-915

DTES community members who bring their prescription (no testing on site) to the UGM Summer Connect on Wednesday, June 17 (11 a.m. - 3 p.m.) will receive free eye glasses from Clearly Contacts. So, if you, or anyone you know, needs a new pair, you have exactly 10 days to get your prescription ready.

HELP INCOMING REGENT COLLEGE STUDENTS THIS COMING FALL   

The Regent College Student Housing Services is looking for hosts to provide free housing and local telephone use for up to one week (between August 1st and September 15th) for incoming students while they search for permanent housing. Meals are not expected (but welcome nonetheless!). Please contact Joana Pinto, 604-224-3245 604-224-or [email protected] if you're interested!

Joseph Butler

Bishop of Durham, Philosopher, 1752

June 16

Christians have always claimed that theirs was a "reasonable" religion, a religion so intellectually cogent that all thinking people should find it compelling. Up until the eighteenth century very few in western Europe challenged this claim. Then a form of rationalism emerged, which quickly gained the initiative and forced Christian intellectuals onto the defensive. One of the Christian thinkers to address the rationalist challenge was a clergyman of the Church of England named Joseph Butler, who was made bishop of Bristol in 1738 and bishop of Durham twelve years later.

A quiet man who never married, he devoted his life to study and his income to charity. His studies bore fruit in a series of tightly reasoned works, in which he developed a balanced description of human rationality and vindicated the reasonableness of the Christian religion. In so doing, Butler used a framework of ideas which often seems foreign to modern thought. But the Christian faith must be renewed in every generation, and defended in the language that each generation understands. And so we remember Joseph Butler today, because he did much to stem

the ebb tide of faith in his own age.

For All the Saints, Prayers and Readings for Saint's Days, ABC, 1994

Bernard Mizeki

Catechist in Rhodesia, Martyr, 1896

June 18

Bernard Mizeki is the Anglican Protomartyr of Southern Africa. He began work as a catechist among the Mashona people of Zimbabwe in 1891. Five years later, when the Mashonas rose up against the British, Bernard had ample opportunity to escape. Instead, he chose to remain with his congregation.

On the night of June 17, 1896, he was assaulted and mortally wounded by warriors from the village where he had his mission. He managed to crawl to a nearby hillside. Early the next morning, as Bernard's wife and another woman approached his hiding place, they were frightened by an unearthly sound, "like many wings of great birds," and by a dazzling light which moved toward the spot where Bernard lay. When the two women finally had the courage to go to him, Bernard's body was gone without a trace.

From that day to this, Anglicans from all over southern Africa have made pilgrimages to the site of his martyrdom, in order to offer their prayers and petitions in the house of so great a witness for Christ.

For All the Saints, Prayers and Readings for Saint's Days, ABC, 1994

Public prayer is offered Monday -- Saturday

Morning Prayer 9.00 am. Evening Prayer 5.00 pm.

Please be on time since the gate may be closed once prayers have begun.

 Evening Prayer 5.00 pm. in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel,

please check the weekly bulletin for exceptions.