St John's Newsletter for 27 March 2022

THIS WEEK AT ST JOHN'S

THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT

Dear Friends,

Welcome to worship at St John’s this coming Sunday! As we continue to adapt to pandemic guidelines, please note the following changes:

VACCINATION STATUS

We will no longer check vaccination status upon entry into the church building. The doors will be open and all are welcome to attend worship at St John’s.

We continue to require all participants who have a role in the service – greeters, readers, servers, choristers – to be up to date on their vaccinations.

We are no longer required to physically distance and you are welcome to sit beside each other. Please respect anyone’s preference to continue to have physical distance. And since you may not know the vaccination status of those near you, it’s all the more important to keep your mask on during the service (except to receive communion).

REFRESHMENTS

This Sunday, we welcome everyone to stay for coffee and cake served in the parish hall. (Yes, you are welcome to remove your mask for eating and drinking.)

We are serving a special cake. Simnel Cake, a fruit cake with marzipan, is traditional for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, or midlent Sunday – a day on which people would take a break from their Lenten fasting. In England, it is also called Mothering Sunday. There are many theories about this. Supposedly this was the Sunday to return to your Mother Church (the one in which you were baptized). It was also a day when domestic workers were released to go visit their families and their mothers. Simnel cake celebrated coming home to family.

This observance would have been important for children. According to the British Library:

The campaign against child labour culminated in two important pieces of legislation – the Factory Act (1833) and the Mines Act (1842). The Factory Act prohibited the employment of children younger than nine years of age and limited the hours that children between nine and 13 could work. The Mines Act raised the starting age of colliery workers to 10 years. In effect, these two Acts brought the industrial districts into line with the rest of the country and brought an end to the systematic employment of young children.

Welcome home to your church family this Sunday. Worship 8:00 and 10:15. Stay for the wonderful Social Justice Cake (with thanks to our bakers!).

Gary+

TO REMEMBER IN PRAYER

Those On Our Hearts

Gaston, Robin, Maura, Pat, Bill, The staff, volunteers and participants in the programs of The Well, The Reverend Gary van der Meer, Major the Reverend Canon Catherine Askew, The Reverend Canon Allen Box, Ministry Intern John Holgate, Gordon, Josh, Gregory, Kerry and all who minister at St John's.(Please note Prayers will be posted for two consecutive weeks unless requested to be posted for a longer period of time.)

Our Diocese

Area Parish of the Valley The Right Reverend Michael Bird, The Reverend Matthew Brown, The Reverend Canon Susan Clifford and The Reverend Gillian Hoyer.

For all in our diocese living under religious vows.

Our Bishop, The Right Reverend Shane Parker, our Metropolitan, The Most Reverend Anne Germond and our Primate, The Most Reverend Linda Nicholls.

Anglican Church of Canada (ACC)

The theological colleges and training programs within the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada: The Atlantic School of Theology, Montreal Diocesan Theological, College, and Queen’s College.

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada (ELCIC)

The congregations of the Northwestern Ontario area of the Manitoba-Northwestern Ontario Synod.

The Anglican Communion from Aba to Zululand

The Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma).

Parish Prayer Group

If you wish to have someone prayed for, please call (613) 232-4500 ext 21 or send an email to prayer-request@stjohnsottawa.ca.

JOIN US

SCRIPTURE READINGS

FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT

Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

WHAT'S HAPPENING

You can help the Altar Guild decorate the church for Easter and remember your loved ones with flowers.

Make your donation to St John's noting that it is for Easter Flowers and if applicable, please include a note to indicate the names of the people to be remembered.

You can put your donation in the collection plate or drop it off at the office.

LENT PROGRAM:

REFLECTIONS FOR ST JOHN'S

You are invited to join the following Lifelong Learning gatherings at the following LINK

FIRST ANNUAL SCOTCH TASTING EVENT

Join us on Sunday, March 27 4pm at Deacon Brodies Pub, located at 247 Elgin St., for what we hope will become an annual Event.

Deacon Brodies has Ottawa's finest whiskey collection with over 400 brands. We will be sampling four of these different brands from each of the four categories of scotch.

Please RSVP to the Parish Office at office@stjohnsottawa.ca by Thursday, March 24 at 3:30pm to reserve your seat. Cost will be approximately $45. Limited spots available.

Please note that anytime you visit Deacon Brodies and identify yourself as from St John's, there will be a 10% discount on your bill and a further 10% donation(offering) supporting St John's!

Note that this really is a Lent Discipline! The traditions for Lent include a relax day roughly in the middle of the season. Technically it's called Laetare Sunday. Laetare is Latin for Rejoice. So let's rejoice with a lovely social!

Learning from the Diocese of Ottawa's Communications Planning and Branding Processes

Brian Cameron – Chair, Diocesan Communications Advisory Panel

Wednesday April 6, 7:30 p.m. (75 minutes on Zoom)

HERE

The Lifelong Learning Steering Committee would like its events to be as relevant and helpful as possible to the faith journeys of all St. John's parishioners and visitors. What are the questions, issues, and ideas that you would most like to explore over the year ahead? Please send your suggestions to the Lifelong Learning Steering Committee by emailing Vicki Robinson.

Vicki Robinson

Sally Andrews

Margaret Kasurak

Ian Myles

Gary van der Meer

Lifelong Learning Steering Committee

TAKE NOTE

RECRUTING A SUNDAY REFRESHMENTS COORDINATOR AND WEEKLY REFRESHMENT SERVERS

Now that we are allowed to participate in social activities, we are calling members to offered their time to participate in sharing the refreshment duty, and we are also in need of a schedule coordinator.

Please send a email to kerry@stjohnsottawa.ca to have your name added to the volunteer list.

ART CREDO RETURNS!

This year’s 43^rd Art Credo Exhibit and Sale will run from Saturday April 30^th to Sunday May 15^th . This year’s show will comprise over 100 works of art from 53 artists including 21 that are new to Art Credo! The Vernissage will be in the evening of Friday April 29^th. Everyone is invited to come; and to bring a friend. We are looking for volunteers for some activities related to Art Credo. For instance, if you can offer 3 hours of your time during the exhibition to act as a sitter, there is a sign-up sheet on-line at https://tinyurl.com/ycknb4rr . We are also looking for help with receiving the artworks on Thursday evening April 28^th and hanging them in the church on Friday morning April 29^th.

Go to the webpage http://www.artcredo.ca/index.php/gallery to see what the church looks like during Art Credo.

Contacts: Detlef Dransch at ddransch@sympatico.ca , tel. 613.592.9897

or Mary Ann Varley at varleymaryann1@bell.net , tel. 613.745.2996

Memorial for Stephen Sansom

4 April 1947 - 29 January 2022

St John's community is invited to the memorial service for Stephen Sansom. Stephen loved our neighbourhood churches and we have been invited along with Knox Presbyterian and First Baptist to join the congregation of St Theresa of Lisieux for a Memorial Service of thanksgiving for Stephen's life.

St Theresa Catholic Church, 95 Somerset Street West; Saturday, March 26, 10:00 a.m.

PWRDF responds to ACT

Alliance appeal for Ukraine

PWRDF is supporting Ukrainians forced to flee their homes due to the Russian invasion. A grant of $20,000 has been issued to an ACT alliance appeal funding the work of ACT member, the Hungarian Interchurch AID (HIA). HIA has been working in Ukraine for more than 25 years in humanitarian and development projects. It had already shipped 28 tons of food to support those fleeing to Hungary, and their staff have been working with refugees at the Ukraine/Hungary border.

To make a donation go to pwrdf.org/give-today and click on Response in Ukraine. You may also donate by phone at 416-822-9083 or leave a voicemail toll-free at 1-866-308-7973 and PWRDF will return your call. You can mail your cheque to PWRDF, 80 Hayden, 3rd floor, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 3G2 or give through St. John’s. Please mark Ukraine in the memo field. Thank you for your support. St John’s PWRDF Committee.